The little newspaper which Aleck had subscribed for was a Thursday sheet， it would make the trip of five hundred miles from Tilburys village and arrive on Saturday. Tilburys letter had started on Friday， more than a day too late for the benefactorbenefactor n.恩人， 捐助者， 赠送者， 赞助人 to die and get into that weeks issue， but in plenty of time to make connection for the next output. Thus the Fosters had to wait almost a complete week to find out whether anything of a satisfactory nature had happened to him or not. It was a long， long week， and the strainstrain n.过度的疲劳， 紧张， 张力， 应变 vt.扭伤， 损伤 v.拉紧， 扯紧， （使）紧张， 尽力 was a heavy one. The pair could hardly have borne it if their minds had not had the relief of wholesome diversion. We have seen that they had that. The woman was piling up fortunes right along， the man was spending them—spending all his wife would give him a chance at， at any rate.
艾莱柯订的那份小报是周四出报，周六那份报纸才能从提尔伯里的村子跋涉五百里抵达这里。提尔伯里的那封信是周五写的，就算他当时就死，也晚了一天，赶不上当周的报纸，不过离下一周的出报时间还早着呢。这样，福斯特一家还要等差不多整整一个星期，才能知道提尔伯里是不是已经功德圆满了。这个星期好长好长，那根弦绷得好紧好紧。要是不想点有益身心的事儿，他们夫妻俩简直要顶不住了。我们已经看到，他们并不缺有益身心的事。女的正一个劲儿地忙着积累财富，男的忙着花钱——只要妻子给他花钱的机会，不论大钱小钱都无所谓。
At last the Saturday came， and the WEEKLY SAGAMORE arrived. Mrs. Eversly Bennett was present. She was the PresbyterianPresbyterian adj.长老制的， 长老会的 n.长老教会员 parsons wife， and was working the Fosters for a charity. Talk now died a sudden death—on the Foster side. Mrs. Bennett presently discovered that her hosts were not hearing a word she was saying， so she got up， wondering and indignant， and went away. The moment she was out of the house， Aleck eagerly tore the wrapperwrapper n.包装材料，包装纸， 书皮 from the paper， and her eyes and Sallys swept the columns for the deathnotices. Disappointment！ Tilbury was not anywhere mentioned. Aleck was a Christian from the cradle， and duty and the force of habit required her to go through the motions. She pulled herself together and said， with a piouspious adj.虔诚的， 尽责的 twopercent. trade joyousnessjoyousness [说明］joyous 指快乐的性质或气质， 如：a joyous family 快乐的家庭 joyful 指因某事而快乐或欢乐，如： the joyful throngs 欢乐的群众：“Let us be humbly thankful that he has been spared， and—”
终于到了周六，那份《萨加摩尔周报》来了。是埃弗斯利·本内特太太送来的。她是长老会牧师的妻子，正在劝说福斯特夫妇积德行善，捐一笔钱。可是，话头还没展开，就戛然而止——责任全在福斯特家一方。本内特太太很快就发现，两位主人对她的话充耳不闻。她摸不着头脑，气呼呼地起身告辞了。本内特太太刚出门，艾莱柯就迫不及待地撕开了报纸的封套，她和萨利的眼光一起齐刷刷地掠过报上的讣告栏。真是大失所望！哪儿也没提到提尔伯里。艾莱柯从小就是个基督徒，基督徒的规矩和习惯的力量都约束着她的情感。她定了定神，用备感欣慰的口气说：“谢天谢地，他还没有过去哪。再说——”
“Damn his treacheroustreacherous adj.背叛的， 背信弃义的， 奸诈的， 叛逆的 hide， I wish—”
“这个老不死的，我真想——”
“Sally！ For shame！”
“萨利！你不害臊吗？”
“I dont care！” retorted the angry man. “Its the way YOU feel， and if you werent so immorally pious youd be honest and say so.”
“我才不在乎呢！”丈夫怒气冲冲地回答，“咱们心里想的都一样，要不是假仁假义地装蒜，你也会实话实说。”
Aleck said， with wounded dignity：“I do not see how you can say such unkind and unjustunjust adj.不公平的 things. There is no such thing as immoral pietypiety n.虔诚， 孝行。”
艾莱柯的尊严受到了伤害，她说：“我真不知道你怎么能说出这种不仁不义的话来，我什么时候假仁假义来着？”
Sally felt a pang， but tried to conceal it under a shuffling attempt to save his case by changing the form of it—as if changing the form while retaining the juicejuice n.（水果）汁， 液 could deceive the expert he was trying to placate. He said：“I didnt mean so bad as that， Aleck， I didnt really mean immoral piety， I only meant—meant—well， conventionalconventional adj.惯例的， 常规的， 习俗的， 传统的 piety， you know， er—shop piety， the—the—why， YOU know what I mean. Aleck—the—well， where you put up that plated article and play it for solid， you know， without intending anything improperimproper adj.不适当的， 不合适的， 不正确的， 不合礼仪的，不适宜， but just out of trade habit， ancient policy， petrifiedpetrify v.石化，吓呆 custom， loyalty to—to—hang it， I cant find the right words， but YOU know what I mean， Aleck， and that there isnt any harm in it. Ill try again. You see， its this way. If a person—”
萨利还是愤愤不平，不过他想换一种说法蒙混过关，同艾莱柯休战——好像换汤不换药就能把这位行家里手瞒过去似的。萨利说：“艾莱柯，我可没那么坏，我原来的意思不是说假仁假义，我是说——是说——信教的那老一套，你明白吗？唔，就是生意人那一套。就是——就是——嗨，你明白我是什么意思。艾莱柯——就是——比如说，要是你拿一个空壳子摆出来当实心的东西，你也不觉得这事有什么不妥当，这不过是生意人的习惯，是从古到今的老规矩，是一成不变的风俗，是守——守——妈的，我找不出合适的词来，反正你明白我的意思，艾莱柯，这里头没有什么害人之心。我再试试换一种说法，你瞧，比如说一个人——”
“You have said quite enough，” said Aleck， coldly， “let the subject be dropped.”
“你说得够多了，”艾莱柯冷冷地说，“咱们别再说这个啦。”
