Part 1 Chapter 8

    He said nothing. He took opium¹. The children said he had stained hisbeard yellow with it. Perhaps. What was obvious to her was that thepoor man was unhappy, came to them every year as an escape; and yetevery year she felt the same thing; he did not trust her. She said, "I amgoing to the town. Shall I get you stamps, paper, tobacco?" and she felthim wince². He did not trust her. It was his wife's doing. She rememberedthat iniquity³ of his wife's towards him, which had made her turn to steeland adamant⁴ there, in the horrible little room in St John's Wood, whenwith her own eyes she had seen that odious⁵ woman turn him out of thehouse. He was unkempt; he dropped things on his coat; he had the tiresomenessof an old man with nothing in the world to do; and she turnedhim out of the room. She said, in her odious way, "Now, Mrs Ramsayand I want to have a little talk together," and Mrs Ramsay could see, as ifbefore her eyes, the innumerable miseries⁶ of his life. Had he moneyenough to buy tobacco? Did he have to ask her for it? half a crown?

　　eighteenpence? Oh, she could not bear to think of the little indignitiesshe made him suffer. And always now (why, she could not guess, exceptthat it came probably from that woman somehow) he shrank from her.

　　He never told her anything. But what more could she have done? Therewas a sunny room given up to him. The children were good to him.

　　Never did she show a sign of not wanting him. She went out of her wayindeed to be friendly. Do you want stamps, do you want tobacco? Here'sa book you might like and so on. And after all—after all (here insensiblyshe drew herself together, physically⁷, the sense of her own beauty becoming,as it did so seldom, present to her) after all, she had not generallyany difficulty in making people like her; for instance, George Manning;Mr Wallace; famous as they were, they would come to her of anevening, quietly, and talk alone over her fire. She bore about with her,she could not help knowing it, the torch of her beauty; she carried it erectinto any room that she entered; and after all, veil it as she might, andshrink from the monotony of bearing that it imposed on her, her beautywas apparent. She had been admired. She had been loved. She hadentered rooms where mourners sat. Tears had flown in her presence.

　　Men, and women too, letting go to the multiplicity of things, had allowedthemselves with her the relief of simplicity⁸. It injured her that heshould shrink. It hurt her. And yet not cleanly, not rightly. That waswhat she minded, coming as it did on top of her discontent with her husband;the sense she had now when Mr Carmichael shuffled⁹ past, justnodding to her question, with a book beneath his arm, in his yellow slippers,that she was suspected; and that all this desire of hers to give, tohelp, was vanity. For her own self-satisfaction was it that she wished soinstinctively to help, to give, that people might say of her, "O Mrs Ram-say! dear Mrs Ramsay… Mrs Ramsay, of course!" and need her and sendfor her and admire her? Was it not secretly this that she wanted, andtherefore when Mr Carmichael shrank away from her, as he did at thismoment, making off to some corner where he did acrostics endlessly, shedid not feel merely snubbed back in her instinct, but made aware of thepettiness of some part of her, and of human relations, how flawed theyare, how despicable, how self-seeking, at their best. Shabby and wornout, and not presumably (her cheeks were hollow, her hair was white)any longer a sight that filled the eyes with joy, she had better devote hermind to the story of the Fisherman and his Wife and so pacify¹⁰ thatbundle of sensitiveness (none of her children was as sensitive as he was),her son James.

　　"The man's heart grew heavy," she read aloud, "and he would not go.

