Panem et Circenses; bread and the Big Show. The diagnosis1 of the satyr-like mathematician2 had been accurate. That same method whereby the tyrants3 of Rome had sought to beguile4 the restless and unthinking multitude, Banneker adopted to capture and lead the sensation-avid metropolitan5 public through his newspaper. As a facture, a creation made to the mind of the creator, The Patriot6 was Banneker's own. True, Marrineal reserved full control. But Marrineal, after a few months spent in anxious observation of his editor's headlong and revolutionary method, had taken the sales reports for his determinative guide and decided7 to give the new man full sway.
Circulation had gone up as water rises in a tube under irresistible8 pressure from beneath. Nothing like it had ever been known in local journalism9. Barring some set-back, within four years of the time when Banneker's introductory editorial appeared, the paper would have eclipsed all former records. In less than two years it had climbed to third place, and already Banneker's salary, under the percentage agreement, was, in the words of the alliterative Gardner, whose article describing The House With Three Eyes and its owner had gone forth10 on the wings of a far-spreading syndicate, "a stupendous stipend11."
Banneker's editorials pervaded12 and gave the keynote. With sublime13 self-confidence he had adopted the untried scheme of having no set and determined14 place for the editorial department. Sometimes, his page appeared in the middle of the paper; sometimes on the back; and once, when a most promising15 scheme of municipal looting was just about to be put through, he fired his blast from the front sheet in extra heavy, double-leaded type, displacing an international yacht race and a most titillating16 society scandal with no more explanation than was to be found in the opening sentence:
"This is more important to YOU, Mr. New Yorker, than any other news in to-day's issue."
"Where Banneker sits," Russell Edmonds was wont17 to remark between puffs18, "is the head of the paper."
"Let 'em look for the stuff," said Banneker confidently. "They'll think all the more of it when they find it."
Often he used inset illustrations, not so much to give point to his preachments, as to render them easier of comprehension to the unthinking. And always he sought the utmost of sensationalism in caption20 and in type, employing italics, capitals, and even heavy-face letters with an effect of detonation21.
"Jollies you along until he can see the white of your mind, and then fires his slug into your head, point-blank," Edmonds said.
With all this he had the high art to keep his style direct, unaffected, almost severe. No frills, no literary graces, no flashes of wit except an occasional restrained touch of sarcasm22: the writing was in the purest style and of a classic simplicity23. The typical reader of The Patriot had a friendly and rather patronizing feeling for the editorials: they were generally deemed quite ordinary, "common as an old shoe" (with an approving accent from the commentator), comfortably devoid24 of the intricate elegancies practiced by Banneker's editorial compeers. So they were read and absorbed, which was all that their writer hoped or wished for them. He was not seeking the bubble, reputation, but the solid satisfaction of implanting ideas in minds hitherto unaroused to mental processes, and training the resultant thought in his chosen way and to eventual25 though still vague purposes.
"They're beginning to imitate you, Ban," commented Russell Edmonds in the days of The Patriot's first surprising upward leap. "Flattery of your peers."
"Let 'em imitate," returned Banneker indifferently.
"Yes; they don't come very near to the original. It's a fundamental difference in style."
"It's a fundamental difference in aim."
"Aim?"
"They're writing at and for their owners; to make good with the boss. I'm writing at my public."
"I believe you're right. It's more difficult, though, isn't it, to write for a hundred thousand people than at one?"
"Not if you understand them from study at first hand, as I do. That's why the other fellows are five or ten-thousand-dollar men," said Banneker, quite without boastfulness "while I'm--"
"A fifty-thousand-dollar a year man," supplied Edmonds.
"Well, getting toward that figure. I'm on the target with the editorials and I'm going to hold on it. But our news policy is different. We still wobble there."
"What do you want! Look at the circulation. Isn't that good enough?"
"No. Every time I get into a street-car and see a passenger reading some other paper, I feel that we've missed fire," returned Banneker inexorably. "Pop, did you ever see an actress make up?"
"I've a general notion of the process."
"Find me a man who can make up news ready and rouged27 to go before the daily footlights as an actress makes up her face."
The veteran grunted28. "Not to be found on Park Row."
"Probably not. Park Row is too deadly conventional."
One might suppose that the environment of religious journalism would be equally conventional. Yet it was from this department that the "find" eventually came, conducted by Edmonds. Edgar Severance29, ten years older than Banneker, impressed the guiding spirit of The Patriot at first sight with a sense of inner certitude and serenity30 not in the least impaired31 by his shabbiness which had the redeeming32 merit of being clean.
"You're not a newspaper man?" said Banneker after the introduction. "What are you?"
"I'm a prostitute," answered the other equably.
Banneker smiled. "Where have you practiced your profession?"
