章节正文
unauthorised intrusion, which opened a way only for aunts
and such-like privileged persons. Nicholas had not had
much experience of the art of fitting keys into keyholes
and turning locks, but for some days past he had
practised with the key of the schoolroom door; he did not
believe in trusting too much to luck and accident. The
key turned stiffly in the lock, but it turned. The door
opened, and Nicholas was in an unknown land, compared
with which the gooseberry garden was a stale delight, a
mere material pleasure.
Often and often Nicholas had pictured to himself
what the lumber-room might be like, that region that was
so carefully sealed from youthful eyes and concerning
which no questions were ever answered. It came up to his
expectations. In the first place it was large and dimly
lit, one high window opening on to the forbidden garden
being its only source of illumination. In the second
place it was a storehouse of unimagined treasures. The
aunt-by-assertion was one of those people who think that
things spoil by use and consign them to dust and damp by
way of preserving them. Such parts of the house as
Nicholas knew best were rather bare and cheerless, but
here there were wonderful things for the eye to feast on.
First and foremost there was a piece of framed tapestry
that was evidently meant to be a fire-screen. To
Nicholas it was a living, breathing story; he sat down on
a roll of Indian hangings, glowing in wonderful colours
beneath a layer of dust, and took in all the details of
the tapestry picture. A man, dressed in the hunting
costume of some remote period, had just transfixed a stag
with an arrow; it could not have been a difficult shot
because the stag was only one or two paces away from him;
in the thickly-growing vegetation that the picture
suggested it would not have been difficult to creep up to
a feeding stag, and the two spotted dogs that were
springing forward to join in the chase had evidently been
trained to keep to heel till the arrow was discharged.
That part of the picture was simple, if interesting, but
did the huntsman see, what Nicholas saw, that four
galloping wolves were coming in his direction through the
wood? There might be more than four of them hidden
behind the trees, and in any case would the man and his
dogs be able to cope with the four wolves if they made an
attack? The man had only two arrows left in his quiver,
and he might miss with one or both of them; all one knew
about his skill in shooting was that he could hit a large
stag at a ridiculously short range. Nicholas sat for
many golden minutes revolving the possibilities of the
scene; he was inclined to think that there were more than
four wolves and that the man and his dogs were in a tight
corner.
But there were other objects of delight and interest
claiming his instant attention: there were quaint twisted
candlesticks in the shape of snakes, and a teapot
fashioned like a china duck, out of whose open beak the
tea was supposed to come. How dull and shapeless the
nursery teapot seemed in comparison! And there was a
carved sandal-wood box packed tight with aromatic
cottonwool, and between the layers of cottonwool were
little brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and peacocks and
goblins, delightful to see and to handle. Less promising
in appearance was a large square book with plain black
covers; Nicholas peeped into it, and, behold, it was full
of coloured pictures of birds. And such birds! In the
garden, and in the lanes when he went for a walk,
Nicholas came across a few birds, of which the largest
were an occasional magpie or wood-pigeon; here were
herons and bustards, kites, toucans, tiger-bitterns,
brush turkeys, ibises, golden pheasants, a whole portrait
gallery of undreamed-of creatures. And as he was
admiring the colouring of the mandarin duck and assigning
a life-history to it, the voice of his aunt in shrill
vociferation of his name came from the gooseberry garden
without. She had grown suspicious at his long
disappearance, and had leapt to the conclusion that he
had climbed over the wall behind the sheltering screen of
the lilac bushes; she was now engaged in energetic and
rather hopeless search for him among the artichokes and
raspberry canes.
"Nicholas, Nicholas!" she screamed, "you are to come
out of this at once. It's no use trying to hide there; I
can see you all the time."
It was probably the first time for twenty years that
anyone had smiled in that lumber-room.
Presently the angry repetitions of Nicholas' name
gave way to a shriek, and a cry for somebody to come
quickly. Nicholas shut the book, restored it carefully
to its place in a corner, and shook some dust from a
neighbouring pile of newspapers over it. Then he crept
from the room, locked the door, and replaced the key
exactly where he had found it. His aunt was still
calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.
"Who's calling?" he asked.
