新概念英语第三册第49课-The ideal servant

新概念英语第三册第

49

课

:The ideal servant

Lesson 49 The ideal servant

理想的仆人

Listen to the tape then answer

the question below.

听录音，然后回答以下问题。

What was Bessie's `little weakness'?

It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago. If she were alive

today she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of

conversation:

domestic

servants.

Aunt

Harriet

lived

in

that

leisurely

age

when servants were employed to do housework. She had a huge, rambling

country

house

called

'The

Gables'.

She

was

sentimentally

attached

to

this

house, for even though it was far too big for her needs, she persisted

in

living

there

long

after

her

husband's

death.

Before

she

grew

old,

Aunt

Harriet

used

to

entertain

lavishly.

I

often

visited

The

Gables

when

I

was

boy. No matter how many guests were present, the great house was always

immaculate.

The

parquet

floors

shone

like

mirrors;

highly

polished

silver

was

displayed

in

gleaming

glass

cabinets;

even

my

uncle's

huge

collection

of

books

was

kept

miraculously

free

from

dust.

Aunt

Harriet

presided

over

an invisible army of servants that continuously scrubbed, cleaned, and

polished. She always referred to them as 'the shifting population', for

they came and went with such frequency that I never even got a chance to

learn their names. Though my aunt pursued what was, in those days, an

enlightened

policy,

in

that

she

never

allowed

her

domestic

staff

to

work

more

than

eight

hours

a

day,

she

was

extremely

difficult

to

please.

While

she always criticized the fickleness of human nature, she carried on an

unrelenting

search

for

the

ideal

servant

to

the

end

of

her

days,

even

after

she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie.

Bessie worked for Aunt Harriet for three years. During that time she

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1

so

gained

my

aunt's

confidence

that

she

was

put

in

charge

of

the

domestic

staff.

Aunt

Harriet

could

not

find

words

to

praise

Bessie's

industriousness

and

efficiency.

In

addition

to

all

her

other

qualifications, Bessie was an expert cook. She acted the role of the

perfect

servant

for

three

years

before

Aunt

Harriet

discovered

her

'little

weakness'.

After

being

absent

from

the

Gables

for

a

week,

my

aunt

unexpectedly

returned

one

afternoon

with

a

party

of

guests

and

instructed

Bessie to prepare dinner. No only was the meal well below the usual

standard,

but

Bessie seemed

unable

to

walk

steadily.

She

bumped

into

the

furniture and kept mumbling about the guests. When she came in with the

last

course

--

a

huge

pudding

--

she

tripped

on

the

carpet

and

the

pudding

went flying through the

air, narrowly missed

my aunt, and

crashed on the

dining

table

with

considerable

force.

Though

this

caused

great

mirth

among

the guests, Aunt Harriet was horrified. She reluctantly came to the

conclusion

that

Bessie

was

drunk.

The

guests

had,

of

course,

realized

this

from

the

moment

Bessie

opened

the

door

for

them

and,

long

before

the

final

catastrophe,

had

had

a

difficult

time

trying

to

conceal

their

amusement.

The

poor

girl

was

dismissed

instantly.

After

her

departure,

Aunt

Harriet

discovered that there

were

piles of

empty wine bottles of all shapes and

sizes neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe. They had

mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar!

参考译文

我的姑妈哈丽特好多年前就去世了，

这倒是件好事。

如果她 活到今天，

她将不

能就她热衷的话题“佣人”发表意见了。哈丽 特生活在一个悠闲的年代，家务事

都由雇

来的佣人代劳。她在乡下有一幢巨大杂乱的房子，叫作“山墙庄园”

。她