"As assistant editor of Guidance. I write the blasphemous33 editorials which are so highly regarded by the sweetly simple souls that make up our _clientele_; the ones which weekly give gratuitous34 advice to God."
"Did Mr. Edmonds find you there?"
"No," put in the veteran; "I traced him down through some popular scientific stuff in the Boston Sunday Star."
"Fake, all of it," proffered35 Severance. "Otherwise it wouldn't be popular."
"Is that your creed36 of journalism?" asked Banneker curiously37.
"Largely."
"Why come to The Patriot, then? It isn't ours."
Severance raised his fine eyebrows38, but contented39 himself with saying: "Isn't it? However, I didn't come. I was brought." He indicated Edmonds.
"He gave me more ideas on news-dressing," said the veteran, "than I'd pick up in a century on the Row."
"Ideas are what we're after. Where do you get yours, Mr. Severance, since you are not a practical newspaper man?"
"From talking with people, and seeing what the newspapers fail to do."
"Where were you before you went on Guidance?"
"Instructor40 at Harvard."
"And you practiced your--er--specified profession there, too?"
"Oh, no. I was partly respectable then.
"Why did you leave?"
"Drink."
"Ah? You don't build up much of a character for yourself as prospective41 employee."
"If I join The Patriot staff I shall probably disappear once a month or so on a spree."
"Why should you join The Patriot staff? That is what you fail to make clear to me."
"Reference, Mr. Russell Edmonds," returned the other negligently42.
"You two aren't getting anywhere with all this chatter," growled43 the reference. "Come, Severance; talk turkey, as you did to me."
"I don't want to talk," objected the other in his gentle, scholarly accents. "I want to look about: to diagnose the trouble in the news department."
"What do you suspect the trouble to be?" asked Banneker.
"Oh, the universal difficulty. Lack of brains."
Banneker laughed, but without relish44. "We pay enough for what we've got. It ought to be good quality."
"You pay not wisely but too well. My own princely emolument45 as a prop46 of piety47 is thirty-five dollars a week."
"Would you come here at that figure?"
"I should prefer forty. For a period of six weeks, on trial."
"As Mr. Edmonds seems to think it worth the gamble, I'll take you on. From to-day, if you wish. Go out and look around."
"Wait a minute," interposed Edmonds. "What's his title? How is his job to be defined?"
"Call him my representative in the news department. I'll pay his salary myself. If he makes good, I'll more than get it back."
Mr. Severance's first concern appeared to be to make himself popular. In the anomalous48 position which he occupied as representative between two mutually jealous departments, this was no easy matter. But his quiet, contained courtesy, his tentative, almost timid, way of offering suggestions or throwing out hints which subsequently proved to have definite and often surprising value, his retiring willingness to waive49 any credit in favor of whosoever might choose to claim it, soon gave him an assured if inconspicuous position. His advice was widely sought. As an immediate51 corollary a new impress made itself felt in the daily columns. With his quick sensitiveness Banneker apprehended52 the change. It seemed to him that the paper was becoming feminized in a curious manner.
"Is it a play for the women?" he asked Severance in the early days of the development.
"No."
"You're certainly specializing on femaleness."
"For the men. Not the women. It's an old lure53."
Banneker frowned. "And not a pretty one."
"Effective, though. I bagged it from the Police Gazette. Have you ever had occasion to note the almost unvarying cover appeal of that justly popular weekly?"
"Half-dressed women," said Banneker, whose early researches had extended even to those levels.
"Exactly. With all they connote. Thereby54 attracting the crude and roving male eye. Of course, we must do the trick more artistically55 and less obviously. But the pictured effect is the thing. I'm satisfied of that. By the way, I am having a little difficulty with your art department. Your man doesn't adapt himself to new ideas."
"I've thought him rather old-fashioned. What do you want to do?"
"Bring in a young chap named Capron whom I've run upon. He used to be an itinerant57 photographer, and afterward58 had a try at the movies, but he's essentially59 a news man. Let him read the papers for pictures."
Capron came on the staff as an insignificant60 member with an insignificant salary. Personally a man of blameless domesticity, he was intellectually and professionally a sex-monger. He conceived the business of a news art department to be to furnish pictured Susannahs for the delectation of the elders of the reading public. His _flair_ for femininity he transferred to The Patriot's pages, according to a simple and direct formula; the greater the display of woman, the surer the appeal and therefore the sale. Legs and bosoms61 he specialized62 for in illustrations. Bathing-suits and boudoir scenes were his particular aim, although any picture with a scandal attachment63 in the accompanying news would serve, the latter, however, to be handled in such manner as invariably to point a moral. Herein his team work with Severance was applied64 in high perfection.
