CHAPTER XLIII MOLLY ARRANGES AFFAIRS

“Hullo!” said a voice.

 

Antony turned.

 

Molly’s dark head appeared above the bushes behind him.

 

“What are you crying for?” demanded Molly.

 

“I aren’t crying,” said Antony. And we may hope that the Recording¹ Angel turned a deaf ear.

 

“You—” began Molly. But, after all, she was tactful. “I ’spect it’s just the sun in your eyes,” she remarked airily.

 

“It’s—it’s very sunny,” said Antony blinking.

 

Molly continued to look at him over the hedge. He looked at Molly.

 

And then Antony took a resolve. Perhaps instinct told him that a burden shared is a burden half-lightened.

 

“I’m a beggar boy,” he announced succinctly².

 

[Pg 317]

 

“A beggar boy!” shrilled³ Molly. She was frankly⁴ amazed.

 

Antony nodded. He was experiencing a kind of gloomy joy at her astonishment⁵.

 

Molly gazed at him. Then:

 

“Indeed you’re not at all,” she snorted incredulously.

 

“I am,” said Antony, gloomily cheerful.

 

Molly cogitated⁶, puzzled. Then her fertile imagination leaped to the solution. Of course it was make-believe!

 

“What fun,” cried she, on a top note of pleasure. “But what are you sitting there for if you are? Beggars go along the roads and beg.”

 

Antony looked alarmed.

 

“Oh, but perhaps I needn’t begin just yet,” he protested.

 

“Why not!” cried Molly. You may be sure that she saw herself assisting in the rôle. “It’s a lovely day. Let’s start off at once.”

 

Antony had qualms⁷ of conscience. It was forbidden to go beyond the grounds.

 

“P’raps Granny wouldn’t like it,” he demurred⁸. “P’raps I’d better ask her first. I think I haven’t got to be one this d’rectly minute, you know.”

 

[Pg 318]

 

Again Molly was frankly puzzled.

 

Then, once more, her brow cleared. She saw in the matter, though vaguely⁹, some threat of possible punishment for misdemeanours. But here, assuredly, was actual opportunity to hand. It was too good to be let slip.

 

“Indeed, never mind,” she urged. “If they’ll be making you into a beggar any time, let’s just be beggars now, to show them we like it. We do like it,” she concluded, loftily magnificent.

 

“But,” argued Antony, “it won’t be nice to be a beggar.”

 

“Nice!” echoed Molly ecstatic. “Nice! why ’twill be real beautiful, it will. We’ll go in bare feet, and we’ll eat blackberries,—there’s a few ripe already,—and we’ll get apples from the orchards¹⁰. Sure, it’s flint-hearted they’d be,” cried she on a note pathetic, “if they’d begrudge¹¹ the bite of an apple to two hungry children. And we’ll be sleeping under a haystack, and we’ll paddle in the river, and—oh, we’ll have fine times, we will that.”

 

The river won the day.

 

Have you, I wonder, the faintest conception of its allurement¹²? Can you see the water, clear as [Pg 319]amber, rippling¹³ past mossy stones, feel its delicious freshness against bare feet, hear the gurgling music of its voice? Can you see the dragon-flies skimming its surface, the ragged-robin massed on its banks, the rushes standing¹⁴ proud and spearlike at its edge?

 

Anyhow Antony could.

 

He saw it all at a glance,—an irresistible¹⁵, alluring¹⁶ prospect¹⁷. He got up from the ground. After all, he would not be alone.

 

“Come down to the gate,” said Molly, her eyes gleaming. And then she slithered back into the field.

 

Going across the field two minutes later, she spoke¹⁸.

 

“After we’ve paddled, we’ll walk to Stoneway, and beg along the road.”

 

“All right,” said Antony, but without much enthusiasm.

 

Anyhow there was the river first.

 

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 succinctly   

adv.简洁地；简洁地，简便地

参考例句：

• He writes simply and succinctly, rarely adding too much adornment. 他的写作风格朴实简练，很少添加饰词。 来自互联网
• No matter what question you are asked, answer it honestly and succinctly. 总之，不管你在面试中被问到什么问题，回答都要诚实而简明。 来自互联网

3 shrilled   

（声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Behind him, the telephone shrilled. 在他身后，电话铃刺耳地响了起来。
• The phone shrilled, making her jump. 电话铃声刺耳地响起，惊得她跳了起来。

4 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

5 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

6 cogitated   

v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

7 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

8 demurred   

v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• At first she demurred, but then finally agreed. 她开始表示反对，但最终还是同意了。
• They demurred at working on Sundays. 他们反对星期日工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

10 orchards   

（通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They turned the hills into orchards and plains into granaries. 他们把山坡变成了果园，把平地变成了粮仓。
• Some of the new planted apple orchards have also begun to bear. 有些新开的苹果园也开始结苹果了。

11 begrudge   

vt.吝啬，羡慕

参考例句：

• I begrudge spending so much money on train fares.我舍不得把这么多钱花在火车票上。
• We should not begrudge our neighbour's richness.我们不应该嫉妒邻人的富有。

12 allurement   

n.诱惑物

参考例句：

• Money is a kind of allurement for us.对我们来说金钱是种诱惑物。
• The big cities are full of allurements on which to spend money.大城市充满形形色色诱人花钱的事物。

13 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

16 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。

17 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。