May 29th.

　　May 29th.
　　Thomas Royde, pipe in mouth, was surveying the progress of his packing, with which the deft-fingered Malayan No.1 boy was busy. Occasionally his glance shifted to the view over the plantations¹. For some six months he would not see that view which had been so familiar for the past seven years.
　　It would be queer to be in England again.
　　Allen Drake, his partner, looked in.
　　"Hullo, Thomas, how goes it?"
　　"All set now."
　　"Come and have a drink, you lucky devil. I'm consumed with envy."Thomas Royde moved slowly out of the bedroom and joined his friend. He did not speak, for Thomas Royde was a man singularly economical of words. His friends had learned to gauge² his reactions correctly from the quality of his silences.
　　A rather thickset figure, with a straight, solemn face and observant, thoughtful eyes. He walked a little sideways, crab³-like. This, the result of being jammed in a door during an earthquake, had contributed towards his nickname of the Hermit⁴ Crab. It had left his right arm and shoulder partially⁵ helpless, which, added to an artificial stiffness of gait, often led people to think he was feeling shy and awkward when in reality he seldom felt anything of the kind.
　　Allen Drake mixed the drinks.
　　"Well," he said. "Good hunting!"
　　Royde said something that sounded like "Ah, hum."Drake looked at him curiously⁶.
　　"Phlegmatic as ever," he remarked. "Don't know how you manage it. How long is it since you went home?""Seven years - nearer eight."
　　"It's a long time. Wonder you haven't gone completely native.""Perhaps I have."
　　"You always did belong to Our Dumb Friends rather to the human race! Planned out your leave?""Well- yes- partly."
　　The bronze, impassive face took a sudden and a deeper brick-red tinge⁷.
　　Allen Drake said with lively astonishment⁸: "I believe there's a girl! Damn it all, you are blushing!"Thomas Royde said rather huskily: "Don't be a fool!"And he drew very hard on his ancient pipe.
　　He broke all previous records by continuing the conversation himself.
　　"Dare say," he said, "I shall find things a bit changed."Allen Drake said curiously: "I've always wondered why you chucked going home last time. Right at the last minute, too."Royde shrugged⁹ his shoulders.
　　"Thought that shooting trip might be interesting. Bad news from home about then.""Of course, I forgot. Your brother was killed - in that motoring accident."Thomas Royde nodded.
　　Drake reflected that, all the same, it seemed a curious reason for putting off a journey home. There was a mother - he believed, a sister also. Surely at such a time - then he remembered something. Thomas had cancelled his passage before the news of his brother's death arrived.
　　Allen looked at his friend curiously. Dark horse, old Thomas!
　　After a lapse¹⁰ of three years he could ask: "You and your brother great pals¹¹?""Adrian and I? Not particularly. Each of us always went his own way. He was a barrister.""Yes," thought Drake, "a very different life. Chambers¹² in London, parties - a living earned by the shrewd use of the tongue." He reflected that Adrian Royde must have been a very different chap from old Silent Thomas.
　　"Your mother's alive, isn't she?"
　　"The mater? Yes."
　　"And you've got a sister, too."
　　Thomas shook his head.
　　"Oh, I thought you had. In that snapshot -"Royde mumbled¹³. "Not a sister. Sort of distant cousin or something. Brought up with us because she was an orphan¹⁴."Once more a slow tide of colour suffused¹⁵ the bronzed skin.
　　Drake thought, "Hello-o-?"
　　He said: "Is she married?"
　　"She was. Married that fellow Nevile Strange.""Fellow who plays tennis and racquets and all that?""Yes. She divorced him."
　　"And you're going home to try your luck with her," thought Drake.
　　Mercifully he changed the subject of the conversation.
　　"Going to get any fishing or shooting?"
　　"Shall go home first. Then I thought of doing a bit of sailing down at Saltcreek.""I know it. Attractive little place. Rather a decent old-fashioned hotel there.""Yes. The Balmoral Court. May stay there, or may put up with friends who've got a house there.""Sounds all right to me."
　　"Ah, hum. Nice peaceful place, Saltcreek. Nobody to hustle¹⁶ you.""I know," said Drake. "The kind of place where nothing ever happens."

1 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

2 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

3 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

4 hermit   

n.隐士，修道者；隐居

参考例句：

• He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
• Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

5 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

6 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。

7 tinge   

vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息

参考例句：

• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
• There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。

8 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

9 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》

10 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

11 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

12 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

13 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

14 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

15 suffused   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was suffused with colour. 她满脸通红。
• Her eyes were suffused with warm, excited tears. 她激动地热泪盈眶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。