The Dinner Party
A heated discussion about whether men are braver than women is settled in a rather unexpected way.
I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true - though any naturalist would know it couldn't be. Later someone told me that the story appeared in a magazine shortly before the First World War. That magazine story, and the person who wrote it, I have never been able to track down.
- track down: to find something or someone after looking for it, him, or her in a lot of different places. 追踪到；追查到。
The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated with their guests - officers and their wives, and a visiting American naturalist - in their spacious dining room, which has a bare marble floor, open rafters and wide glass doors opening onto a veranda.
- rafter: any of the large, sloping pieces of wood that support a roof.（支撑屋顶的）椽子。
- veranda: a raised, covered, sometimes partly closed area, often made of wood, on the front or side of a building。 游廊；阳台；露台。
A spirited discussion sprints up between a young girl who says that women have outgrown the jumping on a chair at the sight of a mouse era and a major who says tht they haven't.
"A woman's reaction in any crisis," the major says, "is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what really counts."
The American does not join the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly. She motions to the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers something to him. They boy's eyes widen: he quickly leaves the room.
- motion: to make a signal to someone, usually with your hand or head. 打手势；点（或摇）头示意。
Of the guests, none except the American notices this or sees the boy place a bowl of milk on the veranda just outside the open doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing - bait for a snake. He realizes there must be a cobra in the room. He looks up at the rafters - the likeliest place - but they are base. Three comers of the room are empty, and in the fourth the servants are waiting to serve the next course. There is only one place left - under the table.
- cobra: a poisonous snake from Africa and southern Asia that makes itself look bigger and more threatening by spreading the skin at the back of its head. 眼镜蛇。
- bare: without any clothes or not covered by anything. 赤裸的；裸体的；无遮蔽的；空的。
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the commotion would frighten the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the tone of his voice so commanding that it silences everyone.
- commotion: a sudden, short period of noise, confusion, or excited movement. 喧闹；喧嚣；混乱；骚动。
- strike: to hit or attack someone or something forcefully or violently. 击，打；撞击；碰撞；攻击。
"I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count three hundred - that's five minutes - and not one of you is to move a muscle. Those who move will forfeit 50 rupees. Ready!"
- forfeit: to lose the right to do or have something because you have broken a rule.（因违规而）丧失，被没收。
The 20 people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying "... two hundred and eighty ..." when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra emerge and make for the bowl of milk. Screams ring out as he jumps to slam the veranda doors safely shut.
"You were right, Major!" the host exclaims. "A man has just shown us an example of perfect self - control."
"Just a minute," the American says, turning to his hostess. "Mrs. Wynnes, how did you know that cobra was in the room?"
A faint smile lights up the woman's face as she replies: "Because it was crawling across my foot."