Nearly a dozen gentlemen broke out at once into voluble speech. Nutter1 was in a confounded passion; but being a man of few words, showed his wrath2 chiefly in his countenance3, and stood with his legs apart and his arms stuffed straight into his coat pockets, his back to the fire-place, with his chest thrown daringly out, sniffing4 the air in a state of high tension, and as like as a respectable little fellow of five feet six could be to that giant who smelt5 the blood of the Irishman, and swore, with a ‘Fee! Faw!! Fum!!!’ he’d ‘eat him for his supper that night.’
‘None of the corps6 can represent you, Nutter, you know,’ said Captain Cluffe. ‘It may go hard enough with Puddock and O’Flaherty, as the matter stands; but, by Jove! if any of us appear on the other side, the general would make it a very serious affair, indeed.’
‘Toole, can’t you?’ asked Devereux.
‘Out of the question,’ answered he, shutting his eyes, with a frown, and shaking his head. ‘There’s no man I’d do it sooner for, Nutter knows; but I can’t — I’ve refused too often; besides, you’ll want me professionally, you know; for Sturk must attend that Royal Hospital enquiry tomorrow all day — but hang it, where’s the difficulty? Isn’t there?— pooh!— why there must be lots of fellows at hand. Just — a — just think for a minute.’
‘I don’t care who,’ said Nutter, with dry ferocity, ‘so he can load a pistol.’
‘Tom Forsythe would have done capitally, if he was at home,’ said one.
‘But he’s not,’ remarked Cluffe.
‘Well,’ said Toole, getting close up to Devereux, in a coaxing7 undertone, ‘suppose we try Loftus.’
‘Dan Loftus!’ ejaculated Devereux.
‘Dan Loftus,’ repeated the little doctor, testily8; ‘remember, it’s just eleven o’clock. He’s no great things, to be sure; but what better can we get.’
‘Allons, donc!’ said Devereux, donning his cocked-hat, with a shrug9, and the least little bit of a satirical smile, and out bustled10 the doctor beside him.
‘Where the deuce did that broganeer, O’Flaherty, come from?’ said Cluffe, confidentially11, to old Major O’Neill.
‘A Connaughtman,’ answered the major, with a grim smile, for he was himself of that province and was, perhaps, a little bit proud of his countryman.
‘Toole says he’s well connected,’ pursued Cluffe; ‘but, by Jupiter! I never saw so-mere a Teague; and the most cross-grained devil of a cat-a-mountain.’
‘I could not quite understand why he fastened on Mr. Nutter,’ observed the major, with a mild smile.
‘I’ll rid the town of him,’ rapped out Nutter, with an oath, leering at his own shoebuckle, and tapping the sole with asperity12 on the floor.
‘If you are thinking of any unpleasant measures, gentlemen, I’d rather, if you please, know nothing of them,’ said the sly, quiet major; ‘for the general, you are aware, has expressed a strong opinion about such affairs; and as ’tis past my bed-hour, I’ll wish you, gentlemen, a good-night,’ and off went the major.
‘Upon my life, if this Connaught rapparee is permitted to carry on his business of indiscriminate cut-throat here, he’ll make the service very pleasant,’ resumed Cluffe, who, though a brisk young fellow of eight-and-forty, had no special fancy for being shot. ‘I say the general ought to take the matter into his own hands.’
‘Not till I’m done with it,’ growled13 Nutter.
‘And send the young gentleman home to Connaught,’ pursued Cluffe.
‘I’ll send him first to the other place,’ said Nutter, in allusion14 to the Lord Protector’s well-known alternative.
In the open street, under the sly old moon, red little Dr. Toole, in his great wig15, and Gipsy Devereux, in quest of a squire16 for the good knight17 who stood panting for battle in the front parlour of the ‘Phoenix18,’ saw a red glimmer19 in Loftus’s dormant20 window.
‘He’s alive and stirring still,’ said Devereux, approaching the hall door with a military nonchalance21.
‘Whisht!’ said Toole, plucking him back by the sash: ‘we must not make a noise — the house is asleep. I’ll manage it — leave it to me.’
And he took up a handful of gravel22, but not having got the range, he shied it all against old Tom Drought’s bed-room window.
‘Deuce take that old sneak,’ whispered Toole vehemently24, ‘he’s always in the way; the last man in the town I’d have — but no matter:’ and up went a pebble25, better directed, for this time it went right through Loftus’s window, and a pleasant little shower of broken glass jingled26 down into the street.
‘Confound you, Toole,’ said Devereux, ‘you’ll rouse the town.
‘Plague take the fellow’s glass — it’s as thin as paper,’ sputtered27 Toole.
‘Loftus, we want you,’ said Toole, in a hard whispered shout, and making a speaking trumpet28 of his hands, as the wild head of the student, like nothing in life but a hen’s nest, appeared above.
‘Cock–Loftus, come down, d’ye hear?’ urged Devereux.
‘Dr. Toole and Lieutenant29 Devereux — I— I— dear me! yes. Gentlemen, your most obedient,’ murmured Loftus vacantly, and knocking his head smartly on the top of the window frame, in recovering from a little bow. ‘I’ll be wi’ ye, gentlemen, in a moment.’ And the hen’s nest vanished.
