It was Christmas week, and East Cyrus was making ready for the festival. The butcher's shop was hung with turkeys and chickens, and bright with green of celery and red of cranberries1 and apples. The dry-goods store displayed in its window, beside the folds of gingham and "wool goods" and the shirt-waist patterns, a shining array of dolls and sofa-pillows, pincushions and knitted shoes; while the bookstore had all the holiday magazines, and a splendid assortment2 of tissue paper in every possible shade.
But delightful3 as all this was to the eyes of East Cyrus, there was one shop that so far outshone the rest that all day long an admiring group of children stood before it,[Pg 149] gazing in at the window, and fairly goggling4 with wonder and longing5. This was the shop of Mr. Ivory Cheeseman. Across and across the window were strings6 of silver tinsel, wonderful enough in themselves, but still more wonderful for the freight they bore; canes7 of every description, from the massive walking-stick that might have supported Lonzo's giant frame, down to dapper and delicate affairs no bigger than one's little finger; and all made of candy, red and white and yellow. That was a sight in itself, I should hope; but that was not all. The broad shelf beneath was covered with tinsel-sprinkled green, and here were creatures many, cats and lions and elephants, dromedaries and horses and turtles, all in clear barley8 sugar, red and yellow and white. Chocolate mice there were, too, bigger than the cats as a rule; and flanking these zoölogical wonders, row upon row of shining glass jars, containing every stick[Pg 150] that ever was twisted, every drop that ever was dropped.
Inside, a long counter overflowed9 with the more recondite10 forms of goodies, caramels, and burnt almonds, chocolate creams and the like; behind this counter a pretty girl stood smiling, ready to dispense11 delight in any sugary form, at so much a pound.
In the kitchen behind the shop the little stove was glowing like a friendly demon12, and beside the long table stood Mr. Cheeseman and Calvin Parks, deep in talk.
"Now you want," said the old man, "to get a good price for these goods, friend Parks. I'm lettin' you have 'em at wholesale13 price, because you're a man I like, and because I wish to see you well fixed14 and provided with a partner for life. Now here's your chance, and I'm goin' to speak right out plain. You're a good fellow, but you are not a man of business!"
"I hear about you now and again, in the way of trade," Mr. Cheeseman went on. "Folks come in, and talk a spell; you know how 'tis. I've gone so fur as to ask folks about you, folks whose opinion was worth havin'. They all like you fust-rate; say you're a good feller, none better, but you'll never make good. Ask 'em why, and they tell about your givin' goods away right along; a half a dozen sticks here, a roll of lozengers there, quarter-pounds all along the ro'd so to say. Now, young man, that ain't trade!"
Calvin's slow blood crept up among the roots of his hair. "I don't know as it's any of their darned business!" he said slowly.
"It ain't, nor yet it ain't mine to tell you; nor yet it ain't the wind's; yet it keeps on blowin' just the same, and while you're cussin' it for liftin' your hat off, it's turnin' your windmill for you. See?"[Pg 152]
Calvin raised his head with a jerk.
"I see!" he said. "That's straight. I see that, Mr. Cheeseman, and thank you for sayin' it. But—well now, see how 'tis at my end. I'm joggin' along the ro'd, see? hossy and me, who so peart, lookin' for trade. Well, here come a little gal16; pretty, like as not,—little gals17 mostly are, and when they ain't you're sorry enough to make it even—and when she sees us she stops, and hossy stops. He knows! wouldn't go on if I told him to. Say she don't speak a word; say she just looks at me kind o' wishful; what would you do? She's a child, and she wants a stick of candy; that's what I'm there for, ain't it, to see that she gets it? Well! and she hasn't got a cent. What would you do? Would you drive off and leave her cryin' in the ro'd behind you?"
"I would!" said Mr. Cheeseman firmly. "She'd ought to have got a cent from her[Pg 153] Ma, and she'll do it next time if you don't give in now."
"Mebbe she has no Ma!" said Calvin gloomily. "Mebbe her Ma's a Tartar."
"That ain't your lookout18!" retorted Mr. Cheeseman. "Now, friend Parks, it comes to just this. You put this to yourself straight; are you runnin' a candy route, or an orphan19 asylum20?"
Calvin was silent, gazing darkly at the pan of cinnamon drops before him. Mr. Cheeseman, having driven his nail home, put away his hammer.
"Now about your stock!" he said cheerfully. "You rather run to sticks in your fancy, but if I was you I'd go a mite22 more into fancy truck Christmas time. Gives 'em a change, and seems more holiday like. Take this lobster23 loaf, now!"
He laid his hand on a huge mass, chocolate-coated, its side displaying strata24 of red and white. "This is a good article when[Pg 154] you strike a large family or a corner store. It's cheap, and it's fillin'. You let me put you up a couple of loaves; what say?"
"All right!" said Calvin, still gloomily. "What next?"
"Well, here's chicken bones!" and Mr. Cheeseman picked up a handful of short white sticks. "These is good goods; try one!"
"Yes; with just a dite of peanut butter to give it a twist. Children like 'em; like the name, too; makes 'em think of the turkey that's comin'. Two or three pounds of them? That's right! All the sticks, I s'pose? and all the drops? That's it! I expect you to make your fortune this time, and no mistake. Now we come to gum drops! how about them?"
"Well," said Calvin, "I never found gum drops what you'd call real amusin'[Pg 155] myself; I like something with a mite more snap to it, don't you?"
"Did, when I had teeth like yours!" Mr. Cheeseman replied. "But you take old folks, or folks that's had their teeth out, and say, 'gum drops' to 'em, and they'll run like chickens. They like something soft, you see. How's your route off for teeth?"
"Fust thing a candy man ought to notice! Well, you take a good stock of gum drops, that's my advice. Now come to the animals—what is it, Lonzo?"
Lonzo shambled in from the shop; the tears were running down his platter face, and his huge frame shook with sobs27.
"She—she won't give me the el'phant!" he said.
"What elephant? Cheer up, Lonzo![Pg 156] don't you cry, son; Christmas is comin', you know."
"You said—you said—if I cleaned the dishes all up good for Christmas I could take my pick, and I picked the el'phant, and she won't give it to me!"
"Mr. Cheeseman, he wants that big elephant, the handsomest thing in the window; and it's a shame, and he sha'n't have it. I offered him the one you made first, that got its leg broke, and he won't look at it. There's just as much eatin' to it, for I saved the leg."
Mr. Cheeseman looked grave. "Well!" he said, "we'll see, son! You stop cryin', anyhow."
He went into the shop, Calvin following him, and they looked over the low green[Pg 157] curtain into the show-window. In the very centre, towering above the lions, camels and rabbits, stood a majestic31 white elephant fully21 a foot high. His tusks32 were of clear barley sugar; he carried a gilded33 howdah in which sat an affable personage with chocolate countenance34 and peppermint35 turban; the whole was a triumph of art, and Mr. Cheeseman gazed on it with pride, and Calvin with admiration36.
"It's the handsomest piece of confectionery I ever saw!" said Calvin with conviction.
"It is handsome, I'm free to confess!" said Mr. Cheeseman. "It cost me consid'able labor37, that did. Take it out careful, Cynthy!"
"Mr. Cheeseman! you ain't goin' to give it to Lonzo!" cried the pretty girl indignantly.
"Certin I am!" said the old man. "I told him he should take his pick, and he's[Pg 158] taken it. I didn't think of that figger, 'tis true, but what I say I stand to. Easy there! I guess you'd better let me lift it out, Cynthy!"
Very tenderly he lifted out the glittering trophy38 and placed it in Lonzo's outstretched hands. The simpleton chuckled39 his rapture40, and retired41 to his dim corner—to worship, one might have thought; he put his prize on a low table and grovelled42 before it on the floor.
Mr. Cheeseman, heedless of Cynthy's lamentations, proceeded to re-arrange the show-window, trying one effect and another, head on one side and eyes screwed critically. Satisfied at length, he turned slowly and rather reluctantly toward Calvin Parks, who had been standing43 silently by.
"After all," he said apologetically, "Christmas is for the children, and Lonzo is the Lord's child, my wife used to say, and I expect she was right."[Pg 159]
Calvin's twinkle burst into a smile.
"That's all right, Mr. Cheeseman!" he said. "That suits me first-rate. I was only wonderin' whether it was just exactly what you would call trade!"
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
cranberries
|
|
| n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
assortment
|
|
| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
goggling
|
|
| v.睁大眼睛瞪视， （惊讶的）转动眼珠( goggle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
5
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
strings
|
|
| n.弦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
canes
|
|
| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
barley
|
|
| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
overflowed
|
|
| 溢出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
recondite
|
|
| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
dispense
|
|
| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
demon
|
|
| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
wholesale
|
|
| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
meekly
|
|
| adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
gal
|
|
| n.姑娘，少女 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
gals
|
|
| abbr.gallons （复数）加仑（液量单位）n.女孩，少女( gal的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
lookout
|
|
| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
orphan
|
|
| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
asylum
|
|
| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
mite
|
|
| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
lobster
|
|
| n.龙虾，龙虾肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
strata
|
|
| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
crunched
|
|
| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
specially
|
|
| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
sobs
|
|
| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
juncture
|
|
| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
defiant
|
|
| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sobbed
|
|
| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
tusks
|
|
| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gilded
|
|
| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
peppermint
|
|
| n.薄荷，薄荷油，薄荷糖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
labor
|
|
| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
trophy
|
|
| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
chuckled
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
rapture
|
|
| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
grovelled
|
|
| v.卑躬屈节，奴颜婢膝( grovel的过去式和过去分词 )；趴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |