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Chapter 23
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 So presently we three were alone once more; and Mary, gazing intently with those big dark eyes that the public knows so well, opened up: “Tell me, Mr. Carpenter! Have you ever been in love?”
I was startled, but if Carpenter was, he gave no sign. “Mary,” he said, “I have been in grief.” Then thinking, perhaps, that he had been abrupt1, he added: “You, Mary—you have been in love?”
She answered: “No.” I'm not sure if I said anything out loud, but my thought was easy to read, and she turned upon me. “You don't know what love is. But a woman knows, even though she doesn't act it.”
“Well, of course,” I replied; “if you want to go into metaphysics—”
“Metaphysics be damned!” said Mary, and turned again to Carpenter.
Said he: “A good woman like you—”
“Me?” cried Mary. And she laughed, a wild laugh. “Don't hit me when you've got me down! I've sold myself for every job I ever got; I sold myself for every jewel you saw on me this afternoon. You notice I've got them off now!”
“I don't understand, Mary,” he said, gently. “Why does a woman like you sell herself?”
“What else has she got? I was a rat in a tenement2. I could have been a drudge3, but I wasn't made for that. I sold myself for a job in a store, and then for ribbons to be pretty, and then for a place in the chorus, and then for a speaking part—so on all the way. Now I portray4 other women selling themselves. They get fancy prices, and so do I, and that makes me a 'star.' I hope you'll never see my pictures.”
I sat watching this scene, marvelling5 more than ever. That tone in Mary Magna's voice was a new one to me; perhaps she had not used it since she played her last “speaking part!” I thought to myself, there was a crisis impending6 in the screen industry.
Said Carpenter: “What are you going to do about it, Mary?”
“What can I do? My contract has seven years to run.”
“Couldn't you do something honest? I mean, couldn't you tell an honest story in your pictures?”
“Me? My God! Tell that to T-S, and watch his face! Why, they hunt all the world over for some new kind of clothes for me to take off; they search all history for some war I can cause, some empire I can wreck7. Me play an honest woman? The public would call it a joke, and the screen people would call it indecent.”
Carpenter got up, and began to pace the room. “Mary,” said he, “I once lived under the Roman empire—”
“Yes, I know. I was Cleopatra, and again I was Nero's mistress while he watched the city burning.”
“Rome was rough, and crude, and poor, Mary. Rome was nothing to this. This is Satan on my Father's throne, making new worlds for himself.” He paced the room again, then turned and said: “I don't understand this world. I must know more about it, if I am to save it!” There was such grief, such selfless pity in his voice as he repeated this: “I must know more!”
“You know everything!” exclaimed Mary, suddenly. “You are all wisdom!”
But he went on, speaking as if to himself, pondering his problem: “To serve others, yet not to indulge them; for the cause of their enslavment is that they have accepted service without return. And how shall one preach patience to the poor, when the masters make such preaching a new means of enslavement?” He looked at me, as if he thought that I could answer his question. Then with sudden energy he exclaimed: “I must meet those who are in rebellion against enslavement! Tomorrow I want to meet the strikers—all the strikers in your city.”
“You'll have your hands full,” I said—for I was a coward, and wanted to keep him out of it.
“How shall I find them?” he persisted.
“I don't know; I suppose their headquarters are at the Labor8 Temple.”
“I will go there. Meantime, I fear I shall have to be alone. I need to think about the things I have learned.”
“Where are you going to stay?”
“I don't know.”
Said Mary, hesitatingly: “My car is outside—”
He answered: “In ancient days I saw the young patricians9 drive through the streets in their chariots; no, I shall not ride with them again.”
Said I: “I have an apartment at the club, with plenty of room—”
“No, no, friend. I have seen enough of the masters of this city. From now on, if you want to see me, you will find me among the poor.”
“If I may meet you in the morning,” I said—“to show you to the Labor Temple—” Yes, I would see him through!
“By all means,” said he. “But you must come early, for I cannot delay.”
“Where shall I come?”
“Come here. I am sure these people will give me shelter.” He looked about him. “I suspect that some of them sleep in this room; but they have a little porch outside, and if they will let me stay there I shall be alone, which is what I want now.” After a moment, he added, “What I wish to do is to pray. Have you ever tried prayer, Mary?”
She answered, simply, “I wouldn't know how.”
“Come to me, and I will teach you,” he said.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 abrupt 2fdyh     
adj.突然的,意外的;唐突的,鲁莽的
参考例句:
  • The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
  • His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。
2 tenement Egqzd5     
n.公寓;房屋
参考例句:
  • They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
  • She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里,她觉得很得意。
3 drudge rk8z2     
n.劳碌的人;v.做苦工,操劳
参考例句:
  • I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作!
  • I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷,倒运,走投无路的苦力,只会拖累你。
4 portray mPLxy     
v.描写,描述;画(人物、景象等)
参考例句:
  • It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
  • Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗?
5 marvelling 160899abf9cc48b1dc923a29d59d28b1     
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • \"Yes,'said the clerk, marvelling at such ignorance of a common fact. “是的,\"那人说,很奇怪她竟会不知道这么一件普通的事情。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
  • Chueh-hui watched, marvelling at how easy it was for people to forget. 觉慧默默地旁观着这一切,他也忍不住笑了。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
6 impending 3qHzdb     
a.imminent, about to come or happen
参考例句:
  • Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时,严重的战乱爆发了。
  • The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。
7 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
8 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦
参考例句:
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后,他已经疲惫不堪了。
9 patricians 9091d4854b3eca4de61b3690020698f3     
n.(古罗马的)统治阶层成员( patrician的名词复数 );贵族,显贵
参考例句:
  • There was a conflict between plebs and patricians in ancient Rome in 494BC. 在公元前494年,罗马发生了一次平民反对贵族的斗争。 来自互联网


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