Chapter 15

His house is a temple. In the entrance hall hangs aframed picture of Ganesha, he of the elephant head. He sitsfacing out – rosy-coloured, pot-bellied, crowned and smiling– three hands holding various objects, the fourth held palmout in blessing¹ and in greeting. He is the lord overcomer ofobstacles, the god of good luck, the god of wisdom, thepatron of learning. Simpatico in the highest. He brings asmile to my lips. At his feet is an attentive² rat. His vehicle.
Because when Lord Ganesha travels, he travels atop a rat.
On the wall opposite the picture is a plain wooden Cross.
In the living room, on a table next to the sofa, there isa small framed picture of the Virgin³ Mary of Guadalupe,flowers tumbling from her open mantle⁴. Next to it is aframed photo of the black-robed Kaaba, holiest sanctum ofIslam, surrounded by a ten-thousandfold swirl⁵ of thefaithful. On the television set is a brass⁶ statue of Shiva asNataraja, the cosmic lord of the dance, who controls themotions of the universe and the flow of time. He dances onthe demon⁷ of ignorance, his four arms held out inchoreographic gesture, one foot on the demon's back, theother lifted in the air. When Nataraja brings this footdown, they say time will stop.
There is a shrine⁸ in the kitchen. It is set in a cupboardwhose door he has replaced with a fretwork arch. The archpartly hides the yellow light bulb that in the evenings lightsup the shrine. Two pictures rest behind a small altar: tothe side, Ganesha again, and in the centre, in a largerframe, smiling and blue-skinned, Krishna playing the flute¹⁰.
Both have smears¹¹ of red and yellow powder on the glassover their foreheads. In a copper¹² dish on the altar arethree silver murtis, representations. He identifies them forme with a pointed¹³ finger: Lakshmi; Shakti, the mothergoddess, in the form of Par⁹ va ft; and Krishna, this timeas a playful baby crawling on all fours. In between thegoddesses is a stone Shivayoni linga, which looks like halfan avocado with a phallic stump¹⁴ rising from its centre, aHindu symbol representing the male and female energies ofthe universe. To one side of the dish is a small conch shellset on a pedestal; to the other, a small silver handbell.
Grains of rice lie about, as well as a flower just beginningto wilt¹⁵. Many of these items are anointed with dabs¹⁶ ofyellow and red.
On the shelf below are various articles of devotion: abeaker full of water; a copper spoon; a lamp with a wickcoiled in oil; sticks of incense¹⁷; and small bowls full of redpowder, yellow powder, grains of rice and lumps of sugar.
There is another Virgin Mary in the dining room.
Upstairs in his office there is a brass Ganesha sittingcross-legged next to the computer, a wooden Christ on theCross from Brazil on a wall, and a green prayer rug in acorner. The Christ is expressive¹⁸ – He suffers. The prayerrug lies in its own clear space. Next to it, on a lowbookstand, is a book covered by a cloth. At the centre ofthe cloth is a single Arabic word, intricately woven, fourletters: an alif, two lams and a ha. The word God in Arabic.
The book on the bedside table is a Bible.

1 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

2 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

3 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

4 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

5 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

6 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

7 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

8 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

9 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

10 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

11 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

12 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

13 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

14 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

15 wilt   

v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱

参考例句：

• Golden roses do not wilt and will never need to be watered.金色的玫瑰不枯萎绝也不需要浇水。
• Several sleepless nights made him wilt.数个不眠之夜使他憔悴。

16 dabs   

少许( dab的名词复数 )； 是…能手； 做某事很在行； 在某方面技术熟练

参考例句：

• Each of us had two dabs of butter. 我们每人吃了两小块黄油。
• He made a few dabs at the fence with the paint but didn't really paint it. 他用颜料轻刷栅栏，但一点也没刷上。

17 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

18 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。