“That guy up there has me deaf with that flute1 he’s blowing,” remarked Big Lizzie, “and while I don’t wish him any harm yet I hope he chokes.”
“That knocks this place,” remarked her pal2. “Why, I had a John in here the other day and he was wanting to buy me a new dress, and I thought he was wanting to know where I lived, and I was writing my name and number down on a piece of paper and he got disgusted and went away. It drives ’em out, if you want to know what I think.”
But it was once a famous old place when Fourteenth street was really good, and the casual visitor to New York who didn’t drop in for an hour or so missed something.
It was one of the sights, and the great mechanical organ invented and built by a straight-laced Methodist is there still, although he has long ago ceased calling the attention of his friends to the fact. Its tunes3 to-day are sandwiched in with those of the band, and in the interval4 the trombone player gets a chance to recover his breath.
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Morning, noon and night men and women wander in, sit at the little round tables, drink queer decoctions made of liquor strong enough to eat into Harveyized steel, and then go forth5 to tear up the town. The police pass it by as though it were nothing more serious than an ice cream parlor6 or a peanut emporium, while the tide of upholstered and hand-painted mademoiselles sweep in on the flood and drift out on the ebb7 with business written in every line of their faces.
Their paths radiate like the sticks of a fan from this rendezvous8 of the social evil, and in their movements they show nearly all the characteristics of the honey-gathering bee.
The engaging and winsome9 smile of a girl not yet out of her teens had caught the eye of the man in this story, and against his will he had allowed her to lead him into this place where mirth was nothing more nor less than a mask behind which a skeleton face grinned, and where neither laughter nor anything else was sincere. Her black eyes had not yet taken on that hardness which the years to come would surely add to them, and her ways were to a certain extent ingenuous10. Besides, she was distinctly pretty with her Yiddish style of beauty, which was unfortunately of the kind which matures at sixteen and is old at twenty-five. Either teaching or a subtle instinct had caused her to discard the gorgeous plumes11 and brilliant colors which had marked her debut12 on the street less than a year before, and in consequence she might have passed for anything but what she was.
She had been on the stage once on a tour, but got a rough deal and quit.
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He outclassed her by a hundred to one, and his source was as high as hers was low. There was no tinge13 of peasantry in his veins14, but good successful American stock traceable back for five or six generations without a blot15 upon escutcheon—which, by the way, is rather rare in these days, consequently it’s worth boasting about. Lured16 into the maelstrom17 of music, he found himself at one of the tables with the girl beside him, still smiling.
Liquor has different effects on different men; it turns the mild man into a savage18 and makes a careful one reckless in the extreme. In this particular case caution went to the four winds and sympathy—which is apt to be dangerous at times—took its place. But let youth and inexperience excuse him.
“You haven’t told me your name,” he said. “What is it?”
“Brown,” she answered, “Jennie Brown.”
“I mean your right name.”
“Well, Jennie is my right name—I took the other one after I came out of the hospital. Some day, maybe, I’ll get married and then I’ll change it again, but not before.”
“What did you go to the hospital for—were you ill and did you have no one to take care of you?”
“Ill? You mean sick? No, I wasn’t sick; I was stabbed, and I got it good, too. I was cut from here to here,” and her right forefinger19 described across the front of her dress a line that went from her shoulder to the center of her breast bone. “At first I thought I was going to croak20 because I lost a lot of blood, but I’m pretty strong and I came out all right. You see, it was this way: A guy I knew got stuck on me and I
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couldn’t shake him, and he followed me around like a shadow. I didn’t like him because he wasn’t in my class, and besides he had another girl and I never took a girl’s fellow away in my life. If they split up then that’s different, but as long as they’re together I keep out of it. Every time I’d talk to anybody or go anywhere he’d be there. One night he followed me and a fellow I had that wanted to buy wine into Sharkey’s and when he tried to start a fight with my friend one of the waiters threw him out. Of course that made him sore, and he said that he’d get even. He did, all right, for one night as I was going upstairs he was in the top hall waiting for me, and the first thing I knew he had the knife into me.
“‘If you won’t have me, take this,’ he said, and then I felt an awful pain and when I put my hand up the blood was coming through my dress.
“‘You killed me, Jimmy,’ I said, ‘and I never done anything to you.’ But there wasn’t any answer to that, for he was running down the stairs as fast as he could.
“I was afraid to go up to my room all alone with the blood running out all over me so I went down to the street to look for my pal, Annie. You don’t know her but she’s all right. It was two o’clock in the morning and there was no one around so I thought I’d walk over to Third avenue and see if I could find any of the girls there and get help. There was an electric light up on the corner and I hadn’t taken more than a few steps before it began to move up and down and I got afraid and began to run. When I got up to the avenue all the lights were going up and down as if they were
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crazy and a man on the other side of the street looked as if he was upside down.
“Then I began to get frightened and I thought to myself that I’d sit down on a doorstep for a minute till I got over that queer feeling and that maybe Annie would come along. So I picked the first one I saw and flopped21 down. When I looked up it made me dizzy and so I looked down at the stone, and as I leaned over I watched the little red drops falling, one after the other, and always hitting the same spot, and then they began to spread out and the pool almost reached the sole of my shoe. I was wondering how long it would take before my foot got wet from it, and where it all came from, anyhow. It all seemed very funny to me; then I felt tired and shut my eyes.
“The next thing I knew I was in bed and there was a nurse there. A cop was there, too, and when I looked at him he says, ‘Ha, nurse, she’s out of it.’
“‘What place is this?’ I asked.
