小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 英文短篇小说 » The Island Pharisees » CHAPTER V THE GOOD CITIZEN
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER V THE GOOD CITIZEN
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 Leaving the theatre, they paused a moment in the hall to don their coats; a stream of people with spotless bosoms1 eddied2 round the doors, as if in momentary3 dread4 of leaving this hothouse of false morals and emotions for the wet, gusty5 streets, where human plants thrive and die, human weeds flourish and fade under the fresh, impartial6 skies. The lights revealed innumerable solemn faces, gleamed innumerably on jewels, on the silk of hats, then passed to whiten a pavement wet with newly-fallen rain, to flare7 on horses, on the visages of cabmen, and stray, queer objects that do not bear the light.
“Shall we walk?” asked Halidome.
“Has it ever struck you,” answered Shelton, “that in a play nowadays there's always a 'Chorus of Scandalmongers' which seems to have acquired the attitude of God?”
Halidome cleared his throat, and there was something portentous8 in the sound.
“You're so d—-d fastidious,” was his answer.
“I've a prejudice for keeping the two things separate,” went on Shelton. “That ending makes me sick.”
“Why?” replied Halidome. “What other end is possible? You don't want a play to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.”
“But this does.”
Halidome increased his stride, already much too long; for in his walk, as in all other phases of his life, he found it necessary to be in front.
“How do you mean?” he asked urbanely9; “it's better than the woman making a fool of herself.”
“I'm thinking of the man.”
“What man?”
“The husband.”
“What 's the matter with him? He was a bit of a bounder, certainly.”
“I can't understand any man wanting to live with a woman who doesn't want him.”
Some note of battle in Shelton's voice, rather than the sentiment itself, caused his friend to reply with dignity:
“There's a lot of nonsense talked about that sort of thing. Women don't really care; it's only what's put into their heads.”
“That's much the same as saying to a starving man: 'You don't really want anything; it's only what's put into your head!' You are begging the question, my friend.”
But nothing was more calculated to annoy Halidome than to tell him he was “begging the question,” for he prided himself on being strong in logic10.
“That be d—-d,” he said.
“Not at all, old chap. Here is a case where a woman wants her freedom, and you merely answer that she dogs n't want it.”
“Women like that are impossible; better leave them out of court.”
Shelton pondered this and smiled; he had recollected11 an acquaintance of his own, who, when his wife had left him, invented the theory that she was mad, and this struck him now as funny. But then he thought: “Poor devil! he was bound to call her mad! If he didn't, it would be confessing himself distasteful; however true, you can't expect a man to consider himself that.” But a glance at his friend's eye warned him that he, too, might think his wife mad in such a case.
“Surely,” he said, “even if she's his wife, a man's bound to behave like a gentleman.”
“Depends on whether she behaves like a lady.”
“Does it? I don't see the connection.”
Halidome paused in the act of turning the latch-key in his door; there was a rather angry smile in his fine eyes.
“My dear chap,” he said, “you're too sentimental13 altogether.”
The word “sentimental” nettled14 Shelton. “A gentleman either is a gentleman or he is n't; what has it to do with the way other people behave?”
Halidome turned the key in the lock and opened the door into his hall, where the firelight fell on the decanters and huge chairs drawn16 towards the blaze.
“No, Bird,” he said, resuming his urbanity, and gathering17 his coat-tails in his hands; “it's all very well to talk, but wait until you're married. A man must be master, and show it, too.”
An idea occurred to Shelton.
“Look here, Hal,” he said: “what should you do if your wife got tired of you?”
The expression on Halidome's face was a mixture of amusement and contempt.
“I don't mean anything personal, of course, but apply the situation to yourself.”
Halidome took out a toothpick, used it brusquely, and responded:
“I shouldn't stand any humbug18—take her travelling; shake her mind up. She'd soon come round.”
“But suppose she really loathed19 you?”
Halidome cleared his throat; the idea was so obviously indecent. How could anybody loathe20 him? With great composure, however, regarding Shelton as if he were a forward but amusing child, he answered:
“There are a great many things to be taken into consideration.”
“It appears to me,” said Shelton, “to be a question of common pride. How can you, ask anything of a woman who doesn't want to give it.”
His friend's voice became judicial21.
“A man ought not to suffer,” he said, poring over his whisky, “because a woman gets hysteria. You have to think of Society, your children, house, money arrangements, a thousand things. It's all very well to talk. How do you like this whisky?”
“The part of the good citizen, in fact,” said Shelton, “self-preservation!”
“Common-sense,” returned his friend; “I believe in justice before sentiment.” He drank, and callously22 blew smoke at Shelton. “Besides, there are many people with religious views about it.”
“It's always seemed to me,” said Shelton, “to be quaint12 that people should assert that marriage gives them the right to 'an eye for an eye,' and call themselves Christians23. Did you ever know anybody stand on their rights except out of wounded pride or for the sake of their own comfort? Let them call their reasons what they like, you know as well as I do that it's cant15.”
“I don't know about that,” said Halidome, more and more superior as Shelton grew more warm; “when you stand on your rights, you do it for the sake of Society as well as for your own. If you want to do away with marriage, why don't you say so?”
