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--- lesson 49 The ideal servant |
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--- Listen to the tape then answer the question below. |
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--- What was Bessie's 'little weakness'? |
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It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago. |
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If she were alive today she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation: domestic servants. |
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Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age when servants were employed to do housework. |
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She had a huge, rambling country house called 'The Gables'. |
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She was sentimentally attached to this house, for even though it was far too big for her needs, |
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she persisted in living there long after her husband's death. |
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Before she grew old, Aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly. |
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I often visited The Gables when I was a boy. |
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No matter how many guests were present, the great house was always immaculate. |
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The parquet floors shone like mirrors; |
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highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets; |
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even my uncle's huge collection of books was kept miraculously free from dust. |
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Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants that continuously scrubbed, cleaned, and polished. |
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She always referred to them as 'the shifting population', |
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for they came and went with such frequency that I never even got a chance to learn their names. |
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Though my aunt pursued what was, in those days, an enlightened policy, in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day, she was extremely difficult to please. |
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While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature, |
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she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant to the end of her days,even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie. |
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Bessie worked for Aunt Harriet for three years. |
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During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence, that she was put in charge of the domestic staff. |
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Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency. |
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In addition to all her other qualifications, Bessie was an expert cook. |
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She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'. |
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After being absent from The Gables for a week, |
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my aunt unexpectedly returned one afternoon with a party of guests and instructed Bessie to prepare dinner. |
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Not only was the meal well below the usual standard, but Bessie seemed unable to walk steadily. |
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She bumped into the furniture and kept mumbling about the guests. |
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When she came in with the last course -- a huge pudding -- she tripped on the carpet |
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and the pudding went flying through the air, narrowly missed my aunt, and crashed on the dining table with considerable force. |
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Though this caused great mirth among the guests, Aunt Harriet was horrified. |
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She reluctantly came to the conclusion that Bessie was drunk. |
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The guests had, of course, realized this from the moment Bessie opened the door for them and,long before the final catastrophe, had had a difficult time trying to conceal their amusement. |
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The poor girl was dismissed instantly. |
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After her departure, Aunt Harriet discovered that there were piles of empty wine bottles of all shapes and sizes neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe. |
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They had mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar! |
