Part 1 Chapter 16

    Well then, Nancy had gone with them, Mrs Ramsay supposed, wondering,as she put down a brush, took up a comb, and said "Come in" to atap at the door (Jasper and Rose came in), whether the fact that Nancywas with them made it less likely or more likely that anything wouldhappen; it made it less likely, somehow, Mrs Ramsay felt, very irrationally,except that after all holocaust¹ on such a scale was not probable.

　　They could not all be drowned. And again she felt alone in the presenceof her old antagonist², life.

　　Jasper and Rose said that Mildred wanted to know whether sheshould wait dinner.

　　"Not for the Queen of England," said Mrs Ramsay emphatically.

　　"Not for the Empress of Mexico," she added, laughing at Jasper; for heshared his mother's vice³: he, too, exaggerated.

　　And if Rose liked, she said, while Jasper took the message, she mightchoose which jewels she was to wear. When there are fifteen people sittingdown to dinner, one cannot keep things waiting for ever. She wasnow beginning to feel annoyed with them for being so late; it was inconsiderateof them, and it annoyed her on top of her anxiety about them,that they should choose this very night to be out late, when, in fact, shewished the dinner to be particularly nice, since William Bankes had atlast consented to dine with them; and they were having Mildred's masterpiece—BOEUF EN DAUBE. Everything depended upon things beingserved up to the precise moment they were ready. The beef, the bayleaf,and the wine—all must be done to a turn. To keep it waiting was out ofthe question. Yet of course tonight, of all nights, out they went, and theycame in late, and things had to be sent out, things had to be kept hot; theBOEUF EN DAUBE would be entirely⁴ spoilt.

　　Jasper offered her an opal necklace; Rose a gold necklace. Whichlooked best against her black dress? Which did indeed, said Mrs Ramsayabsent-mindedly, looking at her neck and shoulders (but avoiding herface) in the glass. And then, while the children rummaged⁵ among herthings, she looked out of the window at a sight which always amusedher—the rooks trying to decide which tree to settle on. Every time, theyseemed to change their minds and rose up into the air again, because,she thought, the old rook, the father rook, old Joseph was her name forhim, was a bird of a very trying and difficult disposition⁶. He was a disreputableold bird, with half his wing feathers missing. He was like someseedy old gentleman in a top hat she had seen playing the horn in frontof a public house.

　　"Look!" she said, laughing. They were actually fighting. Joseph andMary were fighting. Anyhow they all went up again, and the air wasshoved aside by their black wings and cut into exquisite⁷ scimitar shapes.

　　The movements of the wings beating out, out, out—she could never describeit accurately⁸ enough to please herself—was one of the loveliest ofall to her. Look at that, she said to Rose, hoping that Rose would see itmore clearly than she could. For one's children so often gave one's ownperceptions a little thrust forwards.

　　But which was it to be? They had all the trays of her jewel-case open.

　　The gold necklace, which was Italian, or the opal necklace, which UncleJames had brought her from India; or should she wear her amethysts⁹?

　　"Choose, dearests, choose," she said, hoping that they would makehaste.

