CHAPTER The Curate. XV.

The Vicar opened the door half mechanically to let out Crump, and saw Mendham, his curate, coming up the pathway by the hedge of purple vetch and meadowsweet. At that his hand went up to his chin and his eyes grew perplexed¹. Suppose he was deceived. The Doctor passed the Curate with a sweep of his hand from his hat brim. Crump was an extraordinarily² clever fellow, the Vicar thought, and knew far more of anyone's brain than one did oneself. The Vicar felt that so acutely. It made the coming explanation difficult. Suppose he were to go back into the drawing-room, and find just a tramp asleep on the hearthrug.

 

Mendham was a cadaverous man with a magnificent beard. He looked, indeed, as though he had run to beard as a mustard plant does to seed.[Pg 62] But when he spoke³ you found he had a voice as well.

 

"My wife came home in a dreadful state," he brayed⁴ out at long range.

 

"Come in," said the Vicar; "come in. Most remarkable⁵ occurrence. Please come in. Come into the study. I'm really dreadfully sorry. But when I explain...."

 

"And apologise, I hope," brayed the Curate.

 

"And apologise. No, not that way. This way. The study."

 

"Now what was that woman?" said the Curate, turning on the Vicar as the latter closed the study door.

 

"What woman?"

 

"Pah!"

 

"But really!"

 

"The painted creature in light attire⁶—disgustingly light attire, to speak freely—with whom you were promenading⁷ the garden."

 

"My dear Mendham—that was an Angel!"

 

"A  v e r y  p r e t t y  Angel?"

 

"The world is getting so matter-of-fact," said the Vicar.

 

[Pg 63]

 

"The world," roared the Curate, "grows blacker every day. But to find a man in your position, shamelessly, openly...."

 

"Bother!" said the Vicar aside. He rarely swore. "Look here, Mendham, you really misunderstand. I can assure you...."

 

"Very well," said the Curate. "Explain!" He stood with his lank⁸ legs apart, his arms folded, scowling⁹ at his Vicar over his big beard.

 

(Explanations, I repeat, I have always considered the peculiar¹⁰ fallacy of this scientific age.)

 

The Vicar looked about him helplessly. The world had all gone dull and dead. Had he been dreaming all the afternoon? Was there really an angel in the drawing-room? Or was he the sport of a complicated hallucination?

 

"Well?" said Mendham, at the end of a minute.

 

The Vicar's hand fluttered about his chin. "It's such a round-about story," he said.

 

"No doubt it will be," said Mendham harshly.

 

The Vicar restrained a movement of impatience¹¹.

 

"I went out to look for a strange bird this[Pg 64] afternoon.... Do you believe in angels, Mendham, real angels?"

 

"I'm not here to discuss theology. I am the husband of an insulted woman."

 

"But I tell you it's not a figure of speech; this is an angel, a real angel with wings. He's in the next room now. You do misunderstand me, so...."

 

"Really, Hilyer—"

 

"It is true I tell you, Mendham. I swear it is true." The Vicar's voice grew impassioned. "What sin I have done that I should entertain and clothe angelic visitants, I don't know. I only know that—inconvenient as it undoubtedly¹² will be—I have an angel now in the drawing-room, wearing my new suit and finishing his tea. And he's stopping with me, indefinitely, at my invitation. No doubt it was rash of me. But I can't turn him out, you know, because Mrs Mendham——I may be a weakling, but I am still a gentleman."

 

"Really, Hilyer—"

 

"I can assure you it is true." There was a note of hysterical¹³ desperation in the Vicar's voice.[Pg 65] "I fired at him, taking him for a flamingo¹⁴, and hit him in the wing."

 

"I thought this was a case for the Bishop¹⁵. I find it is a case for the Lunacy Commissioners¹⁶."

 

"Come and see him, Mendham!"

 

"But there are no angels."

 

"We teach the people differently," said the Vicar.

 

"Not as material bodies," said the Curate.

 

"Anyhow, come and see him."

 

"I don't want to see your hallucinations," began the Curate.

 

"I can't explain anything unless you come and see him," said the Vicar. "A man who's more like an angel than anything else in heaven or earth. You simply must see if you wish to understand."

 

"I don't wish to understand," said the Curate. "I don't wish to lend myself to any imposture¹⁷. Surely, Hilyer, if this is not an imposition, you can tell me yourself.... Flamingo, indeed!"

1 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

2 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

3 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。

4 brayed   

v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的过去式和过去分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击

参考例句：

• He brayed with laughter. 他刺耳地大笑。
• His donkey threw up his head and brayed loudly. 他的驴扬起头大声叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

7 promenading   

v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• No doubt this "promenading" was not at all to her taste. 没有问题，这样“溜圈儿”是压根儿不合她口胃的。 来自辞典例句
• People were promenading about the town. 人们在镇上闲步[漫步]。 来自互联网

8 lank   

adj.瘦削的；稀疏的

参考例句：

• He rose to lank height and grasped Billy McMahan's hand.他瘦削的身躯站了起来，紧紧地握住比利·麦默恩的手。
• The old man has lank hair.那位老人头发稀疏

9 scowling   

怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There she was, grey-suited, sweet-faced, demure, but scowling. 她就在那里，穿着灰色的衣服，漂亮的脸上显得严肃而忧郁。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Scowling, Chueh-hui bit his lips. 他马上把眉毛竖起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

10 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

11 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

12 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

13 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

14 flamingo   

n.红鹳，火烈鸟

参考例句：

• This is the only species of flamingo in the region,easily recognized by its pink plumage.这是那个地区唯一一种火烈鸟，很容易凭粉红色的羽毛辨认出来。
• In my family,I am flamingo in the flock of pigeons.在家里，我就像一只被困在鸽笼里的火烈鸟。

15 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

16 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

17 imposture   

n.冒名顶替，欺骗

参考例句：

• Soiled by her imposture she remains silent.她背着冒名顶替者的黑锅却一直沉默。
• If they knew,they would see through his imposture straight away.要是他们知道，他们会立即识破他的招摇撞骗行为。