CHAPTER VII FLIGHTS OF FANCY

 CHAPTER VII

FLIGHTS OF FANCY

Corin looked dubiously¹ at John.

 

“She talks a good deal,” quoth he tentatively.

 

“I have,” returned John, “conceived a great affection for Mrs. Trimwell. Her ideas are original. She has, also, a distinct prejudice in favour of speaking her mind with a candour and verve which I find undeniably refreshing². Yes; certainly I have conceived an affection for her.”

 

Corin snorted.

 

“Every man to his own taste,” said he. “For my part I find her over-fluent of speech.”

 

“That,” replied John, “arises merely from a tendency I have frequently noted⁴ in you to monopolize⁵ the whole conversation; to mop it, so to speak, into your own sponge, thereby⁶ leaving the sponges of others bone dry.”

 

“I have never,” retorted Corin, “observed that your sponge lacked moisture, if you will use terms [Pg 57]of parable⁷ instead of straightforward⁸ words. But to leave Mrs. Trimwell for the moment. How did you enjoy the morning? Did I expand one whit⁹ too freely on the glories of the surrounding country? Is there not colour,—radiant, vital colour at every turn?”

 

“I’ll allow there’s sufficient beauty hereabouts,” conceded John.

 

“And you had a pleasant time? Own to the truth. It was worth while sacrificing sun-baked streets for wide stretches of glorious moorland?”

 

“Oh, I’ll own to the worth whileness of it,” laughed John, hugging a delicious secret to his heart.

 

Corin shrugged¹⁰ his shoulders.

 

“You might be a trifle more expansive,” he grumbled¹¹. “You might give me an epitome¹² of your morning’s experiences. There was I, perched like a hen on a henroost, slaving my life out for four hours, while you were enjoying glorious freedom. I said to myself, he’ll return enthusiastic. I’ll have, at least, a second-hand¹³ experience of purple moorland, sun-kissed sea, and cool green woods. And all the man has done is to smile oracularly, and admit to beauty when the admission[Pg 58] was fairly dragged from his lips. No; don’t begin to rhapsodize now. It’s too late. I wanted spontaneity, a first fine careless rapture¹⁴. And by dragging, pulling, and tugging¹⁵, I get a bare admission of beauty grudgingly¹⁶ made.”

 

John laughed again. It must be confessed that he was in a peculiarly lighthearted mood.

 

“I’ll attempt no rhapsody, no poetic¹⁷ flights of fancy, since the psychological moment for so doing has, according to you, passed. I’ll give you the mere³ salient facts of the morning, the chiefest being that I played St. George to the dragon.”

 

Corin eyed him suspiciously.

 

“I have an idea I heard you remark ‘no poetic flights of fancy,’ a moment agone,” he suggested.

 

“I did,” retorted John, “and I adhere to that remark. Here is fact pure and simple. But, for your better convincing, I will state that the dragon had for the moment disguised itself as a goat,—a large, a playful, black and white goat. The disguise was good, I’ll allow, but,” concluded John dramatically, “I penetrated¹⁸ it.”

 

Corin sighed.

 

“If you could divest¹⁹ your speech of symbolism,” [Pg 59]said he pathetically, “and give me facts in plain English.”

 

“No symbolism I assure you,” protested John. “It was a goat,—a black and white goat. It curved, it gavotted, it gambolled²⁰, thereby causing much distress²¹ to a fair lady and her two attendant knights²², who were, believe me, hardly of an age to deal convincingly with either goats or dragons. Then, behold²³, enter St. George.” He struck himself upon the chest.

 

“Oh!” Corin began to find a thread of reasonableness among the nonsense. “Who was the lady, I wonder?”

 

“She told me,” said John, “that her name was Miss Rosamund Delancey.” He experienced a strange sensation of pleasure in pronouncing the words.

 

“Oh!” said Corin a second time. “From the Castle.”

 

“From the Castle,” echoed John.

 

Corin reflected, mused²⁴. Finally, seeing that John had come to an end of the repast, he pushed back his chair, rose from the table, and lighted a cigarette.

 

“I have heard a rumour²⁵,” said he, the cigarette [Pg 60]lighted, “that they are shortly leaving the Castle on account of some claimant who has turned up. I can’t remember the whole story. I know it struck me as sufficiently²⁶ melodramatic at the moment,—murders, missing documents, and little Adelphi touches of that kind were mixed up in it. But I daresay it’s nothing but a rumour.”

 

“Let us trust so,” said John devoutly²⁷.

 

1 dubiously   

adv.可疑地，怀疑地

参考例句：

• "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去，撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句

2 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

3 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。

4 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。

5 monopolize   

v.垄断，独占，专营

参考例句：

• She tried to monopolize his time.她想独占他的时间。
• They are controlling so much cocoa that they are virtually monopolizing the market.他们控制了大量的可可粉，因此他们几乎垄断了整个市场。

6 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

7 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

8 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

9 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

10 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 grumbled   

抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
• The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏，水手们边干活边发着牢骚。

12 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

13 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

14 rapture   

n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜

参考例句：

• His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
• In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地，被他父亲打断了。

15 tugging   

n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Tom was tugging at a button-hole and looking sheepish. 汤姆捏住一个钮扣眼使劲地拉，样子显得很害羞。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• She kicked him, tugging his thick hair. 她一边踢他，一边扯着他那浓密的头发。 来自辞典例句

16 grudgingly   

参考例句：

• He grudgingly acknowledged having made a mistake. 他勉强承认他做错了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their parents unwillingly [grudgingly] consented to the marriage. 他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

18 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

19 divest   

v.脱去，剥除

参考例句：

• I cannot divest myself of the idea.我无法消除那个念头。
• He attempted to divest himself of all responsibilities for the decision.他力图摆脱掉作出该项决定的一切责任。

20 gambolled   

v.蹦跳，跳跃，嬉戏( gambol的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

21 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

22 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

23 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

24 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

25 rumour   

n.谣言，谣传，传闻

参考例句：

• I should like to know who put that rumour about.我想知道是谁散布了那谣言。
• There has been a rumour mill on him for years.几年来，一直有谣言产生，对他进行中伤。

26 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

27 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句