How or under what influences the unprotected female commences her tour, who can tell? It will usually be found, if inquiry6 be made as to her family, that she has a brother, or a father, or a mother; that she need not be an unprotected female tourist, had she not elected that line as the best for her pleasure or her profit. She is seldom very young;—but neither is she very old. The lady whose age would admit of her travelling alone without[35] remark rarely chooses to do so; and when she does, she is not the lady whom we all know as the unprotected female. The unprotected female must be pretty, or must at least possess feminine graces which stand in lieu of prettiness, and which can put forward a just and admitted claim for personal admiration7. She is not rich, and travels generally with economy; but she is rarely brought to a shift for money, and her economies conceal8 themselves gracefully9 and successfully. She learns the value of every franc, of every thaler, of every zwansiger as she progresses, and gets more change out of her sovereigns than any Englishman will do. She allows herself but few self-indulgences, and controls her appetites. She can enjoy a good dinner as well as her brother could do; but she can go without her dinner with a courageous10 persistence11 of which her brother knows nothing. She never pays through the nose in order that people indifferent to her may think her great or generous, though she pays always sufficient to[36] escape unsatisfactory noises and to prevent unpleasant demands. Her dress is quiet and yet attractive; her clothes fit her well; and if, as one is prone12 to suspect, they are in great part the work of her own hand, she must be an industrious13 woman, able to go to her needle at night after the heat and dust of the day are over. Her gloves are never worn at the finger-ends; her hat is never shapeless, nor are her ribbons ever soiled; the folds of her not too redundant14 drapery are never misarranged, confused, or angular. She never indulges in bright colours, and is always the same, and always neat; and they who know her best believe that if she were called out of her room by fire in the middle of the night, she would come forth15 calm, in becoming apparel, and ready to take an active part in the emergency without any infringement16 on feminine propriety17. She is never forward, nor is she ever bashful. A bashful woman could not play her game, and a forward woman immediately[37] encounters sorrow when she attempts to play it. She can decline all overtures of acquaintanceship without giving offence, and she can glide18 into intimacies19 without any apparent effort. She can speak French with fluency20 and with much more than average accuracy, and probably knows something of German and Italian. Without such accomplishments21 as these let no woman undertake the part of an unprotected female tourist. She can converse22 on almost any subject; and, if called on to do so, can converse without any subject. As she becomes experienced in her vocation23 she learns and remembers all the routes of travelling. She is acquainted with and can explain all galleries, cathedrals, and palaces. She knows the genealogies24 of the reigning25 kings, and hardly loses herself among German dukes. She understands politics, and has her opinion about the Emperor, the King of Prussia, and the Pope. And she can live with people who know much more than herself, or much less, without betraying the difference between[38] herself and them. She can be gay with the gay, and enjoy that; or dull with the dull, and seem to enjoy that. What man as he travels learns so much, works so hard, uses so much mental power, takes so much trouble in all things, as she does? She is never impatient, never exacting26, never cross, never conquered, never triumphant27, never humble28, never boastful, never ill, never in want of assistance. If she fall into difficulties she escapes from them without a complaint. If she be ill-used she bears it without a murmur29; if disappointed,—as must so often be the case with her,—she endures her cross and begins again with admirable assiduity. Yet she is only an unprotected female, and they who meet her on her travels are too apt to declare that she is an old soldier.
Unprotected female tourists, such as I have described, are not very numerous; but there are enough of them to form a class by themselves. From year to year, as we make our autumn[39] excursions, we see perhaps one of them, and perhaps a second. We meet the same lady two or three times, making with her a pleasant acquaintance, and then passing on. The farther we go afield the more likely we are to encounter her. She is always to be met with on the Nile; she is quite at home at Constantinople; she goes frequently to Spain; you will probably find her in Central America; but her head-quarters are perhaps at Jerusalem. She prefers the saddle to any other mode of travelling, and can sit on horseback for any number of hours without flinching30. For myself, I have always liked the company of the unprotected female, and have generally felt something like the disruption of a tender friendship when circumstances have torn me from her.
But why is she what she is? As to the people that one ordinarily meets when travelling, no one stops to inquire why they are what they are. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have come together,[40] naturally enough; and, naturally enough, there are three or four Miss Thompsons. And when young Mr. Thompson turns up alone, no one thinks very much about him. But one is driven to think why Miss Thompson is there at Cairo all by herself. You go to the Pyramids with her, and you find her to be very pleasant. She sits upon her donkey as though she had been born sitting on a donkey; and through dust and heat and fleas31 and Arabs she makes herself agreeable as though nothing were amiss with her. You find yourself talking to her of your mother, your sister, or your friend,—but not of your wife or sweetheart. But of herself, excepting as regards her life at Cairo, she says nothing to you. You ask yourself many questions about her.
Who was her father? who was her mother? Had she a sister? had she a brother? Or was there a dearer one still, and a nearer one Yet than all other?
