Chapter 15 Aunt Matilda Takes A Cure（1）

Chapter 15 Aunt Matilda Takes A Cure

I
‘A cure of some kind, I thought?’ Lady Matilda hazarded.
‘A cure?’ said Dr Donaldson. He looked faintly puzzled for a moment,losing his air of medical omniscience¹, which, of course, so Lady Matilda re-flected, was one of the slight disadvantages attached to having a youngerdoctor attending one rather than the older specimen² to whom one hasbeen accustomed for several years.
‘That’s what we used to call them,’ Lady Matilda explained. ‘In myyoung days, you know, you went for the Cure. Marienbad, Carlsbad,Baden-Baden, all the rest of it. Just the other day I read about this newplace in the paper. Quite new and up to date. Said to be all new ideas andthings like that. Not that I’m really sold on new ideas, but I wouldn’t reallybe afraid of them. I mean, they would probably be all the same things allover again. Water tasting of bad eggs and the latest sort of diet and walk-ing to take the Cure, or the Waters, or whatever they call them now, at arather inconvenient³ hour in the morning. And I expect they give you mas-sage or something. It used to be seaweed. But this place is somewhere inthe mountains. Bavaria or Austria or somewhere like that. So I don’t sup-pose it would be seaweed. Shaggy moss⁴, perhaps–sounds like a dog. Andperhaps quite a nice mineral water as well as the eggy sulphury one, Imean. Superb buildings, I understand. The only thing one is nervousabout nowadays is that they never seem to put banisters in any up-to-datemodern buildings. Flights of marble steps and all that, but nothing to hangon to.’
‘I think I know the place you mean,’ said Dr Donaldson. ‘It’s been publi-cized a good deal, in the press.’
‘Well, you know what one is at my age,’ said Lady Matilda. ‘One likestrying new things. Really, I think it is just to amuse one. It doesn’t reallymake one feel one’s health would be any better. Still, you don’t think itwould be a bad idea, do you, Dr Donaldson?’
Dr Donaldson looked at her. He was not so young as Lady Matilda la-belled him in her mind. He was just approaching forty and he was a tact-ful and kindly⁵ man and willing to indulge his elderly patients as far as heconsidered it desirable, without any actual danger of their attemptingsomething obviously unsuitable.
‘I’m sure it wouldn’t do you any harm at all,’ he said. ‘Might be quite agood idea. Of course travel’s a bit tiring though one flies to places veryquickly and easily nowadays.’
‘Quickly, yes. Easily, no,’ said Lady Matilda. ‘Ramps and moving stair-cases and in and out of buses from the airport to the plane, and the planeto another airport and from the airport to another bus. All that, you know.
But I understand one can have wheelchairs in the airports.’
‘Of course you can. Excellent idea. If you promise to do that and notthink you can walk everywhere…’
‘I know, I know,’ said his patient, interrupting him. ‘You do understand.
You’re really a very understanding man. One has one’s pride, you know,and while you can still hobble around with a stick or a little support, youdon’t really want to look absolutely a crock or bedridden or something.
It’d be easier if I was a man,’ she mused⁶. ‘I mean, one could tie up one’s legwith one of those enormous bandages and padded things as though onehad the gout. I mean, gout is all right for the male sex. Nobody thinks any-thing the worse of them. Some of their older friends think they’ve beentucking in to the port too much because that used to be the old idea,though I believe that is not really true at all. Port wine does not give yougout. Yes, a wheelchair, and I could fly to Munich or somewhere like that.
One could arrange for a car or something at the other end.’
‘You will take Miss Leatheran with you, of course.’
‘Amy? Oh, of course. I couldn’t do without her. Anyway, you think noharm would be done?’
‘I think it might do you a world of good.’
‘You really are a nice man.’
Lady Matilda gave him the twinkle from her eyes with which now hewas becoming familiar.
‘You think it’ll amuse me and cheer me up to go somewhere new andsee some new faces, and of course you’re quite right. But I like to thinkthat I’m taking a Cure, though really there’s nothing for me to be cured of.
Not really, is there? I mean, except old age. Unfortunately old age doesn’tget cured, it only gets more so, doesn’t it?’
‘The point is really, will you enjoy yourself? Well, I think you will. Whenyou get tired, by the way, when doing anything, stop doing it.’
‘I shall still drink glasses of water if the water tastes of rotten eggs. Notbecause I like them or because frankly⁷ I think they do me any good. But ithas a sort of mortifying⁸ feeling. It’s like old women in our village alwaysused to be. They always wanted a nice, strong medicine either colouredblack or purple or deep pink, heavily flavoured with peppermint⁹. Theythought that did much more good than a nice little pill or a bottle that onlyappeared to be full of ordinary water without any exotic colouring.’
‘You know too much about human nature,’ said Dr Donaldson.
‘You’re very nice to me,’ said Lady Matilda. ‘I appreciate it. Amy!’
‘Yes, Lady Matilda?’
‘Get me an atlas¹⁰, will you. I’ve lost track of Bavaria and the countriesround it.’
‘Let me see now. An atlas. There’ll be one in the library, I suppose. Theremust be some old atlases¹¹ about, dating back to about 1920 or thereabouts,I suppose.’
‘I wondered if we had anything a little more modern.’
‘Atlas,’ said Amy, deep in reflection.
‘If not, you can buy one and bring it along tomorrow morning. It’s goingto be very difficult because all the names are different, the countries aredifferent, and I shan’t know where I am. But you’ll have to help me withthat. Find a big magnifying glass, will you? I have an idea I was reading inbed with one the other day and it probably slipped down between the bedand the wall.’
Her requirements took a little time to satisfy but the atlas, the magnify-ing glass and an older atlas by which to check, were finally produced andAmy, nice woman that she was, Lady Matilda thought, was extremelyhelpful.
‘Yes, here it is. It still seems to be called Monbrügge or something likethat. It’s either in the Tyrol or Bavaria. Everything seems to have changedplaces and got different names–’

1 omniscience   

n.全知，全知者，上帝

参考例句：

• Omniscience is impossible, but we be ready at all times, constantly studied. 无所不知是不可能，但我们应该时刻准备着，不断地进修学习。 来自互联网
• Thus, the argument concludes that omniscience and omnipotence are logically incompatible. 因此，争论断定那个上帝和全能是逻辑地不兼容的。 来自互联网

2 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

3 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

4 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

6 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 mortifying   

adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等）

参考例句：

• I've said I did not love her, and rather relished mortifying her vanity now and then. 我已经说过我不爱她，而且时时以伤害她的虚荣心为乐。 来自辞典例句
• It was mortifying to know he had heard every word. 知道他听到了每一句话后真是尴尬。 来自互联网

9 peppermint   

n.薄荷，薄荷油，薄荷糖

参考例句：

• Peppermint oil is very good for regulating digestive disorders.薄荷油能很有效地调节消化系统失调。
• He sat down,popped in a peppermint and promptly choked to death.他坐下来，突然往嘴里放了一颗薄荷糖，当即被噎死。

10 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

11 atlases   

地图集( atlas的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Besides the two novels, I have bought two atlases. 我买了两本小说，另外还买了两本地图册。
• The facts of monsoon climate have been presented in a number of texts and atlases. 季风气候的一些事实已在一些教科书和气候图集中加以介绍。