轻松背单词新浪微博 轻松背单词腾讯微博
轻松背单词微信服务号
当前位置:首页 -> 11级英语阅读 - > 儿童小说:蓝色城堡6
儿童小说:蓝色城堡6
添加时间:2023-11-20 10:34:19 浏览次数: 作者:未知
Tip:点击数字可快速查看单词解释  
  • CHAPTER VI

    The ordeal1 was not so dreadful, after all. Dr. Trent was as gruff and abrupt2 as usual, but he did not tell her ailment3 was imaginary. After he had listened to her symptoms and asked a few questions and made a quick examination, he sat for a moment looking at her quite intently. Valancy thought he looked as if he were sorry for her. She caught her breath for a moment. Was the trouble serious? Oh, it couldn’t be, surely—it really hadn’t bothered her much—only lately it had got a little worse.

    Dr. Trent opened his mouth—but before he could speak the telephone at his elbow rang sharply. He picked up the receiver. Valancy, watching him, saw his face change suddenly as he listened, “‘Lo—yes—yes—what?—yes—yes”—a brief interval—“My God!”

    Dr. Trent dropped the receiver, dashed out of the room and upstairs without even a glance at Valancy. She heard him rushing madly about overhead, barking out a few remarks to somebody—presumably his housekeeper4. Then he came tearing downstairs with a club bag in his hand, snatched his hat and coat from the rack, jerked open the street door and rushed down the street in the direction of the station.

    Valancy sat alone in the little office, feeling more absolutely foolish than she had ever felt before in her life. Foolish—and humiliated5. So this was all that had come of her heroic determination to live up to John Foster and cast fear aside. Not only was she a failure as a relative and non-existent as a sweetheart or friend, but she was not even of any importance as a patient. Dr. Trent had forgotten her very presence in his excitement over whatever message had come by the telephone. She had gained nothing by ignoring Uncle James and flying in the face of family tradition.

    For a moment she was afraid she was going to cry. It was all so—ridiculous. Then she heard Dr. Trent’s housekeeper coming down the stairs. Valancy rose and went to the office door.

    “The doctor forgot all about me,” she said with a twisted smile.

    “Well, that’s too bad,” said Mrs. Patterson sympathetically. “But it wasn’t much wonder, poor man. That was a telegram they ’phoned over from the Port. His son has been terribly injured in an auto6 accident in Montreal. The doctor had just ten minutes to catch the train. I don’t know what he’ll do if anything happens to Ned—he’s just bound up in the boy. You’ll have to come again, Miss Stirling. I hope it’s nothing serious.”

    “Oh, no, nothing serious,” agreed Valancy. She felt a little less humiliated. It was no wonder poor Dr. Trent had forgotten her at such a moment. Nevertheless, she felt very flat and discouraged as she went down the street.

    Valancy went home by the short-cut of Lover’s Lane. She did not often go through Lover’s Lane—but it was getting near supper-time and it would never do to be late. Lover’s Lane wound back of the village, under great elms and maples7, and deserved its name. It was hard to go there at any time and not find some canoodling couple—or young girls in pairs, arms intertwined, earnestly talking over their little secrets. Valancy didn’t know which made her feel more self-conscious and uncomfortable.

    This evening she encountered both. She met Connie Hale and Kate Bayley, in new pink organdy dresses with flowers stuck coquettishly in their glossy8, bare hair. Valancy had never had a pink dress or worn flowers in her hair. Then she passed a young couple she didn’t know, dandering along, oblivious9 to everything but themselves. The young man’s arm was around the girl’s waist quite shamelessly. Valancy had never walked with a man’s arm about her. She felt that she ought to be shocked—they might leave that sort of thing for the screening twilight10, at least—but she wasn’t shocked. In another flash of desperate, stark11 honesty she owned to herself that she was merely envious12. When she passed them she felt quite sure they were laughing at her—pitying her—“there’s that queer little old maid, Valancy Stirling. They say she never had a beau in her whole life”—Valancy fairly ran to get out of Lover’s Lane. Never had she felt so utterly13 colourless and skinny and insignificant14.

    Just where Lover’s Lane debouched on the street, an old car was parked. Valancy knew that car well—by sound, at least—and everybody in Deerwood knew it. This was before the phrase “tin Lizzie” had come into circulation—in Deerwood, at least; but if it had been known, this car was the tinniest of Lizzies—though it was not a Ford15 but an old Grey Slosson. Nothing more battered16 and disreputable could be imagined.

