III.—UNEXPECTED GUESTS

 Sometimes I do a little work in the morning. Doctors are agreed now that an occasional spell of work in the morning doesn't do me any harm. My announcement at breakfast that this was one of the mornings was greeted with a surprised enthusiasm which was most flattering. Archie offered me his own room where he does his thinking; Simpson offered me a nib¹; and Dahlia promised me a quiet time till lunch. I thanked them all and settled down to work.

 

But Dahlia didn't keep her promise. My first hour was peaceful, but after that I had inquiries² by every post. Blair looked in to know where Myra was; Archie asked if I'd seen Dahlia anywhere; and when finally Thomas's head appeared in the doorway³ I decided⁴ that I had had enough of it.

 

"Oh, I say," began Thomas, "will you come and—but I suppose you're busy."

 

"Not too busy," I said, "to spare a word or two for an old friend," and I picked up the dictionary to throw at him. But he was gone before I could take aim.

 

"This is the end," I said to myself, and after five minutes more decided to give up work and seek refreshment⁵ and congenial conversation. To my surprise I found neither. Every room seemed to be empty, the tennis lawn was deserted⁶, and Archie's cricket-bag and Simpson's golf-clubs rested peacefully in the hall. Something was going on. I went back to my work and decided to have the secret out at lunch.

 

"Now then," I said, when that blessed hour arrived, "tell me about it. You've deserted me all morning, but I'm not going to be left out."

 

"It's your fault for shutting yourself up."

 

"Duty," I said, slapping my chest—"duty," and I knocked my glass over with an elbow. "Oh, Dahlia, I'm horribly sorry. May I go and stand in the corner?"

 

"Let's talk very fast and pretend we didn't notice it," said Myra, helping⁷ me to mop. "Go on, Archie."

 

"Well, it's like this," said Archie. "A little while ago the Vicar called here."

 

"I don't see that that's any reason for keeping me in the background. I have met clergymen before and I know what to say to them."

 

"When I say a little while ago I mean about three weeks. We'd have asked you down for the night if we'd known you were so keen on clergymen. Well, as the result of that unfortunate visit, the school treat takes place here this afternoon, and lorblessme if I hadn't forgotten all about it till this morning."

 

"You'll have to help, please," said Dahlia.

 

"Only don't spill anything," said Thomas.

 

They have a poor sense of humour in the Admiralty.

 

. . . . . . .

 

I took a baby in each hand and wandered off to look for bees. Their idea, not mine.

 

"The best bees are round here," I said, and I led them along to the front of the house. On the lawn was Myra, surrounded by about eight babies.

 

"Two more for your collection," I announced. "Very fine specimens⁸.

The word with them is bees."

"Aren't they darlings? Sit down, babies, and the pretty gentleman will tell us all a story."

 

"Meaning me?" I asked in surprise. Myra looked beseechingly⁹ at me as she arranged the children all round her. I sat down near them and tried to think.

 

"Once upon a time," I said, "there was a—a—there was a—was a—a bee."

 

Myra nodded approvingly. She seemed to like the story so far. I didn't. The great dearth¹⁰ of adventures that could happen to a bee was revealed to me in a flash. I saw that I had been hasty.

 

"At least," I went on, "he thought he was a bee, but as he grew up his friends felt that he was not really a bee at all, but a dear little rabbit. His fur was too long for a bee."

 

Myra shook her head at me and frowned. My story was getting over-subtle for the infant mind. I determined¹¹ to straighten it out finally.

 

"However," I added, "the old name stuck to him, and they all called him a bee. Now then I can get on. Where was I?"

 

But at this moment my story was interrupted.

 

"Come here," shouted Archie from the distance. "You're wanted."

 

"I'm sorry," I said, getting up quickly. "Will you finish the story for me? You'd better leave out the part where he stings the Shah of Persia. That's too exciting. Good-bye." And I hurried after Archie.

 

"Help Simpson with some of these races," said Archie. "He's getting himself into the dickens of a mess."

 

Simpson had started two races simultaneously¹²; hence the trouble. In one of them the bigger boys had to race to a sack containing their boots, rescue their own pair, put them on, and race back to the starting-point. Good! In the other the smaller boys, each armed with a paper containing a problem in arithmetic, had to run to their sisters, wait for the problem to be solved, and then run back with the answer. Excellent! Simpson at his most inventive. Unfortunately, when the bootless boys arrived at the turning post, they found nothing but a small problem in arithmetic awaiting them, while on the adjoining stretch of grass young mathematicians¹³ were trying, with the help of their sisters, to get into two pairs of boots at once.

 

"Hallo, there you are," said Simpson. "Do help me; I shall be mobbed in a moment. It's the mothers. They think the whole thing is a scheme for stealing their children's boots. Can't you start a race for them?"

 

"You never ought to go about without somebody. Where's Thomas?"

 

"He's playing rounders. He scored a rounder by himself just now from an overthrow¹⁴, but we shall hear about it at dinner. Look here, there's a game called 'Twos and Threes.' Couldn't you start the mothers at that? You stand in twos, and whenever anyone stands in front of the two then the person behind the two runs away."

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"What do you mean?" said Simpson.

 

"It sounds too exciting to be true. I can't believe it."

 

"Go on, there's a good chap. They'll know how to play all right."

 

"Oh, very well. Do they take their boots off first or not?"

 

Twos and Threes was a great success.

 

I found that I had quite a FLAIR¹⁵ for the game. I seemed to take to it naturally.

 

By the time our match was finished Simpson's little footwear trouble was over and he was organizing a grand three-legged race.

 

"I think they are all enjoying it," said Dahlia.

 

"They love it," I said; "Thomas is perfectly¹⁶ happy making rounders."

 

"But I meant the children. Don't you think they love it too? The babies seem so happy with Myra. I suppose she's telling them stories."

 

"I think so. She's got rather a good one about a bee. Oh, yes, they're happy enough with her."

 

"I hope they all had enough to eat at tea."

 

"Allowing for a little natural shyness I think they did well. And I didn't spill anything. Altogether it has been rather a success."

 

Dahlia stood looking down at the children, young and old, playing in the field beneath her, and gave a sigh of happiness.

 

"Now," she said, "I feel the house is REALLY warm."

1 nib   

n.钢笔尖；尖头

参考例句：

• The sharp nib scratched through the paper.钢笔尖把纸戳穿了。
• I want to buy a pen with a gold nib.我要金笔。

2 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 refreshment   

n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点

参考例句：

• He needs to stop fairly often for refreshment.他须时不时地停下来喘口气。
• A hot bath is a great refreshment after a day's work.在一天工作之后洗个热水澡真是舒畅。

6 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 beseechingly   

adv. 恳求地

参考例句：

• She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来，几乎是恳求似地问丈夫：“我们现在就走吧？”
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来，乞求地盯着斯内普。

10 dearth   

n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

11 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

12 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

13 mathematicians   

数学家( mathematician的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do you suppose our mathematicians are unequal to that? 你以为我们的数学家做不到这一点吗？ 来自英汉文学
• Mathematicians can solve problems with two variables. 数学家们可以用两个变数来解决问题。 来自哲学部分

14 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

15 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

16 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。