CHAPTER VI

 “Thea,” said Fred Ottenburg one drizzly¹ afternoon in April, while they sat waiting for their tea at a restaurant in the Pullman Building, overlooking the lake, “what are you going to do this summer?”

 

“I don’t know. Work, I suppose.”

 

“With Bowers², you mean? Even Bowers goes fishing for a month. Chicago’s no place to work, in the summer. Haven’t you made any plans?”

 

Thea shrugged³ her shoulders. “No use having any plans when you haven’t any money. They are unbecoming.”

 

“Aren’t you going home?”

 

She shook her head. “No. It won’t be comfortable there till I’ve got something to show for myself. I’m not getting on at all, you know. This year has been mostly wasted.”

 

“You’re stale; that’s what’s the matter with you. And just now you’re dead tired. You’ll talk more rationally after you’ve had some tea. Rest your throat until it comes.” They were sitting by a window. As Ottenburg looked at her in the gray light, he remembered what Mrs. Nathanmeyer had said about the Swedish face “breaking early.” Thea was as gray as the weather. Her skin looked sick. Her hair, too, though on a damp day it curled charmingly about her face, looked pale.

 

Fred beckoned⁴ the waiter and increased his order for food. Thea did not hear him. She was staring out of the window, down at the roof of the Art Institute and the green lions, dripping in the rain. The lake was all rolling mist, with a soft shimmer⁵ of robin’s-egg blue in the gray. A lumber⁶ boat, with two very tall masts, was emerging gaunt and black out of the fog. When the tea came Thea ate hungrily, and Fred watched her. He thought her eyes became a little less bleak⁷. The kettle sang cheerfully over the spirit lamp, and she seemed to concentrate her attention upon that pleasant sound. She kept looking toward it listlessly and indulgently, in a way that gave him a realization⁸ of her loneliness. Fred lit a cigarette and smoked thoughtfully. He and Thea were alone in the quiet, dusky room full of white tables. In those days Chicago people never stopped for tea. “Come,” he said at last, “what would you do this summer, if you could do whatever you wished?”

 

“I’d go a long way from here! West, I think. Maybe I could get some of my spring back. All this cold, cloudy weather,”—she looked out at the lake and shivered,—“I don’t know, it does things to me,” she ended abruptly⁹.

 

Fred nodded. “I know. You’ve been going down ever since you had tonsilitis. I’ve seen it. What you need is to sit in the sun and bake for three months. You’ve got the right idea. I remember once when we were having dinner somewhere you kept asking me about the Cliff-Dweller ruins. Do they still interest you?”

 

“Of course they do. I’ve always wanted to go down there—long before I ever got in for this.”

 

“I don’t think I told you, but my father owns a whole canyon¹⁰ full of Cliff-Dweller ruins. He has a big worthless ranch¹¹ down in Arizona, near a Navajo reservation, and there’s a canyon on the place they call Panther Canyon, chock full of that sort of thing. I often go down there to hunt. Henry Biltmer and his wife live there and keep a tidy place. He’s an old German who worked in the brewery¹² until he lost his health. Now he runs a few cattle. Henry likes to do me a favor. I’ve done a few for him.” Fred drowned his cigarette in his saucer and studied Thea’s expression, which was wistful and intent, envious¹³ and admiring. He continued with satisfaction: “If you went down there and stayed with them for two or three months, they wouldn’t let you pay anything. I might send Henry a new gun, but even I couldn’t offer him money for putting up a friend of mine. I’ll get you transportation. It would make a new girl of you. Let me write to Henry, and you pack your trunk. That’s all that’s necessary. No red tape about it. What do you say, Thea?”

 

She bit her lip, and sighed as if she were waking up.

 

Fred crumpled¹⁴ his napkin impatiently. “Well, isn’t it easy enough?”

 

“That’s the trouble; it’s too easy. Doesn’t sound probable. I’m not used to getting things for nothing.”

