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1、【国外英文文学】欧亨利短篇小说(英文)Girl (OHenry)_IN GILT letters on the ground glass of the door of room No. 962 were the words: Robbins & Hartley, Brokers. The clerks had gone. It was past five, and with the solid tramp of a drove of prize Percherons, scrub- women were invading the cloud-capped twenty-story office
2、 building. A puff of red-hot air flavoured with lemon peelings, soft-coal smoke and train oil came in through the half-open windows.Robbins, fifty, something of an overweight beau, and addicted to first nights and hotel palm-rooms, pretended to be envious of his partners commuters joys.Going to be s
3、omething doing in the humidity line to-night, he said. You out-of-town chaps will be the people, with your katydids and moonlight and long drinks and things out on the front porch.Hartley, twenty-nine, serious, thin, good-looking, ner- vous, sighed and frowned a little.Yes, said he, we always have c
4、ool nights in Floral- hurst, especially in the winter.A man with an air of mystery came in the door and went up to Hartley.Ive found where she lives, he announced in the portentous half-whisper that makes the detective at work a marked being to his fellow men.Hartley scowled him into a state of dram
5、atic silence and quietude. But by that time Robbins had got his cane and set his tie pin to his liking, and with a debonair nod went out to his metropolitan amusements.Here is the address, said the detective in a natural tone, being deprived of an audience to foil.Hartley took the leaf torn out of t
6、he sleuths dingy memorandum book. On it were pencilled the words Vivienne Arlington, No. 341 East -th Street, care of Mrs. McComus.Moved there a week ago, said the detective. Now, if you want any shadowing done, Mr. Hartley, I can do you as fine a job in that line as anybody in the city. It will be
7、only $7 a day and expenses. Can send in a daily typewritten report, covering - You neednt go on, interrupted the broker. It isnt a case of that kind. I merely wanted the address. How much shall I pay you?One days work, said the sleuth. A tenner will cover it.Hartley paid the man and dismissed him. T
8、hen he left the office and boarded a Broadway car. At the first large crosstown artery of travel he took an eastbound car that deposited him in a decaying avenue, whose ancient structures once sheltered the pride and glory of the town.Walking a few squares, he came to the building that he sought. It
9、 was a new flathouse, bearing carved upon its cheap stone portal its sonorous name, The Vallambrosa. Fire-escapes zigzagged down its front - these laden with household goods, drying clothes, and squalling children evicted by the midsummer heat. Here and there a pale rubber plant peeped from the misc
10、ellaneous mass, as if wondering to what kingdom it belonged - vegetable, animal or artificial.Hartley pressed the McComus button. The door latch clicked spasmodically - now hospitably, now doubt- fully, as though in anxiety whether it might be admitting friends or duns. Hartley entered and began to
11、climb the stairs after the manner of those who seek their friends in city flat-houses - which is the manner of a boy who climbs an apple-tree, stopping when he comes upon what he wants.On the fourth floor he saw Vivienne standing in an open door. She invited him inside, with a nod and a bright, genu
12、ine smile. She placed a chair for him near a window, and poised herself gracefully upon the edge of one of those Jekyll-and-Hyde pieces of furniture that are masked and mysteriously hooded, unguessable bulks by day and inquisitorial racks of torture by night.Hartley cast a quick, critical, appreciat
13、ive glance at her before speaking, and told himself that his taste in choosing had been flawless.Vivienne was about twenty-one. She was of the purest Saxon type. Her hair was a ruddy golden, each filament of the neatly gathered mass shining with its own lustre and delicate graduation of colour. In p
14、erfect harmony were her ivory-clear complexion and deep sea-blue eyes that looked upon the world with the ingenuous calmness of a mermaid or the pixie of an undiscovered mountain stream. Her frame was strong and yet possessed the grace of absolute naturalness. And yet with all her North- ern clearne
15、ss and frankness of line and colouring, there seemed to be something of the tropics in her - something of languor in the droop of her pose, of love of ease in her ingenious complacency of satisfaction and comfort in the mere act of breathing - something that seemed to claim for her a right as a perf
16、ect work of nature to exist and be admired equally with a rare flower or some beauti- ful, milk-white dove among its sober-hued companions.She was dressed in a white waist and dark skirt - that discreet masquerade of goose-girl and duchess.Vivienne, said Hartley, looking at her pleadingly, you did n