"Me," came the answer from the other side of the
wall; "didn't you hear me? I've been looking for you in
the gooseberry garden, and I've slipped into the rain-
water tank. Luckily there's no water in it, but the
sides are slippery and I can't get out. Fetch the little
ladder from under the cherry tree - "
"I was told I wasn't to go into the gooseberry
garden," said Nicholas promptly.
"I told you not to, and now I tell you that you
may," came the voice from the rain-water tank, rather
impatiently.
"Your voice doesn't sound like aunt's," objected
Nicholas; "you may be the Evil One tempting me to be
disobedient. Aunt often tells me that the Evil One
tempts me and that I always yield. This time I'm not
going to yield."
"Don't talk nonsense," said the prisoner in the
tank; "go and fetch the ladder."
"Will there be strawberry jam for tea?" asked
Nicholas innocently.
"Certainly there will be," said the aunt, privately
resolving that Nicholas should have none of it.
"Now I know that you are the Evil One and not aunt,"
shouted Nicholas gleefully; "when we asked aunt for
strawberry jam yesterday she said there wasn't any. I
know there are four jars of it in the store cupboard,
because I looked, and of course you know it's there, but
she doesn't, because she said there wasn't any. Oh,
Devil, you HAVE sold yourself!"
There was an unusual sense of luxury in being able
to talk to an aunt as though one was talking to the Evil
One, but Nicholas knew, with childish discernment, that
such luxuries were not to be over-indulged in. He walked
noisily away, and it was a kitchenmaid, in search of
parsley, who eventually rescued the aunt from the rain-
water tank.
Tea that evening was partaken of in a fearsome
silence. The tide had been at its highest when the
children had arrived at Jagborough Cove, so there had
been no sands to play on - a circumstance that the aunt
had overlooked in the haste of organising her punitive
expedition. The tightness of Bobby's boots had had
disastrous effect on his temper the whole of the
afternoon, and altogether the children could not have
been said to have enjoyed themselves. The aunt
maintained the frozen muteness of one who has suffered
undignified and unmerited detention in a rain-water tank
for thirty-five minutes. As for Nicholas, he, too, was
silent, in the absorption of one who has much to think
about; it was just possible, he considered, that the
huntsman would escape with his hounds while the wolves
feasted on the stricken stag.
FUR
"YOU look worried, dear," said Eleanor.
"I am worried," admitted Suzanne; "not worried
exactly, but anxious. You see, my birthday happens next
week - "
"You lucky person," interrupted Eleanor; "my
birthday doesn't come till the end of March."
"Well, old Bertram Kneyght is over in England just
now from the Argentine. He's a kind of distant cousin of
my mother's, and so enormously rich that we've never let
the relationship drop out of sight. Even if we don't see
him or hear from him for years he is always Cousin
Bertram when he does turn up. I can't say he's ever been
of much solid use to us, but yesterday the subject of my
birthday cropped up, and he asked me to let him know what
I wanted for a present."
"Now I understand the anxiety," observed Eleanor.
"As a rule when one is confronted with a problem
like that," said Suzanne, "all one's ideas vanish; one
doesn't seem to have a desire in the world. Now it so
happens that I have been very keen on a little Dresden
figure that I saw somewhere in Kensington; about thirty-
six shillings, quite beyond my means. I was very nearly
describing the figure, and giving Bertram the address of
the shop. And then it suddenly struck me that thirty-six
shillings was such a ridiculously inadequate sum for a
man of his immensewealth to spend on a birthday present.
He could give thirty-six pounds as easily as you or I
could buy a bunch of violets. I don't want to be greedy,
of course, but I don't like being wasteful."
"The question is," said Eleanor, "what are his ideas
as to present-giving? Some of the wealthiest people have
curiously cramped views on that subject. When people
grow gradually rich their requirements and standard of
living expand in proportion, while their present-giving
instincts often remain in the undeveloped condition of
their earlier days. Something showy and not-too-
expensive in a shop is their only conception of the ideal
gift. That is why even quite good shops have their
counters and windows crowded with things worth about four
shillings that look as if they might be worth seven-and-
six, and are priced at ten shillings and labelled
seasonable gifts.' "
"I know," said Suzanne; "that is why it is so risky
to be vague when one is giving indications of one's
wants. Now if I say to him: 'I am going out to Davos
this winter, so anything in the travelling line would be
acceptable,' he might give me a dressing-bag with gold-
mounted fittings, but, on the other hand, he might give
me Baedeker's Switzerland, or `Skiing without Tears,' or
something of that sort."
