月亮与六便士-9-请求

核心词汇 1. austerity /ɔːˈsterəti/ (n.) （外表、衣着的）朴素，朴实 2. notwithstanding /ˌnɑːtwɪθˈstændɪŋ/ 或者 /ˌnɑːtwɪðˈstændɪŋ/ (prep.) 尽管 3. pry /praɪ/ (v.)探听，打听（隐私） 4. irrevocable /ɪˈrevəkəbl/ (adj.)不可改变的 5. divorce /dɪˈvɔːrs/ (v.) （与…）离婚 6. jealousy /ˈdʒeləsi/ (n.)嫉妒；猜忌 7. obstinate /ˈɑːbstɪnət/ (adj.) 顽固的；倔强的 核心短语 1. be taken aback 吃惊 2. fly into a passion 大发雷霆，勃然大怒 3. on one’s behalf 代表某人 4. call on 访问，拜访 5. get/be infatuated with 入迷 6. get on very well 相处融洽 7. make a fool of oneself 出洋相 8. let bygones be bygones （尤指既往不咎）过去的事就让它过去吧、 正文 A day or two later Mrs. Strickland sent me round a note asking if I could go and see her that evening after dinner. I found her alone. Her black dress, simple toausterity(朴素), suggested her bereaved (失去亲友的) condition, and I was innocently astonished thatnotwithstanding(尽管) a real emotion she was able to dress the part she had to play according to her notions of seemliness. "You said that if I wanted you to do anything you wouldn't mind doing it, " she remarked. "It was quite true. " "Will you go over to Paris and see Charlie?" "I?" Iwas taken aback. I reflected that I had only seen him once. I did not know what she wanted me to do. "Fred is set on going. " Fred was Colonel MacAndrew. "But I'm sure he's not the man to go. He'll only make things worse. I don't know who else to ask. " Her voice trembled (颤抖) a little, and I felt a brute even to hesitate. "But I've not spoken ten words to your husband. He doesn't know me. He'll probably just tell me to go to the devil. " "That wouldn't hurt you, " said Mrs. Strickland, smiling. "What is it exactly you want me to do?" She did not answer directly. "I think it's rather an advantage that he doesn't know you. You see, he never really liked Fred; he thought him a fool; he didn't understand soldiers. "Fred wouldfly into a passion, and there'd be a quarrel, and things would be worse instead of better. If you said you cameon my behalf, he couldn't refuse to listen to you." "I haven't known you very long, " I answered. "I don't see how anyone can be expected to tackle a case like this unless he knows all the details. I don't want to pry (探听) into what doesn't concern me. Why don't you go and see him yourself?" "You forget he isn't alone. " I held my tongue. I saw myselfcalling onCharles Strickland and sending in my card; I saw him come into the room, holding it between finger and thumb: "To what do I owe this honour?" "I've come to see you about your wife. " "Really. When you are a little older you will doubtless learn the advantage of minding your own business. If you will be so good as to turn your head slightly to the left, you will see the door. I wish you good-afternoon. "{2} I foresaw that it would be difficult to make my exit with dignity, and I wished to goodness that I had not returned to London till Mrs. Strickland had composed her difficulties.{3} I stole a glance at her. She was immersed (沉浸于) in thought. Presently she looked up at me, sighed deeply, and smiled. "It was all so unexpected, " she said. "We'd been married seventeen years. I never dreamed that Charlie was the sort of man toget infatuated withanyone. "We alwaysgot on very welltogether. Of course, I had a great many interests that he didn't share. " "Have you found out who" -- I did not quite know how to express myself -- "who the person, who it is he's gone away with?" "No. No one seems to have an idea. It's so strange. Generally when a man falls in love with someone people see them about together, lunching or something, and her friends always come and tell the wife. "I had no warning -- nothing. His letter came like a thunderbolt (霹雳). I thought he was perfectly happy. " She began to cry, poor thing, and I felt very sorry for her. But in a little while she grew calmer. "It's no goodmaking a fool of myself, " she said, drying her eyes. "The only thing is to decide what is the best thing to do. " She went on, talking somewhat at random (胡乱的), now of the recent past, then of their first meeting and their marriage; but presently I began to form a fairly coherent picture of their lives; and it seemed to me that my surmises (猜测) had not