登陆注册
5695700000004

第4章 OLD KENNEBEC(2)

"I want to stay down by the river this afternoon," said Rose. "Ever so many of the girls will be there, and all my sewing is done up. If grandpa will leave the horse for me, I'll take the drivers' lunch to them at noon, and bring the dishes back in time to wash them before supper.""I suppose you can go, if the rest do," said her grandmother, "though it's an awful lazy way of spendin' an afternoon. When I was a girl there was no such dawdlin' goin' on, I can tell you. Nobody thought o' lookin' at the river in them days; there wasn't time.""But it's such fun to watch the logs!" Rose exclaimed. "Next to dancing, the greatest fun in the world.""'Specially as all the young men in town will be there, watchin', too," was the grandmother's reply. "Eben Brooks an' Richard Bean got home yesterday with their doctors' diplomas in their pockets. Mrs. Brooks says Eben stood forty-nine in a class o' fifty-five, an' seemed consid'able proud of him; an' I guess it is the first time he ever stood anywheres but at the foot. I tell you when these fifty-five new doctors git scattered over the country there'll be consid'able many folks keepin' house under ground.

Dick Bean's goin' to stop a spell with Rufe an' Steve Waterman.That'll make one more to play in the river.""Rufus ain't hardly got his workin' legs on yit," allowed Mr.Wiley, "but Steve's all right. He's a turrible smart driver, an' turrible reckless, too. He'll take all the chances there is, though to a man that's lived on the Kennebec there ain't what can rightly be called any turrible chances on the Saco.""He'd better be 'tendin' to his farm," objected Mrs. Wiley.

"His hay is all in," Rose spoke up quickly, "and he only helps on the river when the farm work isn't pressing. Besides, though it's all play to him, he earns his two dollars and a half a day.""He don't keer about the two and a half," said her grandfather. "He jest can't keep away from the logs. There's some that can't. When I first moved here from Gard'ner, where the climate never suited me"--"The climate of any place where you hev regular work never did an' never will suit you," remarked the old man's wife; but the interruption received no comment: such mistaken views of his character were too frequent to make any impression.

"As I was sayin', Rose," he continued, "when we first moved here from Gard'ner, we lived neighbor to the Watermans. Steve an' Rufus was little boys then, always playin' with a couple o' wild cousins o' theirn, consid'able older. Steve would scare his mother pretty nigh to death stealin' away to the mill to ride on the 'carriage,''side o' the log that was bein' sawed, hitchin' clean out over the river an' then jerkin' back 'most into the jaws o' the machinery.""He never hed any common sense to spare, even when he was a young one," remarked Mrs. Wiley; " and I don't see as all the 'cademy education his father throwed away on him has changed him much." And with this observation she rose from the table and went to the sink.

"Steve ain't nobody's fool," dissented the old man; "but he's kind o' daft about the river. When he was little he was allers buildin' dams in the brook, an' sailin' chips, an' runnin' on the logs; allers choppin' up stickins an' raftin' 'em together in the pond. I cal'late Mis' Waterman died consid'able afore her time, jest from fright, lookin' out the winders andseein' her boys slippin' between the logs an' gittin' their daily dousin'. She could n't understand it, an' there's a heap o' things women-folks never do an' never can understand,--jest because they air women-folks.""One o' the things is men, I s'pose," interrupted Mrs. Wiley.

同类推荐
  • 从Hello到玩转英语

    从Hello到玩转英语

    本书从生活中最常用的英语短句到模拟场景会话,循序渐进。本书亮点在于常用短句大全,重点则在场景会话部分。场景会话部分包含135个模拟情景,每个情景后都附有欧美文化介绍。语言与文化同步学习,掌握最地道英语。
  • 流行名人篇(老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题)

    流行名人篇(老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题)

    阅读本书,让你了解当下最流行的欧美文化名人。本书从世界范围内挑选出议论范围最广、影响力最大的名人,覆盖政治、经济、娱乐、商业、艺术等多方面,每个话题都包括背景介绍、常用句子、重点词汇以及一段情景对话。对话涵盖生活的方方面面,语言通俗易懂,所介绍的人物生动而不失深刻。《老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题:流行名人篇》以对话为主,注重口语,让读者不必死记硬背、死啃书本,最后导致“哑巴英语”,在遇到外国人时仍旧张不开嘴。这本书每节都有大量地道的、原汁原味的句子,读者可以在与外国人的日常交流中直接运用。
  • 风格的要素:汉英对照

    风格的要素:汉英对照

    《风格的要素》是作者在1918年完成的,从那时起本书就成为英文写作方面的经典必读书,几乎每个美国人人手一册。《风格的要素》中确立的精确无暇的英文写作规则,对提高美国大、中学生的英文写作起了不可估量的作用。这是一本薄薄的小书,1918午由纽约一家出版社出版。此书短小精悍,容量巨大,涵盖了母语为英语的人写作和语法上常出的错误,也清晰地解释了一些语法书中很难找到的语言现象。
  • 大学英语四级词汇词根词缀高效记忆:轻松背单词

    大学英语四级词汇词根词缀高效记忆:轻松背单词

    书中所收录的单词都是从历届大学英语4级考试题中提炼出来的。编者利用先进的电脑统计分析技术,对历年考试题中出现的单词进行系统的电脑分频,将历年考题中出现频率较高的单词甄选出来,标注为常考单词。考题中出现频率较低的,但是考试范围内的单词,标注为普通单词。极大地方便了考生有的放矢地去背单词。
  • 商务外贸英语口语即学即用