　　He said to himself, 'It is not right,' and yet he went. And when he cameto the sea the water was quite purple and dark blue, and grey and thick,and no longer so green and yellow, but it was still quiet. And he stoodthere and said—"Mrs Ramsay could have wished that her husband had not chosen thatmoment to stop. Why had he not gone as he said to watch the childrenplaying cricket? But he did not speak; he looked; he nodded; he approved;he went on. He slipped, seeing before him that hedge which hadover and over again rounded some pause, signified some conclusion,seeing his wife and child, seeing again the urns¹¹ with the trailing of redgeraniums which had so often decorated processes of thought, and bore,written up among their leaves, as if they were scraps¹² of paper on whichone scribbles¹³ notes in the rush of reading—he slipped, seeing all this,smoothly into speculation¹⁴ suggested by an article in THE TIMES aboutthe number of Americans who visit Shakespeare's house every year. IfShakespeare had never existed, he asked, would the world have differedmuch from what it is today? Does the progress of civilization dependupon great men? Is the lot of the average human being better now thanin the time of the Pharaohs? Is the lot of the average human being,however, he asked himself, the criterion by which we judge the measureof civilization? Possibly not. Possibly the greatest good requires the existenceof a slave class. The liftman in the Tube is an eternal necessity. Thethought was distasteful to him. He tossed his head. To avoid it, he wouldfind some way of snubbing the predominance of the arts. He would arguethat the world exists for the average human being; that the arts aremerely a decoration imposed on the top of human life; they do not expressit. Nor is Shakespeare necessary to it. Not knowing precisely¹⁵ whyit was that he wanted to disparage¹⁶ Shakespeare and come to the rescueof the man who stands eternally in the door of the lift, he picked a leafsharply from the hedge. All this would have to be dished up for theyoung men at Cardiff next month, he thought; here, on his terrace, hewas merely foraging¹⁷ and picnicking (he threw away the leaf that he hadpicked so peevishly) like a man who reaches from his horse to pick abunch of roses, or stuffs his pockets with nuts as he ambles¹⁸ at his easethrough the lanes and fields of a country known to him from boyhood. Itwas all familiar; this turning, that stile, that cut across the fields. Hourshe would spend thus, with his pipe, of an evening, thinking up anddown and in and out of the old familiar lanes and commons, which wereall stuck about with the history of that campaign there, the life of thisstatesman here, with poems and with anecdotes¹⁹, with figures too, thisthinker, that soldier; all very brisk and clear; but at length the lane, thefield, the common, the fruitful nut-tree and the flowering hedge led himon to that further turn of the road where he dismounted always, tied hishorse to a tree, and proceeded on foot alone. He reached the edge of thelawn and looked out on the bay beneath.

　　It was his fate, his peculiarity²⁰, whether he wished it or not, to come outthus on a spit of land which the sea is slowly eating away, and there tostand, like a desolate²¹ sea-bird, alone. It was his power, his gift, suddenlyto shed all superfluities, to shrink and diminish so that he looked barerand felt sparer, even physically, yet lost none of his intensity²² of mind,and so to stand on his little ledge²³ facing the dark of human ignorance,how we know nothing and the sea eats away the ground we standon—that was his fate, his gift. But having thrown away, when he dismounted,all gestures and fripperies, all trophies²⁴ of nuts and roses, andshrunk so that not only fame but even his own name was forgotten byhim, kept even in that desolation a vigilance which spared no phantomand luxuriated in no vision, and it was in this guise²⁵ that he inspired inWilliam Bankes (intermittently) and in Charles Tansley(obsequiously)and in his wife now, when she looked up and saw himstanding at the edge of the lawn, profoundly, reverence²⁶, and pity, andgratitude too, as a stake driven into the bed of a channel upon which thegulls perch²⁷ and the waves beat inspires in merry boat-loads a feeling ofgratitude for the duty it is taking upon itself of marking the channel outthere in the floods alone.

