Next day Philip began work again, but the end which he expected within a few weeks did not come. The weeks passed into months. The winter wore away, and in the parks the trees burst into bud and into leaf. A terrible lassitude settled upon Philip. Time was passing, though it went with such heavy feet, and he thought that his youth was going and soon he would have lost it and nothing would have been accomplished . His work seemed more aimless now that there was the certainty of his leaving it.
He became skilful in the designing of costumes, and though he had no inventive faculty acquired quickness in the adaptation of French fashions to the English market. Sometimes he was not displeased with his drawings, but they always bungled them in the execution. He was amused to notice that he suffered from a lively irritation when his ideas were not adequately carried out.
He had to walk warily . Whenever he suggested something original Mr. Sampson turned it down: their customers did not want anything outre, it was a very respectable class of business, and when you had a connection of that sort it wasn’t worth while taking liberties with it. Once or twice he spoke sharply to Philip; he thought the young man was getting a bit above himself, because Philip’s ideas did not always coincide with his own.
读书笔记
是否公开
4
-
"你得当心着点,我的好小伙子,否则,总有一天要把你赶到街上去!"
读书笔记
是否公开
4
-
‘You jolly well take care, my fine young fellow, or one of these days you’ll find yourself in the street.’
Philip longed to give him a punch on the nose, but he restrained himself. After all it could not possibly last much longer, and then he would he done with all these people for ever. Sometimes in comic desperation he cried out that his uncle must be made of iron. What a constitution!
The ills he suffered from would have killed any decent person twelve months before. When at last the news came that the Vicar was dying Philip, who had been thinking of other things, was taken by surprise. It was in July, and in another fortnight he was to have gone for his holiday.
He received a letter from Mrs. Foster to say the doctor did not give Mr. Carey many days to live, and if Philip wished to see him again he must come at once. Philip went to the buyer and told him he wanted to leave. Mr. Sampson was a decent fellow, and when he knew the circumstances made no difficulties. Philip said good-bye to the people in his department; the reason of his leaving had spread among them in an exaggerated form, and they thought he had come into a fortune. Mrs. Hodges had tears in her eyes when she shook hands with him.
读书笔记
是否公开
8
-
"我想,我们再也不能经常见到您了,"她说。
读书笔记
是否公开
8
-
‘I suppose we shan’t often see you again,’ she said.
It was strange, but he was actually sorry to leave these people whom he thought he had loathed , and when he drove away from the house in Harrington Street it was with no exultation . He had so anticipated the emotions he would experience on this occasion that now he felt nothing: he was as unconcerned as though he were going for a few days’ holiday.
She led him into the bed-room where Mr. Carey lay on his back. He gave Philip a slight smile, in which was a trace of satisfied cunning at having circumvented his enemy once more.
Mrs. Foster said that the Vicar must not talk, it would tire him; she treated him like a child, with kindly despotism; and there was something childish in the old man’s satisfaction at having cheated all their expectations. It struck him at once that Philip had been sent for, and he was amused that he had been brought on a fool’s errand. If he could only avoid another of his heart attacks he would get well enough in a week or two; and he had had the attacks several times before; he always felt as if he were going to die, but he never did. They all talked of his constitution, but they none of them knew how strong it was.
读书笔记
是否公开
19
-
"你就呆一两大吗?"他问菲利普,佯装认为菲利普是来度假的。
读书笔记
是否公开
19
-
‘Are you going to stay a day or two?’ He asked Philip, pretending to believe he had come down for a holiday.
读书笔记
是否公开
20
-
"我正是这么想的,"菲利普高高兴兴地应了一句。
读书笔记
是否公开
20
-
‘I was thinking of it,’ Philip answered cheerfully.
读书笔记
是否公开
21
-
"呼吸几口海边的空气对你是有好处的。"
读书笔记
是否公开
21
-
‘A breath of sea-air will do you good.’
读书笔记
是否公开
22
-
此时,威格拉姆大夫来了,看过牧师以后,便同菲利普交谈起来。他的举上适度。
读书笔记
是否公开
22
-
Presently Dr. Wigram came, and after he had seen the Vicar talked with Philip. He adopted an appropriate manner.
读书笔记
是否公开
23
-
"恐怕这一次他准完,"他说。"这对我们大家都是个重大损失。我认识他已有三十五个背秋了。"
读书笔记
是否公开
23
-
‘I’m afraid it is the end this time, Philip,’ he said. ‘It’ll be a great loss to all of us. I’ve known him for five-and-thirty years.’
读书笔记
是否公开
24
-
"他眼下看上去还挺不错的哩,"菲利普说。
读书笔记
是否公开
24
-
‘He seems well enough now,’ said Philip.
读书笔记
是否公开
25
-
"我是用药来延续他的生命的,但这维持不了多久。前两天的情况可危急了,我想他大概死过五六次了。"
读书笔记
是否公开
25
-
‘I’m keeping him alive on drugs, but it can’t last. It was dreadful these last two days, I thought he was dead half a dozen times.’
读书笔记
是否公开
26
-
医生沉默了一两分钟。但是,到了门口,他突然对菲利普说:
读书笔记
是否公开
26
-
The doctor was silent for a minute or two, but at the gate he said suddenly to Philip:
‘They’re very superstitious , these people: she’s got hold of an idea that he’s got something on his mind, and he can’t die till he gets rid of it; and he can’t bring himself to confess it.’
‘Of course it’s nonsense. He’s led a very good life, he’s done his duty, he’s been a good parish priest, and I’m sure we shall all miss him; he can’t have anything to reproach himself with. I very much doubt whether the next vicar will suit us half so well.’
For several days Mr. Carey continued without change. His appetite which had been excellent left him, and he could eat little. Dr. Wigram did not hesitate now to still the pain of the neuritis which tormented him; and that, with the constant shaking of his palsied limbs, was gradually exhausting him. His mind remained clear. Philip and Mrs. Foster nursed him between them.
She was so tired by the many months during which she had been attentive to all his wants that Philip insisted on sitting up with the patient so that she might have her night’s rest. He passed the long hours in an arm-chair so that he should not sleep soundly, and read by the light of shaded candles The Thousand and One Nights. He had not read them since he was a little boy, and they brought back his childhood to him. Sometimes he sat and listened to the silence of the night. When the effects of the opiate wore off Mr. Carey grew restless and kept him constantly busy.
At last, early one morning, when the birds were chattering noisily in the trees, he heard his name called. He went up to the bed. Mr. Carey was lying on his back, with his eyes looking at the ceiling; he did not turn them on Philip. Philip saw that sweat was on his forehead, and he took a towel and wiped it.