Pat Hobby, Putative Father Esquire (July 1940) chapter 1

Most writers look like writers whether they want to or not. It is hard to say why — for they model their exteriors¹ whimsically on Wall Street brokers², cattle kings or English explorers — but they all turn out looking like writers, as definitely typed as ‘The Public’ or ‘The Profiteers’ in the cartoons.

Pat Hobby was the exception. He did not look like a writer. And only in one corner of the Republic could he have been identified as a member of the entertainment world. Even there the first guess would have been that he was an extra down on his luck, or a bit player who specialized³ in the sort of father who should never come home. But a writer he was: he had collaborated⁴ in over two dozen moving picture scripts, most of them, it must be admitted, prior to 1929.

A writer? He had a desk in the Writers’ Building at the studio; he had pencils, paper, a secretary, paper clips, a pad for office memoranda⁵. And he sat in an overstuffed chair, his eyes not so very bloodshot taking in the morning’s Reporter.

‘I got to get to work,’ he told Miss Raudenbush at eleven. And again at twelve:

‘I got to get to work.’

At quarter to one, he began to feel hungry — up to this point every move, or rather every moment, was in the writer’s tradition. Even to the faint irritation⁶ that no one had annoyed him, no one had bothered him, no one had interfered⁷ with the long empty dream which constituted his average day.

He was about to accuse his secretary of staring at him when the welcome interruption came. A studio guide tapped at his door and brought him a note from his boss, Jack⁸ Berners:

Dear Pat:

Please take some time off and show these people around the lot.

Jack

‘My God!’ Pat exclaimed. ‘How can I be expected to get anything done and show people around the lot at the same time. Who are they?’ he demanded of the guide.

‘I don’t know. One of them seems to be kind of coloured. He looks like the extras they had at Paramount⁹ for Bengal Lancer. He can’t speak English. The other —’

Pat was putting on his coat to see for himself.

‘Will you be wanting me this afternoon?’ asked Miss Raudenbush.

He looked at her with infinite reproach and went out in front of the Writers’ Building.

The visitors were there. The sultry person was tall and of a fine carriage, dressed in excellent English clothes except for a turban. The other was a youth of fifteen, quite light of hue¹⁰. He also wore a turban with beautifully cut jodhpurs and riding coat.

They bowed formally.

‘Hear you want to go on some sets,’ said Pat, ‘You friends of Jack Berners?’

‘Acquaintances,’ said the youth. ‘May I present you to my uncle: Sir Singrim Dak Raj.’

Probably, thought Pat, the company was cooking up a Bengal Lancers, and this man would play the heavy who owned the Khyber Pass. Maybe they’d put Pat on it — at three-fifty a week. Why not? He knew how to write that stuff:

Beautiful Long Shot. The Gorge¹¹. Show Tribesman firing from behind rocks.

Medium Shot. Tribesman hit by bullet making nose dive over high rock. (use stunt¹² man)

Medium Long Shot. The Valley. British troops wheeling out cannon¹³.

‘You going to be long in Hollywood?’ he asked shrewdly.

‘My uncle doesn’t speak English,’ said the youth in a measured voice. ‘We are here only a few days. You see — I am your putative¹⁴ son.’

1 exteriors   

n.外面( exterior的名词复数 )；外貌；户外景色图

参考例句：

• You mustn't judge people by their exteriors. 你不能以貌取人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some artists only paint exteriors. 有些艺术家只画户外景色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

3 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

4 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

5 memoranda   

n. 备忘录, 便条 名词memorandum的复数形式

参考例句：

• There were memoranda, minutes of meetings, officialflies, notes of verbal di scussions. 有备忘录，会议记录，官方档案，口头讨论的手记。
• Now it was difficult to get him to address memoranda. 而现在，要他批阅备忘录都很困难。

6 irritation   

n.激怒，恼怒，生气

参考例句：

• He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
• Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说，但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。

7 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

10 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

11 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

12 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

13 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

14 putative   

adj.假定的

参考例句：

• There have been many attempts to track down the putative Loch Ness monster.人们为追踪假定存在的尼斯湖水怪做了许多努力。
• He is the putative father of this child.他是这孩子的推定的父亲。