章节正文
But at the best of times she was not demonstrative; and perhaps
that very coldness was part of her charm in the placid Davidson's
eyes. Women are loved for all sorts of reasons and even for
characteristics which one would think repellent. She was watching
him and nursing her suspicions.
"Then, one day, Monkey-faced Ritchie called on that sweet, shy Mrs.
Davidson. She had come out under his care, and he considered
himself a privileged person - her oldest friend in the tropics. He
posed for a great admirer of hers. He was always a great
chatterer. He had got hold of the story rather vaguely, and he
started chattering on that subject, thinking she knew all about it.
And in due course he let out something about Laughing Anne.
"'Laughing Anne,' says Mrs. Davidson with a start. 'What's that?'
Ritchie plunged into circumlocution at once, but she very soon
stopped him. 'Is that creature dead?' she asks.
"'I believe so,' stammered Ritchie. 'Your husband says so.'
"'But you don't know for certain?'
"'No! How could I, Mrs. Davidson!'
"'That's all wanted to know,' says she, and goes out of the room.
"When Davidson came home she was ready to go for him, not with
common voluble indignation, but as if trickling a stream of cold
clear water down his back. She talked of his base intrigue with a
vile woman, of being made a fool of, of the insult to her dignity.
"Davidson begged her to listen to him and told her all the story,
thinking that it would move a heart of stone. He tried to make her
understand his remorse. She heard him to the end, said 'Indeed!'
and turned her back on him.
"'Don't you believe me?' he asked, appalled.
"She didn't say yes or no. All she said was, 'Send that brat away
at once.'
"'I can't throw him out into the street,' cried Davidson. 'You
don't mean it.'
"'I don't care. There are charitable institutions for such
children, I suppose.'
"'That I will never do,' said Davidson.
"'Very well. That's enough for me.'
"Davidson's home after this was like a silent, frozen hell for him.
A stupid woman with a sense of grievance is worse than an unchained
devil. He sent the boy to the White Fathers in Malacca. This was
not a very expensive sort of education, but she could not forgive
him for not casting the offensive child away utterly. She worked
up her sense of her wifely wrongs and of her injured purity to such
a pitch that one day, when poor Davidson was pleading with her to
be reasonable and not to make an impossible existence for them
both, she turned on him in a chill passion and told him that his
very sight was odious to her.
"Davidson, with his scrupulous delicacy of feeling, was not the man
to assert his rights over a woman who could not bear the sight of
him. He bowed his head; and shortly afterwards arranged for her to
go back to her parents. That was exactly what she wanted in her
outraged dignity. And then she had always disliked the tropics and
had detested secretly the people she had to live amongst as
Davidson's wife. She took her pure, sensitive, mean little soul
away to Fremantle or somewhere in that direction. And of course
the little girl went away with her too. What could poor Davidson
have done with a little girl on his hands, even if she had
consented to leave her with him - which is unthinkable.
"This is the story that has spoiled Davidson's smile for him -
which perhaps it wouldn't have done so thoroughly had he been less
of a good fellow."
Hollis ceased. But before we rose from the table I asked him if he
knew what had become of Laughing Anne's boy.
He counted carefully the change handed him by the Chinaman waiter,
and raised his head.
"Oh! that's the finishing touch. He was a bright, taking little
chap, as you know, and the Fathers took very special pains in his
bringing up. Davidson expected in his heart to have some comfort
out of him. In his placid way he's a man who needs affection.
Well, Tony has grown into a fine youth - but there you are! He
wants to be a priest; his one dream is to be a missionary" target="_blank" title="a.传教(士)的 n.传教士">missionary. The
Fathers assure Davidson that it is a serious vocation. They tell
him he has a special disposition for mission work, too. So
Laughing Anne's boy will lead a saintly life in China somewhere; he
may even become a martyr; but poor Davidson is left out in the
cold. He will have to go downhill without a single human affection
near him because of these old dollars."
Jan. 1914
Footnotes:
(1) The gallows, supposed to be widowed of the last executed
criminal and waiting for another.
End
that very coldness was part of her charm in the placid Davidson's
eyes. Women are loved for all sorts of reasons and even for
characteristics which one would think repellent. She was watching
him and nursing her suspicions.
"Then, one day, Monkey-faced Ritchie called on that sweet, shy Mrs.
Davidson. She had come out under his care, and he considered
himself a privileged person - her oldest friend in the tropics. He
posed for a great admirer of hers. He was always a great
chatterer. He had got hold of the story rather vaguely, and he
started chattering on that subject, thinking she knew all about it.
And in due course he let out something about Laughing Anne.
"'Laughing Anne,' says Mrs. Davidson with a start. 'What's that?'
Ritchie plunged into circumlocution at once, but she very soon
stopped him. 'Is that creature dead?' she asks.
"'I believe so,' stammered Ritchie. 'Your husband says so.'
"'But you don't know for certain?'
"'No! How could I, Mrs. Davidson!'
"'That's all wanted to know,' says she, and goes out of the room.
"When Davidson came home she was ready to go for him, not with
common voluble indignation, but as if trickling a stream of cold
clear water down his back. She talked of his base intrigue with a
vile woman, of being made a fool of, of the insult to her dignity.
