章节正文
have his share of it.'
The Doctor was silenced; and the meal was continued and finished
principally to the tune of the brother-in-law's not very
consolatory conversation. He entirely ignored the two young
English painters, turning a blind eyeglass to their salutations,
and continuing his remarks as if he were alone in the bosom of his
family; and with every second word he ripped another stitch out of
the air balloon of Desprez's vanity. By the time coffee was over
the poor Doctor was as limp as a napkin.
'Let us go and see the ruins,' said Casimir.
They strolled forth into the street. The fall of the house, like
the loss of a front tooth, had quite transformed the village.
Through the gap the eye commanded a great stretch of open snowy
country, and the place shrank in comparison. It was like a room
with an open door. The sentinel stood by the green gate, looking
very red and cold, but he had a pleasant word for the Doctor and
his wealthy kinsman.
Casimir looked at the mound of ruins, he tried the quality of the
tarpaulin. 'H'm,' he said, 'I hope the cellar arch has stood. If
it has, my good brother, I will give you a good price for the
wines.'
'We shall start digging to-morrow,' said the sentry. 'There is no
more fear of snow.'
'My friend,' returned Casimir sententiously, 'you had better wait
till you get paid.'
The Doctor winced, and began dragging his offensive brother-in-law
towards Tentaillon's. In the house there would be fewer auditors,
and these already in the secret of his fall.
'Hullo!' cried Casimir, 'there goes the stable-boy with his
luggage; no, egad, he is taking it into the inn.'
And sure enough, Jean-Marie was seen to cross the snowy street and
enter Tentaillon's, staggering under a large hamper.
The Doctor stopped with a sudden, wild hope.
'What can he have?' he said. 'Let us go and see.' And he hurried
on.
'His luggage, to be sure,' answered Casimir. 'He is on the move -
thanks to the commercial imagination.'
'I have not seen that hamper for - for ever so long,' remarked the
Doctor.
'Nor will you see it much longer,' chuckled Casimir; 'unless,
indeed, we interfere. And by the way, I insist on an examination.'
'You will not require,' said Desprez, positively with a sob; and,
casting a moist, triumphant glance at Casimir, he began to run.
'What the devil is up with him, I wonder?' Casimir reflected; and
then, curiositytaking the upper hand, he followed the Doctor's
example and took to his heels.
The hamper was so heavy and large, and Jean-Marie himself so little
and so weary, that it had taken him a great while to bundle it
upstairs to the Desprez' private room; and he had just set it down
on the floor in front of Anastasie, when the Doctor arrived, and
was closely followed by the man of business. Boy and hamper were
both in a most sorry plight; for the one had passed four months
underground in a certain cave on the way to Acheres, and the other
had run about five miles as hard as his legs would carry him, half
that distance under a staggering weight.
'Jean-Marie,' cried the Doctor, in a voice that was only too
seraphic to be called hysterical, 'is it - ? It is!' he cried.
'O, my son, my son!' And he sat down upon the hamper and sobbed
like a little child.
'You will not go to Paris now,' said Jean-Marie sheepishly.
'Casimir,' said Desprez, raising his wet face, 'do you see that
boy, that angel boy? He is the thief; he took the treasure from a
man unfit to be entrusted with its use; he brings it back to me
when I am sobered and humbled. These, Casimir, are the Fruits of
my Teaching, and this moment is the Reward of my Life.'
'TIENS,' said Casimir.
Footnotes:
(1) Boggy.
(2) Clock
(3) Enjoy.
(4) To come forrit - to offer oneself as a communicant.
(5) It was a common belief in Scotland that the devil appeared as a
black man. This appears in several witch trials and I think in
Law's MEMORIALS, that delightful store-house of the quaint and
grisly.
(6) Let it be so, for my tale!
End
The Doctor was silenced; and the meal was continued and finished
principally to the tune of the brother-in-law's not very
consolatory conversation. He entirely ignored the two young
English painters, turning a blind eyeglass to their salutations,
and continuing his remarks as if he were alone in the bosom of his
family; and with every second word he ripped another stitch out of
the air balloon of Desprez's vanity. By the time coffee was over
the poor Doctor was as limp as a napkin.
'Let us go and see the ruins,' said Casimir.
They strolled forth into the street. The fall of the house, like
the loss of a front tooth, had quite transformed the village.
Through the gap the eye commanded a great stretch of open snowy
country, and the place shrank in comparison. It was like a room
with an open door. The sentinel stood by the green gate, looking
very red and cold, but he had a pleasant word for the Doctor and
his wealthy kinsman.
