月亮与六便士-8-上校的愤恨

核心词汇 1. odd /ɑːd/ (adj.) 古怪的 2. recollection /ˌrekəˈlekʃn/ (n.)回忆；回忆起的事物 3. desert /dɪˈzɜːrt/ (v.)抛弃，丢弃 4. domestic /dəˈmestɪk/ (adj.) 家庭的 5. extraordinary /ɪkˈstrɔːrdəneri/ (adj.)意想不到的；令人惊奇的 6. conceal /kənˈsiːl/ (v.)隐瞒；隐藏；隐匿 7. artful /ˈɑːrtfl/ (adj.) 巧妙的；狡猾的；有技巧的 8.indignation /ˌɪndɪɡˈneɪʃn/ (n.) 愤怒，愤慨 核心短语 1. on earth 究竟，到底 2. owe it to oneself to do something认为某人应该做某事，认为某人有必要做某事 3. besetting sin 易犯的罪恶；最容易犯的错误；根深蒂固的恶习(或毛病) 4. be taken aback 吃惊 5. catch sb. up 赶上、追上某人 6. at all events 无论如何 7. cut across 抄近路通过；径直穿过 正文 This was the first suggestion that anything untoward (不幸的) had happened. I took no notice, and did my best to engage Mrs. Strickland in talk. The Colonel, still standing in front of the fireplace, uttered no word. I wondered how soon I could decently take my leave, and I asked myself whyon earthMrs. Strickland had allowed me to come. There were no flowers, and various knick-knacks (小摆件), put away during the summer, had not been replaced; there was something cheerless and stiff about the room which had always seemed so friendly; it gave you anodd(古怪的) feeling, as though someone were lying dead on the other side of the wall. I finished tea. "Will you have a cigarette?" asked Mrs. Strickland. She looked about for the box, but it was not to be seen. "I'm afraid there are none. " Suddenly she burst into tears, and hurried from the room.  I was startled. I suppose now that the lack of cigarettes, brought as a rule by her husband, forced him back upon herrecollection(回忆), and the new feeling that the small comforts she was used to were missing gave her a sudden pang (痛苦).{1} She realised that the old life was gone and done with. It was impossible to keep up our social pretences (虚伪) any longer. "I dare say you'd like me to go, " I said to the Colonel, getting up. "I suppose you've heard that blackguard (恶棍) hasdeserted(抛弃) her, " he cried explosively. I hesitated. "You know how people gossip, " I answered. "I was vaguely told that something was wrong. " "He's bolted (离开). He's gone off to Paris with a woman. He's left Amy without a penny. " "I'm awfully sorry, " I said, not knowing what else to say. The Colonel gulped down his whisky. He was a tall, lean man of fifty, with a drooping moustache and grey hair. He had pale blue eyes and a weak mouth. I remembered from my previous meeting with him that he had a foolish face, and was proud of the fact that for the ten years before he left the army he had played polo (马球) three days a week.{2} "I don't suppose Mrs. Strickland wants to be bothered with me just now, " I said. "Will you tell her how sorry I am? If there's anything I can do. I shall be delighted to do it. " He took no notice of me. "I don't know what's to become of her. And then there are the children. Are they going to live on air? Seventeen years. " "What about seventeen years?" "They've been married, " he snapped. "I never liked him. Of course he was my brother-in-law, and I made the best of it. Did you think him a gentleman? She ought never to have married him. " "Is it absolutely final?" "There's only one thing for her to do, and that's to divorce him. That's what I was telling her when you came in. 'Fire in with your petition (诉状), my dear Amy, ' I said. 'Youowe it to yourselfand you owe it to the children. ' He'd better not let me catch sight of him. I'd thrash him within an inch of his life. " I could not help thinking that Colonel MacAndrew might have some difficulty in doing this, since Strickland had struck me as a hefty (异常大的) fellow, but I did not say anything.{3} It is always distressing when outraged morality does not possess the strength of arm to administer direct chastisement (惩罚) on the sinner.