To Kill a Mockingbird 杀死一只知更鸟 Chapter 27
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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Things did settle down, after a fashion, as Atticus said they would. By the middle ofOctober, only two small things out of the ordinary happened to two Maycomb citizens.
 
No, there were three things, and they did not directly concern us -- the Finches -- but in away they did.
 
The first thing was that Mr. Bob Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days andprobably made himself unique in the annals of the nineteen-thirties: he was the onlyman I ever heard of who was fired from the WPA for laziness. I suppose his brief burstof fame brought on a briefer burst of industry, but his job lasted only as long as hisnotoriety: Mr. Ewell found himself as forgotten as Tom Robinson. Thereafter, heresumed his regular weekly appearances at the welfare office for his check, andreceived it with no grace amid obscure mutterings that the bastards1 who thought theyran this town wouldn't permit an honest man to make a living. Ruth Jones, the welfarelady, said Mr. Ewell openly accused Atticus of getting his job. She was upset enough towalk down to Atticus's office and tell him about it. Atticus told Miss Ruth not to fret2, that ifBob Ewell wanted to discuss Atticus's "getting" his job, he knew the way to the office.
 
The second thing happened to Judge Taylor. Judge Taylor was not a Sunday-nightchurchgoer: Mrs. Taylor was. Judge Taylor savored3 his Sunday night hour alone in hisbig house, and churchtime found him holed up in his study reading the writings of BobTaylor (no kin4, but the judge would have been proud to claim it). One Sunday night, lostin fruity metaphors5 and florid diction, Judge Taylor's attention was wrenched6 from thepage by an irritating scratching noise. "Hush," he said to Ann Taylor, his fat nondescriptdog. Then he realized he was speaking to an empty room; the scratching noise wascoming from the rear of the house. Judge Taylor clumped7 to the back porch to let Annout and found the screen door swinging open. A shadow on the corner of the housecaught his eye, and that was all he saw of his visitor. Mrs. Taylor came home fromchurch to find her husband in his chair, lost in the writings of Bob Taylor, with a shotgunacross his lap.
 
The third thing happened to Helen Robinson, Tom's widow. If Mr. Ewell was asforgotten as Tom Robinson, Tom Robinson was as forgotten as Boo Radley. But Tomwas not forgotten by his employer, Mr. Link Deas. Mr. Link Deas made a job for Helen.
 
He didn't really need her, but he said he felt right bad about the way things turned out. Inever knew who took care of her children while Helen was away. Calpurnia said it washard on Helen, because she had to walk nearly a mile out of her way to avoid theEwells, who, according to Helen, "chunked at her" the first time she tried to use thepublic road. Mr. Link Deas eventually received the impression that Helen was coming towork each morning from the wrong direction, and dragged the reason out of her. "Justlet it be, Mr. Link, please suh," Helen begged. "The hell I will," said Mr. Link. He told herto come by his store that afternoon before she left. She did, and Mr. Link closed hisstore, put his hat firmly on his head, and walked Helen home. He walked her the shortway, by the Ewells'. On his way back, Mr. Link stopped at the crazy gate.
 
"Ewell?" he called. "I say Ewell!"
 
The windows, normally packed with children, were empty.
 
"I know every last one of you's in there a-layin' on the floor! Now hear me, Bob Ewell:
 
if I hear one more peep outa my girl Helen about not bein' able to walk this road I'll haveyou in jail before sundown!" Mr. Link spat8 in the dust and walked home.
 
Helen went to work next morning and used the public road. Nobody chunked at her,but when she was a few yards beyond the Ewell house, she looked around and saw Mr.
 
Ewell walking behind her. She turned and walked on, and Mr. Ewell kept the samedistance behind her until she reached Mr. Link Deas's house. All the way to the house,Helen said, she heard a soft voice behind her, crooning foul9 words. Thoroughlyfrightened, she telephoned Mr. Link at his store, which was not too far from his house.
 
As Mr. Link came out of his store he saw Mr. Ewell leaning on the fence. Mr. Ewell said,"Don't you look at me, Link Deas, like I was dirt. I ain't jumped your -- "
 
"First thing you can do, Ewell, is get your stinkin' carcass off my property. You'releanin' on it an' I can't afford fresh paint for it. Second thing you can do is stay awayfrom my cook or I'll have you up for assault -- "
 
"I ain't touched her, Link Deas, and ain't about to go with no nigger!"
 
"You don't have to touch her, all you have to do is make her afraid, an' if assault ain'tenough to keep you locked up awhile, I'll get you in on the Ladies' Law, so get outa mysight! If you don't think I mean it, just bother that girl again!"#p#分页标题#e#
 
Mr. Ewell evidently thought he meant it, for Helen reported no further trouble.
 
