顺水推舟10

时间：2025-01-30 17:16:18

（单词翻译:单击）

Five
“David, when are we going back to London? When are we going to America?”
Across the breakfast table, David Hunter gave Rosaleen a quick surprised glance.
“There’s no hurry, is there? What’s wrong with this place?”
He gave a swift appreciative1 glance round the room where they were breakfasting. Furrowbank
was built on the side of a hill and from the windows one had an unbroken panorama2 of sleepy
English countryside. On the slope of the lawn thousands of daffodils had been planted. They were
nearly over now, but a sheet of golden bloom still remained.
Crumbling3 the toast on her plate, Rosaleen murmured:
“You said we’d go to America—soon. As soon as it could be managed.”
“Yes—but actually it isn’t managed so easily. There’s priority. Neither you nor I have any
business reasons to put forward. Things are always difficult after a war.”
He felt faintly irritated with himself as he spoke4. The reasons he advanced, though genuine
enough, had the sound of excuses. He wondered if they sounded that way to the girl who sat
opposite him. And why was she suddenly so keen to go to America?
Rosaleen murmured: “You said we’d only be here for a short time. You didn’t say we were
going to live here.”
“What’s wrong with Warmsley Vale—and Furrowbank? Come now?”
“Nothing. It’s them—all of them!”
“The Cloades?”
“Yes.”
“That’s just what I get a kick out of,” said David. “I like seeing their smug faces eaten up
with envy and malice5. Don’t grudge6 me my fun, Rosaleen.”
She said in a low troubled voice:
“I wish you didn’t feel like that. I don’t like it.”
“Have some spirit, girl. We’ve been pushed around enough, you and I. The Cloades have
lived soft—soft. Lived on big brother Gordon. Little fleas7 on a big flea8. I hate their kind—I always
have.”
She said, shocked:
“I don’t like hating people. It’s wicked.”
“Don’t you think they hate you? Have they been kind to you—friendly?”
She said doubtfully:
“They haven’t been unkind. They haven’t done me any harm.”
“But they’d like to, babyface. They’d like to.” He laughed recklessly. “If they weren’t
so careful of their own skins, you’d be found with a knife in your back one fine morning.”
She shivered.
“Don’t say such dreadful things.”
“Well—perhaps not a knife. Strychnine in the soup.”
She stared at him, her mouth tremulous.
“You’re joking….”
He became serious again.
“Don’t worry, Rosaleen. I’ll look after you. They’ve got me to deal with.”
She said, stumbling over the words, “If it’s true what you say—about their hating us—hating
me—why don’t we go to London? We’d be safe there—away from them all.”
“The country’s good for you, my girl. You know it makes you ill being in London.”
“That was when the bombs were there—the bombs.” She shivered, closed her eyes. “I’ll
never forget—never….”
“Yes, you will.” He took her gently by the shoulders, shook her slightly. “Snap out of it,
Rosaleen. You were badly shocked, but it’s over now. There are no more bombs. Don’t think
about it. Don’t remember. The doctor said country air and a country life for a long time to come.
That’s why I want to keep you away from London.”
“Is that really why? Is it, David? I thought—perhaps—”
“What did you think?”
Rosaleen said slowly:
“I thought perhaps it was because of her you wanted to be here….”
“Her?”
“You know the one I mean. The girl the other night. The one who was in the Wrens9.”
His face was suddenly black and stern.
“Lynn? Lynn Marchmont.”
“She means something to you, David.”
“Lynn Marchmont? She’s Rowley’s girl. Good old stay-at-home Rowley. That bovine10
slow-witted good-looking ox.”
“I watched you talking to her the other night.”
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Rosaleen.”
“And you’ve seen her since, haven’t you?”
“I met her near the farm the other morning when I was out riding.”
“And you’ll meet her again.”
“Of course I’ll always be meeting her! This is a tiny place. You can’t go two steps without
falling over a Cloade. But if you think I’ve fallen for Lynn Marchmont, you’re wrong. She’s
a proud stuck-up unpleasant girl without a civil tongue in her head. I wish old Rowley joy of her.
No, Rosaleen, my girl, she’s not my type.”