    It was Barney Snaith’s car and Barney himself was just scrambling17 up from under it, in overalls18 plastered with mud. Valancy gave him a swift, furtive19 look as she hurried by. This was only the second time she had ever seen the notorious Barney Snaith, though she had heard enough about him in the five years that he had been living “up back” in Muskoka. The first time had been nearly a year ago, on the Muskoka road. He had been crawling out from under his car then, too, and he had given her a cheerful grin as she went by—a little, whimsical grin that gave him the look of an amused gnome20. He didn’t look bad—she didn’t believe he was bad, in spite of the wild yarns21 that were always being told of him. Of course he went tearing in that terrible old Grey Slosson through Deerwood at hours when all decent people were in bed—often with old “Roaring Abel,” who made the night hideous22 with his howls—“both of them dead drunk, my dear.” And every one knew that he was an escaped convict and a defaulting bank clerk and a murderer in hiding and an infidel and an illegitimate son of old Roaring Abel Gay and the father of Roaring Abel’s illegitimate grandchild and a counterfeiter23 and a forger24 and a few other awful things. But still Valancy didn’t believe he was bad. Nobody with a smile like that could be bad, no matter what he had done.

    It was that night the Prince of the Blue Castle changed from a being of grim jaw25 and hair with a dash of premature26 grey to a rakish individual with overlong, tawny27 hair, dashed with red, dark-brown eyes, and ears that stuck out just enough to give him an alert look but not enough to be called flying jibs. But he still retained something a little grim about the jaw.

    Barney Snaith looked even more disreputable than usual just now. It was very evident that he hadn’t shaved for days, and his hands and arms, bare to the shoulders, were black with grease. But he was whistling gleefully to himself and he seemed so happy that Valancy envied him. She envied him his light-heartedness and his irresponsibility and his mysterious little cabin up on an island in Lake Mistawis—even his rackety old Grey Slosson. Neither he nor his car had to be respectable and live up to traditions. When he rattled28 past her a few minutes later, bareheaded, leaning back in his Lizzie at a raffish29 angle, his longish hair blowing in the wind, a villainous-looking old black pipe in his mouth, she envied him again. Men had the best of it, no doubt about that. This outlaw30 was happy, whatever he was or wasn’t. She, Valancy Stirling, respectable, well-behaved to the last degree, was unhappy and had always been unhappy. So there you were.

    Valancy was just in time for supper. The sun had clouded over, and a dismal31, drizzling32 rain was falling again. Cousin Stickles had the neuralgia. Valancy had to do the family darning and there was no time for Magic of Wings.

    “Can’t the darning wait till tomorrow?” she pleaded.

    “Tomorrow will bring its own duties,” said Mrs. Frederick inexorably.

    Valancy darned all the evening and listened to Mrs. Frederick and Cousin Stickles talking the eternal, niggling gossip of the clan33, as they knitted drearily34 at interminable black stockings. They discussed Second Cousin Lilian’s approaching wedding in all its bearings. On the whole, they approved. Second Cousin Lilian was doing well for herself.

    “Though she hasn’t hurried,” said Cousin Stickles. “She must be twenty-five.”

    “There have not—fortunately—been many old maids in our connection,” said Mrs. Frederick bitterly.

    Valancy flinched35. She had run the darning needle into her finger.

    Third Cousin Aaron Gray had been scratched by a cat and had blood-poisoning in his finger. “Cats are most dangerous animals,” said Mrs. Frederick. “I would never have a cat about the house.”

    She glared significantly at Valancy through her terrible glasses. Once, five years ago, Valancy had asked if she might have a cat. She had never referred to it since, but Mrs. Frederick still suspected her of harbouring the unlawful desire in her heart of hearts.

    Once Valancy sneezed. Now, in the Stirling code, it was very bad form to sneeze in public.

    “You can always repress a sneeze by pressing your finger on your upper lip,” said Mrs. Frederick rebukingly36.

    Half-past nine o’clock and so, as Mr. Pepys would say, to bed. But First Cousin Stickles’ neuralgic back must be rubbed with Redfern’s Liniment. Valancy did that. Valancy always had to do it. She hated the smell of Redfern’s Liniment—she hated the smug, beaming, portly, be-whiskered, be-spectacled picture of Dr. Redfern on the bottle. Her fingers smelled of the horrible stuff after she got into bed, in spite of all the scrubbing she gave them.

    Valancy’s day of destiny had come and gone. She ended it as she had begun it, in tears.



