顺水推舟23

时间：2025-01-30 17:25:24

（单词翻译:单击）

Thirteen
On that particular Tuesday afternoon, Lynn Marchmont had gone for a long walk. Conscious of a
growing restlessness and dissatisfaction with herself, she felt the need for thinking things out.
She had not seen Rowley for some days. After their somewhat stormy parting on the morning
she had asked him to lend her five hundred pounds they had met as usual. Lynn realized that her
demand had been unreasonable1 and that Rowley had been well within his rights in turning it down.
Nevertheless reasonableness has never been a quality that appeals to lovers. Outwardly things
were the same between her and Rowley, inwardly she was not so sure. The last few days she had
found unbearably2 monotonous3, yet hardly liked to acknowledge to herself that David Hunter’s
sudden departure to London with his sister might have something to do with their monotony.
David, she admitted ruefully, was an exciting person….
As for her relations, at the moment she found them all unbearably trying. Her mother was in the
best of spirits and had annoyed Lynn at lunch that day by announcing that she was going to try and
find a second gardener. “Old Tom really can’t keep up with things here.”
“But, darling, we can’t afford it,” Lynn had exclaimed.
“Nonsense, I really think, Lynn, that Gordon would be terribly upset if he could see how the
garden has gone down. He was so particular always about the border, and the grass being kept
mown, and the paths in good order—and just look at it now. I feel Gordon would want it put in
order again.”
“Even if we have to borrow money from his widow to do it.”
“I told you, Lynn, Rosaleen couldn’t have been nicer about it. I really think she quite saw my
point of view. I have a nice balance at the bank after paying all the bills. And I really think a
second gardener would be an economy. Think of the extra vegetables we could grow.”
“We could buy a lot of extra vegetables for a good deal less than another three pounds a
week.”
“I think we could get someone for less than that, dear. There are men coming out of the
Services now who want jobs. The paper says so.”
Lynn said dryly: “I doubt if you’ll find them in Warmsley Vale—or in Warmsley Heath.”
But although the matter was left like that, the tendency of her mother to count on Rosaleen as a
regular source of support haunted Lynn. It revived the memory of David’s sneering4 words.
So, feeling disgruntled and out of temper, she set out to walk her black mood off.
Her temper was not improved by a meeting with Aunt Kathie outside the post office. Aunt
Kathie was in good spirits.
“I think, Lynn dear, that we shall soon have good news.”
“What on earth do you mean, Aunt Kathie?”
Mrs. Cloade nodded and smiled and looked wise.
“I’ve had the most astonishing communications—really astonishing. A simple happy end to
all our troubles. I had one setback5, but since then I’ve got the message to Try try try again. If at
first you don’t succeed, etc…I’m not going to betray any secrets, Lynn dear, and the last thing I
should want to do would be to raise false hopes prematurely6, but I have the strongest belief that
things will very soon be quite all right. And quite time, too. I am really very worried about your
uncle. He worked far too hard during the war. He really needs to retire and devote himself to his
specialized7 studies—but of course he can’t do that without an adequate income. And sometimes
he has such queer nervous fits, I am really very worried about him. He is really quite odd.”
Lynn nodded thoughtfully. The change in Lionel Cloade had not escaped her notice, nor his
curious alternation of moods. She suspected that he occasionally had recourse to drugs to stimulate8
himself, and she wondered whether he were not to a certain extent an addict9. It would account for
his extreme nervous irritability10. She wondered how much Aunt Kathie knew or guessed. Aunt
Kathie, thought Lynn, was not such a fool as she looked.
Going down the High Street, she caught a glimpse of her Uncle Jeremy letting himself into his
front door. He looked, Lynn thought, very much older just in these last three weeks.
She quickened her pace. She wanted to get out of Warmsley Vale, up on to the hills and open
spaces. Setting out at a brisk pace she soon felt better. She would go for a good tramp of six or
seven miles—and really think things out. Always, all her life, she had been a resolute11 clearheaded
person. She had known what she wanted and what she didn’t want. Never, until now, had she
been content just to drift along….
Yes, that was just what it was! Drifting along! An aimless, formless method of living. Ever
since she had come out of the Service. A wave of nostalgia12 swept over her for those war days.
Days when duties were clearly defined, when life was planned and orderly—when the weight of
individual decisions had been lifted from her. But even as she formulated13 the idea, she was
horrified14 at herself. Was that really and truly what people were secretly feeling everywhere? Was
that what, ultimately, war did to you? It was not the physical dangers—the mines at sea, the
bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the
spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think… She, Lynn
Marchmont, was no longer the clearheaded resolute intelligent girl who had joined up. Her
intelligence had been specialized, directed in well-defined channels. Now mistress of herself and
