Part 2 Chapter 8

    Thinking no harm, for the family would not come, never again, somesaid, and the house would be sold at Michaelmas perhaps, Mrs McNabstooped and picked a bunch of flowers to take home with her. She laidthem on the table while she dusted. She was fond of flowers. It was apity to let them waste. Suppose the house were sold (she stood armsakimbo in front of the looking-glass) it would want seeing to—it would.

　　There it had stood all these years without a soul in it. The books andthings were mouldy, for, what with the war and help being hard to get,the house had not been cleaned as she could have wished. It was beyondone person's strength to get it straight now. She was too old. Her legspained her. All those books needed to be laid out on the grass in the sun;there was plaster fallen in the hall; the rain-pipe had blocked over thestudy window and let the water in; the carpet was ruined quite. Butpeople should come themselves; they should have sent somebody downto see. For there were clothes in the cupboards; they had left clothes in allthe bedrooms. What was she to do with them? They had the moth¹ inthem—Mrs Ramsay's things. Poor lady! She would never want THEMagain. She was dead, they said; years ago, in London. There was the oldgrey cloak she wore gardening (Mrs McNab fingered it). She could seeher, as she came up the drive with the washing, stooping over herflowers (the garden was a pitiful sight now, all run to riot, and rabbitsscuttling at you out of the beds)—she could see her with one of the childrenby her in that grey cloak. There were boots and shoes; and a brushand comb left on the dressing-table, for all the world as if she expected tocome back tomorrow. (She had died very sudden at the end, they said.)And once they had been coming, but had put off coming, what with thewar, and travel being so difficult these days; they had never come allthese years; just sent her money; but never wrote, never came, and expectedto find things as they had left them, ah, dear! Why the dressing-table drawers were full of things (she pulled them open), handkerchiefs,bits of ribbon. Yes, she could see Mrs Ramsay as she came up the drivewith the washing.

　　"Good-evening, Mrs McNab," she would say.

　　She had a pleasant way with her. The girls all liked her. But, dear,many things had changed since then (she shut the drawer); many familieshad lost their dearest. So she was dead; and Mr Andrew killed; andMiss Prue dead too, they said, with her first baby; but everyone had lostsome one these years. Prices had gone up shamefully², and didn't comedown again neither. She could well remember her in her grey cloak.

　　"Good-evening, Mrs McNab," she said, and told cook to keep a plate ofmilk soup for her—quite thought she wanted it, carrying that heavy basketall the way up from town. She could see her now, stooping over herflowers; and faint and flickering³, like a yellow beam or the circle at theend of a telescope, a lady in a grey cloak, stooping over her flowers, wentwandering over the bedroom wall, up the dressing-table, across thewash-stand, as Mrs McNab hobbled and ambled⁴, dusting, straightening.

　　And cook's name now? Mildred? Marian?—some name like that. Ah, shehad forgotten—she did forget things. Fiery⁵, like all red-haired women.

　　Many a laugh they had had. She was always welcome in the kitchen. Shemade them laugh, she did. Things were better then than now.

　　She sighed; there was too much work for one woman. She wagged herhead this side and that. This had been the nursery. Why, it was all dampin here; the plaster was falling. Whatever did they want to hang a beast'sskull there? gone mouldy too. And rats in all the attics⁶. The rain came in.

　　But they never sent; never came. Some of the locks had gone, so thedoors banged. She didn't like to be up here at dusk alone neither. It wastoo much for one woman, too much, too much. She creaked, shemoaned. She banged the door. She turned the key in the lock, and left thehouse alone, shut up, locked.

1 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

2 shamefully   

可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。
• They have served me shamefully for a long time. 长期以来，他们待我很坏。

3 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

4 ambled   

v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步

参考例句：

• We ambled down to the beach. 我们漫步向海滩走去。
• The old man ambled home through the garden every evening. 那位老人每天晚上经过花园漫步回家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

6 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。