Why is she alone? and how is it possible that a girl whose dress fits her so nicely should not[41] have "a nearer one and dearer one yet than all other?"
But you may take it for granted that she has not; or if she has, that he is no better than he should be;—that his nature is such as to have driven her to think solitude32 better than his company. Love of independence has probably made the unprotected female tourist what she is;—that and the early acquired knowledge that such independence in a woman requires very special training. She has probably said to herself that she would rise above the weakness of her sex,—driven, perhaps, to that resolve by some special grief which, as a woman, she has incurred33. She is something of a Bohemian, but a Bohemian with a regret that Bohemianism should be necessary to her. She will not be hindered by her petticoats from seeing what men see, and from enjoying that which Nature seems to bring within a man's reach so easily, but which is so difficult to a woman. That there might be something more blessed than[42] that independence she is ready enough to admit to herself. Where is the woman that does not admit it? But she will not admit that a woman should live for that hope alone; and therefore she is riding with you to the Pyramids,—others of course accompanying you,—and talking to you with that studied ease which is intended to show that, though she is an unprotected female, she knows what she is about, and can enjoy herself without any fear of you, or of Mrs. Grundy. You find her to be very clever, and then think her to be very pretty; and if,—which may probably be the case,—you are in such matters a fool, you say a word or two more than you ought to do, and the unprotected female shows you that she can protect herself.
But Miss Thompson is wrong for all this, and I think it will be admitted that I have made the best of Miss Thompson's case. The line which she has taken up is one which it is impossible that a woman should follow with ultimate satisfaction.[43] She cannot unsex herself or rid herself of the feeling that admiration is accorded to her as a pretty woman. She has probably intended,—honestly intended,—to be quit of that feeling, and to move about the world as though, for her, men and women were all the same, as though no more flirting34 were possible, and love-making were a thing simply good to be read of in novels. But if so, why has she been so careful with her gloves, and her hat, and all her little feminine belongings35? It has been impossible to her not to be a woman. The idea and remembrance of her womanly charms have always been there, always present to her mind. Unmarried men are to her possible lovers and possible husbands,—as she is also a possible wife to any unmarried man,—and also a possible love. Though she may have devoted36 herself to celibacy37 with her hand on the altar, she cannot banish38 from her bosom39 the idea which, despite herself, almost forms itself into a hope. We will not ask as to her past life; but[44] for the future she will be what she is,—only till the chance comes to her of being something better. It is that free life which she leads,—which she leads in all innocency,—which makes it impossible for her to be true to the resolution she has made for herself. Such a woman cannot talk to men without a consciousness that intimacy40 may lead to love, or the pretence41 of love, or the dangers of love. Nor, it may be said, can any unmarried woman do so. And therefore it is that they do not go about the world unprotected, either at home or abroad. Therefore it is that the retreat behind mamma's ample folds or beneath papa's umbrella is considered to be so salutary.
You, my friend, with your quick, impulsive, and, allow me to say, meaningless expression of admiration, received simply the rebuke42 which you deserved. Then there was an end of that, and Miss Thompson, being somewhat used to such misadventures, thought but little of it afterwards. She has to do those things when the necessity[45] comes upon her. But it does happen, sometimes, that the unprotected female,—who has a heart, though other women will say that she has none,—is touched, and listens, and hopes, and at last almost thinks that she has found out her mistake. The cold exterior43 glaze44 of the woman is pricked45 through, and there comes a scratch upon the stuff beneath. A tone in her voice will quaver as though everything were not easy with her. She will forget for the moment her prudence46, and the usual precautions of her life, and will dream of retiring within the ordinary pale of womanhood. She will think that to cease to be an unprotected female may be sweet, and for a while she will be soft, and weak, and wavering. But with unprotected females such ideas have to pass away very fleetly. I am afraid it must be said that let a woman once be an unprotected female, so she must remain to the end. Who knows the man that has taken an unprotected female to his bosom and made her the mistress of his home, and the[46] chief priestess of his household gods? And if any man have done so, what have his friends said of him and his adventure?
And so the unprotected female goes on wandering still farther afield, increasing in cleverness every year, and ever acquiring new knowledge; but increasing also in hardness, and in that glaze of which I have spoken, till at last one is almost driven to confess, when one's wife and daughters declare her to be an old soldier, that one's wife and daughters are not in justice liable to contradiction.
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1
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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overtures
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| n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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6
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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7
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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14
redundant
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| adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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infringement
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| n.违反；侵权 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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19
intimacies
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| 亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为 | |
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20
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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genealogies
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| n.系谱，家系，宗谱( genealogy的名词复数 ) | |
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25
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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28
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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29
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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30
flinching
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 ) | |
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31
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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32
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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33
incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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36
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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39
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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40
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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41
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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42
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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43
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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44
glaze
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| v.因疲倦、疲劳等指眼睛变得呆滞，毫无表情 | |
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45
pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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46
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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