her life once more, she was appalled15 at the disinclination of her mind to seize and grapple with her
own personal problems.
With a sudden wry16 smile, Lynn thought to herself: Odd if it’s really that newspaper character
“the housewife” who has come into her own through war conditions. The women who,
hindered by innumerable “shall nots,” were not helped by any definite “shalls.” Women who
had to plan and think and improvise17, who had to use every inch of the ingenuity18 they had been
given, and to develop an ingenuity that they didn’t know they had got! They alone, thought Lynn
now, could stand upright without a crutch19, responsible for themselves and others. And she, Lynn
Marchmont, well educated, clever, having done a job that needed brains and close application, was
now rudderless, devoid20 of resolution—yes, hateful word: drifting….
The people who had stayed at home; Rowley, for instance.
But at once Lynn’s mind dropped from vague generalities to the immediate21 personal. Herself
and Rowley. That was the problem, the real problem—the only problem. Did she really want to
marry Rowley?
Slowly the shadows lengthened22 to twilight23 and dusk. Lynn sat motionless, her chin cupped in
her hands on the outskirts24 of a small copse on the hillside, looking down over the valley. She had
lost count of time, but she knew that she was strangely reluctant to go home to the White House.
Below her, away to the left, was Long Willows25. Long Willows, her home if she married Rowley.
If! It came back to that—if—if—if!
A bird flew out of the wood with a startled cry like the cry of an angry child. A billow of smoke
from a train went eddying26 up in the sky forming as it did so a giant question mark:
???
Shall I marry Rowley? Do I want to marry Rowley? Did I ever want to marry Rowley? Could I
bear not to marry Rowley?
The train puffed27 away up the valley, the smoke quivered and dispersed28. But the question mark
did not fade from Lynn’s mind.
She had loved Rowley before she went away. “But I’ve come home changed,” she thought.
“I’m not the same Lynn.”
A line of poetry floated into her mind.
“Life and the world and mine own self are changed….”
And Rowley? Rowley hadn’t changed.
Yes, that was it. Rowley hadn’t changed. Rowley was where she had left him four years ago.
Did she want to marry Rowley? If not, what did she want?
Twigs29 cracked in the copse behind her and a man’s voice cursed as he pushed his way
through.
She cried out, “David!”
“Lynn!” He looked amazed as he came crashing through the undergrowth. “What in the
name of fortune are you doing here?”
He had been running and was slightly out of breath.
“I don’t know. Just thinking—sitting and thinking.” She laughed uncertainly. “I suppose
—it’s getting very late.”
“Haven’t you any idea of the time?”
She looked down vaguely30 at her wristwatch.
“It’s stopped again. I disorganize watches.”
“More than watches!” David said. “It’s the electricity in you. The vitality31. The life.”
He came up to her, and vaguely disturbed, she rose quickly to her feet.
“It’s getting quite dark. I must hurry home. What time is it, David?”
“Quarter past nine. I must run like a hare. I simply must catch the 9:20 train to London.”
“I didn’t know you had come back here!”
“I had to get some things from Furrowbank. But I must catch this train. Rosaleen’s alone in
the flat—and she gets the jitters32 if she’s alone at night in London.”
“In a service flat?” Lynn’s voice was scornful.
David said sharply:
“Fear isn’t logical. When you’ve suffered from blast—”
Lynn was suddenly ashamed—contrite. She said:
“I’m sorry. I’d forgotten.”
With sudden bitterness David cried out:
“Yes, it’s soon forgotten—all of it. Back to safety! Back to tameness! Back to where we
were when the whole bloody33 show started! Creep into our rotten little holes and play safe again.
You, too, Lynn—you’re just the same as the rest of them!”
She cried, “I’m not. I’m not, David. I was just thinking—now—”
“Of me?”
His quickness startled her. His arm was round her, holding him to her. He kissed her with hot
angry lips.
“Rowley Cloade?” he said, “that oaf? By God, Lynn, you belong to me.”
Then as suddenly as he had taken her, he released her, almost thrusting her away from him.
“I’ll miss the train.”
He ran headlong down the hillside.
“David…”
He turned his head, calling back:
“I’ll ring you when I get to London….”
She watched him running through the gathering34 gloom, light and athletic35 and full of natural
grace.
Then, shaken, her heart strangely stirred, her mind chaotic36, she walked slowly homeward.
She hesitated a little before going in. She shrank from her mother’s affectionate welcome, her
questions….
Her mother who had borrowed five hundred pounds from people whom she despised.
“We’ve no right to despise Rosaleen and David,” thought Lynn as she went very softly
upstairs. “We’re just the same. We’d do anything—anything for money.”
She stood in her bedroom, looking curiously37 at her face in the mirror. It was, she thought, the
face of a stranger….
And then, sharply, anger shook her.
“If Rowley really loved me,” she thought, “he’d have got that five hundred pounds for me
somehow. He would—he would. He wouldn’t let me be humiliated38 by having to take it from
David—David….”
David had said he would ring her when he got to London.
She went downstairs, walking in a dream.
Dreams, she thought, could be very dangerous things….