She said doubtfully, “Are you sure, David?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
She said half-timidly:
“I know you don’t like my laying out the cards…But they come true, they do indeed. There
was a girl bringing trouble and sorrow—a girl would come from over the sea. There was a dark
stranger, too, coming into our lives, and bringing danger with him. There was the death card, and
—”
“You and your dark strangers!” David laughed. “What a mass of superstition11 you are.
Don’t have any dealings with a dark stranger, that’s my advice to you.”
He strolled out of the house laughing, but when he was away from the house, his face clouded
over and he frowned to himself, murmuring:
“Bad luck to you, Lynn. Coming home from abroad and upsetting the apple cart.”
For he realized that at this very moment he was deliberately12 making a course on which he might
hope to meet the girl he had just apostrophized so savagely13.
Rosaleen watched him stroll away across the garden and out through the small gate that gave on
to a public footpath14 across the fields. Then she went up to her bedroom and looked through the
clothes in her wardrobe. She always enjoyed touching15 and feeling her new mink16 coat. To think she
should own a coat like that—she could never quite get over the wonder of it. She was in her
bedroom when the parlourmaid came up to tell her that Mrs. Marchmont had called.
Adela was sitting in the drawing room with her lips set tightly together and her heart beating at
twice its usual speed. She had been steeling herself for several days to make an appeal to Rosaleen
but true to her nature had procrastinated17. She had also been bewildered by finding that Lynn’s
attitude had unaccountably changed and that she was now rigidly18 opposed to her mother seeking
relief from her anxieties by asking Gordon’s widow for a loan.
However another letter from the bank manager that morning had driven Mrs. Marchmont into
positive action. She could delay no longer. Lynn had gone out early, and Mrs. Marchmont had
caught sight of David Hunter walking along the footpath—so the coast was clear. She particularly
wanted to get Rosaleen alone, without David, rightly judging that Rosaleen alone would be a far
easier proposition.
Nevertheless she felt dreadfully nervous as she waited in the sunny drawing room, though she
felt slightly better when Rosaleen came in with what Mrs. Marchmont always thought of as her
“half-witted look” more than usually marked.
“I wonder,” thought Adela to herself, “if the blast did it or if she was always like that?”
“Rosaleen stammered19.
“Oh, g-g-ood morning. Is there anything? Do sit down.”
“Such a lovely morning,” said Mrs. Marchmont brightly. “All my early tulips are out. Are
yours?”
The girl stared at her vacantly.
“I don’t know.”
What was one to do, thought Adela, with someone who didn’t talk gardening or dogs—those
standbys of rural conversation?
Aloud she said, unable to help the tinge20 of acidity21 that crept into her tone:
“Of course you have so many gardeners—they attend to all that.”
“I believe we’re shorthanded. Old Mullard wants two more men, he says. But there seems a
terrible shortage still of labour.”
The words came out with a kind of glib22 parrotlike delivery—rather like a child who repeats
what it has heard a grown-up person say.
Yes, she was like a child. Was that, Adela wondered, her charm? Was that what had attracted
that hard-headed shrewd business man, Gordon Cloade, and blinded him to her stupidity and her
lack of breeding? After all, it couldn’t only be looks. Plenty of good-looking women had angled
unsuccessfully to attract him.
But childishness, to a man of sixty-two, might be an attraction. Was it, could it be, real—or was
it a pose—a pose that had paid and so had become second nature?
Rosaleen was saying, “David’s out, I’m afraid…” and the words recalled Mrs.
Marchmont to herself. David might return. Now was her chance and she must not neglect it. The
words stuck in her throat but she got them out.
“I wonder—if you would help me?”
“Help you?”
Rosaleen looked surprised, uncomprehending.
“I—things are very difficult—you see, Gordon’s death has made a great difference to us
all.”
“You silly idiot,” she thought. “Must you go on gaping23 at me like that? You know what I
mean! You must know what I mean. After all, you’ve been poor yourself….”
She hated Rosaleen at that moment. Hated her because she, Adela Marchmont, was sitting here
whining24 for money. She thought, “I can’t do it—I can’t do it after all.”
In one brief instant all the long hours of thought and worry and vague planning flashed again
across her brain.
Sell the house—(But move where? There weren’t any small houses on the market—certainly
not any cheap houses). Take paying guests — (But you couldn’t get staff — and she simply
couldn’t—she just couldn’t deal with all the cooking and housework involved. If Lynn helped
—but Lynn was going to marry Rowley). Live with Rowley and Lynn herself? (No, she’d never
do that!) Get a job. What job? Who wanted an untrained elderly tired-out woman?