"Should Our Girls Become Artists' Models" was one of their early and inspired collaborations, a series begun with a line of "beauty pictures" and spun65 out by interviews with well or less known painters and illustrators, giving rich opportunity for displays of nudity, the moral being pointed66 by equally lavish67 interviews with sociologists and prominent Mothers in Israel. Although at least ninety-nine per cent of all professional posing is such as would not be out of place at a church sociable68, the casual reader of the Capron-Severance presentation would have supposed that a lace veil was the extent of the protection allowed to a female model between sheer nakedness and the outer artistic56 world. Following this came a department devoted69 (ostensibly) to physical culture for women. It was conducted by the proprietress of a fashionable reducing gymnasium, who was allowed, as this was a comparatively unimportant feature, to supply the text subject to Severance's touching-up ingenuity70; but the models were devised and posed by Capron. They were extremely shapely and increasingly expressive71 in posture72 and arrangement until they attained73 a point where the post-office authorities evinced symptoms of rising excitement--though not the type of excitement at which the Art Expert was aiming--when the series took a turn for the milder, and more purely74 athletic75, and, by the same token, less appetizing; and presently faded away in a burst of semi-editorial self-laudation over The Patriot's altruistic76 endeavors to improve the physical status of the "future mothers of the nation."
Failing any other excuse for their careful lubricities, the team could always conjure77 up an enticing78 special feature from an imaginary foreign correspondent, aimed direct at the family circle and warning against the "Moral Pitfalls79 of Paris," or the "Vampires80 of High Life in Vienna." The invariable rule was that all sex-stuff must have a moral and virtuous81 slant82. Thus was afforded to the appreciative83 reader a double satisfaction, physical and ethical84, pruriency85 and piety.
It was Capron who devised the simple but effective legend which afterward became, in a thousand variants86, a stock part of every news item interesting enough to merit graphic87 treatment, "The X Marks the Spot Where the Body Was Found." He, too, adapted, from a design in a drug-store window picturing a sponge fisherman in action, the cross-section illustration for news. Within a few weeks he had displaced the outdated88 art editor and was in receipt of a larger salary than the city editor, who dealt primarily in news, not sensations, _panem_ not _circenses_.
Sensationalism of other kinds was spurred to keep pace with the sex appeal. The news columns became constantly more lurid89. They shrieked90, yelled, blared, shrilled91, and boomed the scandals and horrors of the moment in multivocal, multigraphic clamor, tainting92 the peaceful air breathed by everyday people going about their everyday business, with incredible blatancies which would be forgotten on the morrow in the excitement of fresh percussions, though the cumulative93 effect upon the public mind and appetite might be ineradicable. "Murderer Dabbles94 Name in Bloody95 Print." "Wronged Wife Mars Rival's Beauty." "Society Woman Gives Hundred-Dollar-Plate Dinner." "Scientist Claims Life Flickers96 in Mummy." "Cocktails97, Wine, Drug, Ruin for Lovely Girl of Sixteen." "Financier Resigns After Sprightly98 Scene at Long Beach." Severance developed a literary genius for excitant and provocative99 word-combinations in the headings; "Love-Slave," "Girl-Slasher," "Passion-Victim," "Death-Hand," "Vengeance-Oath," "Lust-Fiend." The articles chosen for special display were such as lent themselves, first, to his formula for illustration, and next to captions100 which thrilled with the sensations of crime, mystery, envy of the rich and conspicuous50, or lechery101, half concealed102 or unconcealed. For facts as such he cared nothing. His conception of news was as a peg103 upon which to hang a sensation. "Love and luxury for the women: money and power for the men," was his broad working scheme for the special interest of the paper, with, of course, crime and the allure104 of the flesh for general interest. A jungle man, perusing105 one day's issue (supposing him to have been competent to assimilate it), would have judged the civilization pictured therein too grisly for his unaccustomed nerves and fled in horror back to the direct, natural, and uncomplicated raids and homicides of the decent wilds.
The Great Gaines, descending106 for once from the habitual107 classicism of his phraseology, described The Patriot of Severance's production in two terse108 and sufficient words.
That itch109 irked Banneker almost unendurably at times. He longed to be relieved of it; to scratch the irritant Severance clean off the skin of The Patriot. But Severance was too evidently valuable. Banneker did go so far as to protest.
"Aren't you rather overdoing111 this thing, Severance?"
"Which thing? We're overdoing everything; hence the growth of the paper."
Banneker fell back upon banality113. "Well, we've got to draw the line somewhere."
Severance bestowed114 upon the other his well-bred and delicate smile. "Exactly my principle. I'm for drawing the line every issue and on every page, if there's room for it. '_Nulla dies sine linea_.' The line of appeal to the sensations, whether it's a pretty face or a caption that jumps out and grabs you by the eye. I want to make 'em gloat."
