Chapter 14 Garden Campaign（2）

II
‘About time someone did something about the garden,’ said Mr Crispin,as Tommy led him on a tour of the flower-beds and the vegetable garden.
‘That’s where they used to grow the spinach¹ along this kitchen gardenpath here. Behind it were some frames. They used to grow melons too.’
‘You seem to be very well aware of all this.’
‘Well, one heard a lot you know of what had been everywhere in the olddays. Old ladies tell you about the flower-beds and Alexander Parkinsontold a lot of his pals² about the foxglove leaves.’
‘He must have been a rather remarkable³ boy.’
‘Well, he had ideas and he was very keen on crime. He made a kind ofcode message out in one of Stevenson’s books: The Black Arrow.’
‘Rather a good one, that, isn’t it? I read it myself about five years ago. Be-fore that I’d never got further than Kidnapped. When I was working for–’
He hesitated.
‘Mr Solomon?’ suggested Tommy.
‘Yes, yes, that’s the name. I heard things. Heard things from old Isaac. Igather, unless I’ve heard the wrong rumours⁴, I gather that old Isaac musthave been, oh, getting on for a hundred and did some work for you here.’
‘Yes,’ said Tommy. ‘For his age he was rather wonderful, really. Heknew a lot of things he used to tell us, too. Things he couldn’t have re-membered himself.’
‘No, but he liked the gossip of the old days. He’s got relations here still,you know, who have listened to his tales and checked up on his stories. Iexpect you’ve heard a good many things yourself.’
‘So far,’ said Tommy, ‘everything seems to work out in lists of names.
Names from the past but names, naturally, that don’t mean anything tome. They can’t.’
‘All hearsay⁵?’
‘Mostly. My wife has listened to a lot of it and made some lists. I don’tknow whether any of them mean anything. I’ve got one list myself. It onlycame into my hands yesterday, as a matter of fact.’
‘Oh. What’s your list?’
‘Census⁶,’ said Tommy. ‘You know, there was a census on–I’ve got thedate written down so I’ll give it to you–and the people who were enteredup that day because they spent the night here. There was a big party. Adinner-party.’
‘So you know on a certain date–and perhaps quite an interesting date–who was here?’
‘Yes,’ said Tommy.
‘It might be valuable. It might be quite significant. You’ve only justmoved in here, haven’t you?’
‘Yes,’ said Tommy, ‘but it’s possible we might just want to move out ofhere.’
‘Don’t you like it? It’s a nice house, and this garden–well, this gardencould be made very beautiful indeed. You’ve got some fine shrubs⁷–wants abit of clearing out, superfluous⁸ trees and bushes, flowering shrubs thathaven’t flowered lately and may never flower again by the look of them.
Yes, I don’t know why you’d want to go and move.’
‘The associations with the past aren’t terribly pleasant here,’ saidTommy.
‘The past,’ said Mr Crispin. ‘How does the past tie up with the present?’
‘One thinks it doesn’t matter, it’s all behind us. But there’s always some-body left, you know. I don’t mean walking about but somebody whocomes alive when people tell you about her or him or it or them. Youreally would be prepared to do a bit of–’
‘Bit of jobbing gardening for you? Yes, I would. It would interest me. It’srather a–well, it’s rather a hobby of mine, gardening.’
‘There was a Miss Mullins who came yesterday.’
‘Mullins? Mullins? Is she a gardener?’
‘I gather something in that line. It was a Mrs–a Mrs Griffin, I think itwas–who mentioned her to my wife and who sent her along to see us.’
‘Did you fix up with her or not?’
‘Not definitely,’ said Tommy. ‘As a matter of fact we’ve got a rather en-thusiastic guard dog here. A Manchester Terrier.’
‘Yes, they can be very enthusiastic at guarding. I suppose he thinks yourwife is his business and he practically never lets her go anywhere alone.
He’s always there.’
‘Quite right,’ said Tommy, ‘and he’s prepared to tear anyone limb fromlimb who lays a finger on her.’
‘Nice dogs. Very affectionate, very loyal, very self- willed, very sharpteeth. I’d better look out for him, I suppose.’
‘He’s all right at the moment. He’s up in the house.’
‘Miss Mullins,’ said Crispin thoughtfully. ‘Yes. Yes, that’s interesting.’
‘Why is it interesting?’
‘Oh, I think it’s because– well, I wouldn’t know her by that name, ofcourse. Is she between fifty and sixty?’
‘Yes. Very tweedy and countrified.’
‘Yes. Got some country connections, too. Isaac could have told you some-thing about her, I expect. I heard she’d come back to live here. Not so verylong ago, either. Things tie up, you know.’
‘I expect you know things about this place that I don’t,’ said Tommy.
‘I shouldn’t think so. Isaac could have told you a lot, though. He knewthings. Old stories, as you say, but he had a memory. And they talked itover. Yes, in these clubs for old people, they talk things over. Tall stories–some of them not true, some of them based on fact. Yes, it’s all very inter-esting. And–I suppose he knew too much.’
‘It’s a shame about Isaac,’ said Tommy. ‘I’d like to get even with whoeverdid him in. He was a nice old boy and he was good to us and did as muchas he could to help us here. Come on, anyway, let’s go on looking round.’

1 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

2 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

5 hearsay   

n.谣传，风闻

参考例句：

• They started to piece the story together from hearsay.他们开始根据传闻把事情的经过一点点拼湊起来。
• You are only supposing this on hearsay.You have no proof.你只是根据传闻想像而已，并没有证据。

6 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

7 shrubs   

灌木( shrub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林。
• These shrubs will need more light to produce flowering shoots. 这些灌木需要更多的光照才能抽出开花的新枝。

8 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。