17、ot answer my last letter. It was only by nearly a weeks search that I found where you had moved to. Why have you kept me in suspense when you knew how anxiously I was waiting to see you and hear from you?The girl looked out the window dreamily.Mr. Hartley, she said hesitatingly, I hardly know what t
18、o say to you. I realize all the advantages of your offer, and sometimes I feel sure that I could be contented with you. But, again, I am doubtful. I was born a city girl, and I am afraid to bind myself to a quiet sub- urban life.My dear girl, said Hartley, ardently, have I not told you that you shal
19、l have everything that your heart can desire that is in my power to give you? You shall come to the city for the theatres, for shopping and to visit your friends as often as you care to. You can trust me, can you not?To the fullest, she said, turning her frank eyes upon him with a smile. I know you
20、are the kindest of men, and that the girl you get will be a lucky one. I learned all about you when I was at the Montgomerys.Ah! exclaimed Hartley, with a tender, reminiscent light in his eye; I remember well the evening I first saw you at the Montgomerys. Mrs. Montgomery was sound- ing your praises
21、 to me all the evening. And she hardly did you justice. I shall never forget that supper. Come, Vivienne, promise me. I want you. Youll never regret coming with me. No one else will ever give you as pleasant a home.The girl sighed and looked down at her folded hands.A sudden jealous suspicion seized
22、 Hartley.Tell me, Vivienne, he asked, regarding her keenly, is there another - is there some one else ?A rosy flush crept slowly over her fair cheeks and neck.You shouldnt ask that, Mr. Hartley, she said, in some confusion. But I will tell you. There is one other - but he has no right - I have promi
23、sed him nothing.His name? demanded Hartley, sternly.Townsend.Rafford Townsend! exclaimed Hartley, with a grim tightening of his jaw. How did that man come to know you? After all Ive done for him - His auto has just stopped below, said Vivienne, bending over the window-sill. Hes coming for his answer
24、. Oh I dont know what to do!The bell in the flat kitchen whirred. Vivienne hurried to press the latch button.Stay here, said Hartley. I will meet him in the hall.Townsend, looking like a Spanish grandee in his light tweeds, Panama hat and curling black mustache, came up the stairs three at a time. H
25、e stopped at sight of Hartley and looked foolish.Go back, said Hartley, firmly, pointing downstairs with his forefinger.Hullo! said Townsend, feigning surprise. Whats up? What are you doing here, old man?Go back, repeated Hartley, inflexibly. The Law of the Jungle. Do you want the Pack to tear you i
26、n pieces? The kill is mine.I came here to see a plumber about the bathroom connections, said Townsend, bravely.All right, said Hartley. You shall have that lying plaster to stick upon your traitorous soul. But, go back. Townsend went downstairs, leaving a bitter word to be wafted up the draught of t
27、he staircase. Hartley went back to his wooing.Vivienne, said he, masterfully. I have got to have you. I will take no more refusals or dilly-dallying.When do you want me? she asked.Now. As soon as you can get ready.She stood calmly before him and looked him in the eye.Do you think for one moment, she
28、 said, that I would enter your home while Hloise is there?Hartley cringed as if from an unexpected blow. He folded his arms and paced the carpet once or twice.She shall go, he declared grimly. Drops stood upon his brow. Why should I let that woman make my life miserable? Never have I seen one day of
29、 freedom from trouble since I have known her. You are right, Vivienne. Hloise must be sent away before I can take you home. But she shall go. I have decided. I will turn her from my doors.When will you do this? asked the girl.Hartley clinched his teeth and bent his brows together.To-night, he said,
30、resolutely. I will send her away to-night.Then, said Vivienne, my answer is yes. Come for me when you will.She looked into his eyes with a sweet, sincere light in her own. Hartley could scarcely believe that her sur- render was true, it was so swift and complete.Promise me, he said feelingly, on you
31、r word and honour.On my word and honour, repeated Vivienne, softly.At the door he turned and gazed at her happily, but yet as one who scarcely trusts the foundations of his joy.To-morrow, he said, with a forefinger of reminder uplifted.To-morrow, she repeated with a smile of truth and candour.In an
32、hour and forty minutes Hartley stepped off the train at Floralhurst. A brisk walk of ten minutes brought him to the gate of a handsome two-story cottage set upon a wide and well-tended lawn. Halfway to the house he was met by a woman with jet-black braided hair and flowing white summer gown, who hal