"I see. You were in earnest more or less when in our first talk, you defined your profession."
Severance waved a graceful115 hand. "Prostitution is the profession of all successful journalism which looks at itself honestly. Why not play the pander116 frankly117?--among ourselves, of course. Perhaps I'm offending you, Mr. Banneker."
"You're interesting me. But, 'among ourselves' you say. You're not a newspaper man; you haven't the traditions."
"Therefore I haven't the blind spots. I'm not fooled by the sentimentalism of the profession or the sniveling claims of being an apostle of public enlightenment. If enlightenment pays, all very well. But it's circulation, not illumination, that's the prime desideratum. Frankly, I'd feed the public gut119 with all it can and will stand."
"Even to the extent of keeping the Tallman divorce scandal on the front page for a week consecutively120. You won't pretend that, as news, it's worth it."
"Give me a definition of news," retorted the expert. "The Tallman story won't alter the history of the world. But it has its--well, its specialized value for our purposes."
"You mean," said Banneker, deliberately121 stimulating122 his own growing nausea123, "that it makes the public's mind itch."
"It's a pretty filthy124 and scabby sort of animal, the public, Mr. Banneker. We're not trying to reform its morals in our news columns, I take it."
"No. No; we're not. Still--"
"That's the province of your editorials," went on the apostle of titillation125 smoothly126. "You may in time even educate them up to a standard of decency127 where they won't demand the sort of thing we're giving them now. But our present business with the news columns is to catch them for you to educate."
"Quite so! You lure them into the dive where I wait to preach them a sermon."
After that conversation Banneker definitely decided that Severance's activities must be curbed128. But when he set about it, he suffered an unpleasant surprise. Marrineal, thoroughly129 apprised130 of the new man's activities (as he was, by some occult means of his own, of everything going on in the office), stood fast by the successful method, and let Banneker know, tactfully but unmistakably, that Severance, who had been transferred to the regular payroll131 at a highly satisfactory figure, was to have a free hand. So the ex-religious editor continued to stroll leisurely132 through his unauthoritative and influential134 routine, contributing his commentary upon the news as it flowed in. He would saunter over to the make-up man's clotted135 desk, run his eye over the dummy136 of the morrow's issue, and inquire;
"Wasn't there a shooting scrape over a woman in a big West-Side apartment?... Being kept by the chap that was shot, wasn't she?... Oh, a bank clerk?... Well, that's a pretty dull-looking seventh page. Why not lift this text of the new Suburban137 Railways Bill and spread the shooting across three columns? Get Sanderson to work out a diagram and do one of his filmy line drawings of the girl lying on the couch. And let's be sure to get the word 'Banker' into the top head."
Or he would deliver a practical lecture from a text picked out of what to a less keen-scented news-hound might have appeared an unpromising subject.
"Can't we round out that disappearance138 story a little; the suburban woman who hasn't been seen since she went to New York three days ago? Get Capron to fake up a picture of the home with the three children in it grouped around Bereaved139 Husband, and--here, how would something like this do for caption: '"Mamma, Mamma! Come Back!" Sob140 Tiny Tots.' The human touch. Nothing like a bit of slush to catch the women. And we've been going a little shy on sentiment lately."
The "human touch," though it became an office joke, also took its place as an unwritten law. Severance's calm and impersonal141 cynicism was transmuted142 into a genuine enthusiasm among the copy-readers. Headlining took on a new interest, whetted143 by the establishment of a weekly prize for the most attractive caption. Maximum of sensationalism was the invariable test.
Despite his growing distaste for the Severance cult26, Banneker was honest enough to admit that the original stimulus144 dated from the day when he himself had injected his personality and ideas into the various departments of the daily. He had established the new policy; Severance had done no more than inform it with the heated imaginings and provocative pictorial145 quality inherent in a mind intensely if scornfully apprehensive146 of the unsatiated potential depravities of public taste. It was Banneker's hand that had set the strings147 vibrating to a new tune148; Severance had only raised the pitch, to the _n_th degree of sensationalism. And, in so far as the editorial page gave him a lead, the disciple149 was faithful to the principles and policies of his chief. The practice of the news columns was always informed by a patently defensible principle. It paeaned the virtues150 of the poor and lowly; it howled for the blood of the wicked and the oppressor; it was strident for morality, the sanctity of the home, chastity, thrift151, sobriety, the People, religion, American supremacy152. As a corollary of these pious153 standards it invariably took sides against wealth and power, sentimentalized every woman who found her way into the public prints, whether she had perpetrated a murder or endowed a hospital, simpered and slavered over any "heart-interest story" of childhood ("blue-eyed tot stuff" was the technical office term), and licked reprehensive but gustful lips over divorce, adultery, and the sexual complications. It peeped through keyholes of print at the sanctified doings of Society and snarled154 while it groveled. All the shibboleths155 of a journalism which respected neither itself, its purpose, nor its readers echoed from every page. And this was the reflex of the work and thought of Errol Banneker, who intimately respected himself, and his profession as expressed in himself. There is much of the paradoxical in journalism--as, indeed, in the life which it distortedly mirrors.
