And the china bowl, with its silver ladle, and fine fragrance1 of lemon and old malt whiskey, and a social pair of glasses, were placed on the table by fair Mistress Irons; and Devereux filled his glass, and Toole did likewise; and the little doctor rattled2 on; and Devereux threw in his word, and finally sang a song. ’Twas a ballad3, with little in the words; but the air was sweet and plaintive4, and so was the singer’s voice:—
‘A star so High,
In my sad sky,
I’ve early loved and late:
Doth rule my wayward fate.
‘Tho’ dark and chill
The night be still,
A light comes up for me:
In eastern skies
My star doth rise,
And fortune dawns for me.
‘And proud and bold,
My way I hold;
For o’er me high I see,
In night’s deep blue,
My star shine true,
And fortune beams on me.
Thro’ dark and chill,
My lonely way must be;
In vain regret,
My star will set,
And fortune’s dark for me.
‘And whether glad,
Or proud, or sad,
Or howsoe’er I be;
In dawn or noon,
Or setting soon,
My star, I’ll follow thee.’
And so there was a pause and a silence. In the silvery notes of the singer there was the ring of a prophecy; and Toole half read its meaning. And himself loving a song, and being soft over his music, he remained fixed8 for a few seconds, and then sighed, smiling, and dried his light blue eyes covertly9; and he praised the song and singer briskly; and sighed again, with his fingers on the stem of his glass. And by this time Devereux had drawn10 the window-curtain, and was looking across the river, through the darkness, towards the Elms, perhaps for that solitary11 distant light — his star — now blurred12 and lost in the storm. Whatever his contemplations, it was plain, when he turned about, that the dark spirit was upon him again.
‘Curse that punch,’ said he, in language still more emphatic13. ‘You’re like Mephistopheles in the play — you come in upon my quiet to draw me to my ruin. ’Twas the devil sent you here, to kill my soul, I believe; but you sha’n’t. Drink, will you?— ay — I’ll give you a draught14 — a draught of air will cool you. Drink to your heart’s content.’
And to Toole’s consternation15 up went the window, and a hideous16 rush of eddying17 storm and snow whirled into the room. Out went the candles — the curtains flapped high in air, and lashed18 the ceiling — the door banged with a hideous crash — papers, and who knows what beside, went spinning, hurry-scurry round the room; and Toole’s wig19 was very near taking wing from his head.
‘Hey — hey — hey! holloo!’ cried the doctor, out of breath, and with his artificial ringlets frisking about his chops and eyes.
‘Out, sorcerer — temptation, begone — avaunt, Mephistopheles — cauldron, away!’ thundered the captain; and sure enough, from the open window, through the icy sleet20, whirled the jovial21 bowl; and the jingle22 of the china was heard faint through the tempest.
Toole was swearing, in the whirlwind and darkness, like a trooper.
‘Thank Heaven! ’tis gone,’ continued Devereux; ‘I’m safe — no thanks to you, though; and, hark ye, doctor, I’m best alone; leave me — leave me, pray — and pray forgive me.’
The doctor groped and stumbled out of the room, growling23 all the while, and the door slammed behind him with a crash like a cannon24.
‘The fellow’s brain’s disordered — delirium25 tremens, and jump out of that cursed window, I wouldn’t wonder,’ muttered the doctor, adjusting his wig on the lobby, and then calling rather mildly over the banisters, he brought up Mrs. Irons with a candle, and found his cloak, hat, and cane26; and with a mysterious look beckoned27 that matron to follow him, and in the hall, winking28 up towards the ceiling at the spot where Devereux might at the moment be presumed to be standing29 —
‘I say, has he been feverish30 or queer, or — eh?— any way humorsome or out of the way?’ And then —‘See now, you may as well have an eye after him, and if you remark anything strange, don’t fail to let me know — d’ye see? and for the present you had better get him to shut his window and light his candles.’
And so the doctor, wrapped in his mantle31, plunged32 into the hurricane and darkness; and was sensible, with a throb33 of angry regret, of a whiff of punch rising from the footpath34, as he turned the corner of the steps.
An hour later, Devereux being alone, called to Mrs. Irons, and receiving her with a courteous35 gravity, he said —
‘Madam, will you be so good as to lend me your Bible?’
Devereux was prosecuting36 his reformation, which, as the reader sees, had set in rather tempestuously37, but was now settling in serenity38 and calm.
Mrs. Irons only said —
‘My ——?’ and then paused, doubting her ears.
‘Your Bible, if you please, Madam.’
‘Oh?— oh! my Bible? I— to be sure, captain, jewel,’ and she peeped at his face, and loitered for a while at the door, for she had unpleasant misgivings39 about him, and did not know what to make of his request, so utterly40 without parallel. She’d have fiddled41 at the door some time longer, speculating about his sanity42, but that Devereux turned full upon her with a proud stare, and rising, he made her a slight bow, and said: ‘I thank you, Madam,’ with a sharp courtesy, that said: ‘avaunt, and quit my sight!’ so sternly, though politely, that she vanished on the instant; and down stairs she marvelled43 with Juggy Byrne, ‘what the puck the captain could want of a Bible! Upon my conscience it sounds well. It’s what he’s not right in his head, I’m afeared. A Bible!’— and an a?rial voice seemed to say, ‘a pistol,’ and another, ‘a coffin,’—‘An’ I’m sure I wish that quare little Lieutenant44 Puddock id come up and keep him company. I dunno’ what’s come over him.’
And they tumbled about the rattletraps under the cupboard, and rummaged45 the drawers in search of the sacred volume. For though Juggy said there was no such thing, and never had been in her time, Mrs. Irons put her down with asperity46. It was not to be found, however, and the matron thought she remembered that old Mrs. Legge’s cook had borrowed it some time ago for a charm. So she explained the accident to Captain Devereux, who said —
‘I thank you, Madam; ’tis no matter. I wish you a good-night, Madam;’ and the door closed.
‘No Bible!’ said Devereux, ‘the old witch!’
Mrs. Irons, as you remember, never spared her rhetoric47, which was fierce, shrill48, and fluent, when the exercise of that gift was called for. The parish clerk bore it with a cynical49 and taciturn patience, not, perhaps, so common as it should be in his sex; and this night, when she awoke, and her eyes rested on the form of her husband at her bedside, with a candle lighted, and buckling50 on his shoes, with his foot on the chair, she sat up straight in her bed, wide awake in an instant, for it was wonderful how the sight of that meek51 man roused the wife in her bosom52, especially after an absence, and she had not seen him since four o’clock that evening; so you may suppose his reception was warm, and her expressions every way worthy53 of her feelings.
Meek Irons finished buckling that shoe, and then lifted the other to the edge of the chair, and proceeded to do the like for it, serenely54, after his wont55, and seeming to hear nothing. So Mrs. Irons proceeded, as was her custom when that patient person refused to be roused — she grasped his collar near his cheek, meaning to shake him into attention.
But instantly, as the operation commenced, the clerk griped her with his long, horny fingers by the throat, with a snap so sure and energetic that not a cry, not a gasp56 even, or a wheeze57, could escape through ‘the trachea,’ as medical men have it; and her face and forehead purpled up, and her eyes goggled58 and glared in her head; and her husband looked so insanely wicked, that, as the pale picture darkened before her, and she heard curse after curse, and one foul59 name after another hiss60 off his tongue, like water off a hot iron, in her singing ears, she gave herself up for lost. He closed this exercise by chucking her head viciously against the board of the bed half-a-dozen times, and leaving her thereafter a good deal more confused even than on the eventful evening when he had first declared his love.
So soon as she came a little to herself, and saw him coolly buttoning his leggings at the bedside, his buckles61 being adjusted by this time, her fear subsided62, or rather her just indignation rose above it, and drowned it; and she was on the point of breaking out afresh, only in a way commensurate with her wrongs, and proportionately more formidable; when, on the first symptom of attack, he clutched her, if possible, tighter, the gaping63, goggling64, purpling, the darkening of vision and humming in ears, all recommenced; likewise the knocking of her head with improved good-will, and, spite of her struggles and scratching, the bewildered lady, unused to even a show of insurrection, underwent the same horrid65 series of sensations at the hands of her rebellious66 lord.
