THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF M. DUPONT

 

 

WHEN Monsieur Dupont was a Frenchman, he had three daughters, and their names were Anne-Marie, Therèse and la p’tite Georgette. But when he became an American for a change, he called himself Mr. Dewpond, and his daughters were called Anne Mary, Terry and George.

 

Mrs. Dewpond (who still called herself Madame Dupont when nobody was looking) had a linen¹-cupboard of which she was very proud, and it was her one delight to keep it always full of the most beautiful linen. Linen fascinated² her, just as kittens fascinate³ other people, and money fascinates⁴ my Uncle James. She was never tired of buying it, and running her fingers over it, and holding it against her cheek, and then tucking⁵ it lovingly away in her cupboard; and whenever she had a birthday, her three daughters would put all their savings⁶ together and buy her a table-cloth or a pair{94} of dusters, so that Mrs. Dewpond should say, “My darlings, but how they are ravishing!” They loved to hear her say this.

 

One day Mrs. Dewpond was not very well; and then there were more days when she was no better; and first a doctor came, and then a nurse came, and then she and the nurse went away into the country together to see if that would do her any good. And all the time Mr. Dewpond went about the house saying “T’chk, t’chk, t’chk” to himself, and looking very miserable⁷; and Anne Mary wrote to her Mother every day to say that they were all getting on all right and did want her back so badly; and Terry ended up her prayers every night with, “And may she suddenly come back to-morrow morning about half past seven, so that I can wake up and there she is”; and George kissed the door of her Mother’s empty bedroom every time she passed it, as{95} a sort of friendly habit; and all the house called to her to come back to it.

 

And at last there came a day when Mr. Dewpond had a letter saying that Mrs. Dewpond was very nearly well again, and would be home again on Saturday afternoon. This was on the Monday, so they had less than a week to wait, and they were all just as happy as they could be, thinking of it.

 

“We must celebrate it,” said Terry solemnly⁸.

 

George didn’t know what “celebrate” meant, so Anne Mary explained it to her until she did know, and then they all wondered how they should do it.

 

“I know,” said Terry suddenly. “Let’s send all the linen to the wash, and then it will be lovely and clean and smelling lavendery when she comes back to it.”

 

Anne Mary was not sure if this was a good thing to do. There was such a lot of{96} it, and it would look so funny on the bill if they suddenly had a hundred and twelve table-cloths, and only one white shirt, and—

 

“Well, anyhow, George thinks it’s a lovely idea,” said Terry carelessly, “and you know what fun it will be putting it all back again.”

 

The thought of putting it all back again was too much for Anne Mary.

 

“Very well, darlings,” she said, “we’ll do it. Come along.”

 

So they counted it out. There were 112 table-cloths, 42 bath-towels, 73 small towels, 26 pairs of sheets, 229 pillow-cases, and more dusters than I can possibly put down here. And they all went to the laundry together. On the Saturday morning they all came back (except one duster) and Anne Mary, Terry and George put them in the cupboard as neat as neat, George being{97} particularly helpful. And then they waited for their Mother.

 

She came at last. Anne Mary said that she was prettier than ever, and Mr. Dewpond said she had never looked so well, and Terry and George thought that she was even nicer to kiss than she had ever been before. For some time they all talked together about everything, and you could see that Mrs. Dewpond couldn’t help thinking of her linen-cupboard now and then, but she didn’t say anything; and Terry and George kept whispering to each other, “Won’t she be surprised when she sees?"—and sometimes George said to Anne Mary, “How surprised do you think she’ll be?” At last she got up, saying, “Well, I think I’ll just—” and they knew where she was going, and they all went with her. She threw open the chest, and of course she knew at once what had happened. She{98} just clasped⁹ her hands and cried, “My darlings, but how they are ravishing!” And then they all four hugged each other.

 

Later on, when he saw the bill, Mr. Dewpond clasped his hands and cried, too.

1 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

2 fascinated   

a.被强烈地吸引住，感到着迷的

参考例句：

• China has always fascinated me. 中国一直令我心驰神往。
• The children watched, fascinated, as the picture began to appear. 电影开始以后孩子们入迷地观看着。

3 fascinate   

vt.强烈地吸引，迷住

参考例句：

• I be extremely fascinate by the story.这故事令我非常人迷。
• I am quite fascinate by his adventure in Africa.他在非洲的冒险活动使人着了迷。

4 fascinates   

使着迷，使极感兴趣( fascinate的第三人称单数 )； 慑住…使动弹不得

参考例句：

• The novel fascinates the reader from the outset. 这部小说一开头就把读者迷住了。
• She fascinates me beyond measure. 她使我神魂颠倒。

5 tucking   

手压实（砂型）

参考例句：

• He crouched, tucking his knees under his chin. 他蜷曲着，把两个膝盖缩拢在颚下。
• I can assure you that we have every chance of tucking his ass into jail. 我敢向你担保，我们完全有把握将这头蠢驴塞进监狱。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

8 solemnly   

ad.严肃地, 庄严地

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played. 奏国歌时全场肃立。

9 clasped   

抱紧( clasp的过去式和过去分词 )； 紧紧拥抱； 握紧； 攥紧

参考例句：

• He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. 他俯身向前，双手十字交错地紧握着。
• The child clasped the doll tightly. 小孩紧抱着洋娃娃。