Every other newspaper in town caught the contagion156; became by insensible degrees more sensational19 and pornographic. The Patriot had started a rag-time pace (based on the same fundamental instinct which the rhythm of rag-time expresses, if the psychologists are correct) and the rest must, perforce, adopt it. Such as lagged in this Harlot's Progress suffered a loss of circulation, journalism's most condign157 penalty. For there are certain appetites which, once stimulated158, must be appeased159. Otherwise business wanes160!
Out of conscious nothing, as represented by the now moribund161 News, there was provoked one evening a large, round, aged163" target="_blank">middle-aged162, smiling, bespectacled apparition164 who named himself as Rudy Sheffer and invited himself to a job. Marrineal had sent him to Severance, and Severance, ever tactful, had brought him to Banneker. Russell Edmonds being called in, the three sat in judgment165 upon the Big Idea which Mr. Sheffer had brought with him and which was:
"Give 'em a laugh."
"The potentialities of humor as a circulation agency," opined Severance in his smoothest academic voice, "have never been properly exploited."
"A laugh on every page where there ain't a thrill," pursued Sheffer confidently.
"You find some of our pages dull?" asked Banneker, always interested in any new view.
"Well, your market page ain't no scream. You gotta admit it."
"People don't usually want to laugh when they're studying the stock market," growled Edmonds.
"Surprise 'em, then. Give 'em a jab in the ribs166 and see how they like it. Pictures. Real comics. Anywhere in the paper that there's room for 'em."
"There's always a cartoon on the editorial page," pointed out Banneker.
"Cartoon? What does that get you? A cartoon's an editorial, ain't it?"
Russell Edmonds shot a side glance at Banneker, meaning: "This is no fool. Watch him."
"Makes 'em think, don't it?" pursued the visitor. "If it tickles167 'em, that's on the side. It gets after their minds, makes 'em work for what they get. That's an effort. See?"
"All right. What's your aim?"
"Not their brains. I leave that to Mr. Banneker's editorials. I'm after the laugh that starts down here." He laid hand upon his rotund waistcoat. "The belly-laugh."
"The anatomy168 of anti-melancholy," murmured Severance. "Valuable."
"You're right, it's valuable," declared its proponent169. "It's money; that's what it is. Watch 'em at the movies. When their bellies170 begin to shake, the picture's got 'em."
"How would you produce this desirable effect?" asked Severance.
"No trouble to show goods. I'm dealing171 with gents, I know. This is all under your shirt for the present, if you don't take up the scheme."
From a portfolio172 which he had set in a corner he produced a sheaf of drawings. They depicted173 the adventures, mischievous174, predatory, or criminal, of a pair of young hopefuls whose physiognomies and postures175 were genuinely ludicrous.
"Did you draw these?" asked Banneker in surprise, for the draughtsmanship was expert.
"No. Hired a kid artist to do 'em. I furnished the idea."
"Oh, you furnished the idea, did you?" queried176 Edmonds. "And where did you get it?"
With an ineffably177 satisfied air, Mr. Sheffer tapped his bullet head.
"You must be older than you look, then. Those figures of the kids are redrawn from a last-century German humorous classic, 'Max und Moritz.' I used to be crazy over it when I was a youngster. My grandfather brought it to me from Europe, and made a translation for us youngsters."
"Sure! Those pictures'd make a reformer laugh. I picked up the book in German on an Ann Street sidewalk stand, caught the Big Idea right then and there; to Americanize the stuff and--"
"For 'Americanize,' read 'steal,'" commented Edmonds.
"There ain't no thin' crooked178 in this," protested the other with sincerity179. "The stuff ain't copyrighted here. I looked that up particularly."
"Quite true, I believe," confirmed Severance. "It's an open field."
"I got ten series mapped out to start. Call 'em 'The Trouble-hunter Twins, Ruff and Reddy.' If they catch on, the artist and me can keep 'em goin' forever. And they'll catch."
"I believe they will," said Severance.
"Smeared180 across the top of a page it'll make a business man laugh as hard as a kid. I know business men. I was one, myself. Sold bar fixtures181 on the road for four years. And my best selling method was the laughs I got out of 'em. Used to take a bit of chalk and do sketches182 on the table-tops. So I know what makes 'em laugh. Belly-laughs. You make a business man laugh that way, and you get his business. It ain't circulation alone; it's advertising183 that the stuff will bring in. Eh?"