"Davidson begged her to listen to him and told her all the story,
thinking that it would move a heart of stone. He tried to make her
understand his remorse. She heard him to the end, said 'Indeed!'
and turned her back on him.
"'Don't you believe me?' he asked, appalled.
"She didn't say yes or no. All she said was, 'Send that brat away
at once.'
"'I can't throw him out into the street,' cried Davidson. 'You
don't mean it.'
"'I don't care. There are charitable institutions for such
children, I suppose.'
"'That I will never do,' said Davidson.
"'Very well. That's enough for me.'
"Davidson's home after this was like a silent, frozen hell for him.
A stupid woman with a sense of grievance is worse than an unchained
devil. He sent the boy to the White Fathers in Malacca. This was
not a very expensive sort of education, but she could not forgive
him for not casting the offensive child away utterly. She worked
up her sense of her wifely wrongs and of her injured purity to such
a pitch that one day, when poor Davidson was pleading with her to
be reasonable and not to make an impossible existence for them
both, she turned on him in a chill passion and told him that his
very sight was odious to her.
"Davidson, with his scrupulous delicacy of feeling, was not the man
to assert his rights over a woman who could not bear the sight of
him. He bowed his head; and shortly afterwards arranged for her to
go back to her parents. That was exactly what she wanted in her
outraged dignity. And then she had always disliked the tropics and
had detested secretly the people she had to live amongst as
Davidson's wife. She took her pure, sensitive, mean little soul
away to Fremantle or somewhere in that direction. And of course
the little girl went away with her too. What could poor Davidson
have done with a little girl on his hands, even if she had
consented to leave her with him - which is unthinkable.
"This is the story that has spoiled Davidson's smile for him -
which perhaps it wouldn't have done so thoroughly had he been less
of a good fellow."
Hollis ceased. But before we rose from the table I asked him if he
knew what had become of Laughing Anne's boy.
He counted carefully the change handed him by the Chinaman waiter,
and raised his head.
"Oh! that's the finishing touch. He was a bright, taking little
chap, as you know, and the Fathers took very special pains in his
bringing up. Davidson expected in his heart to have some comfort
out of him. In his placid way he's a man who needs affection.
Well, Tony has grown into a fine youth - but there you are! He
wants to be a priest; his one dream is to be a missionary" target="_blank" title="a.传教(士)的 n.传教士">missionary. The
Fathers assure Davidson that it is a serious vocation. They tell
him he has a special disposition for mission work, too. So
Laughing Anne's boy will lead a saintly life in China somewhere; he
may even become a martyr; but poor Davidson is left out in the
cold. He will have to go downhill without a single human affection
near him because of these old dollars."
Jan. 1914
Footnotes:
(1) The gallows, supposed to be widowed of the last executed
criminal and waiting for another.
End
- coldness [´kəuldnis]
n.寒冷；冷淡 (初中英语单词) - stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
- insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)
- frozen [´frəuzn] freeze 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- stupid [´stju:pid] a.愚蠢的；糊涂的 (初中英语单词)
- expensive [ik´spensiv] a.费钱的，昂贵的 (初中英语单词)
- purity [´pjuəriti] n.纯净；贞洁 (初中英语单词)
- reasonable [´rizənəbəl] a.合理的；有理智的 (初中英语单词)
- existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在；生存；生活 (初中英语单词)
- passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)
- assert [ə´sə:t] vt.认定；维护；坚持 (初中英语单词)
- shortly [´ʃɔ:tli] ad.立刻，马上；不久 (初中英语单词)
- dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)
- thoroughly [´θʌrəli] ad.完全地，彻底地 (初中英语单词)
- priest [pri:st] n.教士；牧师；神父 (初中英语单词)
- disposition [,dispə´ziʃən] n.安排；性情；倾向 (初中英语单词)
- mission [´miʃən] n.代表团；使馆vt.派遣 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- indignation [,indig´neiʃən] n.愤慨；气愤 (高中英语单词)
- offensive [ə´fensiv] a.冒犯的 n.进攻 (高中英语单词)
- delicacy [´delikəsi] n.精美；娇弱，微妙 (高中英语单词)
- secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)
- amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
- sensitive [´sensitiv] a.敏感的；感光的 (高中英语单词)
- missionary [´miʃənəri] a.传教(士)的 n.传教士 (高中英语单词)
- martyr [´mɑ:tə] n.烈士；殉难者 (高中英语单词)
- placid [´plæsid] a.平静的；温和的 (英语四级单词)
- admirer [əd´maiərə] n.赞美者，羡慕者 (英语四级单词)
- vaguely [´veigli] ad.含糊地，暖昧地 (英语四级单词)
- remorse [ri´mɔ:s] n.懊悔；自责；同情 (英语四级单词)
- charitable [´tʃæritəbəl] a.仁爱的；慈善的 (英语四级单词)
- grievance [´gri:vəns] n.不平；冤情；抱怨 (英语四级单词)
- odious [´əudiəs] a.可憎的；丑恶的 (英语四级单词)
- gallows [´gæləuz] n.绞刑架 (英语四级单词)
- privileged [´privilidʒd] a.有特权的；特许的 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- vocation [vəu´keiʃən] n.职业；使命；天职 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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