{4} I was making up my mind to another attempt at going when Mrs. Strickland came back. She had dried her eyes and powdered her nose. "I'm sorry I broke down, " she said. "I'm glad you didn't go away. "  She sat down. I did not at all know what to say. I felt a certain shyness at referring to matters which were no concern of mine. I did not then know thebesetting sinof woman, the passion to discuss her private affairs with anyone who is willing to listen. Mrs. Strickland seemed to make an effort over herself. "Are people talking about it?" she asked. Iwas taken abackby her assumption that I knew all about herdomestic(家庭的) misfortune. "I've only just come back. The only person I've seen is Rose Waterford. " Mrs. Strickland clasped (扣紧) her hands. "Tell me exactly what she said. " And when I hesitated, she insisted. "I particularly want to know. " "You know the way people talk. She's not very reliable, is she? She said your husband had left you. " "Is that all?" I did not choose to repeat Rose Waterford's parting reference to a girl from a tea-shop. I lied. "She didn't say anything about his going with anyone?" "No. " "That's all I wanted to know. " I was a little puzzled, butat all eventsI understood that I might now take my leave. When I shook hands with Mrs. Strickland I told her that if I could be of any use to her I should be very glad. She smiled wanly. "Thank you so much. I don't know that anybody can do anything for me. "  Too shy to express my sympathy, I turned to say good-bye to the Colonel. He did not take my hand. "I'm just coming. If you're walking up Victoria Street, I'll come along with you. " "All right, " I said. "Come on. " "This is a terrible thing, " he said, the moment we got out into the street. I realised that he had come away with me in order to discuss once more what he had been already discussing for hours with his sister-in-law. "We don't know who the woman is, you know, " he said. "All we know is that the blackguard's gone to Paris. " "I thought they got on so well. " "So they did. Why, just before you came in Amy said they'd never had a quarrel in the whole of their married life. You know Amy. There was never a better woman in the world. "  Since these confidences (秘密) were thrust on me, I saw no harm in asking a few questions. "But do you mean to say she suspected nothing?" "Nothing. He spent August with her and the children in Norfolk. He was just the same as he'd always been. "We went down for two or three days, my wife and I, and I played golf with him. He came back to town in September to let his partner go away, and Amy stayed on in the country. "They'd taken a house for six weeks, and at the end of her tenancy (租期) she wrote to tell him on which day she was arriving in London. "He answered from Paris. He said he'd made up his mind not to live with her any more. " "What explanation did he give?" "My dear fellow, he gave no explanation. I've seen the letter. It wasn't more than ten lines. " "But that'sextraordinary(意想不到的). " We happened then to cross the street, and the traffic prevented us from speaking. What Colonel MacAndrew had told me seemed very improbable, and I suspected that Mrs. Strickland, for reasons of her own, hadconcealed(隐瞒) from him some part of the facts. It was clear that a man after seventeen years of wedlock (婚姻) did not leave his wife without certain occurrences (事件) which must have led her to suspect that all was not well with their married life. The Colonelcaught me up. "Of course, there was no explanation he could give except that he'd gone off with a woman. I suppose he thought she could find that out for herself. That's the sort of chap (家伙) he was. " "What is Mrs. Strickland going to do?" "Well, the first thing is to get our proofs. I'm going over to Paris myself. " "And what about his business?" "That's where he's been soartful(狡猾的). He's been drawing in his horns for the last year. " "Did he tell his partner he was leaving?" "Not a word. " Colonel MacAndrew had a very sketchy knowledge of business matters, and I had none at all, so I did not quite understand under what conditions Strickland had left his affairs. I gathered that the deserted (被抛弃的) partner was very angry and threatened proceedings. It appeared that when everything was settled he would be four or five hundred pounds out of pocket. "It's lucky the furniture in the flat is in Amy's name. She'll have that at all events. " "Did you mean it when you said she wouldn't have a bob?" "Of course I did. She's got two or three hundred pounds and the furniture. " "But how is she going to live?" "God knows. " The affair seemed to grow more complicated, and the Colonel, with his expletives (咒骂语) and hisindignation(愤慨), confused rather than informed me. I was glad that, catching sight of the clock at the Army and Navy Stores, he remembered an engagement to play cards at his club, and so left me tocut acrossSt. James Park.