"I don't like it, Atticus, I don't like it at all," was Aunt Alexandra's assessment11 of theseevents. "That man seems to have a permanent running grudge12 against everybodyconnected with that case. I know how that kind are about paying off grudges13, but I don'tunderstand why he should harbor one -- he had his way in court, didn't he?"
 
"I think I understand," said Atticus. "It might be because he knows in his heart that veryfew people in Maycomb really believed his and Mayella's yarns14. He thought he'd be ahero, but all he got for his pain was… was, okay, we'll convict this Negro but get back toyour dump. He's had his fling with about everybody now, so he ought to be satisfied.
 
He'll settle down when the weather changes."
 
"But why should he try to burgle John Taylor's house? He obviously didn't know Johnwas home or he wouldn't've tried. Only lights John shows on Sunday nights are on thefront porch and back in his den…"
 
"You don't know if Bob Ewell cut that screen, you don't know who did it," said Atticus.
 
"But I can guess. I proved him a liar15 but John made him look like a fool. All the timeEwell was on the stand I couldn't dare look at John and keep a straight face. Johnlooked at him as if he were a three-legged chicken or a square egg. Don't tell me judgesdon't try to prejudice juries," Atticus chuckled16.
 
By the end of October, our lives had become the familiar routine of school, play, study.
 
Jem seemed to have put out of his mind whatever it was he wanted to forget, and ourclassmates mercifully let us forget our father's eccentricities17. Cecil Jacobs asked meone time if Atticus was a Radical18. When I asked Atticus, Atticus was so amused I wasrather annoyed, but he said he wasn't laughing at me. He said, "You tell Cecil I'm aboutas radical as Cotton Tom Heflin."
 
Aunt Alexandra was thriving. Miss Maudie must have silenced the whole missionarysociety at one blow, for Aunty again ruled that roost. Her refreshments19 grew even moredelicious. I learned more about the poor Mrunas' social life from listening to Mrs.
 
Merriweather: they had so little sense of family that the whole tribe was one big family. Achild had as many fathers as there were men in the community, as many mothers asthere were women. J. Grimes Everett was doing his utmost to change this state ofaffairs, and desperately20 needed our prayers.
 
Maycomb was itself again. Precisely21 the same as last year and the year before that,with only two minor22 changes. Firstly, people had removed from their store windows andautomobiles the stickers that said NRA -- WE DO OUR PART. I asked Atticus why, andhe said it was because the National Recovery Act was dead. I asked who killed it: hesaid nine old men.
 
The second change in Maycomb since last year was not one of national significance.
 
Until then, Halloween in Maycomb was a completely unorganized affair. Each child didwhat he wanted to do, with assistance from other children if there was anything to bemoved, such as placing a light buggy on top of the livery stable. But parents thoughtthings went too far last year, when the peace of Miss Tutti and Miss Frutti wasshattered.
 
Misses Tutti and Frutti Barber were maiden23 ladies, sisters, who lived together in theonly Maycomb residence boasting a cellar. The Barber ladies were rumored24 to beRepublicans, having migrated from Clanton, Alabama, in 1911. Their ways were strangeto us, and why they wanted a cellar nobody knew, but they wanted one and they dugone, and they spent the rest of their lives chasing generations of children out of it.
 
Misses Tutti and Frutti (their names were Sarah and Frances), aside from theirYankee ways, were both deaf. Miss Tutti denied it and lived in a world of silence, butMiss Frutti, not about to miss anything, employed an ear trumpet25 so enormous that Jemdeclared it was a loudspeaker from one of those dog Victrolas.
 
With these facts in mind and Halloween at hand, some wicked children had waiteduntil the Misses Barber were thoroughly10 asleep, slipped into their livingroom (nobody butthe Radleys locked up at night), stealthily made away with every stick of furnituretherein, and hid it in the cellar. I deny having taken part in such a thing.
 
"I heard 'em!" was the cry that awoke the Misses Barber's neighbors at dawn nextmorning. "Heard 'em drive a truck up to the door! Stomped26 around like horses. They'rein New Orleans by now!"
 #p#分页标题#e#
Miss Tutti was sure those traveling fur sellers who came through town two days agohad purloined27 their furniture. "Da-rk they were," she said. "Syrians."
 
Mr. Heck Tate was summoned. He surveyed the area and said he thought it was alocal job. Miss Frutti said she'd know a Maycomb voice anywhere, and there were noMaycomb voices in that parlor28 last night -- rolling their r's all over her premises29, theywere. Nothing less than the bloodhounds must be used to locate their furniture, MissTutti insisted, so Mr. Tate was obliged to go ten miles out the road, round up the countyhounds, and put them on the trail.
 
Mr. Tate started them off at the Misses Barber's front steps, but all they did was runaround to the back of the house and howl at the cellar door. When Mr. Tate set them inmotion three times, he finally guessed the truth. By noontime that day, there was not abarefooted child to be seen in Maycomb and nobody took off his shoes until the houndswere returned.
 
