Work: A Story of Experience - Chapter 15

"NOW it is all over. I shall never have another chance like that, and must make up my mind to be a lonely and laborious ² spinster all my life. Youth is going fast, and I have little in myself to attract or win, though David did call me 'good and lovely.' Ah, well, I'll try to deserve his praise, and not let disappointment sour or sadden me. Better to hope and wait all my life than marry without love.", ,Christie often said this to herself during the hard days that followed Mr. Fletcher's disappearance ³; a disappearance, by the way, which caused Mr. Power much satisfaction, though he only betrayed it by added kindness to Christie, and in his manner an increased respect very comforting to her., ,But she missed her lover, for nothing now broke up the monotony of a useful life. She had enjoyed that little episode; for it had lent romance to every thing while it lasted, even the charity basket with which she went her rounds; for Mr. Fletcher often met her by accident apparently ⁴, and carried it as if to prove the sincerity ⁵ of his devotion. No bouquets ⁶ came now; no graceful ⁷ little notes with books or invitations to some coveted ⁸ pleasure; no dangerously delightful ⁹ evenings in the recess ¹⁰, where, for a time, she felt and used the power which to a woman is so full of subtle satisfaction; no bitter-sweet hopes; no exciting dreams of what might be with the utterance ¹¹ of a word; no soft uncertainty ¹² to give a charm to every hour that passed. Nothing but daily duties, a little leisure that hung heavy on her hands with no hope to stimulate ¹³, no lover to lighten it, and a sore, sad heart that would clamor for its right; and even when pride silenced it ached on with the dull pain which only time and patience have the power to heal., , ,Christie felt this strange comfort resting like a baby in her lonely bosom ¹⁸, cherished and blessed it; wondering while she rejoiced, and soon perceiving with the swift instinct of a woman, that this was a lesson, hard to learn, but infinitely ¹⁹ precious, helpful, and sustaining when once gained. She was not happy, only patient; not hopeful, but trusting; and when life looked dark and barren without, she went away into that inner world of deep feeling, high thought, and earnest aspiration ²⁰; which is a never-failing refuge to those whose experience has built within them, ,"The nunnery of a chaste ²¹ heart and quiet mind.", ,He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后 ，他已经疲惫不堪了 。,They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作
。