Magical American forest monster第一节Word文件下载.docx

1、Quale）, and when Mr. Gusher spoke for an hour and a half on thesubject to a meeting, including two charity schools of small boysand girls, who were specially reminded of the widows mite, andrequested to come forward with halfpence and be acceptablesacrifices, I think the wind was in the east for thr

2、ee whole weeks.I mention this because I am coming to Mr. Skimpole again. Itseemed to me that his off-hand professions of childishness andcarelessness were a great relief to my guardian, by contrast withsuch things, and were the more readily believed in since to findone perfectly undesigning and cand

3、id man among many opposites couldnot fail to give him pleasure. I should be sorry to imply that Mr.Skimpole divined this and was politic; I really never understoodhim well enough to know. What he was to my guardian, he certainlywas to the rest of the world.He had not been very well; and thus, though

4、 he lived in London, wehad seen nothing of him until now. He appeared one morning in hisusual agreeable way and as full of pleasant spirits as ever.Well, he said, here he was! He had been bilious, but rich men wereoften bilious, and therefore he had been persuading himself that hewas a man of proper

5、ty. So he was, in a certain point of view-inhis expansive intentions. He had been enriching his medicalattendant in the most lavish manner. He had always doubled, andsometimes quadrupled, his fees. He had said to the doctor, Now,my dear doctor, it is quite a delusion on your part to suppose thatyou

6、attend me for nothing. I am overwhelming you with money-in myexpansive intentions-if you only knew it! And really （he said）he meant it to that degree that he thought it much the same asdoing it. If he had had those bits of metal or thin paper to whichmankind attached so much importance to put in the

7、 doctors hand, hewould have put them in the doctors hand. Not having them, hesubstituted the will for the deed. Very well! If he really meantit-if his will were genuine and real, which it was-it appeared tohim that it was the same as coin, and cancelled the obligation.It may be, partly, because I kn

8、ow nothing of the value of money,said Mr. Skimpole, but I often feel this. It seems so reasonable!My butcher says to me he wants that little bill. Its a part ofthe pleasant unconscious poetry of the mans nature that he alwayscalls it a little bill-to make the payment appear easy to bothof us. I repl

9、y to the butcher, My good friend, if you knew it,you are paid. You havent had the trouble of coming to ask for thelittle bill. You are paid. I mean it.But, suppose, said my guardian, laughing, he had meant the meatin the bill, instead of providing it?My dear Jarndyce, he returned, you surprise me. Y

10、ou take thebutchers position. A butcher I once dealt with occupied that veryground. Says he, Sir, why did you eat spring lamb at eighteenpence a pound? Why did I eat spring lamb at eighteen-pence apound, my honest friend? said I, naturally amazed by the question.I like spring lamb! This was so far c

11、onvincing. Well, sir,says he, I wish I had meant the lamb as you mean the money!Mygood fellow, said I, pray let us reason like intellectual beings.How could that be? It was impossible. You HAD got the lamb, and Ihave NOT got the money. You couldnt really mean the lamb withoutsending it in, whereas I

12、 can, and do, really mean the money withoutpaying it! He had not a word. There was an end of the subject.Did he take no legal proceedings? inquired my guardian.Yes, he took legal proceedings, said Mr. Skimpole. But in thathe was influenced by passion, not by reason. Passion reminds me ofBoythorn. He

13、 writes me that you and the ladies have promised him ashort visit at his bachelor-house in Lincolnshire.He is a great favourite with my girls, said Mr. Jarndyce, and Ihave promised for them.Nature forgot to shade him off, I think, observed Mr. Skimpole toAda and me. A little too boisterous-like the

14、sea. A little toovehement-like a bull who has made up his mind to consider everycolour scarlet. But I grant a sledge-hammering sort of merit inhim!I should have been surprised if those two could have thought veryhighly of one another, Mr. Boythorn attaching so much importance tomany things and Mr. S

15、kimpole caring so little for anything.Besides which, I had noticed Mr. Boythorn more than once on thepoint of breaking out into some strong opinion when Mr. Skimpolewas referred to. Of course I merely joined Ada in saying that wehad been greatly pleased with him.He has invited me, said Mr. Skimpole;

16、 and if a child may trusthimself in such hands-which the present child is encouraged to do,with the united tenderness of two angels to guard him-I shall go.He proposes to frank me down and back again. I suppose it willcost money? Shillings perhaps? Or pounds? Or something of thatsort? By the by, Coa

17、vinses. You remember our friend Coavinses,Miss Summerson?He asked me as the subject arose in his mind, in his graceful,light-hearted manner and without the least embarrassment.Oh, yes! said I.Coavinses has been arrested by the Great Bailiff, said Mr.Skimpole. He will never do violence to the sunshin

18、e any more.It quite shocked me to hear it, for I had already recalled withanything but a serious association the image of the man sitting onthe sofa that night wiping his head.His successor informed me of it yesterday, said Mr. Skimpole.His successor is in my house now-in possession, I think he call

19、sit. He came yesterday, on my blue-eyed daughters birthday. I putit to him, This is unreasonable and inconvenient. If you had ablue-eyed daughter you wouldnt like ME to come, uninvited, on HERbirthday? But he stayed.Mr. Skimpole laughed at the pleasant absurdity and lightly touchedthe piano by which

20、 he was seated.And he told me, he said, playing little chords where I shall putfull stops, The Coavinses had left. Three children. No mother.And that Coavinses profession. Being unpopular. The risingCoavinses. Were at a considerable disadvantage.Mr. Jarndyce got up, rubbing his head, and began to wa

21、lk about.Mr. Skimpole played the melody of one of Adas favourite songs.Ada and I both looked at Mr. Jarndyce, thinking that we knew whatwas passing in his mind.After walking and stopping, and several times leaving off rubbinghis head, and beginning again, my guardian put his hand upon thekeys and st

22、opped Mr. Skimpoles playing. I dont like this,Skimpole, he said thoughtfully.Mr. Skimpole, who had quite forgotten the subject, looked upsurprised.The man was necessary, pursued my guardian, walking backward andforward in the very short space between the piano and the end ofthe room and rubbing his hair up from the back of his head as if ahigh east wind had blown it into that form. If we make such mennecessary by our faults and follies, or by our want of worldlyknowledge, or by our misfortunes, we must not revenge ourselvesupon them. Ther