So the Maycomb ladies said things would be different this year. The high-schoolauditorium would be open, there would be a pageant30 for the grown-ups; apple-bobbing,taffy-pulling, pinning the tail on the donkey for the children. There would also be a prizeof twenty-five cents for the best Halloween costume, created by the wearer.
 
Jem and I both groaned31. Not that we'd ever done anything, it was the principle of thething. Jem considered himself too old for Halloween anyway; he said he wouldn't becaught anywhere near the high school at something like that. Oh well, I thought, Atticuswould take me.
 
I soon learned, however, that my services would be required on stage that evening.
 
Mrs. Grace Merriweather had composed an original pageant entitled Maycomb County:
 
Ad Astra Per Aspera, and I was to be a ham. She thought it would be adorable if someof the children were costumed to represent the county's agricultural products: CecilJacobs would be dressed up to look like a cow; Agnes Boone would make a lovelybutterbean, another child would be a peanut, and on down the line until Mrs.
 
Merriweather's imagination and the supply of children were exhausted32.
 
Our only duties, as far as I could gather from our two rehearsals33, were to enter fromstage left as Mrs. Merriweather (not only the author, but the narrator) identified us.
 
When she called out, "Pork," that was my cue. Then the assembled company wouldsing, "Maycomb County, Maycomb County, we will aye be true to thee," as the grandfinale, and Mrs. Merriweather would mount the stage with the state flag.
 
My costume was not much of a problem. Mrs. Crenshaw, the local seamstress, had asmuch imagination as Mrs. Merriweather. Mrs. Crenshaw took some chicken wire andbent it into the shape of a cured ham. This she covered with brown cloth, and painted itto resemble the original. I could duck under and someone would pull the contraptiondown over my head. It came almost to my knees. Mrs. Crenshaw thoughtfully left twopeepholes for me. She did a fine job. Jem said I looked exactly like a ham with legs.
 
There were several discomforts34, though: it was hot, it was a close fit; if my nose itched35 Icouldn't scratch, and once inside I could not get out of it alone.
 
When Halloween came, I assumed that the whole family would be present to watchme perform, but I was disappointed. Atticus said as tactfully as he could that he justdidn't think he could stand a pageant tonight, he was all in. He had been in Montgomeryfor a week and had come home late that afternoon. He thought Jem might escort me if Iasked him.
 
Aunt Alexandra said she just had to get to bed early, she'd been decorating the stageall afternoon and was worn out -- she stopped short in the middle of her sentence. Sheclosed her mouth, then opened it to say something, but no words came.
 
"'s matter, Aunty?" I asked.
 
"Oh nothing, nothing," she said, "somebody just walked over my grave." She put awayfrom her whatever it was that gave her a pinprick of apprehension36, and suggested that Igive the family a preview in the livingroom. So Jem squeezed me into my costume,stood at the livingroom door, called out "Po-ork," exactly as Mrs. Merriweather wouldhave done, and I marched in. Atticus and Aunt Alexandra were delighted.
 
I repeated my part for Calpurnia in the kitchen and she said I was wonderful. I wantedto go across the street to show Miss Maudie, but Jem said she'd probably be at thepageant anyway.
 
After that, it didn't matter whether they went or not. Jem said he would take me. Thusbegan our longest journey together.#p#分页标题#e#


