American Tragedy 美国悲剧 chapter 16
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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
True to her promise, the following day Hortense returned to Mr. Rubenstein, and with all the cunning of hernature placed before him, with many reservations, the nature of the dilemma1 which confronted her. Could she, byany chance, have the coat for one hundred and fifteen dollars on an easy payment plan? Mr. Rubenstein's head forth2 with began to wag a solemn negative. This was not an easy payment store. If he wanted to do business thatway he could charge two hundred for the coat and easily get it.
 
"But I could pay as much as fifty dollars when I took the coat," argued Hortense.
 
"Very good. But who is to guarantee that I get the other sixty-five, and when?""Next week twenty-five, and the week after that twenty five and the next week after that fifteen.""Of course. But supposin' the next day after you take the coat an automobile3 runs you down and kills you. Thenwhat? How do I get my money?" Now that was a poser. And there was really no way that she could prove that any one would pay for the coat.
 
And before that there would have to be all the bother of making out a contract, and getting some reallyresponsible person -- a banker, say -- to endorse4 it. No, no, this was not an easy payment house. This was a cash house. That was why the coat was offered to her at one hundred and fifteen, but not a dollar less. Not a dollar.
 
Mr. Rubenstein sighed and talked on. And finally Hortense asked him if she could give him seventy-five dollarscash in hand, the other forty to be paid in one week's time. Would he let her have the coat then -- to take homewith her?
 
"But a week -- a week -- what is a week then?" argued Mr. Rubenstein. "If you can bring me seventy-five nextweek or to-morrow, and forty more in another week or ten days, why not wait a week and bring the wholehundred and fifteen? Then the coat is yours and no bother. Leave the coat. Come back to-morrow and pay metwenty-five or thirty dollars on account and I take the coat out of the window and lock it up for you. No one caneven see it then. In another week bring me the balance or in two weeks. Then it is yours." Mr. Rubensteinexplained the process as though it were a difficult matter to grasp.
 
But the argument once made was sound enough. It really left Hortense little to argue about. At the same time itreduced her spirit not a little. To think of not being able to take it now. And yet, once out of the place, her vigorrevived. For, after all, the time fixed6 would soon pass and if Clyde performed his part of the agreement promptly,the coat would be hers. The important thing now was to make him give her twenty-five or thirty dollarswherewith to bind7 this wonderful agreement. Only now, because of the fact that she felt that she needed a newhat to go with the coat, she decided8 to say that it cost one hundred and twenty-five instead of one hundred andfifteen.
 
And once this conclusion was put before Clyde, he saw it as a very reasonable arrangement -- all thingsconsidered -- quite a respite9 from the feeling of strain that had settled upon him after his last conversation with Hortense. For, after all, he had not seen how he was to raise more than thirty-five dollars this first week anyhow.
 
The following week would be somewhat easier, for then, as he told himself, he proposed to borrow twenty or twenty-five from Ratterer if he could, which, joined with the twenty or twenty-five which his tips would bringhim, would be quite sufficient to meet the second payment. The week following he proposed to borrow at leastten or fifteen from Hegglund -- maybe more -- and if that did not make up the required amount to pawn10 his watchfor fifteen dollars, the watch he had bought for himself a few months before. It ought to bring that at least; it costfifty.
 
But, he now thought, there was Esta in her wretched room awaiting the most unhappy result of her one romance.
 
How was she to make out, he asked himself, even in the face of the fact that he feared to be included in thefinancial problem which Esta as well as the family presented. His father was not now, and never had been, of anyreal financial service to his mother. And yet, if the problem were on this account to be shifted to him, how wouldhe make out? Why need his father always peddle11 clocks and rugs and preach on the streets? Why couldn't hismother and father give up the mission idea, anyhow?
 