    点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

    1 ordeal [ɔ:ˈdi:l] B4Pzs   第8级
    n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验
    参考例句:
    • She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal. 在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
    • Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me. 在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。
    2 abrupt [əˈbrʌpt] 2fdyh   第7级
    adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的
    参考例句:
    • The river takes an abrupt bend to the west. 这河突然向西转弯。
    • His abrupt reply hurt our feelings. 他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。
    3 ailment [ˈeɪlmənt] IV8zf   第9级
    n.疾病,小病
    参考例句:
    • I don't have even the slightest ailment. 我什么毛病也没有。
    • He got timely treatment for his ailment. 他的病得到了及时治疗。
    4 housekeeper [ˈhaʊski:pə(r)] 6q2zxl   第8级
    n.管理家务的主妇,女管家
    参考例句:
    • A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper. 炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
    • She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply. 她节约持家,一家人吃得很省。
    5 humiliated [hjuˈmilieitid] 97211aab9c3dcd4f7c74e1101d555362   第7级
    感到羞愧的
    参考例句:
    • Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当,父母也失体面。
    • He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻,丢尽了面子。
    6 auto [ˈɔ:təʊ] ZOnyW   第7级
    n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
    参考例句:
    • Don't park your auto here. 别把你的汽车停在这儿。
    • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit. 汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
    7 maples [ˈmeiplz] 309f7112d863cd40b5d12477d036621a   第7级
    槭树,枫树( maple的名词复数 ); 槭木
    参考例句:
    • There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
    • The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。
    8 glossy [ˈglɒsi] nfvxx   第9级
    adj.平滑的;有光泽的
    参考例句:
    • I like these glossy spots. 我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
    • She had glossy black hair. 她长着乌黑发亮的头发。
    9 oblivious [əˈblɪviəs] Y0Byc   第8级
    adj.易忘的,遗忘的,忘却的,健忘的
    参考例句:
    • Mother has become quite oblivious after the illness. 这次病后,妈妈变得特别健忘。
    • He was quite oblivious of the danger. 他完全没有察觉到危险。
    10 twilight [ˈtwaɪlaɪt] gKizf   第7级
    n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
    参考例句:
    • Twilight merged into darkness. 夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
    • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth. 薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
    11 stark [stɑ:k] lGszd   第10级
    adj.荒凉的;严酷的;完全的;adv.完全地
    参考例句:
    • The young man is faced with a stark choice. 这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
    • He gave a stark denial to the rumor. 他对谣言加以完全的否认。
    12 envious [ˈenviəs] n8SyX   第8级
    adj.嫉妒的,羡慕的
    参考例句:
    • I don't think I'm envious of your success. 我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
    • She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car. 她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。
    13 utterly ['ʌtəli:] ZfpzM1   第9级
    adv.完全地,绝对地
    参考例句:
    • Utterly devoted to the people, he gave his life in saving his patients. 他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
    • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled. 她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
    14 insignificant [ˌɪnsɪgˈnɪfɪkənt] k6Mx1   第9级
    adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的
    参考例句:
    • In winter the effect was found to be insignificant. 在冬季,这种作用是不明显的。
    • This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced. 这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。
    15 Ford [fɔ:d, fəʊrd] KiIxx   第8级
    n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过
    参考例句:
    • They were guarding the bridge, so we forded the river. 他们驻守在那座桥上,所以我们只能涉水过河。
    • If you decide to ford a stream, be extremely careful. 如果已决定要涉过小溪,必须极度小心。
    16 battered [ˈbætəd] NyezEM   第12级
    adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
    参考例句:
    • He drove up in a battered old car. 他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
    • The world was brutally battered but it survived. 这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
    17 scrambling [ˈskræmblɪŋ] cfea7454c3a8813b07de2178a1025138   第8级
    v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 );攀登;争夺;(军事飞机)紧急起飞
    参考例句:
    • Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发,冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    • She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    18 overalls ['əʊvərɔ:lz] 2mCz6w   第11级
    n.(复)工装裤;长罩衣
    参考例句:
    • He is in overalls today. 他今天穿的是工作裤。
    • He changed his overalls for a suit. 他脱下工装裤,换上了一套西服。
    19 furtive [ˈfɜ:tɪv] kz9yJ   第9级