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bastards 19876fc50e51ba427418f884ba64c288     
私生子( bastard的名词复数 ); 坏蛋; 讨厌的事物; 麻烦事 (认为别人走运或不幸时说)家伙
参考例句:
  • Those bastards don't care a damn about the welfare of the factory! 这批狗养的,不顾大局! 来自子夜部分
  • Let the first bastards to find out be the goddam Germans. 就让那些混账的德国佬去做最先发现的倒霉鬼吧。 来自演讲部分
2 fret wftzl     
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损
参考例句:
  • Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急,我们能准时到那里。
  • She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.
3 savored b2e8dc5ced86b908663d80760a443370     
v.意味,带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 );给…加调味品;使有风味;品尝
参考例句:
  • We savored the barbed hits in his reply. 我们很欣赏他在回答中使用的带刺的俏皮话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We savored, (the pleasures of) mountain life to the full. 我们充分体会了山居生活的乐趣。 来自辞典例句
4 kin 22Zxv     
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的
参考例句:
  • He comes of good kin.他出身好。
  • She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。
5 metaphors 83e73a88f6ce7dc55e75641ff9fe3c41     
隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
  • Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使,他是雄狮都是比喻说法。
6 wrenched c171af0af094a9c29fad8d3390564401     
v.(猛力地)扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 );扭伤;使感到痛苦;使悲痛
参考例句:
  • The bag was wrenched from her grasp. 那只包从她紧握的手里被夺了出来。
  • He wrenched the book from her hands. 他从她的手中把书拧抢了过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 clumped 66f71645b3b7e2656cb3fe3b1cf938f0     
adj.[医]成群的v.(树、灌木、植物等的)丛、簇( clump的过去式和过去分词 );(土、泥等)团;块;笨重的脚步声
参考例句:
  • The bacteria clumped together. 细菌凝集一团。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • He clumped after her, up the stairs, into his barren office. 他拖着沉重的步伐跟在她的后面上楼了,走进了他那个空荡荡的诊所。 来自辞典例句
8 spat pFdzJ     
n.口角,掌击;v.发出呼噜呼噜声
参考例句:
  • Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
  • There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。
9 foul Sfnzy     
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规
参考例句:
  • Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
  • What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气!
10 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
11 assessment vO7yu     
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额
参考例句:
  • This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
  • What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何?
12 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。
13 grudges 6cbad440c8c64ac8aa97a87505252416     
不满,怨恨,妒忌( grudge的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He never grudges money. 他从不吝惜金钱。
  • They bear grudges against each other. 他俩有过节儿。
14 yarns abae2015fe62c12a67909b3167af1dbc     
n.纱( yarn的名词复数 );纱线;奇闻漫谈;旅行轶事
参考例句:
  • ...vegetable-dyed yarns. 用植物染料染过色的纱线 来自辞典例句
  • Fibers may be loosely or tightly twisted into yarns. 纤维可以是膨松地或紧密地捻成纱线。 来自辞典例句
15 liar V1ixD     
n.说谎的人
参考例句:
  • I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了,一个又偷又骗的家伙!
  • She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
16 chuckled 8ce1383c838073977a08258a1f3e30f8     
轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
  • She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情,她就轻轻地暗自发笑。
17 eccentricities 9d4f841e5aa6297cdc01f631723077d9     
n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 );反常;怪癖
参考例句:
  • My wife has many eccentricities. 我妻子有很多怪癖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His eccentricities had earned for him the nickname"The Madman". 他的怪癖已使他得到'疯子'的绰号。 来自辞典例句
18 radical hA8zu     
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的
参考例句:
  • The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
  • She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。
19 refreshments KkqzPc     
n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待
参考例句:
  • We have to make a small charge for refreshments. 我们得收取少量茶点费。
  • Light refreshments will be served during the break. 中间休息时有点心供应。
20 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。
21 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
22 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
23 maiden yRpz7     
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
参考例句:
  • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
  • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。
24 rumored 08cff0ed52506f6d38c3eaeae1b51033     
adj.传说的,谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 );[古]名誉;咕哝;[古]喧嚷
参考例句:
  • It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句
25 trumpet AUczL     
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘
参考例句:
  • He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴,我吹喇叭。
  • The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。
26 stomped 0884b29fb612cae5a9e4eb0d1a257b4a     
v.跺脚,践踏,重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲,重步走出办公室。
  • She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门,暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句
27 purloined b3a9859449e3b233823deb43a7baa296     
v.偷窃( purloin的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • You have chosen align yourself with those who have purloined the very seat of your existence. 你们选择了将自己与那些盗取了你们存在之真正席位的人相校准。 来自互联网
28 parlor v4MzU     
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅
参考例句:
  • She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
  • Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店?
29 premises 6l1zWN     
n.建筑物,房屋
参考例句:
  • According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定,场内不准饮酒。
  • All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行,不用送到外面去做。
30 pageant fvnyN     
n.壮观的游行;露天历史剧
参考例句:
  • Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
  • The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。
31 groaned 1a076da0ddbd778a674301b2b29dff71     
v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 );发牢骚;抱怨;受苦
参考例句:
  • He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
  • The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
32 exhausted 7taz4r     
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的
参考例句:
  • It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长,到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
  • Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。
33 rehearsals 58abf70ed0ce2d3ac723eb2d13c1c6b5     
n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 );排练;复述;重复
参考例句:
  • The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
  • She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 discomforts 21153f1ed6fc87cfc0ae735005583b36     
n.不舒适( discomfort的名词复数 );不愉快,苦恼
参考例句:
  • Travellers in space have to endure many discomforts in their rockets. 宇宙旅行家不得不在火箭中忍受许多不舒适的东西 来自《用法词典》
  • On that particular morning even these discomforts added to my pleasure. 在那样一个特定的早晨,即使是这种种的不舒适也仿佛给我增添了满足感。 来自辞典例句
35 itched 40551ab33ea4ba343556be82d399ab87     
v.发痒( itch的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Seeing the children playing ping-pong, he itched to have a go. 他看到孩子们打乒乓,不觉技痒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He could hardly sIt'still and itched to have a go. 他再也坐不住了,心里跃跃欲试。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
36 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
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