　　But she let them take their time to choose: she let Rose, particularly,take up this and then that, and hold her jewels against the black dress,for this little ceremony of choosing jewels, which was gone throughevery night, was what Rose liked best, she knew. She had some hiddenreason of her own for attaching great importance to this choosing whather mother was to wear. What was the reason, Mrs Ramsay wondered,standing still to let her clasp the necklace she had chosen, divining,through her own past, some deep, some buried, some quite speechlessfeeling that one had for one's mother at Rose's age. Like all feelings feltfor oneself, Mrs Ramsay thought, it made one sad. It was so inadequate,what one could give in return; and what Rose felt was quite out of proportionto anything she actually was. And Rose would grow up; andRose would suffer, she supposed, with these deep feelings, and she saidshe was ready now, and they would go down, and Jasper, because hewas the gentleman, should give her his arm, and Rose, as she was thelady, should carry her handkerchief (she gave her the handkerchief), andwhat else? oh, yes, it might be cold: a shawl. Choose me a shawl, shesaid, for that would please Rose, who was bound to suffer so. "There,"she said, stopping by the window on the landing, "there they are again."Joseph had settled on another tree-top. "Don't you think they mind," shesaid to Jasper, "having their wings broken?" Why did he want to shootpoor old Joseph and Mary? He shuffled¹⁰ a little on the stairs, and felt rebuked,but not seriously, for she did not understand the fun of shootingbirds; and they did not feel; and being his mother she lived away in anotherdivision of the world, but he rather liked her stories about Maryand Joseph. She made him laugh. But how did she know that those wereMary and Joseph? Did she think the same birds came to the same treesevery night? he asked. But here, suddenly, like all grown-up people, sheceased to pay him the least attention. She was listening to a clatter¹¹ in thehall.

　　"They've come back!" she exclaimed, and at once she felt much moreannoyed with them than relieved. Then she wondered, had it happened?

　　She would go down and they would tell her—but no. They could not tellher anything, with all these people about. So she must go down and begindinner and wait. And, like some queen who, finding her peoplegathered in the hall, looks down upon them, and descends¹² among them,and acknowledges their tributes silently, and accepts their devotion andtheir prostration¹³ before her (Paul did not move a muscle but lookedstraight before him as she passed) she went down, and crossed the halland bowed her head very slightly, as if she accepted what they could notsay: their tribute to her beauty.

　　But she stopped. There was a smell of burning. Could they have let theBOEUF EN DAUBE overboil? she wondered, pray heaven not! when thegreat clangour of the gong announced solemnly, authoritatively¹⁴, that allthose scattered¹⁵ about, in attics¹⁶, in bedrooms, on little perches¹⁷ of theirown, reading, writing, putting the last smooth to their hair, or fasteningdresses, must leave all that, and the little odds¹⁸ and ends on theirwashing-tables and dressing¹⁹ tables, and the novels on the bed-tables,and the diaries which were so private, and assemble in the dining-roomfor dinner.

1 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

2 antagonist   

n.敌人，对抗者，对手

参考例句：

• His antagonist in the debate was quicker than he.在辩论中他的对手比他反应快。
• The thing is to know the nature of your antagonist.要紧的是要了解你的对手的特性。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 rummaged   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 )； 已经海关检查

参考例句：

• I rummaged through all the boxes but still could not find it. 几个箱子都翻腾遍了也没有找到。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods. 海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

6 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

7 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

9 amethysts   

n.紫蓝色宝石( amethyst的名词复数 )；紫晶；紫水晶；紫色

参考例句：

• The necklace consisted of amethysts set in gold. 这是一条金镶紫水晶项链。 来自柯林斯例句

10 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》

11 clatter   

v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声

参考例句：

• The dishes and bowls slid together with a clatter.碟子碗碰得丁丁当当的。
• Don't clatter your knives and forks.别把刀叉碰得咔哒响。

12 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 prostration   

n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳

参考例句：

• a state of prostration brought on by the heat 暑热导致的虚脱状态
• A long period of worrying led to her nervous prostration. 长期的焦虑导致她的神经衰弱。

14 authoritatively   

命令式地，有权威地，可信地

参考例句：

• "If somebody'll come here and sit with him," he snapped authoritatively. “来个人到这儿陪他坐着。”他用发号施令的口吻说。
• To decide or settle(a dispute, for example) conclusively and authoritatively. 判定结论性、权威性地决定或解决（纠纷等）

15 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

16 attics   

n. 阁楼

参考例句：

• They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics. 他们把暂时不需要的东西放在抽屉里、壁橱中和搁楼上。
• He rummaged busily in the attics of European literature, bringing to light much of interest. 他在欧洲文学的阁楼里忙着翻箱倒笼，找到了不少有趣的东西。

17 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

18 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

19 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。