Dinner at Franching's to meet Mr. Hardfur Huttle.
May 10. - Received a letter from Mr. Franching, of Peckham, askingus to dine with him to-night, at seven o'clock, to meet Mr. Hardfur Huttle,a very clever writer for the American papers. Franching apologised forthe short notice; but said he had at the last moment been disappointed oftwo of his guests and regarded us as old friends who would not mindfilling up the gap. Carrie rather demurred1 at the invitation; but Iexplained to her that Franching was very well off and influential2, and wecould not afford to offend him. "And we are sure to get a good dinnerand a good glass of champagne3." "Which never agrees with you!" Carriereplied, sharply. I regarded Carrie's observation as unsaid. Mr.
Franching asked us to wire a reply. As he had said nothing about dress inthe letter, I wired back: "With pleasure. Is it full dress?" and by leavingout our name, just got the message within the sixpence.
Got back early to give time to dress, which we received a telegraminstructing us to do. I wanted Carrie to meet me at Franching's house;but she would not do so, so I had to go home to fetch her. What a longjourney it is from Holloway to Peckham! Why do people live such along way off? Having to change 'buses, I allowed plenty of time - in fact,too much; for we arrived at twenty minutes to seven, and Franching, so theservant said, had only just gone up to dress. However, he was down asthe clock struck seven; he must have dressed very quickly.
I must say it was quite a distinguished4 party, and although we did notknow anybody personally, they all seemed to be quite swells5. Franchinghad got a professional waiter, and evidently spared no expense. Therewere flowers on the table round some fairy-lamps and the effect, I mustsay, was exquisite6. The wine was good and there was plenty ofchampagne, concerning which Franching said he himself, never wished totaste better. We were ten in number, and a MENU card to each. Onelady said she always preserved the MENU and got the guests to write their names on the back.
We all of us followed her example, except Mr. Huttle, who was ofcourse the important guest.
The dinner-party consisted of Mr. Franching, Mr. Hardfur Huttle, Mr.
and Mrs. Samuel Hillbutter, Mrs. Field, Mr. and Mrs. Purdick, Mr. Pratt,Mr. R. Kent, and, last but not least, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pooter.
Franching said he was sorry he had no lady for me to take in to dinner.
replied that I preferred it, which I afterwards thought was a veryuncomplimentary observation to make.
I sat next to Mrs. Field at dinner. She seemed a well-informed lady,but was very deaf. It did not much matter, for Mr. Hardfur Huttle did allthe talking. He is a marvellously intellectual man and says things whichfrom other people would seem quite alarming. How I wish I couldremember even a quarter of his brilliant conversation. I made a few littlereminding notes on the MENU card.
One observation struck me as being absolutely powerful - though notto my way of thinking of course. Mrs. Purdick happened to say "You arecertainly unorthodox, Mr. Huttle." Mr. Huttle, with a peculiar7 expression(I can see it now) said in a slow rich voice: "Mrs. Purdick, 'orthodox' is agrandiloquent word implying sticking-in- the-mud. If Columbus andStephenson had been orthodox, there would neither have been thediscovery of America nor the steam-engine." There was quite a silence.
It appeared to me that such teaching was absolutely dangerous, and yet Ifelt - in fact we must all have felt - there was no answer to the argument.
A little later on, Mrs. Purdick, who is Franching's sister and also acted ashostess, rose from the table, and Mr. Huttle said: "Why, ladies, do youdeprive us of your company so soon? Why not wait while we have ourcigars?"The effect was electrical. The ladies (including Carrie) were in noway inclined to be deprived of Mr. Huttle's fascinating society, andimmediately resumed their seats, amid much laughter and a little chaff8.
Mr. Huttle said: "Well, that's a real good sign; you shall not be insultedby being called orthodox any longer." Mrs. Purdick, who seemed to be abright and rather sharp woman, said: "Mr. Huttle, we will meet you half way - that is, till you get half-way through your cigar. That, at all events,will be the happy medium."I shall never forget the effect the words, "happy medium," had uponhim. He was brilliant and most daring in his interpretation9 of the words.
