Four（1）

Four
Mark Easterbrook’s Narrative¹
I
I came out of the Old Vic, my friend Hermia Redcliffe beside me. We hadbeen to see a performance of Macbeth. It was raining hard. As we ranacross the street to the spot where I had parked the car, Hermia remarkedunjustly that whenever one went to the Old Vic it always rained.
“It’s just one of those things.”
I dissented² from this view. I said that, unlike sundials, she rememberedonly the rainy hours.
“Now at Glyndebourne,” went on Hermia as I let in the clutch, “I’ve al-ways been lucky. I can’t imagine it other than perfection: the music—theglorious flower borders—the white flower border in particular.”
We discussed Glyndebourne and its music for a while, and then Hermiaremarked:
“We’re not going to Dover for breakfast, are we?”
“Dover? What an extraordinary idea. I thought we’d go to the Fantasie.
One needs some really good food and drink after all the magnificent bloodand gloom of Macbeth, Shakespeare always makes me ravenous³.”
“Yes. So does Wagner. Smoked salmon⁴ sandwiches at Covent Garden inthe intervals⁵ are never enough to stay the pangs⁶. As to why Dover, it’s be-cause you’re driving in that direction.”
“One has to go round,” I explained.
“But you’ve overdone⁷ going round. You’re well away on the Old (or is itthe New?) Kent Road.”
I took stock of my surroundings and had to admit that Hermia, as usual,was quite right.
“I always get muddled⁸ here,” I said in apology.
“It is confusing,” Hermia agreed. “Round and round Waterloo Station.”
Having at last successfully negotiated Westminster Bridge we resumedour conversation, discussing the production of Macbeth that we had justbeen viewing. My friend Hermia Redcliffe was a handsome young womanof twenty- eight. Cast in the heroic mould, she had an almost flawlessGreek profile, and a mass of dark chestnut⁹ hair, coiled on the nape of herneck. My sister always referred to her as “Mark’s girlfriend” with an in-tonation of inverted¹⁰ commas about the term that never failed to annoyme.
The Fantasie gave us a pleasant welcome and showed us to a small tableagainst the crimson¹¹ velvet¹² wall. The Fantasie is deservedly popular, andthe tables are close together. As we sat down, our neighbors at the nexttable greeted us cheerfully. David Ardingly was a lecturer in History at Ox-ford. He introduced his companion, a very pretty girl, with a fashionablehairdo, all ends, bits and pieces, sticking out at improbable angles on thecrown of her head. Strange to say, it suited her. She had enormous blueeyes and a mouth that was usually half open. She was, as all David’s girlswere known to be, extremely silly. David, who was a remarkably¹³ cleveryoung man, could only find relaxation¹⁴ with girls who were practicallyhalf-witted.
“This is my particular pet, Poppy,” he explained. “Meet Mark and Her-mia. They’re very serious and highbrow and you must try and live up tothem. We’ve just come from Do it for Kicks. Lovely show! I bet you two arestraight from Shakespeare or a revival¹⁵ of Ibsen.”
“Macbeth at the Old Vic,” said Hermia.
“Ah, what do you think of Batterson’s production?”
“I liked it,” said Hermia. “The lighting¹⁶ was very interesting. And I’venever seen the banquet scene so well managed.”
“Ah, but what about the witches?”
“Awful!” said Hermia. “They always are,” she added.
David agreed.
“A pantomime element seems bound to creep in,” he said. “All of themcapering about and behaving like a threefold Demon¹⁷ King. You can’t helpexpecting a Good Fairy to appear in white with spangles to say in a flatvoice:
Your evil shall not triumph. In the end,
It is Macbeth who will be round the bend.”
We all laughed, but David, who was quick on the uptake, gave me asharp glance.
“What gives with you?” he asked.
“Nothing. It was just that I was reflecting only the other day about Eviland Demon Kings in pantomime. Yes—and Good Fairies, too.”
“A propos de what?”
“Oh, in Chelsea at a coffee bar.”
“How smart and up-to-date you are, aren’t you, Mark? All among theChelsea set. Where heiresses in tights marry corner boys on the make.
That’s where Poppy ought to be, isn’t it, duckie?”
Poppy opened her enormous eyes still wider.
“I hate Chelsea,” she protested. “I like the Fantasie much better! Suchlovely, lovely food.”
“Good for you, Poppy. Anyway, you’re not really rich enough forChelsea. Tell us more about Macbeth, Mark, and the awful witches. I knowhow I’d produce the witches if I were doing a production.”
David had been a prominent member of the O.U.D.S. in the past.
“Well, how?”
“I’d make them very ordinary. Just sly quiet old women. Like thewitches in a country village.”
“But there aren’t any witches nowadays?” said Poppy, staring at him.
“You say that because you’re a London girl. There’s still a witch in everyvillage in rural England. Old Mrs. Black, in the third cottage up the hill.
Little boys are told not to annoy her, and she’s given presents of eggs anda home-baked cake now and again. Because,” he wagged a finger impress-ively, “if you get across her, your cows will stop giving milk, your potatocrop will fail, or little Johnnie will twist his ankle. You must keep on theright side of old Mrs. Black. Nobody says so outright—but they all know!”