"What do you think, Mr. Banneker?" asked Severance.
"It's worth trying," decided Banneker after thought. "You don't think so, do you, Pop?"
"Oh, go ahead!" returned Edmonds, spewing forth a mouthful of smoke as if to expel a bad taste. "What's larceny184 among friends?"
"But we're not taking anything of value, since there's no copyright and any one can grab it," pointed out the smooth Severance.
Thus there entered into the high-tension atmosphere of the sensationalized Patriot the relaxing quality of humor. Under the ingenuous185 and acquisitive Sheffer, whose twins achieved immediate popularity, it developed along other lines. Sheffer--who knew what makes business men laugh--pinned his simple faith to three main subjects, convulsive of the diaphragmatic muscles, building up each series upon the inherent humor to be extracted from physical violence as represented in the perpetrations and punishments of Ruff and Reddy, marital186 infidelity as mirrored in the stratagems187 and errancies of an amorous188 ape with an aged and jealous spouse189, and the sure-fire familiarity of aged minstrel jokes (mother-in-law, country constable190, young married cookery, and the like) refurbished in pictorial serials191 through the agency of two uproarious and imbecilic vulgarians, Bonehead and Buttinsky.
Children cried for them, and laughed to exhaustion192 over them. Not less did the mentally exhausted193 business man writhe194 abdominally over their appeal. Spread across the top of three pages they wrung195 the profitable belly-laugh from growing thousands of new readers. If Banneker sometimes had misgivings196 that the educational influence of The Patriot was not notably197 improved by all this instigation of crime and immorality198 made subject for mirth in the mind of developing youth, he stifled199 them in the thought of increased reading public for his own columns. Furthermore, it was not his newspaper, anyway.
But the editorial page was still peculiarly his own, and with that clarity of view which he never permitted personal considerations to prejudice, Banneker perceived that it was falling below pitch. Or, rather, that, while it remained static, the rest of the paper, under the stimulus of Severance, Capron, Sheffer, and, in the background but increasingly though subtly assertive200, Marrineal, had raised its level of excitation. Change his editorials he would not. Nor was there need; the response to them was too widespread and fervent201, their following too blindly fanatic202, the opposition203 roused by them too furious to permit of any doubt as to their effectiveness. But that portion of the page not taken up by his writings and the cartoon (which was often based upon an idea supplied by him), was susceptible204 of alteration205, of keying-up. Casting about him for the popular note, the circus appeal, he started a "signed-article" department of editorial contributions to which he invited any and all persons of prominence206 in whatever line. The lure of that universal egotism which loves to see itself in the public eye secured a surprising number of names. Propagandists were quick to appreciate the opportunity of The Patriot's wide circulation for furthering their designs, selfish or altruistic. To such desirables as could not be caught by other lures207, Banneker offered generous payment.
It was on this latter basis that he secured a prize, in the person of the Reverend George Bland208, ex-revivalist, ex-author of pious stories for the young, skilled dealer209 in truisms, in wordy platitudes210 couched largely in plagiarized211 language from the poets and essayists, in all the pseudo-religious slickeries wherewith men's souls are so easily lulled212 into self-satisfaction. The Good, the True, the Beautiful; these were his texts, but the real god of his worship was Success. This, under the guise213 of Duty ("man's God-inspired ambition to be true to his best possibilities"), he preached day in and day out through his "Daily Help" in The Patriot: Be guided by me and you will be good: Be good and you will be prosperous: Be prosperous and you will be happy. On an adjoining page there were other and far more specific instructions as to how to be prosperous and happy, by backing Speedfoot at 10 to 1 in the first race, or Flashaway at 5 to 2 in the third. Sometimes the Reverend Bland inveighed214 convincingly against the evils of betting. Yet a cynic might guess that the tipsters' recipes for being prosperous and happy (and therefore, by a logical inversion215, good) were perhaps as well based and practical as the reverend moralist's. His correspondence, surest indication of editorial following, grew to be almost as large as Banneker's. Severance nicknamed him "the Oracle216 of Boobs," and for short he became known as the "Booblewarbler," for there were times when he burst into verse, strongly reminiscent of the older hymnals. This he resented hotly and genuinely, for he was quite sincere; as sincere as Sheffer, in his belief in himself. But he despised Sheffer and feared Severance, not for what the latter represented, but for the cynical217 honesty of his attitude. In retort for Severance's stab, he dubbed218 the pair Mephistopheles and Falstaff, which was above his usual felicitousness219 of characterization. Sheffer (who read Shakespeare to improve his mind, and for ideas!) was rather flattered.