But, as he knew, the situation was not to be solved without his aid. And the proof of it came toward the end ofthe second week of his arrangement with Hortense, when, with fifty dollars in his pocket, which he was planningto turn over to her on the following Sunday, his mother, looking into his bedroom where he was dressing12, said:
 
"I'd like to see you for a minute, Clyde, before you go out." He noted13 she was very grave as she said this. As amatter of fact, for several days past, he had been sensing that she was undergoing a strain of some kind. At the same time he had been thinking all this while that with his own resources hypothecated as they were, he could do nothing. Or, if he did it meant the loss of Hortense. He dared not.#p#分页标题#e#
 
And yet what reasonable excuse could he give his mother for not helping14 her a little, considering especially theclothes he wore, and the manner in which he had been running here and there, always giving the excuse of working, but probably not deceiving her as much as he thought. To be sure, only two months before, he hadobligated himself to pay her ten dollars a week more for five weeks, and had. But that only proved to her verylikely that he had so much extra to give, even though he had tried to make it clear at the time that he waspinching himself to do it. And yet, however much he chose to waver in her favor, he could not, with his desirefor Hortense directly confronting him.
 
He went out into the living-room after a time, and as usual his mother at once led the way to one of the benchesin the mission --  a cheerless, cold room these days.
 
"I didn't think I'd have to speak to you about this, Clyde, but I don't see any other way out of it. I haven't anyonebut you to depend upon now that you're getting to be a man. But you must promise not to tell any of the others-Frankor Julia or your father. I don't want them to know. But Esta's back here in Kansas City and in trouble, and Idon't know quite what to do about her. I have so very little money to do with, and your father's not very much ofa help to me any more."She passed a weary, reflective hand across her forehead and Clyde knew what was coming. His first thought wasto pretend that he did not know that Esta was in the city, since he had been pretending this way for so long. Butnow, suddenly, in the face of his mother's confession15, and the need of pretended surprise on his part, if he were tokeep up the fiction, he said, "Yes, I know.""You know?" queried16 his mother, surprised.
 
"Yes, I know," Clyde repeated. "I saw you going in that house in Beaudry Street one morning as I was goingalong there," he announced calmly enough now. "And I saw Esta looking out of the window afterwards, too. So Iwent in after you left.""How long ago was that?" she asked, more to gain time than anything else.
 
"Oh, about five or six weeks ago, I think. I been around to see her a coupla times since then, only Esta didn'twant me to say anything about that either.""Tst! Tst! Tst!" clicked Mrs. Griffiths, with her tongue. "Then you know what the trouble is.""Yes," replied Clyde.
 
"Well, what is to be will be," she said resignedly. "You haven't mentioned it to Frank or Julia, have you?""No," replied Clyde, thoughtfully, thinking of what a failure his mother had made of her attempt to be secretive.
 
She was no one to deceive any one, or his father, either. He thought himself far, far shrewder.
 
"Well, you mustn't," cautioned his mother solemnly. "It isn't best for them to know, I think. It's bad enough as itis this way," she added with a kind of wry18 twist to her mouth, the while Clyde thought of himself and Hortense.
 
"And to think," she added, after a moment, her eyes filling with a sad, all-enveloping gray mist, "she should havebrought all this on herself and on us. And when we have so little to do with, as it is. And after all the instructionshe has had -- the training. 'The way of the transgressor19 -- '"She shook her head and put her two large hands together and gripped them firmly, while Clyde stared, thinkingof the situation and all that it might mean to him.
 
She sat there, quite reduced and bewildered by her own peculiar20 part in all this. She had been as deceiving as anyone, really. And here was Clyde, now, fully17 informed as to her falsehoods and strategy, and herself lookingfoolish and untrue. But had she not been trying to save him from all this -- him and the others? And he was oldenough to understand that now. Yet she now proceeded to explain why, and to say how dreadful she felt it all tobe. At the same time, as she also explained, now she was compelled to come to him for aid in connection with it.
 