    商务外贸英语口语即学即用

    本书取材于人们商务外贸英语生活的方方面面,范围广、实用性强,《商务外贸英语口语即学即用》共包括8个部分:商务交际、日常工作、市场营销、商务出行、对外贸易、商务谈判、电子商务和求职应聘。希望《商务外贸英语口语即学即用》对具有中低层次英语水平的读者提高英语口语水平有所帮助。
热门推荐
  • 曾经,我爱过一个少年

    曾经,我爱过一个少年

    这是一本看了之后,也许会大哭一场的书。但是也许哭完之后,你并不会悲伤,反而会从心底感到踏实和温暖。谁在年轻的时候,没有爱过一个最明亮的少年呢?你所有的心思都在他身上,你为他哭,你为他笑,你为他胆战心惊,也为他不顾一切,后来,也许你再也没有那样爱过一个人,后来,也许你爱过的所有人,都能够看到他的影子。陆小寒擅写青春里的幽微往事,被读者评价为“文字冷峻而温暖”。本书写给那些遭遇艰难险阻也勇敢去爱的人,爱,只有心如钢铁地去追求,不怕不哭,才有可能实现。亲爱的,愿我们都能够寻觅得到一生与之执手的那个人。我不介意等待,只要最后等到的人是你,就好。
  • 大秦王朝4

    大秦王朝4

    大秦王朝作为时代精神汇集的王朝,集中地体现了那个时代中华民族的强势生存精神。中华民族的整个文明体系之所以能够绵延如大河奔涌,秦王朝时代开创奠定的强势生存传统起了决定性的作用。在本部丛书中,我们立足传统史学,借鉴正史的观点,以期全面解读大秦王朝的历史,给青少年朋友奉上一道不可多得的精神盛宴。
  • 喵了个咪2

    喵了个咪2

    《喵了个咪Ⅱ》把猫写得妙趣横生,引人捧腹,猫的性格呼之欲出,仿佛一篇篇寓言,不仅有猫生活,还有猫社会,说的是猫道理,实际又是人道理。这里面有对猫的细致观察,也有对猫深刻的爱和依赖,有养猫的经验和常识,也有和猫厮混的快乐和幸福。
  • 骗局

    骗局

    到一座城市去大展宏图,我的职业是个骗子,我非常热爱自己的职业,我有绝对优势从事我的职业:我从小就反应机敏,谎话张嘴就来而且天衣无缝得滴水不漏,更重要的是我生就一副粗眉大眼厚嘴唇的憨厚老实相,这使我骗起人来如虎添翼,令对方防不胜防。
  • 历史理性批判文集

    历史理性批判文集

    《历史理性批判文集》收录康德于1784~1797年间(60岁至73岁)所写的论文8篇,包括康德有关历史哲学和政治哲学的全部主要著作在内。《历史理性批判文集》的中心思想是为人类朝向普遍法治的公民社会而进步的信念进行论证。在他看来,这个信念的依据在于它不是不可能的,而不在于它无论如何是会实现的。
  • 重生之钟鸣鼎食

    重生之钟鸣鼎食

    美食做刀貌做斧,杀尽重生拦路虎。这是一个重生后靠美食征服吃货,靠美貌征服颜控的爽文!
  • 赤龙天尊

    赤龙天尊

    虚天第一鬼才,在炼制出社稷神器后,陨落断魂山。二百年后,鬼才重生,与神风帝国,天水城楚家内,一位同名同姓少年灵魂融合。重活一世,誓要破苍穹,踏乾坤,灭环宇,诸天万界,唯我独尊。……【2017,最火玄幻,重磅来袭】
  • 鲊话

    鲊话

    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。
  • 从俘虏到战友:八路军、新四军的敌军工作

    从俘虏到战友:八路军、新四军的敌军工作

    敌军工作是包括伪军在内的,也称敌伪军工作 。八路军、新四军在抗战中,开展政治攻势,分化瓦解伪军,争取伪军反正,削弱和消来敌人的力量,壮大人民武装力量,取得的战绩也是显著的,积累的经验也是丰富的。本书为集了中撰写争取和教育俘虏,对伪军则略而未写。二是关于朝鲜独立同盟问题。在侵华日军中有一部分是被强征入伍的朝鲜籍士后,他们被八路军、新四军俘虏后觉悟起来,反对日本法西斯军部发动的侵略战争,组建成立了朝鲜独立同盟和朝鲜义勇军,和在华日人反战团体一起,配合八路军、新四军敌工部门,进行瓦解敌军的工作,为中国人民抗日战争的胜利作出了重要贡献。
  • 快来我心里gank

    快来我心里gank

    双向暗恋1v1传说中全kpl职业联赛里最高冷的打野骆予,平时的业余爱好竟然是看直播?粉丝们:什么?我倒要看看是哪个狐狸精在搞事!!于是一大群愤怒的粉丝冲进了某个女主播的直播间……三分钟后,看过直播之后的粉丝:天呐!这操作!这手速!这颜值!粉丝们大惊,像这样有颜值有骚话有技术的女主播不粉简直对不起男神好吗?粉丝们:果然,男神喜欢的人都不是一般人,陛下,我要为你生猴子!突然,这条弹幕飘过之后,屏幕突然转动,画面出现两个人脸,只见某个高冷的男人很严肃:对不起这位粉丝,她只能给我生猴子。屏幕陡然黑掉。直播间粉丝:?????女主播本人:????