Even the platitudinous220 Bland had his practical inspirations; if they had not been practical, they would not have been Bland's. One of these was an analysis of the national business character.
"We Americans," he wrote, "are natural merchandisers. We care less for the making of a thing than for the selling of it. Salesmanship is the great American game. It calls forth all our native genius; it is the expression of our originality221, our inventiveness, our ingenuity, our idealism," and so on, for a full column slathered with deadly and self-betraying encomiums. For the Reverend Bland believed heartily222 that the market was the highest test of humankind. _He_ would rather sell a thing than make it! In fact, anything made with any other purpose than to sell would probably not be successful, and would fail to make its author prosperous; therefore it must be wrong. Not the creator, but the salesman was the modern evangel.
"The Booblewarbler has given away the game," commented Severance with his slight, ironic223 smile, the day when this naive224 effusion appeared. "He's right, of course. But he thinks he's praising when he's damning."
Banneker was disturbed. But the flood of letters which came in promptly225 reassured226 him. The Reverend editorializer was hailed broadcast as the Messiah of the holy creed of Salesmanship, of the high cult of getting rid of something for more than it is worth. He was organized into a lecture tour; his department in the paper waxed ever greater. Banneker, with his swift appreciation227 of a hit, followed the lead with editorials; hired authors to write short stories glorifying228 the ennobled figure of the Salesman, his smartness, his strategy, his ruthless trickery, his success. And the salesmanhood of the nation, in trains, in hotel lobbies, at the breakfast table with its Patriot propped229 up flanking the egg and coffee, rose up to call him blessed and to add to his income.
Personal experiences in achieving success were a logical sequence to this; success in any field, from running a city as set forth by His Honor the Mayor, to becoming a movie star, by all the movie stars or aspirants230 whom their press-agents could crowd into the paper. A distinguished231 novelist of notably high blood-pressure contributed a series of thoughtful essays on "How to be Irresistible in Love," and a sentimental118 pugilist indulged in reminiscences (per a hired pen from the cheap magazine field) upon "The Influence of my Mother on my Career." An imitator of Banneker developed a daily half-column of self-improvement and inspiration upon moral topics, achieving his effects by capitalizing all the words which otherwise would have been too feeble or banal112 to attract notice, thereby giving an air of sublimated232 importance to the mildly incomprehensible. Nine tenths of The Patriot's editorial readers believed that they were following a great philosopher along the path of the eternal profundities233. To give a touch of science, an amateur astronomer234 wrote stirring imaginative articles on interstellar space, and there were occasional "authoritative133" pronouncements by men of importance in the political, financial, or intellectual worlds, lifted from public speeches or old publications. The page, if it did not actually itch, buzzed and clanged. But above the composite clamor rose ever the voice of Banneker, clear, serene235, compelling.
And Banneker took his pay for it, deeming it well earned.
收听单词发音 |
1
diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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mathematician
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| n.数学家 | |
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tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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beguile
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| vt.欺骗，消遣 | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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journalism
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| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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stipend
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| n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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titillating
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| adj.使人痒痒的； 使人激动的，令人兴奋的v.使觉得痒( titillate的现在分词 )；逗引；激发；使高兴 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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caption
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| n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明 | |
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21
detonation
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| n.爆炸；巨响 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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eventual
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| adj.最后的，结局的，最终的 | |
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cult
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| n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜 | |
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rouged
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| 胭脂，口红( rouge的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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29
severance
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| n.离职金；切断 | |
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30
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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31
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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33
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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34
gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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38
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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40
instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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41
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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42
negligently
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43
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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44
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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45
emolument
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| n.报酬，薪水 | |
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46
prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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48
anomalous
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| adj.反常的；不规则的 | |
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49
waive
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| vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等) | |
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50
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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51
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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52
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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53
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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54
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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56
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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57
itinerant
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| adj.巡回的；流动的 | |
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58
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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59
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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60
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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61
bosoms
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| 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 | |
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62
specialized
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| adj.专门的，专业化的 | |
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63
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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68
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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71
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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72
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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73
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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altruistic
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| adj.无私的，为他人着想的 | |
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conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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78
enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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79
pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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80
vampires
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| n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门 | |
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81
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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82
slant
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| v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向 | |
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83
appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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85
pruriency
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| n.好色；迷恋；淫欲；（焦躁等的）渴望 | |
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variants
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| n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体 | |
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graphic
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| adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的 | |
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outdated
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| adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时 | |
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lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrilled
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| （声音）尖锐的，刺耳的，高频率的( shrill的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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92
tainting
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| v.使变质( taint的现在分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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cumulative
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| adj.累积的，渐增的 | |
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dabbles
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| v.涉猎( dabble的第三人称单数 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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flickers
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| 电影制片业； （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的名词复数 ) | |
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97
cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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sprightly
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| adj.愉快的，活泼的 | |
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provocative
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| adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的 | |
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100
captions
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| n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 ) | |
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101
lechery
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| n.好色；淫荡 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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103
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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104
allure
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| n.诱惑力，魅力；vt.诱惑，引诱，吸引 | |
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105
perusing
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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106
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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107
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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terse
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| adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的 | |
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109
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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itches
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| n.痒( itch的名词复数 )；渴望，热望v.发痒( itch的第三人称单数 ) | |
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111
overdoing
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| v.做得过分( overdo的现在分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
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112
banal
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| adj.陈腐的，平庸的 | |
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113
banality
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| n.陈腐；平庸；陈词滥调 | |
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114
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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116
pander
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| v.迎合；n.拉皮条者，勾引者；帮人做坏事的人 | |
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117
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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118
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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119
gut
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| n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏 | |
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120
consecutively
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| adv.连续地 | |
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121
