May 26, Sunday. - We went to Sutton after dinner to have meat-tea

with Mr. and Mrs. James. I had no appetite, having dined well at



two, and the entire evening was spoiled by little Percy - their

only son - who seems to me to be an utterly spoiled child.



Two or three times he came up to me and deliberately kicked my

shins. He hurt me once so much that the tears came into my eyes.



I gently remonstrated with him, and Mrs. James said: "Please don't

scold him; I do not believe in being too severe with young



children. You spoil their character."

Little Percy set up a deafening yell here, and when Carrie tried to



pacify him, he slapped her face.

I was so annoyed, I said: "That is not my idea of bringing up



children, Mrs. James."

Mrs. James said. "People have different ideas of bringing up



children - even your son Lupin is not the standard of perfection."

A Mr. Mezzini (an Italian, I fancy) here took Percy in his lap.



The child wriggled and kicked and broke away from Mr. Mezzini,

saying: "I don't like you - you've got a dirty face."



A very nice gentleman, Mr. Birks Spooner, took the child by the

wrist and said: "Come here, dear, and listen to this."



He detached his chronometer from the chain and made his watch

strike six.



To our horror, the child snatched it from his hand and bounced it

down upon the ground like one would a ball.



Mr. Birks Spooner was most amiable, and said he could easily get a

new glass put in, and did not suppose the works were damaged.



To show you how people's opinions differ, Carrie said the child was

bad-tempered, but it made up for that defect by its looks, for it



was - in her mind - an unquestionably beautiful child.

I may be wrong, but I do not think I have seen a much uglier child



myself. That is MY opinion.

May 30. - I don't know why it is, but I never anticipate with any



pleasure the visits to our house of Mrs. James, of Sutton. She is

coming again to stay for a few days. I said to Carrie this



morning, as I was leaving: "I wish, dear Carrie, I could like Mrs.

James better than I do."



Carrie said: "So do I, dear; but as for years I have had to put up

with Mr. Gowing, who is vulgar, and Mr. Cummings, who is kind but



most uninteresting, I am sure, dear, you won't mind the occasional

visits of Mrs. James, who has more intellect in her little finger



than both your friends have in their entire bodies."

I was so entirely taken back by this onslaught on my two dear old



friends, I could say nothing, and as I heard the 'bus coming, I

left with a hurried kiss - a little too hurried, perhaps, for my



upper lip came in contact with Carrie's teeth and slightly cut it.

It was quite painful for an hour afterwards. When I came home in



the evening I found Carrie buried in a book on Spiritualism, called

THERE IS NO BIRTH, by Florence Singleyet. I need scarcely say the



book was sent her to read by Mrs. James, of Sutton. As she had not

a word to say outside her book, I spent the rest of the evening



altering the stair-carpets, which are beginning to show signs of

wear at the edges.



Mrs. James arrived and, as usual, in the evening took the entire

management of everything. Finding that she and Carrie were making



some preparations for table-turning, I thought it time really to

put my foot down. I have always had the greatest contempt for such



nonsense, and put an end to it years ago when Carrie, at our old

house, used to have seances every night with poor Mrs. Fussters



(who is now dead). If I could see any use in it, I would not care.

As I stopped it in the days gone by, I determined to do so now.



I said: "I am very sorry Mrs. James, but I totallydisapprove of

it, apart from the fact that I receive my old friends on this



evening."

Mrs. James said: "Do you mean to say you haven't read THERE IS NO



BIRTH?" I said: "No, and I have no intention of doing so." Mrs.

James seemed surprised and said: "All the world is going mad over



the book." I responded rather cleverly: "Let it. There will be

one sane man in it, at all events."



Mrs. James said she thought it was very unkind, and if people were

all as prejudiced as I was, there would never have been the



electric telegraph or the telephone.

I said that was quite a different thing.



Mrs. James said sharply: "In what way, pray - in what way?"

I said: "In many ways."