33、f strangled him without apparent cause.When they stepped into the hall she said:Mammas here. The auto is coming for her in half an hour. She came to dinner, but theres no dinner.Ive something to tell you, said Hartley. I thought to break it to you gently, but since your mother is here we may as well
34、 out with it.He stooped and whispered something at her ear.His wife screamed. Her mother came running into the hall. The dark-haired woman screamed again- the joyful scream of a well-beloved and petted woman.Oh, mamma! she cried ecstatically, what do you think? Vivienne is coming to cook for us! She
35、 is the one that stayed with the Montgomerys a whole year. And now, Billy, dear, she concluded, you must go right down into the kitchen and discharge Hloise. She has been drunk again the whole day long. What You Want (OHenry)_Night had fallen on that great and beautiful city known as Bagdad-on-the-S
36、ubway. And with the night came the enchanted glamour that belongs not to Arabia alone. In different masquerade the streets, bazaars and walled houses of the occidental city of romance were filled with the same kind of folk that so much interested our interesting old friend, the late Mr. H. A. Rashid
37、. They wore clothes eleven hundred years nearer to the latest styles than H. A. saw in old Bagdad; but they were about the same people underneath. With the eye of faith, you could have seen the Little Hunchback, Sinbad the Sailor, Fitbad the Tailor, the Beautiful Persian, the one-eyed Calenders, Ali
38、 Baba and Forty Robbers on every block, and the Barber and his Six Brothers, and all the old Arabian gang easily.But let us revenue to our lamb chops.Old Tom Crowley was a caliph. He had $42,000,000 in preferred stocks and bonds with solid gold edges. In these times, to be called a caliph you must h
39、ave money. The old-style caliph business as conducted by Mr. Rashid is not safe. If you hold up a person nowadays in a bazaar or a Turkish bath or a side street, and inquire into his private and personal affairs, the police courtll get you.Old Tom was tired of clubs, theatres, dinners, friends, musi
40、c, money and everything. Thats what makes a caliph - you must get to despise everything that money can buy, and then go out and try to want something that you cant pay for.Ill take a little trot around town all by myself, thought old Tom, and try if I can stir up anything new. Lets see - it seems Iv
41、e read about a king or a Cardiff giant or something in old times who used to go about with false whiskers on, making Persian dates with folks he hadnt been introduced to. That dont listen like a bad idea. I certainly have got a case of humdrumness and fatigue on for the ones I do know. That old Card
42、iff used to pick up cases of trouble as he ran upon em and give em gold - sequins, I think it was - and make em marry or got em good Government jobs. Now, Id like something of that sort. My money is as good as his was even if the magazines do ask me every month where I got it. Yes, I guess Ill do a
43、little Cardiff business to-night, and see how it goes.Plainly dressed, old Tom Crowley left his Madison Avenue palace, and walked westward and then south. As he stepped to the sidewalk, Fate, who holds the ends of the strings in the central offices of all the enchanted cities pulled a thread, and a
44、young man twenty blocks away looked at a wall clock, and then put on his coat.James Turner worked in one of those little hat-cleaning establishments on Sixth Avenue in which a fire alarms rings when you push the door open, and where they clean your hat while you wait - two days. James stood all day
45、at an electric machine that turned hats around faster than the best brands of champagne ever could have done. Overlooking your mild impertinence in feeling a curiosity about the personal appearance of a stranger, I will give you a modified description of him. Weight, 118; complexion, hair and brain,
46、 light; height, five feet six; age, about twenty-three; dressed in a $10 suit of greenish-blue serge; pockets containing two keys and sixty-three cents in change.But do not misconjecture because this description sounds like a General Alarm that James was either lost or a dead one.Allons!James stood
47、all day at his work. His feet were tender and extremely susceptible to impositions being put upon or below them. All day long they burned and smarted, causing him much suffering and inconvenience. But he was earning twelve dollars per week, which he needed to support his feet whether his feet would support him or not.James Turner had his own conception of what happiness was, just as you and I have ours. Your delight is to gad about the world in yachts and motor-cars and to hurl ducats at wild fowl. Mine is to smoke a pipe at evenfall and watch a badger, a rattlesnake,
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