"I am come to say good-bye," said Franco Galatà, entering, and offering his hand to Lucio.
Franco Galatà, Prince of Campobello, was a Sicilian gentleman of thirty-five, who passed but two or three months of the year at Palermo and one at Licata, where his property was. The rest of the year he was always travelling, to Rome, Paris, Biarritz, Ostend; to Monte Carlo, Cairo, and St. Moritz, always mixing with the most brilliant society, knowing everything and everybody. Of medium stature11, but lean and robust12, very brown of countenance13, with a little spiked14 beard, and two very black eyes, slightly bald, a very good fencer, a perfect and tireless dancer, speaking French and English, and even Italian, with a strong Sicilian accent, Franco Galatà, Prince of Campobello, at first succeeded in being attractive; but his attraction did not last. His acquaintances changed frequently, not from year to year, but from season to season. People with whom he was intimate for three months, on the fourth month greeted him no more, and he himself avoided them, proudly and mockingly. Friends liked him for a short time, and then suddenly spoke15 ill of him, and he, Franco Galatà, spoke ill of them. Women grew agitated16 in speaking of him, changed the subject, or withdrew. Lucio Sabini gave the Prince of Campobello a worldly sympathy, very uncertain and very superficial, in which at bottom there was doubt and repugnance17.
"Are you leaving St. Moritz?" he asked courteously18.
"I am leaving this hotel, dear Sabini. I am going to the Grand Hotel. I waited till they had a room free. This evening I am going to occupy it."
"Don't you like the 'Badruth'?"
"Oh, a regular box. There's nothing to do," exclaimed the Sicilian.
"What do you mean?"
"With the ladies, I mean to say," explained Franco Galatà.
"Don't you think there are beautiful women here?" suggested Lucio, becoming very cold and staring at the Prince of Campobello.
"Here? Very few: well acquainted with me and all, and I very well known to them. There's nothing to do," he repeated, with an even harder accent; "therefore I am going elsewhere."
"For nothing else," affirmed the Prince of Campobello. "It is the only thing that interests me, pleases me, amuses me. I find nothing else better in life, such as it is," and he sighed lightly.
"And do one or many please you?"
"They all please me, even the least beautiful and the least young. Those who please me most are the ones I can't possess," concluded Galatà, with a slightly irritable20 accent.
"And do you never fall in love?" asked Lucio icily.
"In love? Not at all. I should be silly to let myself fall in love. Sometimes they believe I am in love; and sometimes love matters nothing at all to them," murmured the Prince cynically21.
"Naturally! What is one to do in a small hotel, with such few people as we are, all acquainted with each other? Everything is noted24 and observed, everything is heard. Hurrah25 for the large hotels, Sabini! For every reason there is nothing like them for what I want. Plenty of unknown or little known women; I unknown to them or little known; immense salons26, immense halls, vast terraces—the earthly paradise, my friend, the paradise of adventures of a day, of three days, of a week, especially when they are on the point of leaving ... when they are unlikely to be seen again, you understand, they dare more easily."
The Prince of Campobello laughed, with his red, carnal, sensual mouth beneath his black moustaches; and his black beard shook a little, and his eyes shone with a desire that was ever satisfied and ever unsatisfied.
"But these women whom you meet on your travels, dear Galatà, are they easy to conquer?" asked Lucio, with cynical22 curiosity.
"Ah, not all certainly, my friend; but I try with all."
"With all?"
"No one excluded. It is my method. I assure you it is the best way."
There was a brief silence. Lucio did not interrupt him.
"I like you so much; come away with me to my hotel," said Galatà familiarly, not heeding27 the silence.
"You think so?" murmured the other, fencing, with the coldest politeness.
"I have got to know that there are some very eccentric Russian women, also two or three divorced English women, a demi-vierge or two. Come, we will amuse ourselves. Do not remain in this virtuous28 barrack."
"Oh, I shouldn't amuse myself there," declared Lucio, somewhat decisively.
"What? Don't you like women?"
"Yes; but one at a time."
"Really? And are you capable of loving the one? Seriously?" exclaimed Galatà, astonished and almost scandalised.
"I am even capable of loving the one seriously."
"For some time? Then you give her up?"
"Later, much later, I give her up ... when I have ceased to love her."
"What ingenuousness29!" exclaimed the Prince of Campobello, astonished.
"Infantile, infantile! I have no spirit in these love affairs," said Lucio Sabini, with a sneer; "but I wish you every success there! You shall tell me about it afterwards when we meet."
