①A balmy, soft warmth poured into the room, heavy with velvety smells, redolent of many blossoms, of newly fledged trees and of the moist, freshly turned red earth. ②Through the window Scarlett could see the bright riot of the twin lanes of daffodils bordering the graveled driveway and the golden masses of yellow jessamine spreading flowery sprangles modestly to the earth like crinolines. ③The mockingbirds and the jays, engaged in their old feud for possession of the magnolia tree beneath her window, were bickering, the jays strident, acrimonious, the mockers sweet voiced and plaintive.

④Such a glowing morning usually called Scarlett to the window, to lean arms on the broad sill and drink in the scents and sounds of Tara. ⑤But, today she had no eye for sun or azure sky beyond a hasty thought, "Thank God, it isn't raining." ⑥On the bed lay the apple-green, watered-silk ball dress with its festoons of ecru lace, neatly packed in a large cardboard box. ⑦It was ready to be carried to Twelve Oaks to be donned before the dancing began, but Scarlett shrugged at the sight of it. ⑧If her plans were successful, she would not wear that dress tonight. ⑨Long before the ball began, she and Ashley would be on their way to Jonesboro to be married.

velvety [?velv?t?] a．天鵝絨般柔軟的

engage in..．忙于……

mockingbird [?m?k??b?:d] n．反舌鳥