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儿童小说:蓝色城堡18
添加时间:2023-11-24 13:12:26 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • CHAPTER XVIII

    Valancy was acquainted with Barney by now—well acquainted, it seemed, though she had spoken to him only a few times. But then she had felt just as well acquainted with him the first time they had met. She had been in the garden at twilight1, hunting for a few stalks of white narcissus for Cissy’s room when she heard that terrible old Grey Slosson coming down through the woods from Mistawis—one could hear it miles away. Valancy did not look up as it drew near, thumping2 over the rocks in that crazy lane. She had never looked up, though Barney had gone racketting past every evening since she had been at Roaring Abel’s. This time he did not racket past. The old Grey Slosson stopped with even more terrible noises than it made going. Valancy was conscious that Barney had sprung from it and was leaning over the ramshackle gate. She suddenly straightened up and looked into his face. Their eyes met—Valancy was suddenly conscious of a delicious weakness. Was one of her heart attacks coming on?—But this was a new symptom.

    His eyes, which she had always thought brown, now seen close, were deep violet—translucent and intense. Neither of his eyebrows3 looked like the other. He was thin—too thin—she wished she could feed him up a bit—she wished she could sew the buttons on his coat—and make him cut his hair—and shave every day. There was something in his face—one hardly knew what it was. Tiredness? Sadness? Disillusionment? He had dimples in his thin cheeks when he smiled. All these thoughts flashed through Valancy’s mind in that one moment while his eyes looked into hers.

    “Good-evening, Miss Stirling.”

    Nothing could be more commonplace and conventional. Any one might have said it. But Barney Snaith had a way of saying things that gave them poignancy4. When he said good-evening you felt that it was a good evening and that it was partly his doing that it was. Also, you felt that some of the credit was yours. Valancy felt all this vaguely5, but she couldn’t imagine why she was trembling from head to foot—it must be her heart. If only he didn’t notice it!

    “I’m going over to the Port,” Barney was saying. “Can I acquire merit by getting or doing anything there for you or Cissy?”

    “Will you get some salt codfish for us?” said Valancy. It was the only thing she could think of. Roaring Abel had expressed a desire that day for a dinner of boiled salt codfish. When her knights6 came riding to the Blue Castle, Valancy had sent them on many a quest, but she had never asked any of them to get her salt codfish.

    “Certainly. You’re sure there’s nothing else? Lots of room in Lady Jane Grey Slosson. And she always gets back some time, does Lady Jane.”

    “I don’t think there’s anything more,” said Valancy. She knew he would bring oranges for Cissy anyhow—he always did.

    Barney did not turn away at once. He was silent for a little. Then he said, slowly and whimsically:

    “Miss Stirling, you’re a brick! You’re a whole cartload of bricks. To come here and look after Cissy—under the circumstances.”

    “There’s nothing so bricky about that,” said Valancy. “I’d nothing else to do. And—I like it here. I don’t feel as if I’d done anything specially7 meritorious8. Mr. Gay is paying me fair wages. I never earned any money before—and I like it.” It seemed so easy to talk to Barney Snaith, someway—this terrible Barney Snaith of the lurid9 tales and mysterious past—as easy and natural as if talking to herself.

    “All the money in the world couldn’t buy what you’re doing for Cissy Gay,” said Barney. “It’s splendid and fine of you. And if there’s anything I can do to help you in any way, you have only to let me know. If Roaring Abel ever tries to annoy you——”

    “He doesn’t. He’s lovely to me. I like Roaring Abel,” said Valancy frankly10.

    “So do I. But there’s one stage of his drunkenness—perhaps you haven’t encountered it yet—when he sings ribald songs——”

    “Oh, yes. He came home last night like that. Cissy and I just went to our room and shut ourselves in where we couldn’t hear him. He apologised this morning. I’m not afraid of any of Roaring Abel’s stages.”

    “Well, I’m sure he’ll be decent to you, apart from his inebriated11 yowls,” said Barney. “And I’ve told him he’s got to stop damning things when you’re around.”

    “Why?” asked Valancy slily, with one of her odd, slanted12 glances and a sudden flake13 of pink on each cheek, born of the thought that Barney Snaith had actually done so much for her. “I often feel like damning things myself.”

    For a moment Barney stared. Was this elfin girl the little, old-maidish creature who had stood there two minutes ago? Surely there was magic and devilry going on in that shabby, weedy old garden.

