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当前位置:首页 -> 10级英语阅读 - > 露西·莫德·蒙哥马利:《黄金之路30》
露西·莫德·蒙哥马利:《黄金之路30》
添加时间:2024-10-08 09:46:52 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • CHAPTER 30. PROPHECIES

    “Here’s a letter for you from father,” said Felix, tossing it to me as he came through the orchard1 gate. We had been picking apples all day, but were taking a mid-afternoon rest around the well, with a cup of its sparkling cold water to refresh us.

    I opened the letter rather indifferently, for father, with all his excellent and lovable traits, was but a poor correspondent; his letters were usually very brief and very unimportant.

    This letter was brief enough, but it was freighted with a message of weighty import. I sat gazing stupidly at the sheet after I had read it until Felix exclaimed,

    “Bev, what’s the matter with you? What’s in that letter?”

    “Father is coming home,” I said dazedly2. “He is to leave South America in a fortnight and will be here in November to take us back to Toronto.”

    Everybody gasped3. Sara Ray, of course, began to cry, which aggravated4 me unreasonably5.

    “Well,” said Felix, when he got his second wind, “I’ll be awful glad to see father again, but I tell you I don’t like the thought of leaving here.”

    I felt exactly the same but, in view of Sara Ray’s tears, admit it I would not; so I sat in grum silence while the other tongues wagged.

    “If I were not going away myself I’d feel just terrible,” said the Story Girl. “Even as it is I’m real sorry. I’d like to be able to think of you as all here together when I’m gone, having good times and writing me about them.”

    “It’ll be awfully6 dull when you fellows go,” muttered Dan.

    “I’m sure I don’t know what we’re ever going to do here this winter,” said Felicity, with the calmness of despair.

    “Thank goodness there are no more fathers to come back,” breathed Cecily with a vicious earnestness that made us all laugh, even in the midst of our dismay.

    We worked very half-heartedly the rest of the day, and it was not until we assembled in the orchard in the evening that our spirits recovered something like their wonted level. It was clear and slightly frosty; the sun had declined behind a birch on a distant hill and it seemed a tree with a blazing heart of fire. The great golden willow7 at the lane gate was laughter-shaken in the wind of evening. Even amid all the changes of our shifting world we could not be hopelessly low-spirited—except Sara Ray, who was often so, and Peter, who was rarely so. But Peter had been sorely vexed8 in spirit for several days. The time was approaching for the October issue of Our Magazine and he had no genuine fiction ready for it. He had taken so much to heart Felicity’s taunt9 that his stories were all true that he had determined10 to have a really-truly false one in the next number. But the difficulty was to get anyone to write it. He had asked the Story Girl to do it, but she refused; then he appealed to me and I shirked. Finally Peter determined to write a story himself.

    “It oughtn’t to be any harder than writing a poem and I managed that,” he said dolefully.

    He worked at it in the evenings in the granary loft11, and the rest of us forebore to question him concerning it, because he evidently disliked talking about his literary efforts. But this evening I had to ask him if he would soon have it ready, as I wanted to make up the paper.

    “It’s done,” said Peter, with an air of gloomy triumph. “It don’t amount to much, but anyhow I made it all out of my own head. Not one word of it was ever printed or told before, and nobody can say there was.”

    “Then I guess we have all the stuff in and I’ll have Our Magazine ready to read by tomorrow night,” I said.

    “I s’pose it will be the last one we’ll have,” sighed Cecily. “We can’t carry it on after you all go, and it has been such fun.”

    “Bev will be a real newspaper editor some day,” declared the Story Girl, on whom the spirit of prophecy suddenly descended12 that night.

    She was swinging on the bough13 of an apple tree, with a crimson14 shawl wrapped about her head, and her eyes were bright with roguish fire.

    “How do you know he will?” asked Felicity.

    “Oh, I can tell futures,” answered the Story Girl mysteriously. “I know what’s going to happen to all of you. Shall I tell you?”

    “Do, just for the fun of it,” I said. “Then some day we’ll know just how near you came to guessing right. Go on. What else about me?”

    “You’ll write books, too, and travel all over the world,” continued the Story Girl. “Felix will be fat to the end of his life, and he will be a grandfather before he is fifty, and he will wear a long black beard.”

    “I won’t,” cried Felix disgustedly. “I hate whiskers. Maybe I can’t help the grandfather part, but I CAN help having a beard.”

    “You can’t. It’s written in the stars.”

    “‘Tain’t. The stars can’t prevent me from shaving.”

    “Won’t Grandpa Felix sound awful funny?” reflected Felicity.

    “Peter will be a minister,” went on the Story Girl.

    “Well, I might be something worse,” remarked Peter, in a not ungratified tone.

