A Window in Thrums
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CHAPTER VI DEAD THIS TWENTY YEARS

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 In the lustiness of youth there are many who cannot feel that they, too, will die. The first fear stops the heart. Even then they would keep death at arm's length by making believe to disown him. Loved ones are taken away, and the boy, the girl, will not speak of them, as if that made the conqueror's triumph the less. In time the fire in the breast burns low, and then in the last glow of the embers, it is sweeter to hold to what has been than to think of what may be.
 
Twenty years had passed since Joey ran down the brae to play. Jess, his mother, shook her staff fondly at him. A cart rumbled2 by, the driver nodding on the shaft3. It rounded the corner and stopped suddenly, and then a woman screamed. A handful of men carried Joey's dead body to his mother, and that was the tragedy of Jess's life.
 
Twenty years ago, and still Jess sat at the window, and still she heard that woman scream. Every other living being had forgotten Joey; even to Hendry he was now scarcely a name, but there were times when Jess's face quivered and her old arms went out for her dead boy.
 
"God's will be done," she said, "but oh, I grudged4 Him my bairn terrible sair. I dinna want him back noo, an' ilka day is takkin' me nearer to him, but for mony a lang year I grudged him sair, sair. He was juist five minutes gone, an' they brocht him back deid, my Joey."
 
On the Sabbath day Jess could not go to church, and it was then, I think, that she was with Joey most. There was often a blessed serenity5 on her face when we returned, that only comes to those who have risen from their knees with their prayers answered. Then she was very close to the boy who died. Long ago she could not look out from her window upon the brae, but now it was her seat in church. There on the Sabbath evenings she sometimes talked to me of Joey.
 
"It's been a fine day," she would say, "juist like that day. I thank the Lord for the sunshine noo, but oh, I thocht at the time I couldna look at the sun shinin' again."
 
"In all Thrums," she has told me, and I know it to be true, "there's no a better man than Hendry. There's them 'at's cleverer in the wys o' the world, but my man, Hendry McQumpha, never did naething in all his life 'at wasna weel intended, an' though his words is common, it's to the Lord he looks. I canna think but what Hendry's pleasin' to God. Oh, I dinna

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1 ken k3WxV     
n.视野，知识领域
参考例句：
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
2 rumbled e155775f10a34eef1cb1235a085c6253     
发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋）
参考例句：
  • The machine rumbled as it started up. 机器轰鸣着发动起来。
  • Things rapidly became calm, though beneath the surface the argument rumbled on. 事情迅速平静下来了，然而，在这种平静的表面背后争论如隆隆雷声，持续不断。
3 shaft YEtzp     
n.(工具的)柄，杆状物
参考例句：
  • He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
  • This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。
4 grudged 497ff7797c8f8bc24299e4af22d743da     
怀恨（grudge的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • The mean man grudged the food his horse ate. 那个吝啬鬼舍不得喂马。
  • He grudged the food his horse ate. 他吝惜马料。
5 serenity fEzzz     
n.宁静，沉着，晴朗
参考例句：
  • Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
  • She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。
6 loom T8pzd     
n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近
参考例句：
  • The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
  • The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。
7 reverent IWNxP     
adj.恭敬的，虔诚的
参考例句：
  • He gave reverent attention to the teacher.他恭敬地听老师讲课。
  • She said the word artist with a gentle,understanding,reverent smile.她说作家一词时面带高雅，理解和虔诚的微笑。
8 bonnet AtSzQ     
n.无边女帽；童帽
参考例句：
  • The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
  • She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。
9 coffined a208f25b339952749c0239034d45dc6e     
vt.收殓（coffin的过去式与过去分词形式）
参考例句：
  • The cards were coffined in their boxes. 卡片已密藏在他们的盒子里。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • The cards are coffined in boxes. 卡片被分藏在盒子里。 来自辞典例句
10 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 auld Fuxzt     
adj.老的，旧的
参考例句：
  • Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind?怎能忘记旧日朋友，心中能不怀念？
  • The party ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Sync.宴会以《友谊地久天长》的歌声而告终。
12 sufficiently 0htzMB     
adv.足够地，充分地
参考例句：
  • It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
  • The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。
13 honourable honourable     
adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的
参考例句：
  • I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
  • I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。
14 shameful DzzwR     
adj.可耻的，不道德的
参考例句：
  • It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
  • We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。
15 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的
参考例句：
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
16 joyfully joyfully     
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地
参考例句：
  • She tripped along joyfully as if treading on air. 她高兴地走着，脚底下轻飘飘的。
  • During these first weeks she slaved joyfully. 在最初的几周里，她干得很高兴。
17 dwarf EkjzH     
n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小
参考例句：
  • The dwarf's long arms were not proportional to his height.那侏儒的长臂与他的身高不成比例。
  • The dwarf shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. 矮子耸耸肩膀，摇摇头。
18 kindle n2Gxu     
v.点燃，着火
参考例句：
  • This wood is too wet to kindle.这木柴太湿点不着。
  • A small spark was enough to kindle Lily's imagination.一星光花足以点燃莉丽的全部想象力。
19 syne wFRyY     
adv.自彼时至此时，曾经
参考例句：
  • The meeting ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.大会以唱《友谊地久天长》结束。
  • We will take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne.让我们为了过去的好时光干一杯友谊的酒。
20 weavers 55d09101fa7c612133657b412e704736     
织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The Navajo are noted as stockbreeders and skilled weavers, potters, and silversmiths. 纳瓦霍人以豢养家禽，技术熟练的纺织者，制陶者和银匠而著名。
  • They made out they were weavers. 他们假装是织布工人。
21 pretence pretence     
n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰
参考例句：
  • The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
  • He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。
22 sleeper gETyT     
n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺
参考例句：
  • I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
  • But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。
23 dune arHx6     
n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘
参考例句：
  • The sand massed to form a dune.沙积集起来成了沙丘。
  • Cute Jim sat on the dune eating a prune in June.可爱的吉姆在六月天坐在沙丘上吃着话梅。
24 bide VWTzo     
v.忍耐；等候；住
参考例句：
  • We'll have to bide our time until the rain stops.我们必须等到雨停。
  • Bide here for a while. 请在这儿等一会儿。
25 fathom w7wy3     
v.领悟，彻底了解
参考例句：
  • I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
  • What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

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