    Then he laughed.

    “It will be a relief to have some one to do it for you, then. So you don’t want anything but salt codfish?”

    “Not tonight. But I dare say I’ll have some errands for you very often when you go to Port Lawrence. I can’t trust Mr. Gay to remember to bring all the things I want.”

    Barney had gone away, then, in his Lady Jane, and Valancy stood in the garden for a long time.

    Since then he had called several times, walking down through the barrens, whistling. How that whistle of his echoed through the spruces on those June twilights! Valancy caught herself listening for it every evening—rebuked herself—then let herself go. Why shouldn’t she listen for it?

    He always brought Cissy fruit and flowers. Once he brought Valancy a box of candy—the first box of candy she had ever been given. It seemed sacrilege to eat it.

    She found herself thinking of him in season and out of season. She wanted to know if he ever thought about her when she wasn’t before his eyes, and, if so, what. She wanted to see that mysterious house of his back on the Mistawis island. Cissy had never seen it. Cissy, though she talked freely of Barney and had known him for five years, really knew little more of him than Valancy herself.

    “But he isn’t bad,” said Cissy. “Nobody need ever tell me he is. He can’t have done a thing to be ashamed of.”

    “Then why does he live as he does?” asked Valancy—to hear somebody defend him.

    “I don’t know. He’s a mystery. And of course there’s something behind it, but I know it isn’t disgrace. Barney Snaith simply couldn’t do anything disgraceful, Valancy.”

    Valancy was not so sure. Barney must have done something—sometime. He was a man of education and intelligence. She had soon discovered that, in listening to his conversations and wrangles14 with Roaring Abel—who was surprisingly well read and could discuss any subject under the sun when sober. Such a man wouldn’t bury himself for five years in Muskoka and live and look like a tramp if there were not too good—or bad—a reason for it. But it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was sure now that he had never been Cissy Gay’s lover. There was nothing like that between them. Though he was very fond of Cissy and she of him, as any one could see. But it was a fondness that didn’t worry Valancy.

    “You don’t know what Barney has been to me, these past two years,” Cissy had said simply. “Everything would have been unbearable15 without him.”

    “Cissy Gay is the sweetest girl I ever knew—and there’s a man somewhere I’d like to shoot if I could find him,” Barney had said savagely16.

    Barney was an interesting talker, with a knack17 of telling a great deal about his adventures and nothing at all about himself. There was one glorious rainy day when Barney and Abel swapped18 yarns19 all the afternoon while Valancy mended tablecloths20 and listened. Barney told weird21 tales of his adventures with “shacks22” on trains while hoboing it across the continent. Valancy thought she ought to think his stealing rides quite dreadful, but didn’t. The story of his working his way to England on a cattle-ship sounded more legitimate23. And his yarns of the Yukon enthralled24 her—especially the one of the night he was lost on the divide between Gold Run and Sulphur Valley. He had spent two years out there. Where in all this was there room for the penitentiary25 and the other things?

    If he were telling the truth. But Valancy knew he was.

    “Found no gold,” he said. “Came away poorer than when I went. But such a place to live! Those silences at the back of the north wind got me. I’ve never belonged to myself since.”

    Yet he was not a great talker. He told a great deal in a few well-chosen words—how well-chosen Valancy did not realise. And he had a knack of saying things without opening his mouth at all.

    “I like a man whose eyes say more than his lips,” thought Valancy.

    But then she liked everything about him—his tawny26 hair—his whimsical smiles—the little glints of fun in his eyes—his loyal affection for that unspeakable Lady Jane—his habit of sitting with his hands in his pockets, his chin sunk on his breast, looking up from under his mismated eyebrows. She liked his nice voice which sounded as if it might become caressing27 or wooing with very little provocation28. She was at times almost afraid to let herself think these thoughts. They were so vivid that she felt as if the others must know what she was thinking.

    “I’ve been watching a woodpecker all day,” he said one evening on the shaky old back verandah. His account of the woodpecker’s doings was satisfying. He had often some gay or cunning little anecdote29 of the wood folk to tell them. And sometimes he and Roaring Abel smoked fiercely the whole evening and never said a word, while Cissy lay in the hammock swung between the verandah posts and Valancy sat idly on the steps, her hands clasped over her knees, and wondered dreamily if she were really Valancy Stirling and if it were only three weeks since she had left the ugly old house on Elm Street.