    “Dan will be a farmer and will marry a girl whose name begins with K and he will have eleven children. And he’ll vote Grit15.”

    “I won’t,” cried scandalized Dan. “You don’t know a thing about it. Catch ME ever voting Grit! As for the rest of it—I don’t care. Farming’s well enough, though I’d rather be a sailor.”

    “Don’t talk such nonsense,” protested Felicity sharply. “What on earth do you want to be a sailor for and be drowned?”

    “All sailors aren’t drowned,” said Dan.

    “Most of them are. Look at Uncle Stephen.”

    “You ain’t sure he was drowned.”

    “Well, he disappeared, and that is worse.”

    “How do you know? Disappearing might be real easy.”

    “It’s not very easy for your family.”

    Hush16, let’s hear the rest of the predictions,” said Cecily.

    “Felicity,” resumed the Story Girl gravely, “will marry a minister.”

    Sara Ray giggled17 and Felicity blushed. Peter tried hard not to look too self-consciously delighted.

    “She will be a perfect housekeeper18 and will teach a Sunday School class and be very happy all her life.”

    “Will her husband be happy?” queried19 Dan solemnly.

    “I guess he’ll be as happy as your wife,” retorted Felicity reddening.

    “He’ll be the happiest man in the world,” declared Peter warmly.

    “What about me?” asked Sara Ray.

    The Story Girl looked rather puzzled. It was so hard to imagine Sara Ray as having any kind of future. Yet Sara was plainly anxious to have her fortune told and must be gratified.

    “You’ll be married,” said the Story Girl recklessly, “and you’ll live to be nearly a hundred years old, and go to dozens of funerals and have a great many sick spells. You will learn not to cry after you are seventy; but your husband will never go to church.”

    “I’m glad you warned me,” said Sara Ray solemnly, “because now I know I’ll make him promise before I marry him that he will go.”

    “He won’t keep the promise,” said the Story Girl, shaking her head. “But it is getting cold and Cecily is coughing. Let us go in.”

    “You haven’t told my fortune,” protested Cecily disappointedly.

    The Story Girl looked very tenderly at Cecily—at the smooth little brown head, at the soft, shining eyes, at the cheeks that were often over-rosy after slight exertion20, at the little sunburned hands that were always busy doing faithful work or quiet kindnesses. A very strange look came over the Story Girl’s face; her eyes grew sad and far-reaching, as if of a verity21 they pierced beyond the mists of hidden years.

    “I couldn’t tell any fortune half good enough for you, dearest,” she said, slipping her arm round Cecily. “You deserve everything good and lovely. But you know I’ve only been in fun—of course I don’t know anything about what’s going to happen to us.”

    “Perhaps you know more than you think for,” said Sara Ray, who seemed much pleased with her fortune and anxious to believe it, despite the husband who wouldn’t go to church.

    “But I’d like to be told my fortune, even in fun,” persisted Cecily.

    “Everybody you meet will love you as long as you live.” said the Story Girl. “There that’s the very nicest fortune I can tell you, and it will come true whether the others do or not, and now we must go in.”

    We went, Cecily still a little disappointed. In later years I often wondered why the Story Girl refused to tell her fortune that night. Did some strange gleam of foreknowledge fall for a moment across her mirth-making? Did she realize in a flash of prescience that there was no earthly future for our sweet Cecily? Not for her were to be the lengthening22 shadows or the fading garland. The end was to come while the rainbow still sparkled on her wine of life, ere a single petal23 had fallen from her rose of joy. Long life was before all the others who trysted that night in the old homestead orchard; but Cecily’s maiden24 feet were never to leave the golden road.