He positively10 alarmed me. He said something like the following:
"Happy medium, indeed. Do you know 'happy medium' are two wordswhich mean 'miserable11 mediocrity'? I say, go first class or third; marry aduchess or her kitchenmaid. The happy medium means respectability,and respectability means insipidness12. Does it not, Mr. Pooter?"I was so taken aback by being personally appealed to, that I could onlybow apologetically, and say I feared I was not competent to offer anopinion. Carrie was about to say something; but she was interrupted, forwhich I was rather pleased, for she is not clever at argument, and one hasto be extra clever to discuss a subject with a man like Mr. Huttle.
He continued, with an amazing eloquence13 that made his unwelcomeopinions positively convincing: "The happy medium is nothing more orless than a vulgar half-measure. A man who loves champagne and,finding a pint14 too little, fears to face a whole bottle and has recourse to animperial pint, will never build a Brooklyn Bridge or an Eiffel Tower. No,he is half-hearted, he is a half-measure - respectable - in fact, a happymedium, and will spend the rest of his days in a suburban15 villa16 with astucco-column portico17, resembling a four-post bedstead."We all laughed.
"That sort of thing," continued Mr. Huttle, "belongs to a soft man, witha soft beard with a soft head, with a made tie that hooks on."This seemed rather personal and twice I caught myself looking in theglass of the cheffoniere; for I had on a tie that hooked on - and why not?
If these remarks were not personal they were rather careless, and so weresome of his subsequent observations, which must have made both Mr.
Franching and his guests rather uncomfortable. I don't think Mr. Huttlemeant to be personal, for he added; "We don't know that class here in thiscountry: but we do in America, and I've no use for them."Franching several times suggested that the wine should be passedround the table, which Mr. Huttle did not heed18; but continued as if he were giving a lecture:
"What we want in America is your homes. We live on wheels. Yoursimple, quiet life and home, Mr. Franching, are charming. No display, nopretension! You make no difference in your dinner, I dare say, when yousit down by yourself and when you invite us. You have your own personalattendant - no hired waiter to breathe on the back of your head."I saw Franching palpably wince19 at this.
Mr. Huttle continued: "Just a small dinner with a few good things,such as you have this evening. You don't insult your guests by sendingto the grocer for champagne at six shillings a bottle."I could not help thinking of "Jackson Freres" at three-and-six!
"In fact," said Mr. Huttle, "a man is little less than a murderer whodoes. That is the province of the milksop, who wastes his evening athome playing dominoes with his wife. I've heard of these people. Wedon't want them at this table. Our party is well selected. We've no usefor deaf old women, who cannot follow intellectual conversation."All our eyes were turned to Mrs. Field, who fortunately, being deaf,did not hear his remarks; but continued smiling approval.
"We have no representative at Mr. Franching's table," said Mr. Huttle,"of the unenlightened frivolous20 matron, who goes to a second class danceat Bayswater and fancies she is in Society. Society does not know her; ithas no use for her."Mr. Huttle paused for a moment and the opportunity was afforded forthe ladies to rise. I asked Mr. Franching quietly to excuse me, as I didnot wish to miss the last train, which we very nearly did, by-the-by,through Carrie having mislaid the little cloth cricket- cap which she wearswhen we go out.
It was very late when Carrie and I got home; but on entering thesitting-room I said: "Carrie, what do you think of Mr. Hardfur Huttle?"She simply answered: "How like Lupin!" The same idea occurred tome in the train. The comparison kept me awake half the night. Mr.
Huttle was, of course, an older and more influential man; but he WAS likeLupin, and it made me think how dangerous Lupin would be if he wereolder and more influential. I feel proud to think Lupin DOES resemble Mr. Huttle in some ways. Lupin, like Mr. Huttle, has original andsometimes wonderful ideas; but it is those ideas that are so dangerous.
They make men extremely rich or extremely poor. They make or breakmen. I always feel people are happier who live a simple unsophisticatedlife. I believe I am happy because I am not ambitious. Somehow I feelthat Lupin, since he has been with Mr. Perkupp, has become content tosettle down and follow the footsteps of his father. This is a comfort.
收听单词发音 |
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demurred
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| v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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12
insipidness
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| n.没有味道，清淡 | |
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13
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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14
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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18
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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19
wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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