It would have been a difficult matter for Mr. Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or any one else’s wherein his wife failed in her duty toward their children. It was something which he felt rather than perceived, and he never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and ample atonement.
If one of the little Pontellier boys took a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to rush crying to his mother’s arms for comfort; he would more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of his eyes and the sand out of his mouth, and go on playing. Tots as they were, they pulled together and stood their ground in childish battles with doubled fists and uplifted voices, which usually prevailed against the other mother-tots. The quadroon nurse was looked upon as a huge encumbrance1, only good to button up waists and panties and to brush and part hair; since it seemed to be a law of society that hair must be parted and brushed.
In short, Mrs. Pontellier was not a mother-woman. The motherwomen seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle2. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed3 it a holy privilege to efface4 themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels.
Many of them were delicious in the role; one of them was the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. If her husband did not adore her, he was a brute5, deserving of death by slow torture. Her name was Adele Ratignolle. There are no words to describe her save the old ones that have served so often to picture the bygone heroine of romance and the fair lady of our dreams. There was nothing subtle or hidden about her charms; her beauty was all there, flaming and apparent: the spun-gold hair that comb nor confining pin could restrain; the blue eyes that were like nothing but sapphires6; two lips that pouted7, that were so red one could only think of cherries or some other delicious crimson8 fruit in looking at them. She was growing a little stout9, but it did not seem to detract an iota10 from the grace of every step, pose, gesture. One would not have wanted her white neck a mite11 less full or her beautiful arms more slender. Never were hands more exquisite12 than hers, and it was a joy to look at them when she threaded her needle or adjusted her gold thimble to her taper13 middle finger as she sewed away on the little night-drawers or fashioned a bodice or a bib.
Madame Ratignolle was very fond of Mrs. Pontellier, and often she took her sewing and went over to sit with her in the afternoons. She was sitting there the afternoon of the day the box arrived from New Orleans. She had possession of the rocker, and she was busily engaged in sewing upon a diminutive14 pair of night-drawers.
She had brought the pattern of the drawers for Mrs. Pontellier to cut out-a marvel15 of construction, fashioned to enclose a baby’s body so effectually that only two small eyes might look out from the garment, like an Eskimo’s. They were designed for winter wear, when treacherous16 drafts came down chimneys and insidious17 currents of deadly cold found their way through key-holes.
Mrs. Pontellier’s mind was quite at rest concerning the present material needs of her children, and she could not see the use of anticipating and making winter night garments the subject of her summer meditations18. But she did not want to appear unamiable and uninterested, so she had brought forth19 newspapers, which she spread upon the floor of the gallery, and under Madame Ratignolle’s directions she had cut a pattern of the impervious20 garment.
Robert was there, seated as he had been the Sunday before, and Mrs. Pontellier also occupied her former position on the upper step, leaning listlessly against the post. Beside her was a box of bonbons21, which she held out at intervals22 to Madame Ratignolle.
That lady seemed at a loss to make a selection, but finally settled upon a stick of nougat, wondering if it were not too rich; whether it could possibly hurt her. Madame Ratignolle had been married seven years. About every two years she had a baby. At that time she had three babies, and was beginning to think of a fourth one. She was always talking about her “condition.” Her “condition” was in no way apparent, and no one would have known a thing about it but for her persistence23 in making it the subject of conversation.
Robert started to reassure24 her, asserting that he had known a lady who had subsisted25 upon nougat during the entire-but seeing the color mount into Mrs. Pontellier’s face he checked himself and changed the subject.
Mrs. Pontellier, though she had married a Creole, was not thoroughly26 at home in the society of Creoles; never before had she been thrown so intimately among them. There were only Creoles that summer at Lebrun’s . They all knew each other, and felt like one large family, among whom existed the most amicable27 relations. A characteristic which distinguished28 them and which impressed Mrs. Pontellier most forcibly was their entire absence of prudery. Their freedom of expression was at first incomprehensible to her, though she had no difficulty in reconciling it with a lofty chastity which in the Creole woman seems to be inborn29 and unmistakable.
Never would Edna Pontellier forget the shock with which she heard Madame Ratignolle relating to old Monsieur Farival the harrowing story of one of her accouchements, withholding30 no intimate detail. She was growing accustomed to like shocks, but she could not keep the mounting color back from her cheeks. Oftener than once her coming had interrupted the droll31 story with which Robert was entertaining some amused group of married women.
A book had gone the rounds of the pension. When it came her turn to read it, she did so with profound astonishment32. She felt moved to read the book in secret and solitude33, though none of the others had done so,-to hide it from view at the sound of approaching footsteps. It was openly criticised and freely discussed at table. Mrs. Pontellier gave over being astonished, and concluded that wonders would never cease.
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encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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sapphires
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| n.蓝宝石，钢玉宝石( sapphire的名词复数 )；蔚蓝色 | |
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pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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iota
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| n.些微，一点儿 | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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diminutive
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| adj.小巧可爱的，小的 | |
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marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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bonbons
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| n.小糖果( bonbon的名词复数 ) | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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subsisted
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| v.（靠很少的钱或食物）维持生活，生存下去( subsist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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inborn
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| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
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withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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