When they had both had enough of it, Mr. Irons went on with his buttoning, and his lady gradually came to. This time, however, she was effectually frightened — too much so even to resort to hysterics, for she was not quite sure that when he had buttoned the last button of his left legging he might not resume operations, and terminate their conjugal67 relations.
Therefore, being all of a tremble, with her hands clasped, and too much terrified to cry, she besought68 Irons, whose bodily strength surprised her, for her life, and his pale, malign69 glance, askew70 over his shoulder, held her with a sort of a spell that was quite new to her — in fact, she had never respected Irons so before.
When he had adjusted his leggings, he stood lithe71 and erect72 at the bedside, and with his fist at her face, delivered a short charge, the point of which was, that unless she lay like a mouse till morning he’d have her life, though he hanged for it. And with that he drew the curtain, and was hidden from her sight for some time.
1 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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2 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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3 ballad | |
n.歌谣,民谣,流行爱情歌曲 | |
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4 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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5 lone | |
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的 | |
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6 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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7 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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8 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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9 covertly | |
adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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10 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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11 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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12 blurred | |
v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离 | |
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13 emphatic | |
adj.强调的,着重的;无可置疑的,明显的 | |
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14 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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15 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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16 hideous | |
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的 | |
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17 eddying | |
涡流,涡流的形成 | |
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18 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
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19 wig | |
n.假发 | |
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20 sleet | |
n.雨雪;v.下雨雪,下冰雹 | |
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21 jovial | |
adj.快乐的,好交际的 | |
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22 jingle | |
n.叮当声,韵律简单的诗句;v.使叮当作响,叮当响,押韵 | |
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23 growling | |
n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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24 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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25 delirium | |
n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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26 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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27 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 winking | |
n.瞬眼,目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 );递眼色(表示友好或高兴等);(指光)闪烁;闪亮 | |
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29 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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30 feverish | |
adj.发烧的,狂热的,兴奋的 | |
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31 mantle | |
n.斗篷,覆罩之物,罩子;v.罩住,覆盖,脸红 | |
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32 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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33 throb | |
v.震颤,颤动;(急速强烈地)跳动,搏动 | |
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34 footpath | |
n.小路,人行道 | |
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35 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
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36 prosecuting | |
检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 ); 对某人提起公诉; 继续从事(某事物); 担任控方律师 | |
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37 tempestuously | |
adv.剧烈地,暴风雨似地 | |
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38 serenity | |
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗 | |
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39 misgivings | |
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧 | |
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40 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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41 fiddled | |
v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 );篡改;骗取;修理或稍作改动 | |
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42 sanity | |
n.心智健全,神智正常,判断正确 | |
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43 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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45 rummaged | |
翻找,搜寻( rummage的过去式和过去分词 ); 已经海关检查 | |
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46 asperity | |
n.粗鲁,艰苦 | |
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47 rhetoric | |
n.修辞学,浮夸之言语 | |
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48 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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49 cynical | |
adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的,不信世道向善的 | |
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50 buckling | |
扣住 | |
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51 meek | |
adj.温顺的,逆来顺受的 | |
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52 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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53 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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54 serenely | |
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地 | |
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55 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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56 gasp | |
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说 | |
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57 wheeze | |
n.喘息声,气喘声;v.喘息着说 | |
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58 goggled | |
adj.戴护目镜的v.睁大眼睛瞪视, (惊讶的)转动眼珠( goggle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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60 hiss | |
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满 | |
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61 buckles | |
搭扣,扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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62 subsided | |
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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63 gaping | |
adj.口的;张口的;敞口的;多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 );张开,张大 | |
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64 goggling | |
v.睁大眼睛瞪视, (惊讶的)转动眼珠( goggle的现在分词 ) | |
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65 horrid | |
adj.可怕的;令人惊恐的;恐怖的;极讨厌的 | |
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66 rebellious | |
adj.造反的,反抗的,难控制的 | |
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67 conjugal | |
adj.婚姻的,婚姻性的 | |
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68 besought | |
v.恳求,乞求(某事物)( beseech的过去式和过去分词 );(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
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69 malign | |
adj.有害的;恶性的;恶意的;v.诽谤,诬蔑 | |
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70 askew | |
adv.斜地;adj.歪斜的 | |
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71 lithe | |
adj.(指人、身体)柔软的,易弯的 | |
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72 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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