Toole and Devereux drew back a little into the shadow of the opposite buildings, for while they were waiting, a dusky apparition30, supposed to be old Drought in his night-shirt, appeared at that gentleman’s windows, saluting31 the ambassadors with mop and moe, in a very threatening and energetic way. Just as this demonstration32 subsided33, the hall door opened wide — and indeed was left so — while our friend Loftus, in a wonderful tattered34 old silk coat, that looked quite indescribable by moonlight, the torn linings35 hanging down in loops inside the skirts, pale and discoloured, like the shreds36 of banners in a cathedral; his shirt loose at the neck, his breeches unbuttoned at the knees, and a gigantic, misshapen, and mouldy pair of slippers37 clinging and clattering38 about his feet, came down the steps, his light, round little eyes and queer, quiet face peering at them into the shade, and a smokified volume of divinity tucked under his arm, with his finger between the leaves to keep the place.
When Devereux saw him approaching, the whole thing — mission, service, man, and all — struck him in so absurd a point of view, that he burst out into an explosion of laughter, which only grew more vehement23 and uproarious the more earnestly and imploringly39 Toole tried to quiet him, pointing up with both hands, and all his fingers extended, to the windows of the sleeping townsfolk, and making horrible grimaces40, shrugs41, and ogles42. But the young gentleman was not in the habit of denying himself innocent indulgences, and shaking himself loose of Toole, he walked down the dark side of the street in peals43 of laughter, making, ever and anon, little breathless remarks to himself, which his colleague could not hear, but which seemed to have the effect of setting him off again into new hemi-demi-semiquavers and roars of laughter, and left the doctor to himself, to conduct the negociation with Loftus.
‘Well?’ said Devereux, by this time recovering breath, as the little doctor, looking very red and glum44, strutted45 up to him along the shady pavement.
‘Well? well? — oh, ay, very well, to be sure. I’d like to know what the plague we’re to do now,’ grumbled46 Toole.
‘Your precious armour-bearer refuses to act then?’ asked Devereux.
‘To be sure he does. He sees you walking down the street, ready to die o’ laughing — at nothing, by Jove!’ swore Toole, in deep disgust; ‘and — and — och! hang it! it’s all a confounded pack o’ nonsense. Sir, if you could not keep grave for five minutes, you ought not to have come at all. But what need I care? It’s Nutter’s affair, not mine.’
‘And well for him we failed. Did you ever see such a fish? He’d have shot himself or Nutter, to a certainty. But there’s a chance yet: we forgot the Nightingale Club; they’re still in the Phoenix.’
‘Pooh, Sir! they’re all tailors and green-grocers,’ said Toole, in high dudgeon.
‘There are two or three good names among them, however,’ answered Devereux; and by this time they were on the threshold of the Phoenix.
‘Larry,’ he cried to the waiter, ‘the Nightingale Club is there, is it not?’ glancing at the great back parlour door.
‘Be the powers! Captain, you may say that,’ said Larry, with a wink47, and a grin of exquisite48 glee.
‘See, Larry,’ said Toole, with importance, ‘we’re a little serious now; so just say if there’s any of the gentlemen there; you — you understand, now; quite steady? D’ye see me?’
Larry winked49 — this time a grave wink — looked down at the floor, and up to the cornice, and —
‘Well,’ said he, ‘to be candid50 with you, jest at this minute — half-an-hour ago, you see, it was different — the only gentleman I’d take on myself to recommend to you as perfectly51 sober is Mr. Macan, of Petticoat-lane.’
‘Is he in business?’ asked Toole.
‘Does he keep a shop?’ said Devereux.
‘A shop! two shops;— a great man in the chandlery line,’ responded Larry.
‘H’m! not precisely52 the thing we want, though,’ says Toole.
‘There are some of them, surely, that don’t keep shops,’ said Devereux, a little impatiently.
‘Millions!’ said Larry.
‘Come, say their names.’
‘Only one of them came this evening, Mr. Doolan, of Stonnybatther — he’s a retired53 merchant.’
‘That will do,’ said Toole, under his breath, to Devereux. Devereux nodded.
‘Just, I say, tap him on the shoulder, and tell him that Dr. Toole, you know, of this town, with many compliments and excuses, begs one word with him,’ said the doctor.
‘Hoo! Docthur dear, he was the first of them down, and was carried out to his coach insensible jist when Mr. Crozier of Christ Church began, “Come Roger and listen;” he’s in his bed in Stonnybatther a good hour and a half ago.’
‘A retired merchant,’ says Devereux; ‘well, Toole, what do you advise now?’
‘By Jove, I think one of us must go into town. ’Twill never do to leave poor Nutter in the lurch54; and between ourselves, that O’Flaherty’s a — a blood-thirsty idiot, by Jove — and ought to be put down.’
‘Let’s see Nutter — you or I must go — we’ll take one of these songster’s “noddies.”’
A ‘noddy’ give me leave to remark, was the one-horse hack55 vehicle of Dublin and the country round, which has since given place to the jaunting car, which is, in its turn, half superseded56 by the cab.
And Devereux, followed by Toole, entered the front parlour again. But without their help, the matter was arranging itself, and a second, of whom they knew nothing, was about to emerge.
收听单词发音 |
1
nutter
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| n.疯子 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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coaxing
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应 | |
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testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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asperity
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| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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nonchalance
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| n.冷淡，漠不关心 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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vehement
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| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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vehemently
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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saluting
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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linings
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| n.衬里( lining的名词复数 )；里子；衬料；组织 | |
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shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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grimaces
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| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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ogles
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| v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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glum
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| adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的 | |
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strutted
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| 趾高气扬地走，高视阔步( strut的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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47
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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48
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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49
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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50
candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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