you make this extravagant toy."

He felt as if he had struck her directly he uttered that last



word.

"Toy!" she echoed, taking it in, "you call it a Toy!"



A note in her voice reminded him that there were two people who

might feel strongly in this affair.



"My dear Lady Sunderbund," he said with a sudden change of

manner, "I must needs follow the light of my own mind. I have had



a vision of God, I have seen him as a great leader towering over

the little lives of men, demanding the little lives of men,



prepared to take them and guide them to the salvation of mankind

and the conquest of pain and death. I have seen him as the God of



the human affair, a God of politics, a God of such muddy and

bloody wars as this war, a God of economics, a God of railway



junctions and clinics and factories and evening schools, a God in

fact of men. This God--this God here, that you want to worship,



is a God of artists and poets--of elegant poets, a God of

bric-a-brac, a God of choice allusions. Oh, it has its grandeur!



I don't want you to think that what you are doing may not be

altogether fine and right for you to do. But it is not what I



have to do.... I cannot--indeed I cannot--go on with this

project--upon these lines."



He paused, flushed and breathless. Lady Sunderbund had heard

him to the end. Her bright face was brightly flushed, and there



were tears in her eyes. It was like her that they should seem

tears of the largest, most expensive sort, tears of the first



water.

"But," she cried, and her red delicate mouth went awry with



dismay and disappointment, and her expression was the half

incredulous expression of a child suddenly and cruelly



disappointed: "You won't go on with all this?"

"No," he said. "My dear Lady Sunderbund--"



"Oh! don't Lady Sunderbund me!" she cried with a novel

rudeness. "Don't you see I've done it all for you?"



He winced and felt boorish. He had never liked and disapproved

of Lady Sunderbund so much as he did at that moment. And he had



no words for her.

"How can I stop it all at once like this?"



And still he had no answer.

She pursued her advantage. "What am I to do?" she cried.



She turned upon him passionately. "Look what you've done!" She

marked her points with finger upheld, and gave odd suggestions in



her face of an angry coster girl. "Eva' since I met you, I've

wo'shipped you. I've been 'eady to follow you anywhe'--to do



anything. Eva' since that night when you sat so calm and

dignified, and they baited you and wo'id you. When they we' all



vain and cleva, and you--you thought only of God and 'iligion

and didn't mind fo' you'self.... Up to then--I'd been living--



oh! the emptiest life..."

The tears ran. "Pe'haps I shall live it again...." She dashed



her grief away with a hand beringed with stones as big as

beetles.



"I said to myself, this man knows something I don't know. He's

got the seeds of ete'nal life su'ely. I made up my mind then and



the' I'd follow you and back you and do all I could fo' you. I've

lived fo' you. Eve' since. Lived fo' you. And now when all my



little plans are 'ipe, you--! Oh!"

She made a quaint little gesture with pink fists upraised, and



then stood with her hand held up, staring at the plans and

drawings that were littered over the inlaid table. "I've planned



and planned. I said, I will build him a temple. I will be his

temple se'vant.... Just a me' se'vant...."



She could not go on.

"But it is just these temples that have confused mankind," he



said.

"Not my temple," she said presently, now openlyweeping over



the gay rejected drawings. "You could have explained...."

"Oh!" she said petulantly, and thrust them away from her so



that they went sliding one after the other on to the floor. For

some long-drawn moments there was no sound in the room but the



slowly accelerated slide and flop of one sheet of cartridge paper

after another.



"We could have been so happy," she wailed, "se'ving oua God."

• prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)


• explanation [,eksplə´neiʃən] n.解释；说明；辩解 (初中英语单词)


• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)


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


• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)


• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)


• wreath [ri:θ] n.花圈；花环；圈状物 (初中英语单词)


• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)


• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)


• enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)


• cathedral [kə´θi:drəl] n.大教堂 (初中英语单词)


• chapel [´tʃæpəl] n.小教堂 (初中英语单词)


• costly [´kɔstli] a.昂贵的；费用大的 (初中英语单词)


• shipping [´ʃipiŋ] n.船运业；船舶(总数) (初中英语单词)


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


• universal [,ju:ni´və:səl] a.宇宙的；普遍的 (初中英语单词)


• hastily [´heistili] ad.急速地；草率地 (初中英语单词)


