III.—A DAY ASHORE

 "Well, which is it to be?" asked Archie.

 

"Just whichever you like," said Dahlia, "only make up your minds."

 

"Well, I can do you a very good line in either. I've got a lot of sea in the front of the house, and there's the Armadillo straining at the leash¹; and I've had some land put down at the back of the house, and there's the Silent-Knight eating her carburettor off in the kennels²."

 

"Oh, what can ail³ thee, Silent-Knight, alone and palely loitering?" asked Simpson. "Keats," he added kindly⁴.

 

"Ass⁵ (Shakespeare)," I said.

 

"Of course, if we sailed," Simpson went on eagerly, "and we got becalmed again, I could teach you chaps signalling."

 

Archie looked from one to the other of us.

 

"I think that settles it," he said, and went off to see about the motor.

 

"Little Chagford," said Archie, as he slowed down. "Where are we going to, by the way?"

 

"I thought we'd just go on until we found a nice place for lunch."

 

"And then on again till we found a nice place for tea," added Myra.

 

"And so home to dinner," I concluded.

 

"Speaking for myself—" began Simpson.

 

"Oh, why not?"

 

"I should like to see a church where Katharine of Aragon or somebody was buried."

 

"Samuel's morbid⁶ craving⁷ for sensation—"

 

"Wait till we get back to London, and I'll take you to Madame

Tussaud's, Mr Simpson."

"Well, I think he's quite right," said Dahlia. "There is an old

Norman church, I believe, and we ought to go and see it. The

Philistines⁸ needn't come in if they don't want to."

"Philistines!" I said indignantly. "Well, I'm—"

 

"Agagged," suggested Archie. "Oh no, he was an Amalekite."

 

"You've lived in the same country as this famous old Norman church for years and years and years, and you care so little about it that you've never been to see it and aren't sure whether it was Katharine of Aragon or Alice-for-short who was buried here, and now that you HAVE come across it by accident you want to drive up to it in a brand-new 1910 motor-car, with Simpson in his 1910 gent.'s fancy vest knocking out the ashes of his pipe against the lych-gate as he goes in. … And that's what it is to be one of the elect!"

 

"Little Chagford's noted⁹ back-chat comedians," commented Archie.

"Your turn, Dahlia."

"There was once a prince who was walking in a forest near his castle one day—that's how all the nice stories begin—and he suddenly came across a beautiful maiden¹⁰, and he said to himself, 'I've lived here for years and years and years, and I've never seen her before, and I'm not sure whether her name is Katharine or Alice, or where her uncle was buried, and I've got a new surcoat on which doesn't match her wimple at all, so let's leave her and go home to lunch….' And THAT'S what it is to be one of the elect!"

 

"Don't go on too long," said Archie. "There are the performing seals to come after you."

 

I jumped out of the car and joined her in the road.

 

"Dahlia, I apologize," I said. "You are quite right. We will visit this little church together, and see who was buried there."

 

Myra looked up from the book she had been studying, Jovial¹¹ Jaunts¹²

Round Jibmouth.

"There isn't a church at Little Chagford," she said. "At least there wasn't two years ago, when this book was published. So that looks as though it can't be VERY early Norman."

 

"Then let's go on," said Archie, after a deep silence.

 

We found a most delightful¹³ little spot (which wasn't famous for anything) for lunch, and had the baskets out of the car in no time.

 

"Now, are you going to help get things ready," asked Myra, "or are you going to take advantage of your sex and watch Dahlia and me do all the work?"

 

"I thought women always liked to keep the food jobs for themselves,"

I said. "I know I'm never allowed in the kitchen at home. Besides,

I've got more important work to do—I'm going to make the fire."

"What fire?"

 

"You can't really lead the simple life and feel at home with Nature until you have laid a fire of twigs¹⁴ and branches, rubbed two sticks together to procure¹⁵ a flame, and placed in the ashes the pemmican or whatever it is that falls to your rifle."

 

"Well, I did go out to look for pemmican this morning, but there were none rising."

 

"Then I shall have my ham sandwich hot."

