consolation1 of feeling herself an outcast, and she reveled in misery2. But the first rehearsal3 was like a bugle-call to a cavalry4 horse hitched5 to a milk-wagon.
She entered the Odeon Theater again by the back door and bowed to the same old man, who smiled her in with bleary welcome. And Pennock was at her post looking as
untheatrical as ever. She embraced Sheila and said, “It’s good to see you workin’ again.”
The next person she met was Mrs. Vining, looking as time-proof as ever.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Sheila cried.
And Mrs. Vining sighed. “Oh, there’s an old catty mother-in-law in the play, and Reben dragged me out of the Old Ladies’ Home to play it.”
Sheila’s presence at the Odeon was due to the fact that when Eldon asked Reben to release him so that he might play in “Clipped Wings,” with Sheila as star and Bret
Winfield as the angel, Reben declined with violence.
When Eldon told him of the play he demanded the privilege of producing it. He ridiculed7 Bret as a theatrical6 manager and easily persuaded him to retire to his
weighing-machines. Reben dug out the yellowed contract with Sheila, had it freshly typed, and sent it to her, and she signed it with all the woman’s terror at putting
her signature to a mortgage.
One matinée day, as Sheila left the stage door, she met Dulcie coming in to make ready for the afternoon’s performance.
Dulcie clutched her with overacted enthusiasm and said: “Oh, my dear, it’s so nice that you’re coming back on the stage, after all these years. Too bad you can’t
have your old theater, isn’t it? We’re doomed8 to stay here forever, it seems. But—oh, my dear!—you mustn’t work so hard. You look all worn out. Are you ill?”
Sheila retreated in as good order as possible, breathing resolutions to oust9 Dulcie from the star dressing-room and quench10 her name in the electric lights. That vow
sustained her through many a weak hour.
But at times she was not sure of even that success. At times she was sure of failure and the odious11 humiliation12 of returning to Blithevale like a prodigal13 wife fed on
husks of criticism.
Bret was called back to his factory by his business and by his request. He did not want to impede14 Sheila in any way. He had gone through rehearsals15 and try-outs with
her once, and, as he said, once was plenty.
Sheila wept at his desertion and called herself names. She wept for her children and called herself worse names. She wept on Mrs. Vining at various opportunities when
she was not rehearsing.
At length the old lady’s patience gave out and she stormed, “I warned you not to marry.”
“You warned me not to marry in the profession, and I didn’t.”
“Well,” sniffed16 Mrs. Vining, “I supposed you had sense enough of your own not to marry outside of it.”
“But—”
“And now that you did, take your medicine. You’re crying because you want to be with your man and your children. But when you had them you cried just the same. All
the women I know on the stage and off, married and single, childless or not, are always crying about something. Good Lord! it’s time women learned to get along
without tears. Men used to cry and faint, and they outgrew17 it. Women don’t faint any more. Why can’t they quit crying? The whole kit18 and caboodle of you make me
sick.”
“Thank you!” said Sheila, and walked away. But she was mad enough to rehearse her big scene more vigorously than ever. Without a slip of memory she delivered her
long tirade19 so fiercely that the company and Vickery and Batterson broke into applause. From the auditorium20 Reben shouted, “Bully!”
As Sheila walked aside, Mrs. Vining threw her arms around her and called her an angel and proved that even she had not lost the gift of tears.
Bret was not without his own torments21. The village people drove him frantic22 with their questions and their rapturous horror and the gossip they bandied about.
His mother, who hurried to the “rescue” of his home and his “abandoned children,” strengthened him more by her bitterness against Sheila than she could have done
by any praise of her. A man always discounts a woman’s criticism of another woman. It always outrages23 his male sense of fairness and good sportsmanship.
Besides, Bret was driven by every reason of loyalty24 to defend his wife. He told his mother and his neighbors that he would see her oftener than a soldier or a sailor
sees his wife. He would keep close to her. His business would permit him to make occasional journeys to her. Their summers would be honeymoons25 together.
He made good use of the argumentum ad feminam by telling his mother how well the children would profit by their grandmother’s wisdom, and he promised them the
fascinating privilege of traveling with their mother at times.