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1 unreasonable tjLwm     
adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的
参考例句：
  • I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
  • They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。
2 unbearably 96f09e3fcfe66bba0bfe374618d6b05c     
adv.不能忍受地，无法容忍地；慌
参考例句：
  • It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 monotonous FwQyJ     
adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的
参考例句：
  • She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
  • His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。
4 sneering 929a634cff0de62dfd69331a8e4dcf37     
嘲笑的，轻蔑的
参考例句：
  • "What are you sneering at?" “你冷笑什么？” 来自子夜部分
  • The old sorceress slunk in with a sneering smile. 老女巫鬼鬼崇崇地走进来，冷冷一笑。
5 setback XzuwD     
n.退步，挫折，挫败
参考例句：
  • Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
  • She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
6 prematurely nlMzW4     
adv.过早地，贸然地
参考例句：
  • She was born prematurely with poorly developed lungs. 她早产，肺部未发育健全。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His hair was prematurely white, but his busy eyebrows were still jet-black. 他的头发已经白了，不过两道浓眉还是乌黑乌黑的。 来自辞典例句
7 specialized Chuzwe     
adj.专门的，专业化的
参考例句：
  • There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
  • These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。
8 stimulate wuSwL     
vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋
参考例句：
  • Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
  • Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。
9 addict my4zS     
v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人
参考例句：
  • He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
  • He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。
10 irritability oR0zn     
n.易怒
参考例句：
  • It was the almost furtive restlessness and irritability that had possessed him. 那是一种一直纠缠着他的隐秘的不安和烦恼。
  • All organisms have irritability while alive. 所有生物体活着时都有应激性。
11 resolute 2sCyu     
adj.坚决的，果敢的
参考例句：
  • He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
  • The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。
12 nostalgia p5Rzb     
n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧
参考例句：
  • He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
  • I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。
13 formulated cfc86c2c7185ae3f93c4d8a44e3cea3c     
v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示
参考例句：
  • He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
14 horrified 8rUzZU     
a.(表现出)恐惧的
参考例句：
  • The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
  • We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。
15 appalled ec524998aec3c30241ea748ac1e5dbba     
v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的
参考例句：
  • The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
  • They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 wry hMQzK     
adj.讽刺的；扭曲的
参考例句：
  • He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸，打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
  • Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马，噘了噘嘴。
17 improvise 844yf     
v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成
参考例句：
  • If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
  • As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。
18 ingenuity 77TxM     
n.别出心裁；善于发明创造
参考例句：
  • The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
  • I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。
19 crutch Lnvzt     
n.T字形拐杖；支持，依靠，精神支柱
参考例句：
  • Her religion was a crutch to her when John died.约翰死后，她在精神上依靠宗教信仰支撑住自己。
  • He uses his wife as a kind of crutch because of his lack of confidence.他缺乏自信心，总把妻子当作主心骨。
20 devoid dZzzx     
adj.全无的，缺乏的
参考例句：
  • He is completely devoid of humour.他十分缺乏幽默。
  • The house is totally devoid of furniture.这所房子里什么家具都没有。
21 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的
参考例句：
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
22 lengthened 4c0dbc9eb35481502947898d5e9f0a54     
（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
  • He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。
23 twilight gKizf     
n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期
参考例句：
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
24 outskirts gmDz7W     
n.郊外，郊区
参考例句：
  • Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
  • They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。
25 willows 79355ee67d20ddbc021d3e9cb3acd236     
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木
参考例句：
  • The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
26 eddying 66c0ffa4a2e8509b312eb4799fd0876d     
涡流，涡流的形成
参考例句：
  • The Rhine flowed on, swirling and eddying, at six or seven miles an hour. 莱茵河不断以每小时六、七哩的速度，滔滔滚流，波涛起伏。
27 puffed 72b91de7f5a5b3f6bdcac0d30e24f8ca     
adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧
参考例句：
  • He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》
28 dispersed b24c637ca8e58669bce3496236c839fa     
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的
参考例句：
  • The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
  • After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。
29 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
30 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地，暖昧地
参考例句：
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。
31 vitality lhAw8     
n.活力，生命力，效力
参考例句：
  • He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
  • He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。
32 jitters bcdbab80a76ba5b84faa9be81506e8ea     
n.pl.紧张(通常前面要有the)
参考例句：
  • I always get the jitters before exams. 我考试前总是很紧张。
  • The whole city had the jitters from the bombing. 全城居民都为轰炸而心神不宁。
33 bloody kWHza     
adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染
参考例句：
  • He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
  • He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。
34 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会，聚会，聚集
参考例句：
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
35 athletic sOPy8     
adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的
参考例句：
  • This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
  • He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。
36 chaotic rUTyD     
adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的
参考例句：
  • Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
  • The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。
37 curiously 3v0zIc     
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。
38 humiliated 97211aab9c3dcd4f7c74e1101d555362     
感到羞愧的
参考例句：
  • Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
  • He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

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