 

"Bread, butter, cheese, eggs, sandwiches, fruit," catalogued Dahlia, as she took them out; "what else do you want?"

 

"I'm waiting here for cake," I said.

 

"Bother, I forgot the cake."

 

"Look here, this picnic isn't going with the swing that one had looked for. No pemmican, no cake, no early Norman church. We might almost as well be back in the Cromwell Road."

 

"Does your whole happiness depend on cake?" asked Myra scornfully.

 

"To a large extent it does. Archie," I called out, "there's no cake."

 

Archie stopped patting the car and came over to us. "Good. Let's begin," he said; "I'm hungry."

 

"You didn't hear. I said there WASN'T any cake—on the contrary, there is an entire absence of it, a shortage, a vacuum, not to say a lacuna. In the place where it should be there is an aching void or mere¹⁶ hard-boiled eggs or something of that sort. I say, doesn't ANYBODY mind, except me?"

 

Apparently¹⁷ nobody did, so that it was useless to think of sending Archie back for it. Instead, I did a little wrist-work with the corkscrew….

 

"Now," said Archie, after lunch, "before you all go off with your butterfly nets, I'd better say that we shall be moving on at about half-past three. That is, unless one of you has discovered the slot of a Large Cabbage White just then, and is following up the trail very keenly."

 

"I know what I'm going to do," I said, "if the flies will let me alone."

 

"Tell me quickly before I guess," begged Myra.

 

"I'm going to lie on my back and think about—who do you think do the hardest work in the world?"

 

"Stevedores¹⁸."

 

"Then I shall think about stevedores."

 

"Are you sure," asked Simpson, "that you wouldn't like me to show you that signalling now?"

 

I closed my eyes. You know, I wonder sometimes what it is that makes a picnic so pleasant. Because all the important things, the eating and the sleeping, one can do anywhere.

1 leash   

n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住

参考例句：

• I reached for the leash,but the dog got in between.我伸手去拿系狗绳，但被狗挡住了路。
• The dog strains at the leash,eager to be off.狗拼命地扯拉皮带，想挣脱开去。

2 kennels   

n.主人外出时的小动物寄养处，养狗场；狗窝( kennel的名词复数 )；养狗场

参考例句：

• We put the dog in kennels when we go away. 我们外出时把狗寄养在养狗场。
• He left his dog in a kennels when he went on holiday. 他外出度假时把狗交给养狗场照管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 ail   

v.生病，折磨，苦恼

参考例句：

• It may provide answers to some of the problems that ail America.这一点可能解答困扰美国的某些问题。
• Seek your sauce where you get your ail.心痛还须心药治。

4 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

5 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

6 morbid   

adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的

参考例句：

• Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

7 craving   

n.渴望,热望

参考例句：

• a craving for chocolate 非常想吃巧克力
• She skipped normal meals to satisfy her craving for chocolate and crisps. 她不吃正餐，以便满足自己吃巧克力和炸薯片的渴望。

8 philistines   

n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子

参考例句：

• He accused those who criticized his work of being philistines. 他指责那些批评他的作品的人是对艺术一窍不通。 来自辞典例句
• As an intellectual Goebbels looked down on the crude philistines of the leading group in Munich. 戈培尔是个知识分子，看不起慕尼黑领导层不学无术的市侩庸人。 来自辞典例句

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

11 jovial   

adj.快乐的，好交际的

参考例句：

• He seemed jovial,but his eyes avoided ours.他显得很高兴，但他的眼光却避开了我们的眼光。
• Grandma was plump and jovial.祖母身材圆胖，整天乐呵呵的。

12 jaunts   

n.游览( jaunt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• How carefree were those jaunts to the A＆ P.No worries. 去A＆P的路途是那样的轻松，无忧无虑。 来自互联网
• How carefree were those jaunts to A & P. No worries. 去a&p的路途是那样的轻松，无忧无虑。 来自互联网

13 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

14 twigs   

细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
• Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。

15 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。

16 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

17 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

18 stevedores   

n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The stevedores' work is to load and unload ships. 装卸工人的工作是装卸船只。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stevedores will see to that. 搬运工会格外注意。 来自商贸英语会话