"All you want to know. A pity you won't come."
They took leave of each other at the door. Coming down the corridor someone was advancing towards Lucio. He stopped beside him, while the Prince of Campobello, after a slight, sarcastic30 smile, which the new-comer did not see, withdrew with the elastic31 step of a good fencer and dancer. With a rearward movement at the threshold of his room, Lucio Sabini tried to escape the meeting and conversation with Serge de Illyne; but he did not succeed. Serge, bending his tall stature and his beautiful face, said to him in the purest French, in a musical voice:
"Allow me; I should like to say a few words."
Lucio, with bad grace, was forced to stand aside and let him pass. Serge de Illyne remained standing32 because the other did not ask him to sit down. He was a tall young man, of almost statuesque figure, in modern attire33. He was already in evening dress, with a stupendous orchid34 in the buttonhole and a peculiar35 waistcoat of pale green velvet36, with oxidised silver buttons. Serge was of rare masculine beauty, with a very white complexion37, large, dark eyes loaded with melting sweetness, a florid mouth beneath the soft, light chestnut38 moustaches, and a round, white neck. His perfectly39 shaped, pink hands were loaded with quaint2 rings, of antique shape, with gems40 of strange colours, and beneath his shirt-cuff a gold bracelet41 fell over his wrist, in the fashion of a snake with carbuncle eyes.
"Why, dear Count Sabini," asked the Russian, in his sing-song voice, "do you smoke those bad cigarettes? Let me send you some of my exquisite42 ones!"
The Russian, in a tranquil44 attitude, with his beautiful face on which bloomed a smile, was not discouraged.
"Do you use eau de Lubin?" he resumed. "Why don't you use a mixture of ambre and chypre? I assure you they are delicious."
And he offered him a pink, bejewelled hand, as if to make him smell it. Sabini pretended not to notice it. He neither touched nor smelt45 the hand and replied rudely:
"They are perfumes for women, in fact for cocottes. I don't like them."
The young Russian shook his head graciously. Then seeing that Lucio Sabini, staring a little impatiently, was questioning him with his eyes, he said:
"I came to ask you, dear Sabini, if you would accompany us after dinner to St. Moritz Bad."
"With you and others? With whom, then?"
"Why, first of all with me, and with Hugo Pforzheim, you know, dear Hugo, the graceful46 German, and Lewis Ogilvie, the Scotch47 psychologist who has invented the theory of the music of colours, and James Field, another friend, an artist of the pencil. His drawings are stupendous; don't you know them?"
"All your set, in fact?" asked Lucio, restraining his disgust.
"Of course, all our set," murmured Serge de Illyne candidly48; "we are going to Reginald Rhodes's—you must know the name, for he is already celebrated—the English poet. He has condescended49 to read us a poem this evening, an unpublished poem, on a fascinating subject."
"Which is?"
"'Narcissus' is the title."
"Ah," exclaimed Lucio Sabini, at the height of impatience50, "and you want me to come as well? Are there to be ladies there?"
"We don't dislike them. We think them vain, silly, useless creatures," said de Illyne contemptuously.
"Well, if there are no women I can't come," concluded Lucio, smiling sarcastically53; "I like women's society."
"Oh," exclaimed Serge, as if scandalised, but questioning with his beautiful, tender eyes.
"Really: a lover's tryst. And I must leave you to dress," insisted Lucio, still somewhat insolently56.
"With whom—a lover's tryst?" murmured Serge de Illyne.
Lucio then looked at him with such intense and silent disdain57 on his face that the handsome Russian paled a little, turned on his heels, and departed, bowing his tall person with the statuesque figure, while Lucio Sabini, with an energetic movement of the shoulders, disguised as an offensive farewell, retired58 behind the screen to dress. His toilette was, more than usual, long and accurate. He had almost finished when he heard a voice calling him from the other side of the screen.
"Sabini, are you ready? Are you coming to dinner?"
Lucio put forth59 his head only from the screen and recognised Francis Mornand, a French gentleman, who had entered the room without Lucio being aware of it. Very thin, pallidly60 brown, with a clean-shaven face on which a calm and peaceful expression of correctness was permanently61 spread, with close-cropped hair, still black at the forehead, but slightly sprinkled with white at the temples, with monocle fixed62 without support, causing not a single wrinkle to the face, and dressed in austere63 elegance64, when he was silent Francis Mornand had a more English than French appearance. But no one ignored the fact that he was one of the wittiest65 men in Engadine society, as of any society in which he happened to find himself. Everyone knew that, having lived thirty or forty years in the great cosmopolitan66 world, with an iron memory and an extraordinary adaptability67 of spirit, he was a conteur without a rival.