 

Ottenburg laughed. “Oh, if that’s all, I’ll show you how to begin. You won’t get this for nothing, quite. I’ll ask you to let me stop off and see you on my way to California. Perhaps by that time you will be glad to see me. Better let me break the news to Bowers. I can manage him. He needs a little transportation himself now and then. You must get corduroy riding-things and leather leggings. There are a few snakes about. Why do you keep frowning?”

 

“Well, I don’t exactly see why you take the trouble. What do you get out of it? You haven’t liked me so well the last two or three weeks.”

 

Fred dropped his third cigarette and looked at his watch. “If you don’t see that, it’s because you need a tonic¹⁵. I’ll show you what I’ll get out of it. Now I’m going to get a cab and take you home. You are too tired to walk a step. You’d better get to bed as soon as you get there. Of course, I don’t like you so well when you’re half anaesthetized all the time. What have you been doing to yourself?”

 

Thea rose. “I don’t know. Being bored eats the heart out of me, I guess.” She walked meekly¹⁶ in front of him to the elevator. Fred noticed for the hundredth time how vehemently¹⁷ her body proclaimed her state of feeling. He remembered how remarkably¹⁸ brilliant and beautiful she had been when she sang at Mrs. Nathanmeyer’s: flushed and gleaming, round and supple¹⁹, something that couldn’t be dimmed or downed. And now she seemed a moving figure of discouragement. The very waiters glanced at her apprehensively²⁰. It was not that she made a fuss, but her back was most extraordinarily²¹ vocal²². One never needed to see her face to know what she was full of that day. Yet she was certainly not mercurial²³. Her flesh seemed to take a mood and to “set,” like plaster. As he put her into the cab, Fred reflected once more that he “gave her up.” He would attack her when his lance was brighter.

1 drizzly   

a.毛毛雨的(a drizzly day)

参考例句：

• This section of the country is drizzly in the winter. 该国的这一地区在冬天经常细雨蒙蒙。
• That region is drizzly in winter. 那个地区冬天常下小雨。

2 bowers   

n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人

参考例句：

• If Mr Bowers is right, low government-bond yields could lose their appeal and equities could rebound. 如果鲍尔斯先生的预计是对的，那么低收益的国债将会失去吸引力同时股价将会反弹。 来自互联网

3 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 shimmer   

v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光

参考例句：

• The room was dark,but there was a shimmer of moonlight at the window.屋子里很黑，但靠近窗户的地方有点微光。
• Nor is there anything more virginal than the shimmer of young foliage.没有什么比新叶的微光更纯洁无瑕了。

6 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

7 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

8 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

9 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

10 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

11 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

12 brewery   

n.啤酒厂

参考例句：

• The brewery had 25 heavy horses delivering beer in London.啤酒厂有25匹高头大马在伦敦城中运送啤酒。
• When business was good,the brewery employed 20 people.在生意好的时候，这家酿造厂曾经雇佣过20人。

13 envious   

adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的

参考例句：

• I don't think I'm envious of your success.我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。

14 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

15 tonic   

n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的

参考例句：

• It will be marketed as a tonic for the elderly.这将作为老年人滋补品在市场上销售。
• Sea air is Nature's best tonic for mind and body.海上的空气是大自然赋予的对人们身心的最佳补品。

16 meekly   

adv.温顺地，逆来顺受地

参考例句：

• He stood aside meekly when the new policy was proposed. 当有人提出新政策时，他唯唯诺诺地站 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He meekly accepted the rebuke. 他顺从地接受了批评。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

18 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。

19 supple   

adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺

参考例句：

• She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好，因为她的天性柔和。
• He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。

20 apprehensively   

adv.担心地

参考例句：

• He glanced a trifle apprehensively towards the crowded ballroom. 他敏捷地朝挤满了人的舞厅瞟了一眼。 来自辞典例句
• Then it passed, leaving everything in a state of suspense, even the willow branches waiting apprehensively. 一阵这样的风过去，一切都不知怎好似的，连柳树都惊疑不定的等着点什么。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

21 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

22 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

23 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。