CHAPTER XVI.

The Angel had finished his tea and was standing¹ looking pensively² out of the window. He thought the old church down the valley lit by the light of the setting sun was very beautiful, but he could not understand the serried³ ranks of tombstones that lay up the hillside beyond. He turned as Mendham and the Vicar came in.

 

Now Mendham could bully⁴ his Vicar cheerfully enough, just as he could bully his congregation; but he was not the sort of man to bully a stranger. He looked at the Angel, and the "strange woman" theory was disposed of. The Angel's beauty was too clearly the beauty of the youth.

 

"Mr Hilyer tells me," Mendham began, in an almost apologetic tone, "that you—ah—it's so curious—claim to be an Angel."

 

"Are an Angel," said the Vicar.

 

The Angel bowed.

 

[Pg 67]

 

"Naturally," said Mendham, "we are curious."

 

"Very," said the Angel. "The blackness and the shape."

 

"I beg your pardon?" said Mendham.

 

"The blackness and the flaps," repeated the Angel; "and no wings."

 

"Precisely," said Mendham, who was altogether at a loss. "We are, of course, curious to know something of how you came into the village in such a peculiar⁵ costume."

 

The Angel looked at the Vicar. The Vicar touched his chin.

 

"You see," began the Vicar.

 

"Let him explain," said Mendham; "I beg."

 

"I wanted to suggest," began the Vicar.

 

"And I don't want you to suggest."

 

"Bother!" said the Vicar.

 

The Angel looked from one to the other. "Such rugose expressions flit across your faces!" he said.

 

"You see, Mr—Mr—I don't know your name," said Mendham, with a certain diminution⁶ of suavity⁷. "The case stands thus: My wife—four ladies, I might say—are playing lawn tennis,[Pg 68] when you suddenly rush out on them, sir; you rush out on them from among the rhododendra in a very defective⁸ costume. You and Mr Hilyer."

 

"But I—" said the Vicar.

 

"I know. It was this gentleman's costume was defective. Naturally—it is my place in fact—to demand an explanation." His voice was growing in volume. "And I must demand an explanation."

 

The Angel smiled faintly at his note of anger and his sudden attitude of determination—arms tightly folded.

 

"I am rather new to the world," the Angel began.

 

"Nineteen at least," said Mendham. "Old enough to know better. That's a poor excuse."

 

"May I ask one question first?" said the Angel.

 

"Well?"

 

"Do you think I am a Man—like yourself? As the chequered man did."

 

"If you are not a man—"

 

"One other question. Have you never heard of an Angel?"

 

[Pg 69]

 

"I warn you not to try that story upon me," said Mendham, now back at his familiar crescendo⁹.

 

The Vicar interrupted: "But Mendham—he has wings!"

 

"Please let me talk to him," said Mendham.

 

"You are so quaint," said the Angel; "you interrupt everything I have to say."

 

"But what have you to say?" said Mendham.

 

"That I really am an Angel...."

 

"Pshaw!"

 

"There you go!"

 

"But tell me, honestly, how you came to be in the shrubbery of Siddermorton Vicarage—in the state in which you were. And in the Vicar's company. Cannot you abandon this ridiculous story of yours?..."

 

The Angel shrugged¹⁰ his wings. "What is the matter with this man?" he said to the Vicar.

 

"My dear Mendham," said the Vicar, "a few words from me...."

 

"Surely my question is straightforward¹¹ enough!"

 

"But you won't tell me the answer you want, and it's no good my telling you any other."

 

[Pg 70]

 

"Pshaw!" said the Curate again. And then turning suddenly on the Vicar, "Where does he come from?"

 

The Vicar was in a dreadful state of doubt by this time.

 

"He says he is an Angel!" said the Vicar. "Why don't you listen to him?"

 

"No angel would alarm four ladies...."

 

"Is that what it is all about?" said the Angel.

 

"Enough cause too, I should think!" said the Curate.