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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122
stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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123
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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124
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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125
titillation
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| n.搔痒，愉快；搔痒感 | |
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126
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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127
decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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128
curbed
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| v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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129
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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130
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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131
payroll
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| n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额 | |
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132
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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133
authoritative
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| adj.有权威的，可相信的；命令式的；官方的 | |
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134
influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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135
clotted
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| adj.凝结的v.凝固( clot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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136
dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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137
suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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138
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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139
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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140
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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141
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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142
transmuted
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| v.使变形，使变质，把…变成…( transmute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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143
whetted
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的过去式和过去分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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144
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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145
pictorial
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| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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146
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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147
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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148
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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149
disciple
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| n.信徒，门徒，追随者 | |
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150
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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151
thrift
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| adj.节约，节俭；n.节俭，节约 | |
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152
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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153
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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154
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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155
shibboleths
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| n.（党派、集团等的）准则( shibboleth的名词复数 )；教条；用语；行话 | |
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156
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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157
condign
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| adj.应得的，相当的 | |
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158
stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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159
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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160
wanes
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| v.衰落( wane的第三人称单数 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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161
moribund
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| adj.即将结束的，垂死的 | |
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162
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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163
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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164
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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165
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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166
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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167
tickles
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| （使）发痒( tickle的第三人称单数 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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168
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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169
proponent
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| n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的 | |
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170
bellies
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| n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的 | |
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171
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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172
portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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173
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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174
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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175
postures
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| 姿势( posture的名词复数 )； 看法； 态度； 立场 | |
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176
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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177
ineffably
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| adv.难以言喻地，因神圣而不容称呼地 | |
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178
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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179
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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180
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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181
fixtures
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| （房屋等的）固定装置( fixture的名词复数 )； 如（浴盆、抽水马桶）； 固定在某位置的人或物； （定期定点举行的）体育活动 | |
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182
sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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183
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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184
larceny
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| n.盗窃（罪） | |
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185
ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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186
marital
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| adj.婚姻的，夫妻的 | |
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187
stratagems
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| n.诡计，计谋( stratagem的名词复数 )；花招 | |
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188
amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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189
spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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190
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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191
serials
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| n.连载小说，电视连续剧( serial的名词复数 ) | |
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192
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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193
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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194
writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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195
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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196
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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197
notably
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| adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地 | |
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198
immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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199
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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200
assertive
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| adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的 | |
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201
fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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202
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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203
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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204
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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205
alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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206
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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207
lures
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| 吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式） | |
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208
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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209
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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210
platitudes
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| n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子 | |
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211
plagiarized
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| v.剽窃，抄袭( plagiarize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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212
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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213
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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214
inveighed
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| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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215
inversion
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| n.反向，倒转，倒置 | |
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216
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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217
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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218
dubbed
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| v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制 | |
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219
felicitousness
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| n.恰当；贴切；适合 | |
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220
platitudinous
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| adj.平凡的，陈腐的 | |
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221
originality
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| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
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222
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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223
ironic
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| adj.讽刺的，有讽刺意味的，出乎意料的 | |
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224
naive
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| adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的 | |
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225
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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226
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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227
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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228
glorifying
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| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
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229
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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230
aspirants
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| n.有志向或渴望获得…的人( aspirant的名词复数 )v.渴望的，有抱负的，追求名誉或地位的( aspirant的第三人称单数 )；有志向或渴望获得…的人 | |
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231
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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232
sublimated
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| v.（使某物质）升华( sublimate的过去式和过去分词 )；使净化；纯化 | |
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233
profundities
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| n.深奥，深刻，深厚( profundity的名词复数 )；堂奥 | |
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234
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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235
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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