"He would be more likely to say: 'She'll be going to
lots of dances, a fan will be sure to be useful.' "
"Yes, and I've got tons of fans, so you see where
the danger and anxiety lies. Now if there is one thing
more than another that I really urgently want it is furs.
and such-like privileged persons. Nicholas had not had
much experience of the art of fitting keys into keyholes
and turning locks, but for some days past he had
practised with the key of the schoolroom door; he did not
believe in trusting too much to luck and accident. The
key turned stiffly in the lock, but it turned. The door
opened, and Nicholas was in an unknown land, compared
with which the gooseberry garden was a stale delight, a
mere material pleasure.
Often and often Nicholas had pictured to himself
what the lumber-room might be like, that region that was
so carefully sealed from youthful eyes and concerning
which no questions were ever answered. It came up to his
expectations. In the first place it was large and dimly
lit, one high window opening on to the forbidden garden
being its only source of illumination. In the second
place it was a storehouse of unimagined treasures. The
aunt-by-assertion was one of those people who think that
things spoil by use and consign them to dust and damp by
way of preserving them. Such parts of the house as
Nicholas knew best were rather bare and cheerless, but
here there were wonderful things for the eye to feast on.
First and foremost there was a piece of framed tapestry
that was evidently meant to be a fire-screen. To
Nicholas it was a living, breathing story; he sat down on
a roll of Indian hangings, glowing in wonderful colours
beneath a layer of dust, and took in all the details of
the tapestry picture. A man, dressed in the hunting
costume of some remote period, had just transfixed a stag
with an arrow; it could not have been a difficult shot
because the stag was only one or two paces away from him;
in the thickly-growing vegetation that the picture
suggested it would not have been difficult to creep up to
a feeding stag, and the two spotted dogs that were
springing forward to join in the chase had evidently been
trained to keep to heel till the arrow was discharged.
That part of the picture was simple, if interesting, but
did the huntsman see, what Nicholas saw, that four
galloping wolves were coming in his direction through the
wood? There might be more than four of them hidden
behind the trees, and in any case would the man and his
dogs be able to cope with the four wolves if they made an
attack? The man had only two arrows left in his quiver,
and he might miss with one or both of them; all one knew
about his skill in shooting was that he could hit a large
stag at a ridiculously short range. Nicholas sat for
many golden minutes revolving the possibilities of the
scene; he was inclined to think that there were more than
four wolves and that the man and his dogs were in a tight
corner.
But there were other objects of delight and interest
claiming his instant attention: there were quaint twisted
candlesticks in the shape of snakes, and a teapot
fashioned like a china duck, out of whose open beak the
tea was supposed to come. How dull and shapeless the
nursery teapot seemed in comparison! And there was a
carved sandal-wood box packed tight with aromatic
cottonwool, and between the layers of cottonwool were
little brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and peacocks and
goblins, delightful to see and to handle. Less promising
in appearance was a large square book with plain black
covers; Nicholas peeped into it, and, behold, it was full
of coloured pictures of birds. And such birds! In the
garden, and in the lanes when he went for a walk,
Nicholas came across a few birds, of which the largest
were an occasional magpie or wood-pigeon; here were
herons and bustards, kites, toucans, tiger-bitterns,
brush turkeys, ibises, golden pheasants, a whole portrait
gallery of undreamed-of creatures. And as he was
admiring the colouring of the mandarin duck and assigning
a life-history to it, the voice of his aunt in shrill
vociferation of his name came from the gooseberry garden
without. She had grown suspicious at his long
disappearance, and had leapt to the conclusion that he
had climbed over the wall behind the sheltering screen of
the lilac bushes; she was now engaged in energetic and
rather hopeless search for him among the artichokes and
raspberry canes.
"Nicholas, Nicholas!" she screamed, "you are to come
out of this at once. It's no use trying to hide there; I
can see you all the time."
It was probably the first time for twenty years that
anyone had smiled in that lumber-room.