"Esta's about to be very sick," she went on suddenly and stiffly, not being able, or at least willing, apparently21, tolook at Clyde as she said it, and yet determined22 to be as frank as possible. "She'll need a doctor very shortly andsome one to be with her all the time when I'm not there. I must get money somewhere -- at least fifty dollars. Youcouldn't get me that much in some way, from some of your young men friends, could you, just a loan for a fewweeks? You could pay it back, you know, soon, if you would. You wouldn't need to pay me anything for yourroom until you had."She looked at Clyde so tensely, so urgently, that he felt quite shaken by the force of the cogency23 of the request.#p#分页标题#e#
 
And before he could add anything to the nervous gloom which shadowed her face, she added: "That other moneywas for her, you know, to bring her back here after her -- her" -- she hesitated over the appropriate word but finallyadded -- "husband left her there in Pittsburgh. I suppose she told you that.""Yes, she did," replied Clyde, heavily and sadly. For after all, Esta's condition was plainly critical, which wassomething that he had not stopped to meditate24 on before.
 
"Gee25, Ma," he exclaimed, the thought of the fifty dollars in his pocket and its intended destination troubling himconsiderably -- the very sum his mother was seeking. "I don't know whether I can do that or not. I don't know anyof the boys down there well enough for that. And they don't make any more than I do, either. I might borrow alittle something, but it won't look very good." He choked and swallowed a little, for lying to his mother in thisway was not easy. In fact, he had never had occasion to lie in connection with anything so trying -- and sodespicably. For here was fifty dollars in his pocket at the moment, with Hortense on the one hand and his motherand sister on the other, and the money would solve his mother's problem as fully as it would Hortense's, andmore respectably. How terrible it was not to help her. How could he refuse her, really? Nervously26 he licked hislips and passed a hand over his brow, for a nervous moisture had broken out upon his face. He felt strained andmean and incompetent27 under the circumstances.
 
"And you haven't any money of your own right now that you could let me have, have you?" his mother halfpleaded. For there were a number of things in connection with Esta's condition which required immediate28 cashand she had so little.
 
"No, I haven't, Ma," he said, looking at his mother shamefacedly, for a moment, then away, and if it had not beenthat she herself was so distrait29, she might have seen the falsehood on his face. As it was, he suffered a pang30 ofcommingled self-commiseration and self-contempt, based on the distress31 he felt for his mother. He could notbring himself to think of losing Hortense. He must have her. And yet his mother looked so lone32 and soresourceless. It was shameful33. He was low, really mean. Might he not, later, be punished for a thing like this?
 
He tried to think of some other way -- some way of getting a little money over and above the fifty that might help.
 
If only he had a little more time -- a few weeks longer. If only Hortense had not brought up this coat idea justnow.
 
"I'll tell you what I might do," he went on, quite foolishly and dully the while his mother gave vent5 to a helpless"Tst! Tst! Tst!" "Will five dollars do you any good?""Well, it will be something, anyhow," she replied. "I can use it.""Well, I can let you have that much," he said, thinking to replace it out of his next week's tips and trust to betterluck throughout the week. "And I'll see what I can do next week. I might let you have ten then. I can't say forsure. I had to borrow some of that other money I gave you, and I haven't got through paying for that yet, and if Icome around trying to get more, they'll think -- well, you know how it is."His mother sighed, thinking of the misery34 of having to fall back on her one son thus far. And just when he wastrying to get a start, too. What would he think of all this in after years? What would he think of her -- of Esta -- the family? For, for all his ambition and courage and desire to be out and doing, Clyde always struck her as one whowas not any too powerful physically35 or rock-ribbed morally or mentally. So far as his nerves and emotions wereconcerned, at times he seemed to take after his father more than he did after her. And for the most part it was soeasy to excite him -- to cause him to show tenseness and strain -- as though he were not so very well fitted foreither. And it was she, because of Esta and her husband and their joint36 and unfortunate lives, that was and hadbeen heaping the greater part of this strain on him.
 