But it was not easy for Bret. He knew that many people would laugh at him for a milksop; others would despise him for a complacent26 assistant in his wife’s dishonor.
He had his dark hours of jealous distrust, too, and the very thought of Eldon filled him with dread. Eldon was gifted and handsome, and congenial to Sheila, and a
fellow-artist as well. And his other self, the Iago self that every Othello has, whispered that hateful word “propinquity” in his ear with vicious insinuation.
He gnashed his teeth against himself and groaned28, “You fool, you’ve thrown her into Eldon’s arms.”
His better self answered: “No, you have given her to the arms of the world. Propinquity breeds hatred29 and jealousy30 and boredom31 and emulation32 as often as it breeds
love.”
He would have felt reassured33 if he had seen Sheila fighting Eldon for points, for positions, and for lines.
There was one line in Eldon’s part that Sheila called the most beautiful line in the play, a line about the husband’s dead mother. Sheila first admired then coveted
the line.
At last she openly asked for it. Eldon was furious and Vickery was aghast.
“But, my dear Sheila,” he explained, “you couldn’t use that line. Your mother is present in the cast.”
“Couldn’t we kill her off?” said Sheila.
“I like that!” cried Mrs. Vining, who was playing the part.
Sheila gave up the line, but with reluctance34. But it was some time before Eldon and Vickery regained35 their illusions concerning her.
And yet it was something more than selfish greed that made her grasp at everything for the betterment of her r?le. It was like a portrait she was painting and she
wished for it every enhancement. An architect who plans a cathedral is not blamed for wishing to raze36 whole acres so that his building may command the scene. The actor
’s often berated37 avarice38 is no more ignoble39, really. And the actor who is indifferent or over-generous is like the careless artist in other fields. He builds neither
himself nor his work.
Mrs. Vining fought half a day against the loss of a line that emphasized the meanness of her character. She wanted to be hated. She played hateful r?les with such
So Sheila spared nothing and nobody to make the part she played the greatest part was ever played. Least of all she spared herself, her strength, her mind, her time.
But she battened on work, she was a glutton42 for punishment. She had her stage-manager begging for a rest, and that is rare achievement.
And all the while she grew stronger, haler, heartier43; she grew so beautiful from needing to be beautiful that even Dulcie Ormerod, passing her once more at the mail-
“My Gawd! but that hat is becoming. Tell me quick what’s the address of your milliner.”
That was approbation45 indeed from Dulcie.
At length the dreadful dress-rehearsal was reached. The usual unheard-of mishaps46 happened. Everybody was hopeless. The actors parroted the old saying that “a bad
dress-rehearsal means a good first performance,” knowing that it proves true about half the time.
The piece was tried first in Plainfield. The local audience was not demonstrative. Eldon tried to comfort himself by saying that the play was too big, too stunning,
for them to understand.
The next night they played in Red Bank and were stunned47 with applause in the first scene and increasing enthusiasm throughout. But that proved nothing, and Jaffer, who
was with the company, remembered a famous failure that had been a triumph in Red Bank and a disaster on Broadway.
The fear of that merciless Broadway gauntlet settled over the company. Success meant everything to every member. It meant the paying of bills, a warm home for the
winter, a step upward for the future. Even one of the stage-hands had a romance that required a New York run.
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1
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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ridiculed
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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oust
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| vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐 | |
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quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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prodigal
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| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
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impede
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止 | |
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rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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16
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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17
outgrew
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去式 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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auditorium
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| n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂 | |
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21
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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22
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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25
honeymoons
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| 蜜月( honeymoon的名词复数 )； 短暂的和谐时期； 蜜月期； 最初的和谐时期 | |
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26
complacent
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| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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28
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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29
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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30
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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31
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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32
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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33
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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35
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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raze
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| vt.铲平，把(城市、房屋等)夷为平地，拆毁 | |
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37
berated
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| v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
avarice
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| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
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39
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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40
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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41
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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42
glutton
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| n.贪食者，好食者 | |
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43
heartier
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| 亲切的( hearty的比较级 )； 热诚的； 健壮的； 精神饱满的 | |
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44
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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45
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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46
mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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47
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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