“But I don't,” said Shelton, “is it likely? Why, I'm going—” He stopped without adding the words “to be married myself,” for it suddenly occurred to him that the reason was not the most lofty and philosophic24 in the world. “All I can say is,” he went on soberly, “that you can't make a horse drink by driving him. Generosity25 is the surest way of tightening26 the knot with people who've any sense of decency27; as to the rest, the chief thing is to prevent their breeding.”
Halidome smiled.
“You're a rum chap,” he said.
Shelton jerked his cigarette into the fire.
“I tell you what”—for late at night a certain power of vision came to him—“it's humbug to talk of doing things for the sake of Society; it's nothing but the instinct to keep our own heads above the water.”
But Halidome remained unruffled.
“All right,” he said, “call it that. I don't see why I should go to the wall; it wouldn't do any good.”
“You admit, then,” said Shelton, “that our morality is the sum total of everybody's private instinct of self-preservation?”
Halidome stretched his splendid frame and yawned.
“I don't know,” he began, “that I should quite call it that—”
But the compelling complacency of his fine eyes, the dignified28 posture29 of his healthy body, the lofty slope of his narrow forehead, the perfectly30 humane31 look of his cultivated brutality32, struck Shelton as ridiculous.
“Hang it, Hall” he cried, jumping from his chair, “what an old fraud you are! I'll be off.”
“No, look here!” said Halidome; the faintest shade of doubt had appeared upon his face; he took Shelton by a lapel: “You're quite wrong—”
“Very likely; good-night, old chap!”
Shelton walked home, letting the spring wind into him. It was Saturday, and he passed many silent couples. In every little patch of shadow he could see two forms standing33 or sitting close together, and in their presence Words the Impostors seemed to hold their tongues. The wind rustled34 the buds; the stars, one moment bright as diamonds, vanished the next. In the lower streets a large part of the world was under the influence of drink, but by this Shelton was far from being troubled. It seemed better than Drama, than dressing-bagged men, unruffled women, and padded points of view, better than the immaculate solidity of his friend's possessions.
“So,” he reflected, “it's right for every reason, social, religious, and convenient, to inflict35 one's society where it's not desired. There are obviously advantages about the married state; charming to feel respectable while you're acting36 in a way that in any other walk of life would bring on you contempt. If old Halidome showed that he was tired of me, and I continued to visit him, he'd think me a bit of a cad; but if his wife were to tell him she couldn't stand him, he'd still consider himself a perfect gentleman if he persisted in giving her the burden of his society; and he has the cheek to bring religion into it—a religion that says, 'Do unto others!'.rdquo;
But in this he was unjust to Halidome, forgetting how impossible it was for him to believe that a woman could not stand him. He reached his rooms, and, the more freely to enjoy the clear lamplight, the soft, gusty breeze, and waning37 turmoil38 of the streets, waited a moment before entering.
“I wonder,” thought he, “if I shall turn out a cad when I marry, like that chap in the play. It's natural. We all want our money's worth, our pound of flesh! Pity we use such fine words—'Society, Religion, Morality.' Humbug!”
He went in, and, throwing his window open, remained there a long time, his figure outlined against the lighted room for the benefit of the dark square below, his hands in his pockets, his head down, a reflective frown about his eyes. A half-intoxicated old ruffian, a policeman, and a man in a straw hat had stopped below, and were holding a palaver39.
“Yus,” the old ruffian said, “I'm a rackety old blank; but what I say is, if we wus all alike, this would n't be a world!”
They went their way, and before the listener's eyes there rose Antonia's face, with its unruffled brow; Halidome's, all health and dignity; the forehead of the goggle-eyed man, with its line of hair parted in the centre, and brushed across. A light seemed to illumine the plane of their existence, as the electric lamp with the green shade had illumined the pages of the Matthew Arnold; serene40 before Shelton's vision lay that Elysium, untouched by passion or extremes of any kind, autocratic; complacent41, possessive, and well-kept as any Midland landscape. Healthy, wealthy, wise! No room but for perfection, self-preservation, the survival of the fittest! “The part of the good citizen,” he thought: “no, if we were all alike, this would n't be a world!”

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bosoms 7e438b785810fff52fcb526f002dac21     
胸部( bosom的名词复数 ); 胸怀; 女衣胸部(或胸襟); 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形
参考例句:
  • How beautifully gold brooches glitter on the bosoms of our patriotic women! 金光闪闪的别针佩在我国爱国妇女的胸前,多美呀!
  • Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there weep our sad bosoms empty. 我们寻个僻静的地方,去痛哭一场吧。
2 eddied 81bd76acbbf4c99f8c2a72f8dcb9f4b6     
起漩涡,旋转( eddy的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
  • The mist eddied round the old house. 雾气回旋在这栋老房子的四周。
3 momentary hj3ya     
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的
参考例句:
  • We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
  • I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。
4 dread Ekpz8     
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
参考例句:
  • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
  • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
5 gusty B5uyu     
adj.起大风的
参考例句:
  • Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
  • Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风?