“You’re joking,” said Poppy, pouting¹⁸.
“No, I’m not. I’m right, aren’t I, Mark?”
“Surely all that kind of superstition¹⁹ has died out completely with educa-tion,” said Hermia sceptically.
“Not in the rural pockets of the land. What do you say, Mark?”
“I think perhaps you’re right,” I said slowly. “Though I wouldn’t reallyknow. I’ve never lived in the country much.”
“I don’t see how you could produce the witches as ordinary old women,”
said Hermia, reverting²⁰ to David’s earlier remark. “They must have a su-pernatural atmosphere about them, surely.”
“Oh, but just think,” said David. “It’s rather like madness. If you havesomeone who raves²¹ and staggers about with straws in their hair and looksmad, it’s not frightening at all! But I remember being sent once with amessage to a doctor at a mental home and I was shown into a room towait, and there was a nice elderly lady there, sipping²² a glass of milk. Shemade some conventional remark about the weather and then suddenlyshe leant forward and asked in a low voice:
“‘Is it your poor child who’s buried there behind the fireplace?’ And thenshe nodded her head and said ‘12:10 exactly. It’s always at the same timeevery day. Pretend you don’t notice the blood.’
“It was the matter-of-fact way she said it that was so spine-chilling.”
“Was there really someone buried behind the fireplace?” Poppy wantedto know.
David ignored her and went on:
“Then take mediums. At one moment trances, darkened rooms, knocksand raps. Afterwards the medium sits up, pats her hair and goes home to ameal of fish and chips, just an ordinary quite jolly woman.”
“So your idea of the witches,” I said, “is three old Scottish crones withsecond sight — who practise their arts in secret, muttering their spellsaround a cauldron, conjuring²³ up spirits, but remaining themselves just anordinary trio of old women. Yes—it could be impressive.”
“If you could ever get any actors to play it that way,” said Hermia drily.
“You have something there,” admitted David. “Any hint of madness inthe script and an actor is immediately determined²⁴ to go to town on it! Thesame with sudden deaths. No actor can just quietly collapse²⁵ and fall downdead. He has to groan²⁶, stagger, roll his eyes, gasp²⁷, clutch his heart, clutchhis head, and make a terrific performance of it. Talking of performances,what did you think of Fielding’s Macbeth? Great division of opinionamong the critics.”
“I thought it was terrific,” said Hermia. “That scene with the doctor,after the sleepwalking scene. ‘Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d.’
He made clear what I’d never thought of before—that he was really order-ing the doctor to kill her. And yet he loved his wife. He brought out thestruggle between his fear and his love. That ‘Thou shouldst have died here-after’ was the most poignant²⁸ thing I’ve ever known.”
“Shakespeare might get a few surprises if he saw his plays actednowadays,” I said drily.
“Burbage and Co. had already quenched²⁹ a good deal of his spirit, I sus-pect,” said David.
Hermia murmured:
“The eternal surprise of the author at what the producer has done tohim.”
“Didn’t somebody called Bacon really write Shakespeare?” asked Poppy.
“That theory is quite out of date nowadays,” said David kindly³⁰. “Andwhat do you know of Bacon?”
“He invented gunpowder,” said Poppy triumphantly³¹.
“You see why I love this girl?” he said. “The things she knows are alwaysso unexpected. Francis, not Roger, my love.”
“I thought it interesting,” said Hermia, “that Fielding played the part ofThird Murderer. Is there a precedent³² for that?”
“I believe so,” said David. “How convenient it must have been in thosetimes,” he went on, “to be able to call up a handy murderer whenever youwanted a little job done. Fun if one could do it nowadays.”
“But it is done,” protested Hermia. “Gangsters. Hoods—or whatever youcall them. Chicago and all that.”
“Ah,” said David. “But what I meant was not gangsterdom, not racket-eers or Crime Barons³³. Just ordinary everyday folk who want to get rid ofsomeone. That business rival; Aunt Emily, so rich and so unfortunatelylong-lived; that awkward husband always in the way. How convenient ifyou could ring up Harrods and say ‘Please send along two good murder-ers, will you?’”
We all laughed.
“But one can do that in a way, can’t one?” said Poppy.
We turned towards her.
“What way, poppet?” asked David.
“Well, I mean, people can do that if they want to…People like us, as yousaid. Only I believe it’s very expensive.”
Poppy’s eyes were wide and ingenuous³⁴, her lips were slightly parted.
“What do you mean?” asked David curiously³⁵.
Poppy looked confused.
“Oh—I expect—I’ve got it mixed. I meant the Pale Horse. All that sort ofthing.”
“A pale horse? What kind of a pale horse?”
Poppy flushed and her eyes dropped.
“I’m being stupid. It’s just something someone mentioned—but I musthave got it all wrong.”
“Have some lovely Coupe Nesselrode,” said David kindly.