She heard her voice, belligerent25 because she despised herself.
“I mean money,” she said.
“Money?” said Rosaleen.
She sounded ingenuously26 surprised, as though money was the last thing she expected to be
mentioned.
Adela went on doggedly27, tumbling the words out:
“I’m overdrawn28 at the bank, and I owe bills—repairs to the house—and the rates haven’t
been paid yet. You see, everything’s halved—my income, I mean. I suppose it’s taxation29.
Gordon, you see, used to help. With the house, I mean. He did all the repairs and the roof and
painting and things like that. And an allowance as well. He paid it into the bank every quarter. He
always said not to worry and of course I never did. I mean, it was all right when he was alive, but
now—”
She stopped. She was ashamed—but at the same time relieved. After all, the worst was over. If
the girl refused, she refused, and that was that.
Rosaleen was looking very uncomfortable.
“Oh, dear,” she said. “I didn’t know. I never thought…I—well, of course, I’ll ask
David….”
Grimly gripping the sides of her chair, Adela said, desperately30:
“Couldn’t you give me a cheque—now….”
“Yes—yes, I suppose I could.” Rosaleen, looking startled, got up, went to the desk. She
hunted in various pigeonholes31 and finally produced a chequebook. “Shall I—how much?”
“Would—would five hundred pounds—” Adela broke off.
“Five hundred pounds,” Rosaleen wrote obediently.
A load slipped off Adela’s back. After all, it had been easy! She was dismayed as it occurred
to her that it was less gratitude32 that she felt than a faint scorn for the easiness of her victory!
Rosaleen was surely strangely simple.
The girl rose from the writing desk and came across to her. She held out the cheque awkwardly.
The embarrassment33 seemed now entirely34 on her side.
“I hope this is all right. I’m really so sorry—”
Adela took the cheque. The unformed childish hand straggled across the pink paper. Mrs.
Marchmont. Five hundred pounds ￡500. Rosaleen Cloade.
“It’s very good of you, Rosaleen. Thank you.”
“Oh please—I mean—I ought to have thought—”
“Very good of you, my dear.”
With the cheque in her handbag Adela Marchmont felt a different woman. The girl had really
been very sweet about it. It would be embarrassing to prolong the interview. She said goodbye and
departed. She passed David in the drive, said “Good morning” pleasantly, and hurried on.
 

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 appreciative 9vDzr     
adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的
参考例句：
  • She was deeply appreciative of your help.她对你的帮助深表感激。
  • We are very appreciative of their support in this respect.我们十分感谢他们在这方面的支持。
2 panorama D4wzE     
n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置]
参考例句：
  • A vast panorama of the valley lay before us.山谷的广阔全景展现在我们面前。
  • A flourishing and prosperous panorama spread out before our eyes.一派欣欣向荣的景象展现在我们的眼前。
3 crumbling Pyaxy     
adj.摇摇欲坠的
参考例句：
  • an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
  • The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。
4 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。
5 malice P8LzW     
n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋
参考例句：
  • I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
  • There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。
6 grudge hedzG     
n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做
参考例句：
  • I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
  • I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。
7 fleas dac6b8c15c1e78d1bf73d8963e2e82d0     
n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求）
参考例句：
  • The dog has fleas. 这条狗有跳蚤。
  • Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 flea dgSz3     
n.跳蚤
参考例句：
  • I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
  • Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。
9 wrens 2c1906a3d535a9b60bf1e209ea670eb9     
n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Other songbirds, such as wrens, have hundreds of songs. 有的鸣鸟，例如鹪鹩，会唱几百只歌。 来自辞典例句
10 bovine ys5zy     
adj.牛的；n.牛
参考例句：
  • He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass andand munching,like some bovine creature.他丢开包袱，爬到灯心草丛里，像牛似的大咬大嚼起来。
  • He was a gentle,rather bovine man.他是一位文雅而反应迟钝的人。
11 superstition VHbzg     
n.迷信，迷信行为
参考例句：
  • It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
  • Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。
12 deliberately Gulzvq     
adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地
参考例句：
  • The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
  • They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。
13 savagely 902f52b3c682f478ddd5202b40afefb9     
adv. 野蛮地，残酷地
参考例句：
  • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
  • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
14 footpath 9gzzO     
n.小路，人行道
参考例句：
  • Owners who allow their dogs to foul the footpath will be fined.主人若放任狗弄脏人行道将受处罚。
  • They rambled on the footpath in the woods.他俩漫步在林间蹊径上。
15 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的，使人感伤的
参考例句：
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
16 mink ZoXzYR     
n.貂，貂皮
参考例句：
  • She was wearing a blue dress and a mink coat.她穿着一身蓝色的套装和一件貂皮大衣。
  • He started a mink ranch and made a fortune in five years. 他开了个水貂养殖场，五年之内就赚了不少钱。
17 procrastinated 3334d53a42b8716424c7c1ede6c051d8     
拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • She procrastinated her return. 她拖延了归期。
  • He procrastinated until it was too late to do anything at all. 他因循坐误，一事无成。
18 rigidly hjezpo     
adv.刻板地，僵化地
参考例句：
  • Life today is rigidly compartmentalized into work and leisure. 当今的生活被严格划分为工作和休闲两部分。
  • The curriculum is rigidly prescribed from an early age. 自儿童时起即已开始有严格的课程设置。
19 stammered 76088bc9384c91d5745fd550a9d81721     
v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
20 tinge 8q9yO     
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。
21 acidity rJyya     
n.酸度，酸性
参考例句：
  • This plant prefers alkaline soil,though it will readily tolerate some acidity.这种植物在酸性土壤中也能生存，但硷性土壤更加适宜。
  • Gastric acidity would not prevent the organism from passing into the gut.胃的酸度不能防止细菌进入肠道。
22 glib DeNzs     
adj.圆滑的，油嘴滑舌的
参考例句：
  • His glib talk sounds as sweet as a song.他说的比唱的还好听。
  • The fellow has a very glib tongue.这家伙嘴油得很。
23 gaping gaping     
adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大
参考例句：
  • Ahead of them was a gaping abyss. 他们前面是一个巨大的深渊。
  • The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 whining whining     
n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚
参考例句：
  • That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
  • The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。
25 belligerent Qtwzz     
adj.好战的，挑起战争的；n.交战国，交战者
参考例句：
  • He had a belligerent aspect.他有种好斗的神色。
  • Our government has forbidden exporting the petroleum to the belligerent countries.我们政府已经禁止向交战国输出石油。
26 ingenuously 70b75fa07a553aa716ee077a3105c751     
adv.率直地，正直地
参考例句：
  • Voldemort stared at him ingenuously. The man MUST have lost his marbles. 魔王愕然向对方望过去。这家伙绝对疯了。 来自互联网
27 doggedly 6upzAY     
adv.顽强地，固执地
参考例句：
  • He was still doggedly pursuing his studies.他仍然顽强地进行着自己的研究。
  • He trudged doggedly on until he reached the flat.他顽强地、步履艰难地走着，一直走回了公寓。
28 overdrawn 4eb10eff40c3bcd30842eb8b379808ff     
透支( overdraw的过去分词 )； (overdraw的过去分词)
参考例句：
  • The characters in this novel are rather overdrawn. 这本小说中的人物描写得有些夸张。
  • His account of the bank robbery is somewhat overdrawn. 他对银行抢案的叙述有些夸张。
29 taxation tqVwP     
n.征税，税收，税金
参考例句：
  • He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
  • The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
30 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地
参考例句：
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
31 pigeonholes ab1f6a86bb9f06815be457d4caed058e     
n.鸽舍出入口( pigeonhole的名词复数 )；小房间；文件架上的小间隔v.把…搁在分类架上( pigeonhole的第三人称单数 )；把…留在记忆中；缓办；把…隔成小格
参考例句：
  • The tidy committee men regard them with horror,knowing that no pigeonholes can be found for them. 衣冠楚楚的委员们恐怖地看着他们，因为他们知道找不到一个稳妥的地方来安置他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • All of those who are different those who do not fit the boxes and the pigeonholes? 那些与众不同，不合适常规，不符合传统的人的位置又在哪里？ 来自互联网
32 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激，感谢
参考例句：
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
33 embarrassment fj9z8     
n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫
参考例句：
  • She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
  • Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。
34 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地
参考例句：
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

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