    The barrens lay before her in a white moon splendour, where dozens of little rabbits frisked. Barney, when he liked, could sit down on the edge of the barrens and lure30 those rabbits right to him by some mysterious sorcery he possessed31. Valancy had once seen a squirrel leap from a scrub pine to his shoulder and sit there chattering32 to him. It reminded her of John Foster.

    It was one of the delights of Valancy’s new life that she could read John Foster’s books as often and as long as she liked. She could read them in bed if she wanted to. She read them all to Cissy, who loved them. She also tried to read them to Abel and Barney, who did not love them. Abel was bored and Barney politely refused to listen at all.

    “Piffle,” said Barney.



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    1 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。
    2 thumping [ˈθʌmpɪŋ] hgUzBs   第8级
    adj.重大的,巨大的;重击的;尺码大的;极好的adv.极端地;非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词);狠打;怦怦地跳;全力支持
    参考例句:
    • Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
    • He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    3 eyebrows ['aɪbraʊz] a0e6fb1330e9cfecfd1c7a4d00030ed5   第7级
    眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
    • His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。
    4 poignancy ['pɔinənsi] xOMx3   第10级
    n.辛酸事,尖锐
    参考例句:
    • As she sat in church her face had a pathos and poignancy. 当她坐在教堂里时,脸上带着一种哀婉和辛辣的表情。
    • The movie, "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles" treats this with hilarity and poignancy. 电影“火车,飞机和汽车”是以欢娱和热情庆祝这个节日。
    5 vaguely [ˈveɪgli] BfuzOy   第9级
    adv.含糊地,暖昧地
    参考例句:
    • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad. 他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
    • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes. 他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
    6 knights [naits] 2061bac208c7bdd2665fbf4b7067e468   第7级
    骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马
    参考例句:
    • stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
    • He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。
    7 specially [ˈspeʃəli] Hviwq   第7级
    adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地
    参考例句:
    • They are specially packaged so that they stack easily. 它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
    • The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。
    8 meritorious [ˌmerɪˈtɔ:riəs] 2C4xG   第12级
    adj.值得赞赏的
    参考例句:
    • He wrote a meritorious theme about his visit to the cotton mill. 他写了一篇关于参观棉纺织厂的有价值的论文。
    • He was praised for his meritorious service. 他由于出色地工作而受到称赞。
    9 lurid [ˈlʊərɪd] 9Atxh   第11级
    adj.可怕的;血红的;苍白的
    参考例句:
    • The paper gave all the lurid details of the murder. 这份报纸对这起凶杀案耸人听闻的细节描写得淋漓尽致。
    • The lurid sunset puts a red light on their faces. 血红一般的夕阳映红了他们的脸。
    10 frankly [ˈfræŋkli] fsXzcf   第7级
    adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
    参考例句:
    • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all. 老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
    • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform. 坦率地说,我不反对改革。
    11 inebriated [ɪˈni:brieɪtɪd] 93c09832d9b18b52223b3456adcd31c1   第12级
    adj.酒醉的
    参考例句:
    • He was inebriated by his phenomenal success. 他陶醉于他显赫的成功。 来自互联网
    • Drunken driver(a driver who is inebriated). 喝醉了的司机(醉酒的司机) 来自互联网
    12 slanted [ˈslɑ:ntɪd] 628a904d3b8214f5fc02822d64c58492   第8级
    有偏见的; 倾斜的
    参考例句:
    • The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
    • She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。
    13 flake [fleɪk] JgTzc   第9级
    vt.使成薄片;雪片般落下;vi.剥落;成片状剥落;n.薄片
    参考例句:
    • Drain the salmon, discard the skin, crush the bones and flake the salmon with a fork. 将鲑鱼沥干,去表皮,粉碎鱼骨并用餐叉子将鱼肉切成小薄片状。
    • The paint's beginning to flake. 油漆开始剥落了。
    14 wrangles [ˈræŋgəlz] 5c80328cbcafd4eeeacbd366af6a1725   第11级
    n.(尤指长时间的)激烈争吵,口角,吵嘴( wrangle的名词复数 )v.争吵,争论,口角( wrangle的第三人称单数 )
    参考例句:
    • We avoided wrangles and got down to business. 他们避免了争吵开始做正事。 来自辞典例句
    • They hope to see politicians in exciting wrangles and to get some fun out of politics. 他们期望政治人物进行有趣的战斗,期望从政治中获得娱乐。 来自互联网
    15 unbearable [ʌnˈbeərəbl] alCwB   第7级
    adj.不能容忍的;忍受不住的
    参考例句:
    • It is unbearable to be always on thorns. 老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