• headquarters [´hed,kwɔ:təz] n.总部(署)，司令部 (初中英语单词)


• remarkable [ri´mɑ:kəbl] a.值得注意的；显著的 (初中英语单词)


• movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)


• invisible [in´vizəbəl] a.看不见的；无形的 (初中英语单词)


• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• spiritual [´spiritʃuəl] a.精神(上)的；神圣的 (初中英语单词)


• solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)


• scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)


• possibility [,pɔsə´biliti] n.可能(性)；希望；前途 (初中英语单词)


• worship [´wə:ʃip] n.&v.崇拜；敬仰 (初中英语单词)


• astonishment [ə´stɔniʃmənt] n.吃惊；惊异 (初中英语单词)


• strongly [´strɔŋli] ad.强烈地；强有力地 (初中英语单词)


• vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)


• conquest [´kɔŋkwest] n.赢得；获得；占领地 (初中英语单词)


• politics [´pɔlitiks] n.政治(学)；政治活动 (初中英语单词)


• expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)


• delicate [´delikət] a.精美的；微妙的 (初中英语单词)


• disappointment [,disə´pɔintmənt] n.失望；挫折 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• gesture [´dʒestʃə] n.手势 v.打手势 (初中英语单词)


• presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)


• thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)


• formidable [´fɔ:midəbəl] a.可怕的；艰难的 (高中英语单词)


• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)


• portrait [´pɔ:trit] n.肖像；相片；雕像 (高中英语单词)


• bracelet [´breislit] n.手镯 (高中英语单词)


• significant [sig´nifikənt] a.重要的；意义重大的 (高中英语单词)


• elevation [,eli´veiʃən] n.高度；晋升；高尚 (高中英语单词)


• undertaking [,ʌndə´teikiŋ] n.任务；事业；计划 (高中英语单词)


• gospel [´gɔspəl] n.福音；信条；真理 (高中英语单词)


• underground [,ʌndə´graund] ad.&a.地下(的) (高中英语单词)


• torrent [´tɔrənt] n.奔流，激流，洪流；迸发 (高中英语单词)


• artistic [ɑ:´tistik] a.艺术的；有美感的 (高中英语单词)


• everyday [´evridei] a.每日的，日常的 (高中英语单词)


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


• salvation [sæl´veiʃən] n.救助；拯救 (高中英语单词)


• elegant [´eligənt] a.文雅的；优美的 (高中英语单词)


• breathless [´breθlis] a.屏息的 (高中英语单词)


• brightly [´braitli] ad.明亮地；聪明地 (高中英语单词)


• quaint [kweint] a.离奇的；奇妙的 (高中英语单词)


• openly [´əupənli] ad.公开地；直率地 (高中英语单词)


• balcony [´bælkəni] n.阳台；(戏院的)楼厅 (英语四级单词)


• energetic [,enə´dʒetik] a.精力旺盛的；有力的 (英语四级单词)


• drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)


• consultation [,kɔnsəl´teiʃən] n.商量；会诊；查阅 (英语四级单词)


• architectural [ɑ:ki´tektʃər(ə)l] a.建筑术的；建筑学的 (英语四级单词)


• vulgar [´vʌlgə] a.粗俗的；大众的 (英语四级单词)


• casket [´kɑ:skit] n.(精美)匣子；首饰盒 (英语四级单词)


• towering [´tauəriŋ] a.高耸的；强烈的 (英语四级单词)


• economics [i:kə´nɔmiks, i:,-] n.经济学 (英语四级单词)


• passionately [´pæʃənitli] ad.多情地；热烈地 (英语四级单词)


• shapeless [´ʃeiplis] a.无定形的；不成样的 (英语六级单词)


• impossibility [impɔsi´biliti] n.不可能办到的事 (英语六级单词)


• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)


• solemnity [sə´lemniti] n.庄严；(隆重的)仪式 (英语六级单词)


• imposing [im´pəuziŋ] a.壮丽的，堂皇的 (英语六级单词)


• preaching [´pri:tʃiŋ] n.说教 a.说教的 (英语六级单词)


• expressive [ik´spresiv] a.有表现力的 (英语六级单词)


• weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)


• cartridge [´kɑ:tridʒ] n.弹药筒；子弹 (英语六级单词)