 

"But I really did not know," said the Angel.

 

"This is altogether too much!"

 

"I am sincerely sorry I alarmed these ladies."

 

"You ought to be. But I see I shall get nothing out of you two." Mendham went towards the door. "I am convinced there is something discreditable at the bottom of this business. Or why not tell a simple straightforward story? I will confess you puzzle me. Why, in this enlightened age, you should tell this fantastic, this far-fetched story of an Angel, altogether beats me. What good can it do?..."

 

[Pg 71]

 

"But stop and look at his wings!" said the Vicar. "I can assure you he has wings!"

 

Mendham had his fingers on the door-handle. "I have seen quite enough," he said. "It may be this is simply a foolish attempt at a hoax¹², Hilyer."

 

"But Mendham!" said the Vicar.

 

The Curate halted in the doorway¹³ and looked at the Vicar over his shoulder. The accumulating judgment¹⁴ of months found vent¹⁵. "I cannot understand, Hilyer, why you are in the Church. For the life of me I cannot. The air is full of Social Movements, of Economic change, the Woman Movement, Rational Dress, The Reunion of Christendom, Socialism, Individualism—all the great and moving Questions of the Hour! Surely, we who follow the Great Reformer.... And here you are stuffing birds, and startling ladies with your callous¹⁶ disregard...."

 

"But Mendham," began the Vicar.

 

The Curate would not hear him. "You shame the Apostles with your levity¹⁷.... But this is only a preliminary enquiry," he said, with a threatening note in his sonorous¹⁸ voice, and so vanished abruptly¹⁹ (with a violent slam) from the room.

1 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。

2 pensively   

adv.沉思地，焦虑地

参考例句：

• Garton pensively stirred the hotchpotch of his hair. 加顿沉思着搅动自己的乱发。 来自辞典例句
• "Oh, me,'said Carrie, pensively. "I wish I could live in such a place." “唉，真的，"嘉莉幽幽地说，"我真想住在那种房子里。” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

3 serried   

adj.拥挤的；密集的

参考例句：

• The fields were mostly patches laid on the serried landscape.between crevices and small streams.农田大部分是地缝和小溪之间的条状小块。
• On the shelf are serried rows of law books and law reports.书橱上是排得密密匝匝的几排法律书籍和判例汇编。

4 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

5 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。

6 diminution   

n.减少；变小

参考例句：

• They hope for a small diminution in taxes.他们希望捐税能稍有减少。
• He experienced no diminution of his physical strength.他并未感觉体力衰落。

7 suavity   

n.温和；殷勤

参考例句：

• He's got a surface flow of suavity,but he's rough as a rasp underneath.他表面看来和和气气的，其实是个粗野狂暴的恶棍。
• But the well-bred,artificial smile,when he bent upon the guests,had its wonted steely suavity.但是他哈着腰向宾客招呼的那种彬彬有礼、故意装成的笑容里，却仍然具有它平时那种沉着的殷勤。

8 defective   

adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的

参考例句：

• The firm had received bad publicity over a defective product. 该公司因为一件次品而受到媒体攻击。
• If the goods prove defective, the customer has the right to compensation. 如果货品证明有缺陷， 顾客有权索赔。

9 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。

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 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。

12 hoax   

v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧

参考例句：

• They were the victims of a cruel hoax.他们是一个残忍恶作剧的受害者。
• They hoax him out of his money.他们骗去他的钱。

13 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。

14 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

15 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

16 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

17 levity   

n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变

参考例句：

• His remarks injected a note of levity into the proceedings.他的话将一丝轻率带入了议事过程中。
• At the time,Arnold had disapproved of such levity.那时候的阿诺德对这种轻浮行为很看不惯。

18 sonorous   

adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇

参考例句：

• The sonorous voice of the speaker echoed round the room.那位演讲人洪亮的声音在室内回荡。
• He has a deep sonorous voice.他的声音深沉而洪亮。

19 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。