Seven（1）

Seven
I
Hilary hoped to avoid having to see the old city of Fez in the depressingcompany of Miss Hetherington. Fortunately the latter was invited by Mrs.
Baker¹ to come with her on an expedition by car. Since Mrs. Baker made itclear that she was going to pay for the car, Miss Hetherington, whose trav-elling allowance was dwindling² in an alarming manner, accepted withavidity. Hilary, after inquiry³ at the desk, was supplied with a guide, andset forth⁴ to see the city of Fez.
They started from the terrace, going down through the succession of ter-raced gardens until they reached an enormous door in the wall at the bot-tom. The guide produced a key of mammoth⁵ proportions, unlocked thedoor which swung slowly open, and motioned Hilary to pass through.
It was like stepping into another world. All about her were the walls ofold Fez. Narrow winding⁶ streets, high walls, and occasionally, through adoorway, a glimpse of an interior or a courtyard, and moving all aroundher were laden⁷ donkeys, men with their burdens, boys, women veiled andunveiled, the whole busy secret life of this Moorish⁸ city. Wanderingthrough the narrow streets she forgot everything else, her mission, thepast tragedy of her life, even herself. She was all eyes and ears, living andwalking in a dream world. The only annoyance⁹ was the guide who talkedunceasingly, and urged her into various establishments into which shehad no particular wish to go.
“You look, lady. This man have very nice things, very cheap, really old,really Moorish. He have gowns and silks. You like very nice beads¹⁰?”
The eternal commerce of East selling to West went on, but it hardly dis-turbed the charm for Hilary. She soon lost all sense of place or direction.
Here within this walled city she had little idea of whether she was walkingnorth or south or whether she were retracing¹¹ her steps over the samestreets through which she had already passed. She was quite exhaustedwhen the guide made his final suggestion, which was evidently part of theroutine.
“I take you very nice house, now, very superior. Friends of mine. Youhave mint tea there and they show you plenty lovely things.”
Hilary recognized the well-known gambit which Mrs. Calvin Baker haddescribed. However, she was willing to see, or be taken to see, anythingthat was suggested. Tomorrow, she promised herself, she would come intothe Old City alone and wander around without a guide chattering¹² by herelbow. So she allowed herself to be guided through a gateway¹³ and up awinding path climbing up more or less outside the city walls. They arrivedat last at a garden surrounding an attractive house built in native style.
Here in a big room with a fine view out over the city, she was urged tosit down at a small coffee table. In due course glasses of mint tea werebrought. To Hilary who did not like sugar with her tea, it was somewhat ofan ordeal¹⁴ to drink it. But by banishing¹⁵ the idea of tea from her mind, andmerely thinking of it as a new kind of lemonade, she managed almost toenjoy it. She enjoyed, too, being shown rugs and beads and draperies, em-broideries and various other things. She made one or two small purchasesmore out of good manners than for any other reason. The indefatigableguide then said:
“I have a car ready now and take you very nice short drive. One hour,not more, see very beautiful scenery and country. And then back to hotel.”
He added, assuming a suitable discreet¹⁶ expression, “This girl here, shetake you first to very nice ladies’ toilet.”
The girl who had served the tea was standing¹⁷ by them smiling, and saidat once in careful English:
“Yes, yes, Madame. You come with me. We have very fine toilet, oh veryfine. Just like the Ritz Hotel. Same as in New York or Chicago. You see!”
Smiling a little, Hilary followed the girl. The toilet hardly rose to theheights claimed for it, but it did at least have running water. There was awashbasin and a small cracked mirror which had such distorting propor-tions that Hilary almost shrank back in alarm at the sight of her own face.
When she had washed and dried her hands, which she did on her ownhandkerchief, not much caring for the appearance of the towel, she turnedto leave.
In some way, however, the door of the toilet appeared to have stuck. Sheturned and rattled¹⁸ the handle unavailingly. It would not move. Hilarywondered whether it had been bolted or locked from the outside. Shegrew angry. What was the idea of shutting her in there? Then she noticedthat there was another door in a corner of the room. Going to it she turnedthe handle. This time the door opened easily enough. She passed through.
She found herself in a small eastern-looking room with light that cameonly from slits¹⁹ high in the wall. Sitting there on a low divan²⁰, smoking, wasthe little Frenchman she had met in the train, M. Henri Laurier.

1 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

2 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

3 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

7 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

8 moorish   

adj.沼地的，荒野的，生[住]在沼地的

参考例句：

• There was great excitement among the Moorish people at the waterside. 海边的摩尔人一阵轰动。 来自辞典例句
• All the doors are arched with the special arch we see in Moorish pictures. 门户造成拱形，形状独特，跟摩尔风暴画片里所见的一样。 来自辞典例句

9 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

10 beads   

n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链

参考例句：

• a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链
• Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

11 retracing   

v.折回( retrace的现在分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯

参考例句：

• We're retracing the route of a deep explorer mission. 我们将折回一个深入的探险路线中去。 来自电影对白
• Retracing my steps was certainly not an option. 回顾我的脚步并不是个办法。 来自互联网

12 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

13 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

14 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

15 banishing   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And he breathes out fast, like a king banishing a servant. 他呼气则非常迅速，像一个国王驱逐自己的奴仆。 来自互联网
• Banishing genetic disability must therefore be our primary concern. 消除基因缺陷是我们的首要之急。 来自互联网

16 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

17 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。

18 rattled   

慌乱的，恼火的

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

19 slits   

n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子

参考例句：

• He appears to have two slits for eyes. 他眯着两眼。
• "You go to--Halifax,'she said tensely, her green eyes slits of rage. "你给我滚----滚到远远的地方去！" 她恶狠狠地说，那双绿眼睛冒出了怒火。

20 divan   

n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集

参考例句：

• Lord Henry stretched himself out on the divan and laughed.亨利勋爵伸手摊脚地躺在沙发椅上，笑着。
• She noticed that Muffat was sitting resignedly on a narrow divan-bed.她看见莫法正垂头丧气地坐在一张不宽的坐床上。