登陆注册
5393100000013

第13章

Heroism is not all of one pattern. Dr. Washburn, had the Prince of Wales come to see him, would have put his bread and cheese and jug of beer upon the table, and helped His Royal Highness to half. But my father and mother's tea was very weak that Mr. Jones or Mr. Smith might have a glass of wine should they come to dinner. I remember the one egg for breakfast, my mother arguing that my father should have it because he had his business to attend to; my father insisting that my mother should eat it, she having to go out shopping, a compromise being effected by their dividing it between them, each clamouring for the white as the most nourishing. And I know however little the meal looked upon the table when we started I always rose well satisfied.

These are small things to speak of, but then you must bear in mind this is a story moving in narrow ways.

To me this life came as a good time. That I was encouraged to eat treacle in preference to butter seemed to me admirable. Personally, I preferred sausages for dinner; and a supper of fried fish and potatoes, brought in stealthily in a carpet bag, was infinitely more enjoyable than the set meal where nothing was of interest till one came to the dessert. What fun there was about it all! The cleaning of the doorstep by night, when from the ill-lit street a gentleman with a piece of sacking round his legs might very well pass for a somewhat tall charwoman. I would keep watch at the gate to give warning should any one looking like a possible late caller turn the corner of the street, coming back now and then in answer to a low whistle to help my father grope about in the dark for the hearthstone; he was always mislaying the hearthstone. How much better, helping to clean the knives or running errands than wasting all one's morning dwelling upon the shocking irregularity of certain classes of French verbs; or making useless calculations as to how long X, walking four and a quarter miles an hour, would be overtaking Y, whose powers were limited to three and a half, but who had started two and three quarter hours sooner; the whole argument being reduced to sheer pedantry by reason of no information being afforded to the student concerning the respective thirstiness of X and Y.

Even my father and mother were able to take it lightly with plenty of laughter and no groaning that I ever heard. For over all lay the morning light of hope, and what prisoner, escaping from his dungeon, ever stayed to think of his torn hands and knees when beyond the distant opening he could see the sunlight glinting through the brambles?

"I had no idea," said my mother, "there was so much to do in a house.

In future I shall arrange for the servants to have regular hours, and a little time to themselves, for rest. Don't you think it right, Luke?"

"Quite right," replied my father; "and I'll tell you another thing we'll do. I shall insist on the landlord's putting a marble doorstep to the next house we take; you pass a sponge over marble and it is always clean."

"Or tesselated," suggested my mother.

"Or tesselated," agreed my father; "but marble is more uncommon."

Only once, can I recall a cloud. That was one Sunday when my mother, speaking across the table in the middle of dinner, said to my father, "We might save the rest of that stew, Luke; there's an omelette coming."

My father laid down the spoon. "An omelette!"

"Yes," said my mother. "I thought I would like to try again."

My father stepped into the back kitchen--we dined in the kitchen, as a rule, it saved much carriage--returning with the wood chopper.

"What ever are you going to do, Luke, with the chopper?" said my mother.

"Divide the omelette," replied my father.

My mother began to cry.

"Why, Maggie--!" said my father.

"I know the other one was leathery," said my mother, "but it was the fault of the oven, you know it was, Luke."

"My dear," said my father, "I only meant it as a joke."

同类推荐
  • 送清敬闍黎归浙西

    送清敬闍黎归浙西

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 李星沅日记选录

    李星沅日记选录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 高力士外传

    高力士外传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 释肇序

    释肇序

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 四分僧戒本

    四分僧戒本

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 古代田园诗词三百首

    古代田园诗词三百首

    提到田园诗词,人们首先想到的一定是陶渊明以及他那句著名的“采菊东篱下,悠然见南山”。的确,作为中国古代田园诗的创始人,陶渊明开启了中国田园诗词的新领域。但是在中国古代浩如烟海的诗词中,除了陶渊明外,还有很多著名的田园诗人和作品。本书就是一本集中体现中国历代田园诗词的作品集。从先秦到明清时期的众多诗词中,精心选出了三百首田园诗词以及部分的元曲作品加以评析。通过作者详尽地分析,使我们对这些古代诗词有了进一步的理解。
  • 魂断巴士

    魂断巴士

    中短篇集《魂断巴士》黑暗的双层巴士内,一名男子倒在了血泊之中,凶手销声匿迹,凶器竟然就在车内不翼而飞。刑警队长陈天杰率领众警员展开侦查,然而就在搜查过程中,凶手竟然在车窗封闭的巴士上层车厢内凭空消失!车内外都有守候的警察,却并没有发现任何踪影,凶手难道会飞吗?经过层层推理,剥丝抽茧之后,终于使得案情逐渐云开雾散;然而,隐藏在凶案背后的真相却令人唏嘘不已……
  • 两晋演义

    两晋演义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 总裁,别玩火

    总裁,别玩火

    结婚纪念日,她精心策划,想要给丈夫一个惊喜。而她也收到了一个莫大的“惊喜”。电梯里,男人的身体靠近她的耳畔,“今夜,要不要我为你疗伤。”清醒过后,她匆忙离开。再次遇见,他成了她的合作伙伴。她装作不认识他,却被他似笑非笑的回了一句,“安总,你刚才说初次见面,可我记得我们不是第一次见面吧。”她心里有十万头草泥马在狂奔,表面死死的稳住,装傻的看他:“有吗?”席慕年,最年轻的财阀,拥有精致的外表跟强大的野心,而他最大的野心就是将她占为已有。望着他如狼似虎的幽沉目光,她头发一阵发麻,她该往哪逃?--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 做人处事全书

    做人处事全书

    本套丛书从社会礼仪、为人处世、心志心理、感悟与人生等诸多方面的阐述中归纳出最有实用性、最有指导价值,且带有规律性的方法、定律和成功范例。本套丛书涵盖了人类取得成功的所有主、客观因素,分析成功规律性的原理,使成功学这种看似玄秘深奥的学问变成具体的可操作的方式方法。
  • Oh,我的校草大人!