6 impartial eykyR     
adj.(in,to)公正的,无偏见的
参考例句:
  • He gave an impartial view of the state of affairs in Ireland.他对爱尔兰的事态发表了公正的看法。
  • Careers officers offer impartial advice to all pupils.就业指导员向所有学生提供公正无私的建议。
7 flare LgQz9     
v.闪耀,闪烁;n.潮红;突发
参考例句:
  • The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
  • You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。
8 portentous Wiey5     
adj.不祥的,可怕的,装腔作势的
参考例句:
  • The present aspect of society is portentous of great change.现在的社会预示着重大变革的发生。
  • There was nothing portentous or solemn about him.He was bubbling with humour.他一点也不装腔作势或故作严肃,浑身散发着幽默。
9 urbanely 349796911438d2ceb31beb51b98ffd7e     
adv.都市化地,彬彬有礼地,温文尔雅地
参考例句:
  • Don't let the repoter spook you, and you have to behave urbanely. 别让记者缠住你,而你还得举止文雅。 来自互联网
10 logic j0HxI     
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性
参考例句:
  • What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑?
  • I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。
11 recollected 38b448634cd20e21c8e5752d2b820002     
adj.冷静的;镇定的;被回忆起的;沉思默想的v.记起,想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • I recollected that she had red hair. 我记得她有一头红发。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • His efforts, the Duke recollected many years later, were distinctly half-hearted. 据公爵许多年之后的回忆,他当时明显只是敷衍了事。 来自辞典例句
12 quaint 7tqy2     
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的
参考例句:
  • There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里,有很多小巷。
  • They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。
13 sentimental dDuzS     
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的
参考例句:
  • She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人,她相信姻缘命中注定。
  • We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。
14 nettled 1329a37399dc803e7821d52c8a298307     
v.拿荨麻打,拿荨麻刺(nettle的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • My remarks clearly nettled her. 我的话显然惹恼了她。
  • He had been growing nettled before, but now he pulled himself together. 他刚才有些来火,但现在又恢复了常态。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
15 cant KWAzZ     
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔
参考例句:
  • The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
  • He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。
16 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
17 gathering ChmxZ     
n.集会,聚会,聚集
参考例句:
  • He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
  • He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。
18 humbug ld8zV     
n.花招,谎话,欺骗
参考例句:
  • I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道,我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。
  • All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。
19 loathed dbdbbc9cf5c853a4f358a2cd10c12ff2     
v.憎恨,厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 );极不喜欢
参考例句:
  • Baker loathed going to this red-haired young pup for supplies. 面包师傅不喜欢去这个红头发的自负的傻小子那里拿原料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Therefore, above all things else, he loathed his miserable self! 因此,他厌恶不幸的自我尤胜其它! 来自英汉文学 - 红字
20 loathe 60jxB     
v.厌恶,嫌恶
参考例句:
  • I loathe the smell of burning rubber.我厌恶燃着的橡胶散发的气味。
  • You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时,你会厌恶油腻的气味。
21 judicial c3fxD     
adj.司法的,法庭的,审判的,明断的,公正的
参考例句:
  • He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
  • Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。
22 callously dec3b5c8c8e051ec6020b11c100b4bff     
参考例句:
  • Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. 斯里兰卡无情地忽视人道停火的呼吁。 来自互联网
  • The pendulum ticks callously, heartlessly. 这是谁的遗训? 来自互联网
23 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
24 philosophic ANExi     
adj.哲学的,贤明的
参考例句:
  • It was a most philosophic and jesuitical motorman.这是个十分善辩且狡猾的司机。
  • The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race.爱尔兰人是既重实际又善于思想的民族。
25 generosity Jf8zS     
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为
参考例句:
  • We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
  • We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
26 tightening 19aa014b47fbdfbc013e5abf18b64642     
上紧,固定,紧密
参考例句:
  • Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前,检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
  • It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。
27 decency Jxzxs     
n.体面,得体,合宜,正派,庄重
参考例句:
  • His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
  • Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
28 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
29 posture q1gzk     
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
参考例句:
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
30 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
31 humane Uymy0     
adj.人道的,富有同情心的
参考例句:
  • Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗?
  • Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。
32 brutality MSbyb     
n.野蛮的行为,残忍,野蛮
参考例句:
  • The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
  • a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军
33 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
34 rustled f68661cf4ba60e94dc1960741a892551     
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
35 inflict Ebnz7     
vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担
参考例句:
  • Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
  • Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。
36 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
37 waning waning     
adj.(月亮)渐亏的,逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 );(月)亏;变小;变暗淡
参考例句:
  • Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
  • The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
38 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
39 palaver NKLx0     
adj.壮丽堂皇的;n.废话,空话
参考例句:
  • We don't want all that palaver,do we?我们不想那样小题大做,不是吗?
  • Progress is neither proclamation nor palaver.进步不是宣言,也不是空谈。
40 serene PD2zZ     
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的
参考例句:
  • He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
  • He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多,只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。
41 complacent JbzyW     
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的
参考例句:
  • We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
  • She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533