Presently the angry repetitions of Nicholas' name
gave way to a shriek, and a cry for somebody to come
quickly. Nicholas shut the book, restored it carefully
to its place in a corner, and shook some dust from a
neighbouring pile of newspapers over it. Then he crept
from the room, locked the door, and replaced the key
exactly where he had found it. His aunt was still
calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.
"Who's calling?" he asked.
"Me," came the answer from the other side of the
wall; "didn't you hear me? I've been looking for you in
the gooseberry garden, and I've slipped into the rain-
water tank. Luckily there's no water in it, but the
sides are slippery and I can't get out. Fetch the little
ladder from under the cherry tree - "
"I was told I wasn't to go into the gooseberry
garden," said Nicholas promptly.
"I told you not to, and now I tell you that you
may," came the voice from the rain-water tank, rather
impatiently.
"Your voice doesn't sound like aunt's," objected
Nicholas; "you may be the Evil One tempting me to be
disobedient. Aunt often tells me that the Evil One
tempts me and that I always yield. This time I'm not
going to yield."
"Don't talk nonsense," said the prisoner in the
tank; "go and fetch the ladder."
"Will there be strawberry jam for tea?" asked
Nicholas innocently.
"Certainly there will be," said the aunt, privately
resolving that Nicholas should have none of it.
"Now I know that you are the Evil One and not aunt,"
shouted Nicholas gleefully; "when we asked aunt for
strawberry jam yesterday she said there wasn't any. I
know there are four jars of it in the store cupboard,
because I looked, and of course you know it's there, but
she doesn't, because she said there wasn't any. Oh,
Devil, you HAVE sold yourself!"
There was an unusual sense of luxury in being able
to talk to an aunt as though one was talking to the Evil
One, but Nicholas knew, with childish discernment, that
such luxuries were not to be over-indulged in. He walked
noisily away, and it was a kitchenmaid, in search of
parsley, who eventually rescued the aunt from the rain-
water tank.
Tea that evening was partaken of in a fearsome
silence. The tide had been at its highest when the
children had arrived at Jagborough Cove, so there had
been no sands to play on - a circumstance that the aunt
had overlooked in the haste of organising her punitive
expedition. The tightness of Bobby's boots had had
disastrous effect on his temper the whole of the
afternoon, and altogether the children could not have
been said to have enjoyed themselves. The aunt
maintained the frozen muteness of one who has suffered
undignified and unmerited detention in a rain-water tank
for thirty-five minutes. As for Nicholas, he, too, was
silent, in the absorption of one who has much to think
about; it was just possible, he considered, that the
huntsman would escape with his hounds while the wolves
feasted on the stricken stag.
FUR
"YOU look worried, dear," said Eleanor.
"I am worried," admitted Suzanne; "not worried
exactly, but anxious. You see, my birthday happens next
week - "
"You lucky person," interrupted Eleanor; "my
birthday doesn't come till the end of March."
"Well, old Bertram Kneyght is over in England just
now from the Argentine. He's a kind of distant cousin of
my mother's, and so enormously rich that we've never let
the relationship drop out of sight. Even if we don't see
him or hear from him for years he is always Cousin
Bertram when he does turn up. I can't say he's ever been
of much solid use to us, but yesterday the subject of my
birthday cropped up, and he asked me to let him know what
I wanted for a present."
"Now I understand the anxiety," observed Eleanor.
"As a rule when one is confronted with a problem
like that," said Suzanne, "all one's ideas vanish; one
doesn't seem to have a desire in the world. Now it so
happens that I have been very keen on a little Dresden
figure that I saw somewhere in Kensington; about thirty-
six shillings, quite beyond my means. I was very nearly
describing the figure, and giving Bertram the address of
the shop. And then it suddenly struck me that thirty-six
shillings was such a ridiculously inadequate sum for a
man of his immensewealth to spend on a birthday present.
He could give thirty-six pounds as easily as you or I
could buy a bunch of violets. I don't want to be greedy,
of course, but I don't like being wasteful."
"The question is," said Eleanor, "what are his ideas
as to present-giving? Some of the wealthiest people have
curiously cramped views on that subject. When people
grow gradually rich their requirements and standard of
living expand in proportion, while their present-giving
instincts often remain in the undeveloped condition of
their earlier days. Something showy and not-too-
expensive in a shop is their only conception of the ideal
gift. That is why even quite good shops have their
counters and windows crowded with things worth about four
shillings that look as if they might be worth seven-and-
six, and are priced at ten shillings and labelled
seasonable gifts.' "
"I know," said Suzanne; "that is why it is so risky
to be vague when one is giving indications of one's
wants. Now if I say to him: 'I am going out to Davos
this winter, so anything in the travelling line would be
acceptable,' he might give me a dressing-bag with gold-
mounted fittings, but, on the other hand, he might give
me Baedeker's Switzerland, or `Skiing without Tears,' or
something of that sort."
"He would be more likely to say: 'She'll be going to
lots of dances, a fan will be sure to be useful.' "
"Yes, and I've got tons of fans, so you see where
the danger and anxiety lies. Now if there is one thing
more than another that I really urgently want it is furs.
- youthful [´ju:θfəl]
a.年轻的；青年的 (初中英语单词) - opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- evidently [´evidəntli] ad.明显地 (初中英语单词)
- indian [´indiən] a.印度的 n.印度人 (初中英语单词)
- remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
- instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)
- occasional [ə´keiʒənəl] a.偶然的；临时的 (初中英语单词)
- conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)
- screen [skri:n] n.银幕 vt.遮蔽 (初中英语单词)
- shriek [ʃri:k] v.&n.尖叫(声) (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
- luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
- childish [´tʃaildiʃ] a.孩子的；幼稚的 (初中英语单词)
- temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
- altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
- frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)
- vanish [´væniʃ] vi.消失；消散；消灭 (初中英语单词)
- immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- proportion [prə´pɔ:ʃən] n.比率 vt.使成比例 (初中英语单词)
- anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)
- stiffly [´stifli] ad.硬；顽固地 (高中英语单词)
- forbidden [fə´bidn] forbid的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- foremost [´fɔ:məust] a.最重要的；最先的 (高中英语单词)
- quaint [kweint] a.离奇的；奇妙的 (高中英语单词)
- suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)
- hopeless [´həupləs] a.无望的，无可救药的 (高中英语单词)
- slippery [´slipəri] a.滑的；不稳固的 (高中英语单词)
- cherry [´tʃeri] n.樱桃(树) (高中英语单词)
- strawberry [´strɔ:bəri] n.草莓 (高中英语单词)
- stricken [´strikən] strike的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip] n.关系；联系；亲属关系 (高中英语单词)
- expand [ik´spænd] vt.张开；膨胀；扩大 (高中英语单词)
- conception [kən´sepʃən] n.构思；概念；怀孕 (高中英语单词)
- crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
- switzerland [´switsələnd] n.瑞士 (高中英语单词)
- schoolroom [´sku:lru:m, -rum] n.教室 (英语四级单词)
- storehouse [´stɔ:haus] n.仓库；(知识的)宝库 (英语四级单词)
- consign [kən´sain] v.委托；托运；寄存 (英语四级单词)
- tapestry [´tæpistri] n.挂毯 (英语四级单词)
- vegetation [,vedʒi´teiʃən] n.植物；生长 (英语四级单词)
- huntsman [´hʌntsmən] n.猎人；管理猎犬的人 (英语四级单词)
- energetic [,enə´dʒetik] a.精力旺盛的；有力的 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- tempting [´temptiŋ] a.引诱人的，吸引人的 (英语四级单词)
- eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
- absorption [əb´sɔ:pʃən] n.吸收；吸收作用 (英语四级单词)
- argentine [´ɑ:dʒəntain] n.&a.阿根廷人(的) (英语四级单词)
- enormously [i´nɔ:məsli] ad.巨大的，庞大的 (英语四级单词)
- intrusion [in´tru:ʒən] n.侵入；打扰；强加 (英语六级单词)
- privileged [´privilidʒd] a.有特权的；特许的 (英语六级单词)
- fitting [´fitiŋ] a.适当的 n.试衣 (英语六级单词)
- trusting [´trʌstiŋ] a.信任的；相信的 (英语六级单词)
- illumination [i,lju:mi´neiʃən] n.照明；阐明 (英语六级单词)
- shapeless [´ʃeiplis] a.无定形的；不成样的 (英语六级单词)
- colouring [´kʌləriŋ] n.色彩；外貌；伪装 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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