been incorrect. Mrs. Strickland was the daughter of an Indian civilian, who on his retirement had settled in the depths of the country, but it was his habit every August to take his family to Eastbourne (英国英格兰东南部港市) for change of air; and it was here, when she was twenty, that she met Charles Strickland. He was twenty-three. They played together, walked on the front together, listened together to the nigger minstrels (艺人); and she had made up her mind to accept him a week before he proposed (求婚) to her. They lived in London, first in Hampstead, and then, as he grew more prosperous, in town. Two children were born to them. "He always seemed very fond of them. Even if he was tired of me, I wonder (对…感到惊讶) that he had the heart to leave them. It's all so incredible. Even now I can hardly believe it's true. " At last she showed me the letter he had written. I was curious to see it, but had not ventured to ask for it. "MY DEAR AMY, "I think you will find everything all right in the flat. I have given Anne your instructions, and dinner will be ready for you and the children when you come. "I shall not be there to meet you. I have made up my mind to live apart from you, and I am going to Paris in the morning. I shall post this letter on my arrival. I shall not come back. My decision isirrevocable(不可改变的). "Yours always, "CHARLES STRICKLAND. " "Not a word of explanation or regret. Don't you think it's inhuman (无人性的)?" "It's a very strange letter under the circumstances, " I replied. "There's only one explanation, and that is that he's not himself. I don't know who this woman is who's got hold of him, but she's made him into another man. It's evidently (显然) been going on a long time. " "What makes you think that?" "Fred found that out. My husband said he went to the club three or four nights a week to play bridge (桥牌). Fred knows one of the members, and said something about Charles being a great bridge-player. "The man was surprised. He said he'd never even seen Charles in the card-room. It's quite clear now that when I thought Charles was at his club he was with her. " I was silent for a moment. Then I thought of the children. "It must have been difficult to explain to Robert, " I said. "Oh, I never said a word to either of them. You see, we only came up to town the day before they had to go back to school. I had the presence of mind to say that their father had been called away on business. " It could not have been very easy to be bright and careless with that sudden secret in her heart, nor to give her attention to all the things that needed doing to get her children comfortably packed off. Mrs. Strickland's voice broke again. "And what is to happen to them, poor darlings? How are we going to live?" She struggled for self-control, and I saw her hands clench (握紧) and unclench spasmodically. It was dreadfully painful. "Of course I'll go over to Paris if you think I can do any good, but you must tell me exactly what you want me to do. " "I want him to come back. " "I understood from Colonel MacAndrew that you'd made up your mind to divorce (与…离婚) him. " "I'll never divorce him, " she answered with a sudden violence. "Tell him that from me. He'll never be able to marry that woman. I'm asobstinate(倔强的) as he is, and I'll neverdivorcehim. I have to think of my children. " I think she added this to explain her attitude to me, but I thought it was due to a very naturaljealousy(嫉妒) rather than to maternal (母亲的) solicitude (担心). "Are you in love with him still?" "I don't know. I want him to come back. If he'll do that we'lllet bygones be bygones. After all, we've been married for seventeen years. I'm a broadminded woman. "I wouldn't have minded what he did as long as I knew nothing about it. He must know that his infatuation (（通常短期）热恋) won't last. "If he'll come back now everything can be smoothed over, and no one will know anything about it. " It chilled me a little that Mrs. Strickland should be concerned with gossip, for I did not know then how great a part is played in women's life by the opinion of others. It throws a shadow of insincerity (不真挚) over their most deeply felt emotions.