Pig 6

6
Seven years later, by the time he was seventeen, he had recorded over nine thousand different
recipes, all of them original, all of them delicious.
But now, suddenly, his labours were interrupted by the tragic¹ death of Aunt Glosspan. She was
afflicted² in the night by a violent seizure³, and Lexington, who had rushed into her bedroom to see
what all the noise was about, found her lying on her bed yelling and cussing and twisting herself
into all manner of complicated knots. Indeed, she was a terrible sight to behold⁴, and the agitated⁵
youth danced around her in his pyjamas⁶, wringing⁷ his hands, and wondering what on earth he
should do. Finally in an effort to cool her down, he fetched a bucket of water from the pond in the
cow field and tipped it over her head, but this only intensified⁸ the paroxysms, and the old lady
expired within the hour.
‘This is really too bad,’ the poor boy said, pinching her several times to make sure that she was
dead. ‘And how sudden! How quick and sudden! Why only a few hours ago she seemed in the
very best of spirits. She even took three large helpings⁹ of my most recent creation, devilled
mushroomburgers, and told me how succulent it was.’
After weeping bitterly for several minutes, for he had loved his aunt very much, he pulled
himself together and carried her outside and buried her behind the cowshed.
The next day, while tidying up her belongings¹⁰, he came across an envelope that was addressed
to him in Aunt Glosspan’s handwriting. He opened it and drew out two fifty-dollar bills and a
letter.
Darling boy [the letter said], I know that you have never yet been down the mountain since you were
thirteen days old, but as soon as I die you must put on a pair of shoes and a clean shirt and walk down to
the village and find a doctor. Ask the doctor to give you a death certificate to prove that I am dead. Then
take this certificate to my lawyer, a man called Mr Samuel Zucker-mann, who lives in New York City
and who has a copy of my will. Mr Zuckermann will arrange everything. The cash in this envelope is to
pay the doctor for the certificate and to cover the cost of your journey to New York. Mr Zuckermann will
give you more money when you get there, and it is my earnest wish that you use it to further your
researches into culinary and vegetarian¹¹ matters, and that you continue to work upon that great book of
yours until you are satisfied that it is complete in every way. Your loving aunt – Glosspan.
Lexington, who had always done everything his aunt told him, pocketed the money, put on a
pair of shoes and a clean shirt, and went down the mountain to the village where the doctor lived.
‘Old Glosspan?’ the doctor said. ‘My God, is she dead?’
‘Certainly she’s dead,’ the youth answered. ‘If you will come back home with me now I’ll dig
her up and you can see for yourself.’
‘How deep did you bury her?’ the doctor asked.
‘Six or seven feet down, I should think.’
‘And how long ago?’
‘Oh, about eight hours.’
‘Then she’s dead,’ the doctor announced. ‘Here’s the certificate.’

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

3 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

4 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

5 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

6 pyjamas   

n.（宽大的）睡衣裤

参考例句：

• This pyjamas has many repairs.这件睡衣有许多修补过的地方。
• Martin was in his pyjamas.马丁穿着睡衣。

7 wringing   

淋湿的，湿透的

参考例句：

• He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun. 烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。
• He is wringing out the water from his swimming trunks. 他正在把游泳裤中的水绞出来。

8 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 helpings   

n.（食物）的一份( helping的名词复数 )；帮助，支持

参考例句：

• You greedy pig! You've already had two helpings! 你这个馋嘴！你已经吃了两份了！
• He had two helpings of pudding. 他吃了两客布丁。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

11 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。