新概念英語第三冊(含lrc文本)Lesson 49 The ideal servant

[ti:δ?] [ar:] [al:] [by:https://www.lrc.com.cn] [00:19.88]Lesson 49 [00:22.11]The ideal servant [00:17.70]It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago. [00:21.18]If she were alive today [00:23.27]she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation: [00:28.42]domestic servants. [00:30.39]Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age [00:33.24]when servants were employed to do housework. [00:36.23]She had a huge,rambling country house called 'The Gables'. [00:41.35]She was sentimentally attached to this house, [00:44.11]for even though it was far too big for her needs, [00:47.41]she persisted in living there long after her husband's death. [00:51.89]Before she grew old,aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly. [00:57.06]I often visited The Gables when I was a boy. [01:00.77]No matter how many guests were present,the great house was always immaculate. [01:06.99]The parquet floors shone like mirrors; [01:09.93]highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets; [01:14.46]even my uncle's huge collection of books was kept miraculously free from dust. [01:20.15]Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants [01:24.35]that continuously scrubbed,cleaned,and polished. [01:29.22]She always referred to them as 'the shifting population', [01:32.93]for they came and went with such frequency [01:35.67]that I never even got a chance to learn their names. [01:39.48]Though my aunt pursued what was,in those days an enlightened policy, [01:44.51]in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day [01:49.51]she was extremely difficult to please. [01:52.81]While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature, [01:57.11]she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant to the end of her days, [02:03.46]even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie. [02:08.27]Bessie worked for aunt Harriet for three years. [02:12.06]During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence, [02:16.13]that she was put in charge of the domestic staff. [02:19.75]Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency. [02:25.98]In addition to all her other qualifications,Bessie was an expert cook. [02:31.96]She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years [02:35.41]before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'. [02:39.24]After being absent from The Gables for a week, [02:41.90]my aunt unexpectedly returned one afternoon with a party of guests [02:46.80]and instructed Bessie to prepare dinner. [02:50.20]Not only was the meal well below the usual standard, [02:54.13]but Bessie seemed unable to walk steadily. [02:57.55]She bumped into the furniture and kept mumbling about the guests. [03:02.28]When she came in with the last course--a huge pudding--she tripped on the carpet [03:07.71]and the pudding went flying through the air,narrowly missed my aunt, [03:12.57]and crashed on the dining table with considerable force. [03:16.55]Though this caused great mirth among the guests,Aunt Harriet was horrified. [03:22.20]She reluctantly came to the conclusion that Bessie was drunk. [03:27.71]The guests had,of course, [03:29.12]realized this from the moment Bessie opened the door for them [03:32.15]and,long before the final catastrophe, [03:35.24]had had a difficult time trying to conceal their amusement. [03:38.71]The poor girl was dismissed instantly. [03:41.79]After her departure,Aunt Harriet discovered [03:44.35]that there were piles of empty wine bottles of all shapes and sizes [03:48.72]neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe. [03:52.65]They had mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar!

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