One（1）

One
IOld Lanscombe moved totteringly from room to room, pulling up the blinds. Now and then hepeered with screwed-up rheumy eyes through the windows.
Soon they would be coming back from the funeral. He shuffled¹ along a little faster. There wereso many windows.
Enderby Hall was a vast Victorian house built in the Gothic style. In every room the curtainswere of rich faded brocade or velvet². Some of the walls were still hung with faded silk. In thegreen drawing room, the old butler glanced up at the portrait above the mantelpiece of oldCornelius Abernethie for whom Enderby Hall had been built. Cornelius Abernethie’s brown beardstuck forward aggressively, his hand rested on a terrestrial globe, whether by desire of the sitter, oras a symbolic³ conceit⁴ on the part of the artist, no one could tell.
A very forceful-looking gentleman, so old Lanscombe had always thought, and was glad that hehimself had never known him personally. Mr. Richard had been his gentleman. A good master,Mr. Richard. And taken very sudden, he’d been, though of course the doctor had been attendinghim for some little time. Ah, but the master had never recovered from the shock of young Mr.
Mortimer’s death. The old man shook his head as he hurried through a connecting door into theWhite Boudoir. Terrible, that had been, a real catastrophe⁵. Such a fine upstanding younggentleman, so strong and healthy. You’d never have thought such a thing likely to happen to him.
Pitiful, it had been, quite pitiful. And Mr. Gordon killed in the war. One thing on top of another.
That was the way things went nowadays. Too much for the master, it had been. And yet he’dseemed almost himself a week ago.
The third blind in the White Boudoir refused to go up as it should. It went up a little way andstuck. The springs were weak—that’s what it was—very old, these blinds were, like everythingelse in the house. And you couldn’t get these old things mended nowadays. Too old-fashioned,that’s what they’d say, shaking their heads in that silly superior way—as if the old things weren’t agreat deal better than the new ones! He could tell them that! Gimcrack, half the new stuff was—came to pieces in your hands. The material wasn’t good, or the craftsmanship⁷ either. Oh yes, hecould tell them.
Couldn’t do anything about this blind unless he got the steps. He didn’t like climbing up thesteps much, these days, made him come over giddy. Anyway, he’d leave the blind for now. Itdidn’t matter, since the White Boudoir didn’t face the front of the house where it would be seen asthe cars came back from the funeral—and it wasn’t as though the room was ever used nowadays.
It was a lady’s room, this, and there hadn’t been a lady at Enderby for a long time now. A pity Mr.
Mortimer hadn’t married. Always going off to Norway for fishing and to Scotland for shooting andto Switzerland for those winter sports, instead of marrying some nice young lady and settlingdown at home with children running about the house. It was a long time since there had been anychildren in the house.
And Lanscombe’s mind went ranging back to a time that stood out clearly and distinctly—muchmore distinctly than the last twenty years or so, which were all blurred⁸ and confused and hecouldn’t really remember who had come and gone or indeed what they looked like. But he couldremember the old days well enough.
More like a father to those young brothers and sisters of his, Mr. Richard had been. Twenty-fourwhen his father had died, and he’d pitched in right away to the business, going off every day aspunctual as clockwork, and keeping the house running and everything as lavish⁹ as it could be. Avery happy household with all those young ladies and gentlemen growing up. Fights and quarrelsnow and again, of course, and those governesses had had a bad time of it! Poor-spirited creatures,governesses, Lanscombe had always despised them. Very spirited the young ladies had been. MissGeraldine in particular. Miss Cora, too, although she was so much younger. And now Mr. Leo wasdead, and Miss Laura gone too. And Mr. Timothy such a sad invalid¹⁰. And Miss Geraldine dyingsomewhere abroad. And Mr. Gordon killed in the war. Although he was the eldest¹¹, Mr. Richardhimself turned out the strongest of the lot. Outlived them all, he had—at least not quite becauseMr. Timothy was still alive and little Miss Cora who’d married that unpleasant artist chap.
Twenty-five years since he’d seen her and she’d been a pretty young girl when she went off withthat chap, and now he’d hardly have known her, grown so stout—and so arty-crafty in her dress!
