The day before he had shown an obliging chandlery clerk over the Skipping Goone, “upstairs and down,” and the clerk had an eagle eye for such missing items as deck hose and cabin door knobs; and though the clerk was but a humble5 clerk, and although his contribution to the progress of events was frankly6 minor7, the impresario nevertheless felt himself appreciably8 nearer the realization9 of his daring project. He and the clerk had partaken of ice cream soda10 together afterward11 in a queer little confection emporium near the waterfront. And, all in all, it had seemed a highly important day.
Another cause for optimism was the fact that rehearsals12 were going surprisingly well. He would make people sit up after the tour had got under way! Indeed, his songbirds were artists to be proud of—not so much, perhaps, because of special genius as for their almost uncanny sticking proclivities13. It was, in truth, an organization of the most amazing sort, which had built itself up gradually about Xenophon Curry’s vast heart. Surely no organization was ever before so supremely14 an affair of the heart. Curry had drawn15 his songbirds to him from all over the world. Essentially16 a cosmopolitan17 himself (“I’m a dyed-in-the-wool hybrid”) he had kept open house in his heart for all sorts and conditions of people. Under his wing, one by one, he had gathered the struggling, the discouraged, the heavy-laden—even a soul now and then that called itself plainly down and out. And not only songbirds, but a tiny orchestra had been drawn in, too, by patient degrees: now a violinist with aspiring18 soul rescued from some dreadful little café chantant in Vienna; now a flute19 player off the hills of Sicily; again a lowly snare20 drummer in a band somewhere in Kentucky, who had a deep-seated passion for the kettles. They knew they could count on him to the last ditch, and so were willing to follow anywhere he led. It was really a little touching21. Certainly in no other way would it have been possible for Mr. Curry to do the things he had done, for, from a worldly point of view, no impresario, barring none, ever met with such shocking and consistent adversity.
Over his eggs the impresario read of an auction22 sale to be held that afternoon at Crawl Hill and the list sounded promising23. Mr. Curry made it a point to attend auctions24 whenever possible, for in this manner he was sometimes able to pick up odd bits to use as properties in his necessarily heterogeneous25 productions. He decided26 to stroll around and nose for bargains that might fit into the world tour.
The weather being delightful27, Curry literally28 did stroll. But when he had at length covered some considerable distance he began to ask himself where Crawl Hill was, after all. He remembered it vaguely29, and was certain of the general neighbourhood; but just how to get there was developing into another matter. He would have to begin inquiring. He half paused. And as he did so a pleasant voice challenged him at his elbow.
The impresario turned and faced a tall, quite handsome lady, near his own age, gowned expensively and somewhat complexly. Her eyes were frank, her demeanour that of one who has been much about and feels at home in the combinations of a moving life without sacrificing a rather unusual fund of freshness.
“I beg your pardon,” she said, smiling easily and just a[44] little grandly, “but I wonder if you could tell me how to get to Crawl Hill?”
Mr. Curry’s face lighted humorously. “A moment more and I might have put the same question to you.”
“Oh, I see!” she observed, simply and even graciously, much as though they were old friends. “Quite a coincidence—isn’t it? I thought I knew perfectly30 well when I started out, but this part of the city has changed so!”
“Lord, hasn’t it! Crawl Hill used to be one of those big places”—he enlarged a little upon the circumstances, adding: “Since we’re both headed for the same auction, we might walk on together, and I’ll ask the way.”
“It’s very kind of you, I’m sure!” she told him, her manner more than ever gracious.
So the stroll was thus resumed, and Mr. Curry was struck with the peculiar31 ease he felt from the very beginning in his new companion’s company. Their talk, as they proceeded, widened gradually to embrace a considerable range of subjects: cheerful commonplaces—just, as a contemporary puts it, “the talk which goes up the chimney with the spark of the wood fire.” Discreet32, polite side-glances revealed, for him, an undoubtedly33 romantic lady nearly as tall as himself, vaguely lavish34, just faintly overpowering in her enthusiasms, who walked along with free, hopeful stride and lifted her arching brows in an unbroken expression of communicative pleasantness. She wore a cloak made from an Arabian gondura—a fabric35 of rusty36 plum with intricate embellishment of bright green braid. There were wide flowing sleeves; and underneath37 the cloak one now and then caught sight of confusing details; a bit of Paisley, blue serge, large decorated brass38 buttons. Her hat was an oddly shaped straw with an ample feather falling off behind.
The lady, for her part, quickly noted39 his air of bustling40 optimism and seemed responding to it with unconscious warmth; at first, it is true, she had eyed his rings and general air of the exotic with some slight twinges of doubt: but after she had received one or two of his radiant smiles it was only too[45] plain she felt it would be unhandsome to hold so small a matter against him. Indeed, he seemed to perceive in her at once an element of happy tolerance41, at the same time that he was very sure he caught a genuine passion for the artistic42. Above all he couldn’t but be impressed with the uplifting and flowing quality in her rich voice. “I learned about the auction from some friends who have been spending months in Morocco, where they heard about Mr. Hoadley’s death and immediately thought about the lovely ‘things’ every one remembers having seen in his house here in San Francisco!” Her sentences, inclined to be “Germanic,” moved with the liquid fluency43 of a wide, well-mannered river. And there were words she stressed saliently or perhaps rather lingered over; it was a little quaint44. One came to listen for them. Other words, too, which, by the most marvellous yet wholly artless subtlety45 in shading, she managed to slip within quotation46 marks—although, as a matter of fact, there was seldom any real reason for their being quoted. “I don’t expect to find a thing that I’ll really buy, for everything’s sure to be quite dear, you know, considering how immensely rich Mr. Hoadley was when he did his collecting, although it’s always pleasant to just visit these ‘sales’ and look around and perhaps pick up some little trifles that catch one’s fancy—as trifles have such an irresistible47 way of doing!”
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1
curry
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| n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革 | |
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2
impresario
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| n.歌剧团的经理人；乐团指挥 | |
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3
sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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4
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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5
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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6
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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7
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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8
appreciably
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| adv.相当大地 | |
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9
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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10
soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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rehearsals
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| n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复 | |
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13
proclivities
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| n.倾向，癖性( proclivity的名词复数 ) | |
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14
supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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15
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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16
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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17
cosmopolitan
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| adj.世界性的，全世界的，四海为家的，全球的 | |
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aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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19
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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20
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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21
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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22
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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23
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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24
auctions
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| n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 ) | |
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heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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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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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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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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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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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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fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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40
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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41
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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42
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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43
fluency
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| n.流畅，雄辩，善辩 | |
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44
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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45
subtlety
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| n.微妙，敏锐，精巧；微妙之处，细微的区别 | |
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46
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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47
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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