    • The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became. 他越想越觉得无法忍受。
    16 savagely ['sævɪdʒlɪ] 902f52b3c682f478ddd5202b40afefb9   第7级
    adv. 野蛮地,残酷地
    参考例句:
    • The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
    • He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。
    17 knack [næk] Jx9y4   第9级
    n.诀窍,做事情的灵巧的,便利的方法
    参考例句:
    • He has a knack of teaching arithmetic. 他教算术有诀窍。
    • Making omelettes isn't difficult, but there's a knack to it. 做煎蛋饼并不难,但有窍门。
    18 swapped [s'wɒpt] 3982604ac592befc46570aef4e827102   第8级
    交换(工作)( swap的过去式和过去分词 ); 用…替换,把…换成,掉换(过来)
    参考例句:
    • I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套,她喜欢我的外套,于是我们就交换了。
    • At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。
    19 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
    20 tablecloths [ˈteɪbəlˌklɔ:θs] abb41060c43ebc073d86c1c49f8fb98f   第9级
    n.桌布,台布( tablecloth的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • Champagne corks popped, and on lace tablecloths seven-course dinners were laid. 桌上铺着带装饰图案的网织的桌布,上面是七道菜的晚餐。 来自飘(部分)
    • At the moment the cause of her concern was a pile of soiled tablecloths. 此刻她关心的事是一堆弄脏了的台布。 来自辞典例句
    21 weird [wɪəd] bghw8   第7级
    adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
    参考例句:
    • From his weird behaviour, he seems a bit of an oddity. 从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
    • His weird clothes really gas me. 他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
    22 shacks ['ʃæks] 10fad6885bef7d154b3947a97a2c36a9   第10级
    n.窝棚,简陋的小屋( shack的名词复数 )
    参考例句:
    • They live in shacks which they made out of wood. 他们住在用木头搭成的简陋的小屋里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Most people in Port au-Prince live in tin shacks. 太子港的大多数居民居住在铁皮棚里。 来自互联网
    23 legitimate [lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət] L9ZzJ   第8级
    adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法
    参考例句:
    • Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave. 生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
    • That's a perfectly legitimate fear. 怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。
    24 enthralled [ɪnˈθrɔ:ld] 59934577218800a7e5faa20d3f119524   第10级
    迷住,吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 ); 使感到非常愉快
    参考例句:
    • The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像,被迷住了。
    • The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节,孩子们都听得入迷了。
    25 penitentiary [ˌpenɪˈtenʃəri] buQyt   第11级
    n.感化院;监狱
    参考例句:
    • He worked as a warden at the state penitentiary. 他在这所州监狱任看守长。
    • While he was in the penitentiary her father died and the family broke up. 他坐牢的时候,她的父亲死了,家庭就拆散了。
    26 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。
    27 caressing [kə'resɪŋ] 00dd0b56b758fda4fac8b5d136d391f3   第7级
    爱抚的,表现爱情的,亲切的
    参考例句:
    • The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
    • He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里,不断抚摸着鞑靼,它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。
    28 provocation [ˌprɒvəˈkeɪʃn] QB9yV   第9级
    n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因
    参考例句:
    • He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子,一点就着。
    • They did not react to this provocation. 他们对这一挑衅未作反应。
    29 anecdote [ˈænɪkdəʊt] 7wRzd   第7级
    n.轶事,趣闻,短故事
    参考例句:
    • He departed from the text to tell an anecdote. 他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
    • It had never been more than a family anecdote. 那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。
    30 lure [lʊə(r)] l8Gz2   第7级
    n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引
    参考例句:
    • Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys. 大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
    • He couldn't resist the lure of money. 他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。
    31 possessed [pəˈzest] xuyyQ   第12级
    adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
    参考例句:
    • He flew out of the room like a man possessed. 他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
    • He behaved like someone possessed. 他行为举止像是魔怔了。
    32 chattering [t'ʃætərɪŋ] chattering   第7级
    n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式
    参考例句:
    • The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
    • I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

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