"Well, if you can't, you can't," she said. "I must try and think of some other way." But she saw no clear way atthe moment.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 dilemma Vlzzf     
n.困境,进退两难的局面
参考例句:
  • I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
  • He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。
2 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
3 automobile rP1yv     
n.汽车,机动车
参考例句:
  • He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
  • The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。
4 endorse rpxxK     
vt.(支票、汇票等)背书,背署;批注;同意
参考例句:
  • No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
  • I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。
5 vent yiPwE     
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄
参考例句:
  • He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
  • When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时,发动机就会停转。
6 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
7 bind Vt8zi     
vt.捆,包扎;装订;约束;使凝固;vi.变硬
参考例句:
  • I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
  • He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。
8 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
9 respite BWaxa     
n.休息,中止,暂缓
参考例句:
  • She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
  • Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。
10 pawn 8ixyq     
n.典当,抵押,小人物,走卒;v.典当,抵押
参考例句:
  • He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
  • It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。
11 peddle VAgyb     
vt.(沿街)叫卖,兜售;宣传,散播
参考例句:
  • She loves to peddle gossip round the village.她喜欢在村里到处说闲话。
  • Street vendors peddle their goods along the sidewalk.街头摊贩沿著人行道兜售他们的商品。
12 dressing 1uOzJG     
n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料
参考例句:
  • Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
  • The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。
13 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
14 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
15 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
16 queried 5c2c5662d89da782d75e74125d6f6932     
v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 );询问
参考例句:
  • She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
17 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
18 wry hMQzK     
adj.讽刺的;扭曲的
参考例句:
  • He made a wry face and attempted to wash the taste away with coffee.他做了个鬼脸,打算用咖啡把那怪味地冲下去。
  • Bethune released Tung's horse and made a wry mouth.白求恩放开了董的马,噘了噘嘴。
19 transgressor b170fcdf8ca641e75b4e5f886709b445     
n.违背者
参考例句:
  • We expect the transgressor to make any atonement possible to him. 我们期待犯了过失的人有可能做到的赎罪行为。 来自辞典例句
  • We expect transgressor to make any atonement possible to him. “我深信,”西丝又重说一遍,“这是你能做的唯一的赎罪的办法。” 来自互联网
20 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
21 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
22 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
23 cogency cWjy6     
n.说服力;adj.有说服力的
参考例句:
  • The film makes its points with cogency and force.影片强有力地阐明了主旨。
  • There were perfectly cogent reasons why Julian Cavendish should be told of the Major's impending return.要将少校即将返回的消息告知朱利安·卡文迪什是有绝对充足的理由的。
24 meditate 4jOys     
v.想,考虑,(尤指宗教上的)沉思,冥想
参考例句:
  • It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
  • I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想,并进入了一个更高的意识境界。
25 gee ZsfzIu     
n.马;int.向右!前进!,惊讶时所发声音;v.向右转
参考例句:
  • Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
  • Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇!我们会赚好多钱啦!
26 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地,不安地
参考例句:
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇,努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
27 incompetent JcUzW     
adj.无能力的,不能胜任的
参考例句:
  • He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
  • He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。
28 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
29 distrait 9l0zW     
adj.心不在焉的
参考例句:
  • The distrait boy is always losing his books.这个心不在焉的男孩老是丢书。
  • The distrait actress fluffed her lines.那位心不在焉的女演员忘了台词。
30 pang OKixL     
n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷
参考例句:
  • She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
  • She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。
31 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
32 lone Q0cxL     
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的
参考例句:
  • A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
  • She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。
33 shameful DzzwR     
adj.可耻的,不道德的
参考例句:
  • It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己,真不害臊。
  • We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。
34 misery G10yi     
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
参考例句:
  • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
  • He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。
35 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
36 joint m3lx4     
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
参考例句:
  • I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤,肩膀脫臼了。
  • We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
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