"THE BETRAYAL OF CONFIDENCES"

 THAT was its real name, and its nature was like unto it; but what else could I do? You must judge for me.

They brought a card—the housemaid with the fan-teeth held it gingerly between black finger and blacker thumb—and it carried the name Mr. R.H. Hoffer in old Gothic letters. A hasty rush through the file of bills showed me that I owed nothing to any Mr. Hoffer, and assuming my sweetest smile, I bade Fan of the Teeth show him up. Enter stumblingly an entirely¹ canary-coloured young person about twenty years of age, with a suspicious bulge² in the bosom³ of his coat. He had grown no hair on his face; his eyes were of a delicate water-green, and his[Pg 306] hat was a brown billycock, which he fingered nervously⁴. As the room was blue with tobacco-smoke (and Latakia at that) he coughed even more nervously, and began seeking for me. I hid behind the writing-table and took notes. What I most noted⁵ was the bulge in his bosom. When a man begins to bulge as to that portion of his anatomy⁶, hit him in the eye, for reasons which will be apparent later on.

He saw me and advanced timidly. I invited him seductively to the only other chair, and "What's the trouble?" said I.

"I wanted to see you," said he.

"I am me," said I.

"I—I—I thought you would be quite otherwise," said he.

"I am, on the contrary, completely this way," said I. "Sit still, take your time and tell me all about it."

He wriggled⁷ tremulously for three minutes, and coughed again. I surveyed him, and waited developments. The bulge under the bosom crackled. Then I frowned. At the end of three minutes he began.

[Pg 307]

"I wanted to see what you were like," said he.

I inclined my head stiffly, as though all London habitually⁸ climbed the storeys on the same errand and rather wearied me.

Then he delivered himself of a speech which he had evidently got by heart. He flushed painfully in the delivery.

"I am flattered," I said at the conclusion. "It's beastly gratifying. What do you want?"

"Advice, if you will be so good," said the young man.

"Then you had better go somewhere else," said I.

The young man turned pink. "But I thought, after I had read your works—all your works, on my word—I had hoped that you would understand me, and I really have come for advice." The bulge crackled more ominously⁹ than ever.

"I understand perfectly," said I. "You are oppressed with vague and nameless longings¹⁰, are you not?"

"I am, terribly," said he.

[Pg 308]

"You do not wish to be as other men are? You desire to emerge from the common herd¹¹, to make your mark, and so forth¹³?"

"Yes," said he in an awestricken whisper. "That is my desire."

"Also," said I, "you love, excessively, in several places at once cooks, housemaids, governesses, schoolgirls, and the aunts of other people."

"But one only," said he, and the pink deepened to beetroot.

"Consequently," said I, "you have written much—you have written verses."

"It was to teach me to write prose, only to teach me to write prose," he murmured. "You do it yourself, because I have bought your works—all your works."

He spoke¹⁴ as if he had purchased dunghills en bloc¹⁵.

"We will waive¹⁶ that question," I said loftily. "Produce the verses."

"They—they aren't exactly verses," said the young man, plunging¹⁷ his hand into his bosom.

[Pg 309]

"I beg your pardon, I meant will you be good enough to read your five-act tragedy."

"How—how in the world did you know?" said the young man, more impressed than ever.

He unearthed¹⁸ his tragedy, the title of which I have given, and began to read. I felt as though I were walking in a dream; having been till then ignorant of the fact that earth held young men who held five-act tragedies in their insides. The young man gave me the whole of the performance, from the preliminary scene, where nothing more than an eruption¹⁹ of Vesuvius occurs to mar¹² the serenity²⁰ of the manager, till the very end, where the Roman sentry²¹ of Pompeii is slowly banked up with ashes in the presence of the audience, and dies murmuring through his helmet-vizor: "S.P.Q.R.R.I.P.R.S.V.P.," or words to that effect.

For three hours and one-half he read to me. And then I made a mistake.

"Sir," said I, "who's your Ma and Pa?"

"I haven't got any," said he, and his lower lip quivered.

"Where do you live?" I said.

[Pg 310]

"At the back of Tarporley Mews," said he.

"How?" said I.

"On eleven shillings a week," said he.

"I was pretty well educated, and if you don't stay too long they will let you read the books in the Holywell Street stalls."

"And you wasted your money buying my books," said I with a lump the size of a bolster²² in my throat.

"I got them second-hand²³, four and sixpence," said he, "and some I borrowed."

Then I collapsed²⁴. I didn't weep, but I took the tragedy and put it in the fire, and called myself every name that I knew.

This caused the young man to sob²⁵ audibly, partly from emotion and partly from lack of food.

I took off my hat to him before I showed him out, and we went to a restaurant and I arranged things generally on a financial basis.

Would that I could let the tale stop here. But I cannot.

Three days later a man came to see me on business, an objectionable man of uncompro[Pg 311]mising truth. Just before he departed he said: "D' you know anything about the struggling author of a tragedy called 'The Betrayal of Confidences'?"

"Yes," said I. "One of the few poor souls who in the teeth of grinding poverty keep alight."

"At the back of Tarporley Mews," said he. "On eleven shillings a week."

"On the mischief²⁶!" said I.

"He didn't happen to tell you that he considered you the finest, subtlest, truest, and so forth of all the living so forths, did he?"

"He may have said something out of the fulness of an overladen heart. You know how unbridled is the enthusiasm of——"

"Young gentlemen who buy your books with their last farthing. You didn't soak it all in by any chance, give him a good meal and half a sovereign as well, did you?"

"I own up," I said. "I did all that and more. But how do you know?"

"Because he victimised me in the same way a fortnight ago."

[Pg 312]

"Thank you for that," I said, "but I burned his disgusting manuscripts. And he wept."

"There, unless he keeps a duplicate, you have scored one."

But considering the matter impartially²⁷, it seems to me that the game is not more than "fifteen all" in any light.

It makes me blush to think about it.

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 bulge   

n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀

参考例句：

• The apple made a bulge in his pocket.苹果把他口袋塞得鼓了起来。
• What's that awkward bulge in your pocket?你口袋里那块鼓鼓囊囊的东西是什么？

3 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

4 nervously   

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。

5 noted   

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。

6 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

7 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

9 ominously   

adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地

参考例句：

• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mammy shook her head ominously. 嬷嬷不祥地摇着头。 来自飘（部分）

10 longings   

渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah, those foolish days of noble longings and of noble strivings! 啊，那些充满高贵憧憬和高尚奋斗的傻乎乎的时光！
• I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. 我永远用爱恋的渴想来描画你。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

13 forth   

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。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

16 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

17 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

19 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

20 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

21 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

22 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

23 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

24 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

25 sob   

n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣

参考例句：

• The child started to sob when he couldn't find his mother.孩子因找不到他妈妈哭了起来。
• The girl didn't answer,but continued to sob with her head on the table.那个女孩不回答，也不抬起头来。她只顾低声哭着。

26 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

27 impartially   

adv.公平地，无私地

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义，不偏不倚。