    adj.鬼鬼崇崇的,偷偷摸摸的
    参考例句:
    • The teacher was suspicious of the student's furtive behaviour during the exam. 老师怀疑这个学生在考试时有偷偷摸摸的行为。
    • His furtive behaviour aroused our suspicion. 他鬼鬼祟祟的行为引起了我们的怀疑。
    20 gnome [nəʊm] gnome   第12级
    n.土地神;侏儒,地精
    参考例句:
    • The Swedes do not have Santa Claus. What they have is Christmas Gnome. 瑞典人的圣诞节里没有圣诞老人,但他们却有一个圣诞守护神。
    • Susan bought a garden gnome to decorate her garden. 苏珊买了一个土地神像来装饰她的花园。
    21 yarns [jɑ:nz] abae2015fe62c12a67909b3167af1dbc   第9级
    n.纱( yarn的名词复数 );纱线;奇闻漫谈;旅行轶事
    参考例句:
    • ...vegetable-dyed yarns. 用植物染料染过色的纱线 来自辞典例句
    • Fibers may be loosely or tightly twisted into yarns. 纤维可以是膨松地或紧密地捻成纱线。 来自辞典例句
    22 hideous [ˈhɪdiəs] 65KyC   第8级
    adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的
    参考例句:
    • The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare. 整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
    • They're not like dogs, they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
    23 counterfeiter [ˈkaʊntəfɪtə(r)] gvtzao   第9级
    n.伪造者
    参考例句:
    • If the illegal gains are very large the counterfeiter shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years and be fined. 对于违法所得数额巨大的,处3年以上7年以下有期徒刑,并处罚金。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Judge: (asking a counterfeiter) Why do you make false money? 法官:(威严地问假币制造者)你为什么制造假币? 来自互联网
    24 forger [ˈfɔ:dʒə(r)] ji1xg   第12级
    v.伪造;n.(钱、文件等的)伪造者
    参考例句:
    • He admitted seven charges including forging passports. 他承认了7项罪名,其中包括伪造护照。
    • She alleged that Taylor had forged her signature on the form. 她声称泰勒在表格上伪造了她的签名。
    25 jaw [dʒɔ:] 5xgy9   第7级
    n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训
    参考例句:
    • He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw. 他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
    • A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character. 强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。
    26 premature [ˈpremətʃə(r)] FPfxV   第7级
    adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的
    参考例句:
    • It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue. 预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
    • The premature baby is doing well. 那个早产的婴儿很健康。
    27 tawny [ˈtɔ:ni] tIBzi   第12级
    adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色
    参考例句:
    • Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny, ruddy cheek. 她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
    • None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. 他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。
    28 rattled ['rætld] b4606e4247aadf3467575ffedf66305b   第7级
    慌乱的,恼火的
    参考例句:
    • The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
    • Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里,窗户都格格作响。
    29 raffish [ˈræfɪʃ] tTIxn   第12级
    adj.名誉不好的,无赖的,卑鄙的,艳俗的
    参考例句:
    • The theatre's raffish auditorium recalls an earlier era. 剧院俗丽的观众席让人想起早先的时代。
    • He was handsome in a raffish kind of way. 他的帅是一种放荡不羁的帅。
    30 outlaw [ˈaʊtlɔ:] 1J0xG   第7级
    n.歹徒,亡命之徒;vt.宣布…为不合法
    参考例句:
    • The outlaw hid out in the hills for several months. 逃犯在山里隐藏了几个月。
    • The outlaw has been caught. 歹徒已被抓住了。
    31 dismal [ˈdɪzməl] wtwxa   第8级
    adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的
    参考例句:
    • That is a rather dismal melody. 那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
    • My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal. 我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。
    32 drizzling [ˈdrizlɪŋ] 8f6f5e23378bc3f31c8df87ea9439592   第8级
    下蒙蒙细雨,下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The rain has almost stopped, it's just drizzling now. 雨几乎停了,现在只是在下毛毛雨。
    • It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨,天气又冷又湿,令人难受。
    33 clan [klæn] Dq5zi   第8级
    n.氏族,部落,宗族,家族,宗派
    参考例句:
    • She ranks as my junior in the clan. 她的辈分比我小。
    • The Chinese Christians, therefore, practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan. 所以,中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。
    34 drearily ['drɪərəlɪ] a9ac978ac6fcd40e1eeeffcdb1b717a2   第8级
    沉寂地,厌倦地,可怕地
    参考例句:
    • "Oh, God," thought Scarlett drearily, "that's just the trouble. "啊,上帝!" 思嘉沮丧地想,"难就难在这里呀。
    • His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless. 他的声调,阴沉沉的,干巴巴的,完全没有感情。
    35 flinched [flɪntʃt] 2fdac3253dda450d8c0462cb1e8d7102   第10级
    v.(因危险和痛苦)退缩,畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。
    • This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句
    36 rebukingly [] 4895f4487f702128d7bd9649f105aec8   第9级
    参考例句:
    • The assassin, gazing over the wizard's head, did not answer. GARETH smote Hugh rebukingly. 刺客没有应声,眼睛望向巫师头顶上方。盖利斯狠狠的抽了他一下以示惩戒。

    文章评论 共有评论 0查看全部

      会员登陆
      热门单词标签
    我的单词印象
    我的理解: