Little Women - Chapter 37

At three o'clock in the afternoon, all the fashionable world at Nice may be seen on the Promenade ¹ des Anglais - a charming place, for the wide walk, bordered with palms, flowers, and tropical shrubs ², is bounded on one side by the sea, on the other by the grand drive, lined with hotels and villas ⁴, while beyond lie orange orchards ⁵ and the hills. Many nations are represented, many languages spoken, many costumes worn, and on a sunny day the spectacle is as gay and brilliant as a carnival ⁶. Haughty ⁷ English, lively French, sober Germans, handsome Spaniards, ugly Russians, meek ⁸ Jews, free-and-easy Americans, all drive, sit, or saunter here, chatting over the news, and criticizing the latest celebrity ⁹ who has arrived - Ristori or Dickens, Victor Emmanuel or the Queen of the Sandwich Islands. The equipages are as varied ¹⁰ as the company and attract as much attention, especially the low basket barouches in which ladies drive themselves, with a pair of dashing ponies ¹¹, gay nets to keep their voluminous flounces from overflowing ¹² the diminutive ¹³ vehicles, and little grooms ¹⁴ on the perch ¹⁵ behind., ,Along this walk, on Christmas Day, a tall young man walked slowly, with his hands behind him, and a somewhat absent expression of countenance ¹⁶. He looked like an Italian, was dressed like an Englishman, and had the independent air of an American - a combination which caused sundry ¹⁷ pairs of feminine eyes to look approvingly after him, and sundry dandies in black velvet ¹⁸ suits, with rose-colored neckties, buff gloves, and orange flowers in their buttonholes, to shrug ¹⁹ their shoulders, and then envy him his inches. There were plenty of pretty faces to admire, but the young man took little notice of them, except to glance now and then at some blonde girl in blue. Presently he strolled out of the promenade and stood a moment at the crossing, as if undecided whether to go and listen to the band in the Jardin Publique, or to wander along the beach toward Castle Hill. The quick trot ²¹ of ponies' feet made him look up, as one of the little carriages, containing a single young lady, came rapidly down the street. The lady was young, blonde, and dressed in blue. He stared a minute, then his whole face woke up, and, waving his hat like a boy, he hurried forward to meet her., ,"Oh, Laurie, is it really you? I thought you'd never come!" cried Amy, dropping the reins ²² and holding out both hands, to the great scandalization of a French mamma, who hastened her daughter's steps, lest she should be demoralized by beholding ²⁴ the free manners of these 'mad English'., , ,"How is your grandfather? When did you come? Where are you staying?", ,"Very well - last night - at the Chauvain. I called at your hotel, but you were out.", ,We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。,The gardener spent a complete morning in trimming those two shrubs. 园丁花了整个上午的时间修剪那两处灌木林 。