Casimir looked at the mound of ruins, he tried the quality of the
tarpaulin. 'H'm,' he said, 'I hope the cellar arch has stood. If
it has, my good brother, I will give you a good price for the
wines.'
'We shall start digging to-morrow,' said the sentry. 'There is no
more fear of snow.'
'My friend,' returned Casimir sententiously, 'you had better wait
till you get paid.'
The Doctor winced, and began dragging his offensive brother-in-law
towards Tentaillon's. In the house there would be fewer auditors,
and these already in the secret of his fall.
'Hullo!' cried Casimir, 'there goes the stable-boy with his
luggage; no, egad, he is taking it into the inn.'
And sure enough, Jean-Marie was seen to cross the snowy street and
enter Tentaillon's, staggering under a large hamper.
The Doctor stopped with a sudden, wild hope.
'What can he have?' he said. 'Let us go and see.' And he hurried
on.
'His luggage, to be sure,' answered Casimir. 'He is on the move -
thanks to the commercial imagination.'
'I have not seen that hamper for - for ever so long,' remarked the
Doctor.
'Nor will you see it much longer,' chuckled Casimir; 'unless,
indeed, we interfere. And by the way, I insist on an examination.'
'You will not require,' said Desprez, positively with a sob; and,
casting a moist, triumphant glance at Casimir, he began to run.
'What the devil is up with him, I wonder?' Casimir reflected; and
then, curiositytaking the upper hand, he followed the Doctor's
example and took to his heels.
The hamper was so heavy and large, and Jean-Marie himself so little
and so weary, that it had taken him a great while to bundle it
upstairs to the Desprez' private room; and he had just set it down
on the floor in front of Anastasie, when the Doctor arrived, and
was closely followed by the man of business. Boy and hamper were
both in a most sorry plight; for the one had passed four months
underground in a certain cave on the way to Acheres, and the other
had run about five miles as hard as his legs would carry him, half
that distance under a staggering weight.
'Jean-Marie,' cried the Doctor, in a voice that was only too
seraphic to be called hysterical, 'is it - ? It is!' he cried.
'O, my son, my son!' And he sat down upon the hamper and sobbed
like a little child.
'You will not go to Paris now,' said Jean-Marie sheepishly.
'Casimir,' said Desprez, raising his wet face, 'do you see that
boy, that angel boy? He is the thief; he took the treasure from a
man unfit to be entrusted with its use; he brings it back to me
when I am sobered and humbled. These, Casimir, are the Fruits of
my Teaching, and this moment is the Reward of my Life.'
'TIENS,' said Casimir.
Footnotes:
(1) Boggy.
(2) Clock
(3) Enjoy.
(4) To come forrit - to offer oneself as a communicant.
(5) It was a common belief in Scotland that the devil appeared as a
black man. This appears in several witch trials and I think in
Law's MEMORIALS, that delightful store-house of the quaint and
grisly.
(6) Let it be so, for my tale!
End
- vanity [´væniti]
n.虚荣；自负；空虚 (初中英语单词) - comparison [kəm´pærisən] n.比较；对照；比喻 (初中英语单词)
- wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
- cellar [´selə] n.地窑，地下室 (初中英语单词)
- commercial [kə´mə:ʃəl] a.商业的 n.广告节目 (初中英语单词)
- interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)
- curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- bundle [´bʌndl] n.包，捆；包袱(裹) (初中英语单词)
- reward [ri´wɔ:d] n.&v.报答；报酬；奖赏 (初中英语单词)
- belief [bi´li:f] n.相信；信仰，信条 (初中英语单词)
- delightful [di´laitful] a.讨人喜欢的 (初中英语单词)
- stitch [stitʃ] n.针脚 v.缝(纫) (高中英语单词)
- balloon [bə´lu:n] n.气球 (高中英语单词)
- sentinel [´sentinəl] n.哨兵；看守人 (高中英语单词)
- offensive [ə´fensiv] a.冒犯的 n.进攻 (高中英语单词)
- luggage [´lʌgidʒ] n.行李；皮箱 (高中英语单词)
- positively [´pɔzətivli] ad.确实；断然；绝对 (高中英语单词)
- plight [plait] n.境况；困境；苦境 (高中英语单词)
- quaint [kweint] a.离奇的；奇妙的 (高中英语单词)
- hamper [´hæmpə] vt.&n.妨碍，阻止 (英语四级单词)
- triumphant [trai´ʌmfənt] a.胜利的；洋洋得意的 (英语四级单词)
- shrank [ʃræŋk] shrink的过去式 (英语六级单词)
- sentry [´sentri] n.哨兵 v.站岗，放哨 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- hysterical [hi´sterikəl] a.歇斯底里的，癔病的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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