“‘You’re in Bellevue Hospital,’ he said, and he was right. I had been there two days before I knew it. What do you think of that?”
“You were unconscious,” remarked the young man.
“Sure I was unconscious,” she responded, “and they asked me all kinds of questions, who did it and all that, and——”
“And did you tell them who it was that stabbed you?”
“Did I tell them? Nix; not on your life. I never rapped on anybody and I wasn’t going to rap on him, for it wouldn’t do me any good and it wouldn’t take that stab away, would it? I thought I’d get square myself some day when I got out of the hospital and was
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strong again. That’s the only way. Him going up the river for a couple of years wouldn’t have done me any good, and maybe he’d have croaked22 me when he came out. What’s the good of taking chances? So I hocked all my rings and other stuff, and got togged up when I came out. I’ll get them all out in a month, maybe before. I got one now; see,” and she held up a finger on which was a very big turquoise23, surrounded by very small diamonds. “I’ll get them one at a time, and then if I ever get up against it again I’ve got them to fall back on. It’s just as good as money, only the interest is awful. Now if I only had a good friend who would——”
“Want the waiter?” broke in a hoarse24 voice like the croak of a mammoth25 raven26.
“Give me a claret lemonade, Harry27.”
“And what’ll the gent have?”
“A Martini cocktail28.”
“Right you are.”
“As I was saying, if I only had a friend who would be on the level I’d be square with him, too. I ain’t got no pals29, only Annie, and she’s been pretty good to me. Say, you ain’t married, are you?”
“No, not yet”; he laughed nervously30 as he said it. “I don’t believe in fellows getting married until they’re twenty-five, anyhow.”
“Neither do I.”
He noticed that her teeth were very white and even, and that her eyebrows31 and hair were jet black. The color on her cheeks had been put there with a skilled hand, and so deftly32 done that it passed for the real thing—in nature, not in art. Her hands were shapely, her nails manicured carefully and she had a trim figure.
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It was all stock in trade, but he wasn’t figuring it that way. Half a dozen of the kind of drinks they had given him had torn down the barrier, so far as he was concerned, that had been raised by society between it and the Scarlet33 Woman, and the pathos34 of her story had set him thinking and had roused all of his sympathies. She had played her part with all of the subtleness of the finished actress and had told her story with such simplicity35 and naivette that many an older man would have been deceived by the recital36. She was working up to the climax37 as carefully and cautiously as the hunter works up into the wind after the unsuspecting deer, or the soft-footed cat ambushes38 the bird singing in the hedge. The emotional breed of her race helped to make her realistic, and her vivacity39 was contagious40. Put her on the stage and she would be a success with proper training.
“If,” she laid her hand caressingly41 on the sleeve of his coat, “if I could find someone who would get my rings out and give me a chance I would be willing to do anything for him. I don’t like this life, always hustling42, chased by the police and treated like a thief. But once in it’s hard to get out, for no one wants to give you a chance.”
He was looking over her head and watching the man with the cornet rubbing up the brass43 with his handkerchief.
“You are not listening to me.”
“Yes, I am; I heard every word you said. How much would it cost to get your jewels out?”
“Only $125. It might not be much for you, but it’s a lot for me.”
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Here was the climax, so far as her story was concerned. She could have repeated those three figures long before, but she wasn’t ready. She was waiting for the psychological moment and it had arrived. The picture was made and the hand was ready.
And now your attention is respectfully called to Fate, the intruder; the upsetter of carefully laid plans; the wrecker; sometimes the promoter, because it does as many things for good as it does for bad. In this case, however, it was good and bad, according to the viewpoint.
“If you wouldn’t mind I’ll get them out for you. Let’s go now,” he said.
She leaned back in her chair and smiled at him—a smile of happiness and success; the smile of a child when it gets its first Christmas doll; and then she drew a deep breath. Still smiling, her eyes half closed, she looked at him through the narrow slits44 and contemplated45 the possibilities of the future. There was no hurry and she could afford to wait, for she had won out.
A woman, coarse of feature and with fright depicted46 on her face, came hurrying in. She saw the girl at one end of the room and ran to her.
“Jennie, for God’s sake, come quick; your Billy’s just been pinched on the corner.”
“Billy pinched; what for?” The jubilation47 in her black eyes turned to terror.
“For swiping a bloke’s leather. They got it on him; hurry up.”
The boy stared wide-eyed at them for a moment, then pushing his chair back he arose unsteadily to his feet.
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“Seventy-five cents for the drinks.”
It was the waiter’s voice.
He fumbled48 in his pocket, brought forth a handful of change, deposited it in the outstretched palm, and began to weave his way among the tables toward the door in the wake of the hurrying women.
“He’s a swell49 kid, all right,” remarked the waiter, as he counted the $3.25 in change, “and I hope he comes back.”
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收听单词发音
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1
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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tunes
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| n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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5
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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ebb
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| vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态 | |
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8
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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9
winsome
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| n.迷人的，漂亮的 | |
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ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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12
debut
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| n.首次演出，初次露面 | |
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13
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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14
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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15
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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maelstrom
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| n.大乱动；大漩涡 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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croak
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| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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23
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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mammoth
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| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
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raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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28
cocktail
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| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
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29
pals
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| n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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31
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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38
ambushes
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| n.埋伏( ambush的名词复数 )；伏击；埋伏着的人；设埋伏点v.埋伏( ambush的第三人称单数 )；埋伏着 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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42
hustling
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| 催促（hustle的现在分词形式） | |
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43
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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44
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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45
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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46
depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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jubilation
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| n.欢庆，喜悦 | |
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48
fumbled
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| （笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下 | |
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49
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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