Mrs. James said: "Well, mention ONE way."

I replied quietly: "Pardon me, Mrs. James; I decline to discuss

• dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)


• thrill [θril] v.震惊；激动；刺激 (初中英语单词)


• supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)


• cheerful [´tʃiəful] a.快乐的；高兴的 (初中英语单词)


• insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)


• injury [´indʒəri] n.伤害；毁坏；侮辱 (初中英语单词)


• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)


• writing [´raitiŋ] n.书写；写作；书法 (初中英语单词)


• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)


• anxiety [æŋ´zaiəti] n.挂念；渴望；焦虑的事 (初中英语单词)


• envelope [´envələup] n.信封，封皮 (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)


• contents [´kɔ:ntents] n.容纳物；要旨 (初中英语单词)


• punishment [´pʌniʃmənt] n.罚，刑罚 (初中英语单词)


• amazement [ə´meizmənt] n.惊愕；惊奇 (初中英语单词)


• freeze [fri:z] v.结冰；凝固；冷淡 (初中英语单词)


• standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)


• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)


• appetite [´æpitait] n.欲望；食欲 (初中英语单词)


• gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)


• severe [si´viə] a.严厉的；苛刻的 (初中英语单词)


• italian [i´tæliən] a.意大利 n.意大利人 (初中英语单词)


• horror [´hɔrə] n.恐怖；战栗 (初中英语单词)


• differ [´difə] vi.不同；有差别 (初中英语单词)


• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)


• slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)


• beginning [bi´giniŋ] n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词)


• intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图；打算；意义 (初中英语单词)


• telegraph [´teligrɑ:f] n.&v.(打)电报；电告 (初中英语单词)


• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)


• interference [,intə´fiərəns] n.干涉，干扰，妨碍 (高中英语单词)


• carelessly [´kɛəlisli] ad.粗心地；疏忽地 (高中英语单词)


• wisely [´waizli] ad.明智地，聪明地 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)


• perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)


• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


• faithfully [´feiθfəli] ad.忠实地；诚恳地 (高中英语单词)


• crisis [´kraisis] n.转折点；危机 (高中英语单词)


• commission [kə´miʃən] n.委任(状) vt.委任 (高中英语单词)


• recommendation [,rekəmen´deiʃən] n.推荐；劝告 (高中英语单词)


• extravagant [ik´strævəgənt] a.奢侈的；过度的 (高中英语单词)


• positively [´pɔzətivli] ad.确实；断然；绝对 (高中英语单词)


• deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中英语单词)


• defect [di´fekt, ´di:fekt] n.缺点，不足 (高中英语单词)


• anticipate [æn´tisipeit] vt.预期；指望；期待 (高中英语单词)


• hurried [´hʌrid] a.仓促的，慌忙的 (高中英语单词)


• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)


• finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)


• contempt [kən´tempt] n.轻蔑；受辱；不顾 (高中英语单词)


• wearily [´wiərili] ad.疲倦地；厌烦地 (英语四级单词)


• carelessness [kɛəlisnis] n.粗心；漫不经心 (英语四级单词)


• totally [´təutəli] ad.统统，完全 (英语四级单词)


• amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)


• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)


• intellect [´intilekt] n.智力；有才智的人 (英语四级单词)


• florence [´flɔrəns] n.佛罗伦萨 (英语四级单词)


• disapprove [,disə´pru:v] v.不赞成；指责 (英语四级单词)


• unkind [,ʌn´kaind] a.不客气的；不和善的 (英语四级单词)


• inexperienced [,iniks´piəriənst] a.缺乏经验的 (英语六级单词)


• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)


• stagnant [´stægnənt] a.停滞的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)


• affected [ə´fektid] a.做作的；假装的 (英语六级单词)


• disagree [,disə´gri:] vi.不同意 (英语六级单词)


• unquestionably [ʌn´kwestʃənəbli] ad.当然地，无可非议地 (英语六级单词)