1 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

2 dissented   

不同意，持异议( dissent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We dissented from the decision. 对那项决定我们表示了不同意见。
• He dissented and questioned the justice of the award. 他提出质问，说裁判不公允。

3 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

4 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

5 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

6 pangs   

突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛

参考例句：

• She felt sudden pangs of regret. 她突然感到痛悔不已。
• With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger. 他以极具感伤力的笔触描述了饥饿的痛苦。

7 overdone   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• The lust of men must not be overdone. 人们的欲望不该过分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The joke is overdone. 玩笑开得过火。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

10 inverted   

adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Only direct speech should go inside inverted commas. 只有直接引语应放在引号内。
• Inverted flight is an acrobatic manoeuvre of the plane. 倒飞是飞机的一种特技动作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

12 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。

13 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

14 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

15 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

16 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

17 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。

18 pouting   

v.撅（嘴）( pout的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The child sat there pouting. 那孩子坐在那儿，一副不高兴的样子。 来自辞典例句
• She was almost pouting at his hesitation. 她几乎要为他这种犹犹豫豫的态度不高兴了。 来自辞典例句

19 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

20 reverting   

恢复( revert的现在分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还

参考例句：

• The boss came back from holiday all relaxed and smiling, but now he's reverting to type. 老板刚度假回来时十分随和，满面笑容，现在又恢复原样了。
• The conversation kept reverting to the subject of money. 谈话的内容总是离不开钱的事。

21 raves   

n.狂欢晚会( rave的名词复数 )v.胡言乱语( rave的第三人称单数 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• She raves about that singer. 她醉心地谈论那位歌手。 来自辞典例句
• His new play received raves in the paper. 他的新剧本在报纸上受到赞扬。 来自辞典例句

22 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

23 conjuring   

n.魔术

参考例句：

• Paul's very good at conjuring. 保罗很会变戏法。
• The entertainer didn't fool us with his conjuring. 那个艺人变的戏法没有骗到我们。

24 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

25 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

26 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

27 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

28 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

29 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

30 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。

31 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

32 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

33 barons   

男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨

参考例句：

• The barons of Normandy had refused to countenance the enterprise officially. 诺曼底的贵族们拒绝正式赞助这桩买卖。
• The barons took the oath which Stephen Langton prescribed. 男爵们照斯蒂芬？兰顿的指导宣了誓。

34 ingenuous   

adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的

参考例句：

• Only the most ingenuous person would believe such a weak excuse!只有最天真的人才会相信这么一个站不住脚的借口！
• With ingenuous sincerity,he captivated his audience.他以自己的率真迷住了观众。

35 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。