A Frenchman her husband had been, or nearly a Frenchman—and no good ever came of marryingone of them! But Miss Cora had always been a bit—well simple like you’d call it if she’d lived in avillage. Always one of them in a family.
She’d remembered him all right. “Why, it’s Lanscombe!” she’d said and seemed ever so pleasedto see him. Ah, they’d all been fond of him in the old days and when there was a dinner partythey’d crept down to the pantry and he’d given them jelly and Charlotte Russe when it came out ofthe dining room. They’d all known old Lanscombe, and now there was hardly anyone whoremembered. Just the younger lot whom he could never keep clear in his mind and who justthought of him as a butler who’d been there a long time. A lot of strangers, he had thought, whenthey all arrived for the funeral—and a seedy lot of strangers at that!
Not Mrs. Leo—she was different. She and Mr. Leo had come here off and on ever since Mr. Leomarried. She was a nice lady, Mrs. Leo—a real lady. Wore proper clothes and did her hair welland looked what she was. And the master had always been fond of her. A pity that she and Mr.
Leo had never had any children….
Lanscombe roused himself; what was he doing standing⁶ here and dreaming about old days withso much to be done? The blinds were all attended to on the ground floor now, and he’d told Janetto go upstairs and do the bedrooms. He and Janet and the cook had gone to the funeral service inthe church but instead of going on to the Crematorium they’d driven back to the house to get theblinds up and the lunch ready. Cold lunch, of course, it had to be. Ham and chicken and tongueand salad. With cold lemon soufflé and apple tart¹² to follow. Hot soup first—and he’d better goalong and see that Marjorie had got it on ready to serve, for they’d be back in a minute or two nowfor certain.
Lanscombe broke into a shuffling¹³ trot¹⁴ across the room. His gaze, abstracted and uncurious, justswept up to the picture over this mantelpiece—the companion portrait to the one in the greendrawing room. It was a nice painting of white satin and pearls. The human being round whom theywere draped and clasped was not nearly so impressive. Meek¹⁵ features, a rosebud¹⁶ mouth, hairparted in the middle. A woman both modest and unassuming. The only thing really worthy¹⁷ of noteabout Mrs. Cornelius Abernethie had been her name— Coralie.
For over sixty years after their original appearance, Coral Cornplasters and the allied¹⁸ “Coral”
foot preparations still held their own. Whether there had ever been anything outstanding aboutCoral Cornplasters nobody could say—but they had appealed to the public fancy. On a foundationof Coral Cornplasters there had arisen this neo-Gothic palace, its acres of gardens, and the moneythat had paid out an income to seven sons and daughters and had allowed Richard Abernethie todie three days ago a very rich man.

1 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

3 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

4 conceit   

n.自负，自高自大

参考例句：

• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。
• She seems to be eaten up with her own conceit.她仿佛已经被骄傲冲昏了头脑。

5 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

8 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

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

10 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

11 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

12 tart   

adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇

参考例句：

• She was learning how to make a fruit tart in class.她正在课上学习如何制作水果馅饼。
• She replied in her usual tart and offhand way.她开口回答了，用她平常那种尖酸刻薄的声调随口说道。

13 shuffling   

adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Don't go shuffling along as if you were dead. 别像个死人似地拖着脚走。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some one was shuffling by on the sidewalk. 外面的人行道上有人拖着脚走过。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

14 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

15 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

16 rosebud   

n.蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女

参考例句：

• At West Ham he was thought of as the rosebud that never properly flowered.在西汉姆他被认为是一个尚未开放的花蕾。
• Unlike the Rosebud salve,this stuff is actually worth the money.跟玫瑰花蕾膏不一样，这个更值的买。

17 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

18 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。