　　"But the father of eight children has no choice." Muttering half aloud,so he broke off, turned, sighed, raised his eyes, sought the figure of hiswife reading stories to his little boy, filled his pipe. He turned from thesight of human ignorance and human fate and the sea eating the groundwe stand on, which, had he been able to contemplate²⁸ it fixedly²⁹ mighthave led to something; and found consolation³⁰ in trifles so slight comparedwith the august theme just now before him that he was disposedto slur³¹ that comfort over, to deprecate it, as if to be caught happy in aworld of misery³² was for an honest man the most despicable of crimes. Itwas true; he was for the most part happy; he had his wife; he had hischildren; he had promised in six weeks' time to talk "some nonsense" tothe young men of Cardiff about Locke, Hume, Berkeley, and the causesof the French Revolution. But this and his pleasure in it, his glory in thephrases he made, in the ardour of youth, in his wife's beauty, in the tributesthat reached him from Swansea, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton, Kidderminster,Oxford, Cambridge—all had to be deprecated and concealedunder the phrase "talking nonsense," because, in effect, he had not donethe thing he might have done. It was a disguise; it was the refuge of aman afraid to own his own feelings, who could not say, This is what Ilike—this is what I am; and rather pitiable and distasteful to WilliamBankes and Lily Briscoe, who wondered why such concealments shouldbe necessary; why he needed always praise; why so brave a man inthought should be so timid in life; how strangely he was venerable andlaughable at one and the same time.

　　Teaching and preaching is beyond human power, Lily suspected. (Shewas putting away her things.) If you are exalted³³ you must somehowcome a cropper. Mrs Ramsay gave him what he asked too easily. Thenthe change must be so upsetting, Lily said. He comes in from his booksand finds us all playing games and talking nonsense. Imagine what achange from the things he thinks about, she said.

　　He was bearing down upon them. Now he stopped dead and stoodlooking in silence at the sea. Now he had turned away again.

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 wince   

n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• His smile soon modified to a wince.他的微笑很快就成了脸部肌肉的抽搐。

3 iniquity   

n.邪恶；不公正

参考例句：

• Research has revealed that he is a monster of iniquity.调查结果显示他是一个不法之徒。
• The iniquity of the transaction aroused general indignation.这笔交易的不公引起了普遍的愤怒。

4 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

5 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

6 miseries   

n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人

参考例句：

• They forgot all their fears and all their miseries in an instant. 他们马上忘记了一切恐惧和痛苦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• I'm suffering the miseries of unemployment. 我正为失业而痛苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

9 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 pacify   

vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰

参考例句：

• He tried to pacify the protesters with promises of reform.他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。
• He tried to pacify his creditors by repaying part of the money.他为安抚债权人偿还了部分借款。

11 urns   

n.壶( urn的名词复数 )；瓮；缸；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• Wine utensils unearthed include jars, urns, pots, bowls and cups. 发掘出的酒器皿有瓶、瓮、罐、壶、碗和杯子。 来自互联网
• Ernie yearned to learn to turn urns. 呕尼渴望学会转咖啡壶。 来自互联网

12 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

13 scribbles   

n.潦草的书写( scribble的名词复数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下v.潦草的书写( scribble的第三人称单数 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• The scribbles on the wall must be the work of those children. 墙壁上的涂鸦准是那几个孩子画的。 来自辞典例句
• There are scribbles on the wall. 墙上有胡乱涂写的字迹。 来自辞典例句

14 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

15 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

16 disparage   

v.贬抑，轻蔑

参考例句：

• Your behaviour will disparage the whole family.你的行为将使全家丢脸。
• Never disparage yourself or minimize your strength or power.不要贬低你自己或降低你的力量或能力。

17 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

18 ambles   

v.（马）缓行( amble的第三人称单数 )；从容地走，漫步

参考例句：

• She ambles around the room, coming to rest before Dorothy again. 她在屋子里慢慢转悠，又走到多萝西的照片前站住了。 来自辞典例句

19 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 peculiarity   

n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖

参考例句：

• Each country has its own peculiarity.每个国家都有自己的独特之处。
• The peculiarity of this shop is its day and nigth service.这家商店的特点是昼夜服务。

21 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

22 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

23 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

24 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

25 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

26 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

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。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

27 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

28 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

29 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

30 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

31 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

32 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

33 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。