"I am nearly ready, Mornand," replied Sabini, with a smile, "but whither will you lead me?"
"First to dinner with me, then to our place."
"I must dine in haste, because it is late," replied Sabini, who had again gone behind his screen.
"As you like. Afterwards we will take a turn."
"Where?" replied the other, without any curiosity.
"To St. Moritz Bad, to the 'Kurhaus,' where the great tenor68 Caruso is singing for a charity. I have some tickets, also for you. After midnight to the 'Palace.' Paul Fry—you know him—has arrived, the greatest cutter at baccarat, who always cuts a five. There is to be play to-night, when all the ladies have gone to bed. It is to be a great game—most interesting. All those who have no money play hard."
"I can't come," replied Lucio Sabini, stepping into the room, already dressed.
"And why?" asked Francis Mornand, with a little smile.
"Because I have to go elsewhere."
"Elsewhere?" asked the Frenchman.
Again Lucio did not reply. He took from a glass vase a magnificent white rose, a single rose, and placed it in the buttonhole of his dress-suit.
"You are going to the ball at the 'Kulm.' You are very much in love with Miss Lilian Temple," said Francis Mornand kindly69, with a slight smile.
Lucio stood still, with lowered eyes, and made no reply.
"Well, dear Sabini, at any rate if you will dine with me, since I am all alone this evening, I will tell you the history of Miss Lilian Temple," declared Mornand, in an indifferent tone, without even looking at his companion.
"Her history? Her history?" blurted70 Lucio, with a tremble in his voice. "Has Lilian Temple a history?"
"See how much in love you are, Sabini!" added Francis Mornand, chuckling71 quietly. "Confess that you love her."
"I adore her," replied Lucio simply.
"Well, my dear fellow," declared the amiable72 Frenchman, placing his arm in Lucio's, with affectionate familiarity, "Miss Temple has no history. She is an ideal creature; and if I say so you can believe me. But if you do not cruelly desert me at dinner, I can tell you the history of Miss Lilian Temple's family, which I knew well in London. That ought to interest you a lot, if you really love her."
"I adore her," repeated Sabini, and his words were veiled with emotion. "Let us go."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
dallying
|
|
| v.随随便便地对待( dally的现在分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
quaint
|
|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
quaintly
|
|
| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
isolated
|
|
| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
salon
|
|
| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
fabrics
|
|
| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
banality
|
|
| n.陈腐；平庸；陈词滥调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
discreetly
|
|
| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
distrait
|
|
| adj.心不在焉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
conjured
|
|
| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
stature
|
|
| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
robust
|
|
| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
spiked
|
|
| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
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： |
|
|
|
|
16
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
repugnance
|
|
| n.嫌恶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
courteously
|
|
| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
unison
|
|
| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
irritable
|
|
| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
cynically
|
|
| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
cynical
|
|
| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
sneer
|
|
| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
hurrah
|
|
| int.好哇，万岁，乌拉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
salons
|
|
| n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
heeding
|
|
| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
virtuous
|
|
| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ingenuousness
|
|
| n.率直；正直；老实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
sarcastic
|
|
| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
elastic
|
|
| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
attire
|
|
| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
orchid
|
|
| n.兰花，淡紫色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
chestnut
|
|
| n.栗树，栗子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
gems
|
|
| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
bracelet
|
|
| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
curtly
|
|
| adv.简短地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
tranquil
|
|
| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
smelt
|
|
| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
scotch
|
|
| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
candidly
|
|
| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
condescended
|
|
| 屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
annoyance
|
|
| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
sarcastically
|
|
| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
melodious
|
|
| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
tryst
|
|
| n.约会；v.与…幽会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
insolently
|
|
| adv.自豪地，自傲地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
pallidly
|
|
| adv.无光泽地，苍白无血色地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
61
permanently
|
|
| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
austere
|
|
| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
wittiest
|
|
| 机智的，言辞巧妙的，情趣横生的( witty的最高级 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
cosmopolitan
|
|
| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
adaptability
|
|
| n.适应性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
tenor
|
|
| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
blurted
|
|
| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
chuckling
|
|
| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |