“How do you do, Marya Dmitrievna?” cried the young man in a pleasant, ringing voice. “How do you like my new purchase?”
Marya Dmitrievna went up to the window.
“How do you do, Woldemar! Ah, what a splendid horse! Where did you buy it?”
“I bought it from the army contractor1 . . . . He made me pay for it too, the brigand2!”
“What’s its name?”
“Orlando . . . . But it’s a stupid name; I want to change . . . . Eh bien, eh bien, mon garcon . . . . What a restless beast it is!” The horse snorted, pawed the ground, and shook the foam3 off the bit.
“Lenotchka, stroke him, don’t be afraid.”
The little girl stretched her hand out of the window, but Orlando suddenly reared and started. The rider with perfect self-possession gave it a cut with the whip across the neck, and keeping a tight grip with his legs forced it in spite of its opposition4, to stand still again at the window.
“Prenez garde, prenez garde,” Marya Dmitrievna kept repeating.
“Lenotchka, pat him,” said the young man, “I won’t let him be perverse5.”
The little girl again stretched out her hand and timidly patted the quivering nostrils6 of the horse, who kept fidgeting and champing the bit.
“Bravo!” cried Marya Dmitrievna, “but now get off and come in to us.”
The rider adroitly7 turned his horse, gave him a touch of the spur, and galloping8 down the street soon reached the courtyard. A minute later he ran into the drawing-room by the door from the hall, flourishing his whip; at the same moment there appeared in the other doorway9 a tall, slender dark-haired girl of nineteen, Marya Dmitrievna’s eldest10 daughter, Lisa.
1 contractor | |
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌 | |
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2 brigand | |
n.土匪,强盗 | |
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3 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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4 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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5 perverse | |
adj.刚愎的;坚持错误的,行为反常的 | |
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6 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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7 adroitly | |
adv.熟练地,敏捷地 | |
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8 galloping | |
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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9 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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10 eldest | |
adj.最年长的,最年老的 | |
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