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    1 orchard [ˈɔ:tʃəd] UJzxu   第8级
    n.果园,果园里的全部果树,(美俚)棒球场
    参考例句:
    • My orchard is bearing well this year. 今年我的果园果实累累。
    • Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard. 每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。
    2 dazedly [deɪ'zɪdlɪ] 6d639ead539efd6f441c68aeeadfc753   第10级
    头昏眼花地,眼花缭乱地,茫然地
    参考例句:
    • Chu Kuei-ying stared dazedly at her mother for a moment, but said nothing. 朱桂英怔怔地望着她母亲,不作声。 来自子夜部分
    • He wondered dazedly whether the term after next at his new school wouldn't matter so much. 他昏头昏脑地想,不知道新学校的第三个学期是不是不那么重要。
    3 gasped [ɡɑ:spt] e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80   第7级
    v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
    参考例句:
    • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
    • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
    4 aggravated [ˈægrəveɪtɪd] d0aec1b8bb810b0e260cb2aa0ff9c2ed   第7级
    使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 ); 使更严重; 激怒; 使恼火
    参考例句:
    • If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我,我就要揍他。
    • Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳,反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。
    5 unreasonably [ʌn'ri:znəblɪ] 7b139a7b80379aa34c95638d4a789e5f   第8级
    adv. 不合理地
    参考例句:
    • He was also petty, unreasonably querulous, and mean. 他还是个气量狭窄,无事生非,平庸刻薄的人。
    • Food in that restaurant is unreasonably priced. 那家饭店价格不公道。
    6 awfully [ˈɔ:fli] MPkym   第8级
    adv.可怕地,非常地,极端地
    参考例句:
    • Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past. 过去农业遭到严重忽视。
    • I've been feeling awfully bad about it. 对这我一直感到很难受。
    7 willow [ˈwɪləʊ] bMFz6   第8级
    n.柳树
    参考例句:
    • The river was sparsely lined with willow trees. 河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
    • The willow's shadow falls on the lake. 垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。
    8 vexed [vekst] fd1a5654154eed3c0a0820ab54fb90a7   第8级
    adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论
    参考例句:
    • The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
    • He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
    9 taunt [tɔ:nt] nIJzj   第10级
    n.辱骂,嘲弄;v.嘲弄
    参考例句:
    • He became a taunt to his neighbours. 他成了邻居们嘲讽的对象。
    • Why do the other children taunt him with having red hair? 为什么别的小孩子讥笑他有红头发?
    10 determined [dɪˈtɜ:mɪnd] duszmP   第7级
    adj.坚定的;有决心的;v.决定;断定(determine的过去分词)
    参考例句:
    • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation. 我已决定毕业后去西藏。
    • He determined to view the rooms behind the office. 他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
    11 loft [lɒft] VkhyQ   第10级
    n.阁楼,顶楼
    参考例句:
    • We could see up into the loft from bottom of the stairs. 我们能从楼梯脚边望到阁楼的内部。
    • By converting the loft, they were able to have two extra bedrooms. 把阁楼改造一下,他们就可以多出两间卧室。
    12 descended [di'sendid] guQzoy   第7级
    a.为...后裔的,出身于...的
    参考例句:
    • A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
    • The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。
    13 bough [baʊ] 4ReyO   第9级
    n.大树枝,主枝
    参考例句:
    • I rested my fishing rod against a pine bough. 我把钓鱼竿靠在一棵松树的大树枝上。
    • Every bough was swinging in the wind. 每条树枝都在风里摇摆。
    14 crimson [ˈkrɪmzn] AYwzH   第10级
    n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
    参考例句:
    • She went crimson with embarrassment. 她羞得满脸通红。
    • Maple leaves have turned crimson. 枫叶已经红了。
    15 grit [grɪt] LlMyH   第9级
    n.沙粒,决心,勇气;vt.下定决心,咬紧牙关; 研磨;vi. 摩擦作声
    参考例句:
    • The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
    • I've got some grit in my shoe. 我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。
    16 hush [hʌʃ] ecMzv   第8级
    int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静
    参考例句:
    • A hush fell over the onlookers. 旁观者们突然静了下来。
    • Do hush up the scandal! 不要把这丑事声张出去!
    17 giggled [ˈɡiɡld] 72ecd6e6dbf913b285d28ec3ba1edb12   第7级
    v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
    • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    18 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。
    19 queried [ˈkwiərid] 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932   第8级
    v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
    参考例句:
    • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
    20 exertion [ɪgˈzɜ:ʃn] F7Fyi   第11级
    n.尽力,努力
    参考例句:
    • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力,累得大汗淋漓。
    • She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill. 由于用力骑车爬坡,她浑身发热。
    21 verity [ˈverəti] GL3zp   第12级
    n.真实性
    参考例句:
    • Human's mission lies in exploring verity bravely. 人的天职在勇于探索真理。
    • How to guarantee the verity of the financial information disclosed by listed companies? 如何保证上市公司财务信息披露真实性?
    22 lengthening [ləŋkθənɪŋ] c18724c879afa98537e13552d14a5b53   第7级
    (时间或空间)延长,伸长( lengthen的现在分词 ); 加长
    参考例句:
    • The evening shadows were lengthening. 残阳下的影子越拉越长。
    • The shadows are lengthening for me. 我的影子越来越长了。 来自演讲部分
    23 petal [ˈpetl] IMIxX   第8级
    n.花瓣
    参考例句:
    • Each white petal had a stripe of red. 每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
    • A petal fluttered to the ground. 一片花瓣飘落到地上。
    24 maiden [ˈmeɪdn] yRpz7   第7级
    n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的
    参考例句:
    • The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden. 王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
    • The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow. 这架飞机明天首航。

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