    Oh,我的校草大人!

    国际大盗Q重生了?重生在了言家二少爷的身上?什么?我重生在了一个男人身上?往下一掏,呼,还好,只是女扮男装!于是,言二爷开启了她妖孽般的撩妹人生,还认识了同样的绯闻男神?从此两人出入成双绯闻倍出?某天……“四爷!夫人又在撩妹了!绯闻说她和那妹子睡过了!”“她想玩就陪她玩,去报道,说那妹子怀孕了!”“四爷!夫人一怒之下把报道绯闻的报社给烧了!”“烧有什么意思,给她准备一些炸药,炸了它!”“四爷!那间报社要夫人赔钱!”“把钱整箱往他们脸上砸!让他们给我滚!晚上给我打回来!”“四爷!夫人又跑了!”“什么?把老子直升飞机开来,给老子把她抓回来,不抓回来你们今晚都别想好过!”
  • 老人与海(中小学生必读丛书)

    老人与海(中小学生必读丛书)

    老渔夫圣地亚哥在海上连续84天没有捕到鱼。起初,有一个叫曼诺林的男孩跟他一道出海,可是过了40天还没有钓到鱼,孩子就被父母安排到另一条船上去了,因为他们认为孩子跟着老头不会交好运。第85天,老头儿一清早就把船划出很远,他出乎意料地钓到了一条比船还大的马林鱼。老头儿和这条鱼周旋了两天,终于叉中了它。但受伤的鱼在海上留下了一道腥踪,引来无数鲨鱼的争抢,老人奋力与鲨鱼搏斗,但回到海港时,马林鱼只剩下一副巨大的骨架,老人也精疲力尽地一头栽倒在陆地上。孩子来看老头儿,他认为圣地亚哥没有被打败。
  • 解放沈阳(百城百战解放战争系列)

    解放沈阳(百城百战解放战争系列)

    本书以纪实手法纪录了在解放沈阳的战役中,前苏联红军不但把东北交给了国民党军队,而且还向中共发出了最后通牒。抢地盘蒋介石空降十几万大军,摆脱逆境毛泽东转攻东北中小城市。三年磨砺解放军终于强大起来,林彪最终打败了杜聿明……
  • 菜根谭(感动中国学生的国学经典)

    菜根谭(感动中国学生的国学经典)

    国学是中国传统文化的精髓,对中国政治、经济、军事等各方面都有影响极大,对于传承文明,增强民族凝聚力,以及中华民族的复兴都起着重要作用。本书主要介绍了感动中国学生的国学经典。
  • 强婚之老婆休想逃

    强婚之老婆休想逃

    “我可以给你时间慢慢接受我,不过这期间绝不允许你移情别恋!”有没有搞错?她从没有爱过他,又何来移情别恋呢!片断花絮:“放我走,我爱的人是他,我要嫁给他!”她英勇不屈地为爱抗争,誓死不跟恶势力低头!“可以,”他笑得邪佞而残忍,“不过要等我玩够了你的!”*片断一:“祝贺我吧,我要结婚了!”他一脸恶毒的得意,将大红喜贴塞到她手里。她怔怔的接过,缓缓展开,新婚照里新郎俊美无比,依偎在他身旁的新娘笑靥如花。“难道……你没有什么话要对我说?”“只有一句!”她抬起头,告诉他:“请你赶紧去享受你的幸福,不要再来打扰我!”片断二:“妈妈,为何别的小朋友都有爸爸来接送,我的爸爸从没来过幼儿园呢?”一个小小的女孩怯怯的对她提出疑问。“乖,”她低首安慰着孩子:“你爸爸很忙,他没时间。”“他在忙什么?”“忙工作、忙大事,忙着……享受他的幸福!”片断三:“宝贝,跟爸爸回家吧!你妈妈呢?”他抱起了好不容易找到的小宝贝,然后四处搜寻大宝贝的倩影。“妈妈和新爸爸去给念念买波板糖了!”小女孩甜甜地笑着回答。当他看到日思夜想的她笑靥出花地挽着另一个男人出现,那一刻他充分体会到什么叫心疼如搅。“云可欣,就算追到天涯海角,不惜任何代价,我也要让你回到我的身边!”******凡人悟语:雷杰——人生最大的悲伤不是得不到,而是舍不得。颜邵轩——每一个不懂爱的人,都会遇到一个懂爱的人。后来,不懂爱的人慢慢懂了,懂爱的人却不敢再爱了。云铮——爱情就像笑话,笑死了别人,笑疼了自己。******本文虐中有宠,故事远比简介精彩。烟茫坑品有保障:每日八点更新,绝不断更,如若断更,第二天补上两更。喜欢请收藏!鞠躬,感谢!推荐专区:最新完结:《名门官夫人》:爱情的绝境华丽转身,跟随她一路领略更精彩的风景,一步步收获爱情和幸福!完结文《怒婚》:我--穆雪馨,一夜间从他的妻子降级成情妇,世间还有比这更荒谬可笑复可悲的事情吗?完结文《掳妻》:世间最遥远的距离不是他站在她的面前她不知道他爱她,而是爱到痴迷疯狂时,他已不配说爱。完结文《痛婚》:蓦然回首,谁还在那抹温暖的灯火阑珊处等她?今生今世不离不弃!推荐完结文《爱上弃妇》:当初抢她的前夫,现在抢她的男友,难道这个女人抢男人有瘾?这次她绝不会再退让,誓跟小三斗到底!推荐古言虐文(五元特价)《寝奴》: