CHAPTER XVII.

  "Are all men so odd as this?" said the Angel.

 

"I'm in such a difficult position," said the Vicar. "You see," he said, and stopped, searching his chin for an idea.

 

"I'm beginning to see," said the Angel.

 

"They won't believe it."

 

"I see that."

 

"They will think I tell lies."

 

"And?"

 

"That will be extremely painful to me."

 

"Painful!... Pain," said the Angel. "I hope not."

 

The Vicar shook his head. The good report of the village had been the breath of his life, so far. "You see," he said, "it would look so much more plausible¹ if you said you were just a man."

 

"But I'm not," said the Angel.

 

"No, you're not," said the Vicar. "So that's no good."

 

[Pg 73]

 

"Nobody here, you know, has ever seen an Angel, or heard of one—except in church. If you had made your debut² in the chancel—on Sunday—it might have been different. But that's too late now.... (Bother!) Nobody, absolutely nobody, will believe in you."

 

"I hope I am not inconveniencing you?"

 

"Not at all," said the Vicar; "not at all. Only——. Naturally it may be inconvenient³ if you tell a too incredible story. If I might suggest (ahem)——."

 

"Well?"

 

"You see, people in the world, being men themselves, will almost certainly regard you as a man. If you say you are not, they will simply say you do not tell the truth. Only exceptional people appreciate the exceptional. When in Rome one must—well, respect Roman prejudices a little—talk Latin. You will find it better——"

 

"You propose I should feign⁴ to become a man?"

 

"You have my meaning at once."

 

The Angel stared at the Vicar's hollyhocks and thought.

 

[Pg 74]

 

"Possibly, after all," he said slowly, "I shall become a man. I may have been too hasty in saying I was not. You say there are no angels in this world. Who am I to set myself up against your experience? A mere⁵ thing of a day—so far as this world goes. If you say there are no angels—clearly I must be something else. I eat—angels do not eat. I may be a man already."

 

"A convenient view, at any rate," said the Vicar.

 

"If it is convenient to you——"

 

"It is. And then to account for your presence here."

 

"If," said the Vicar, after a hesitating moment of reflection, "if, for instance, you had been an ordinary man with a weakness for wading⁶, and you had gone wading in the Sidder, and your clothes had been stolen, for instance, and I had come upon you in that position of inconvenience; the explanation I shall have to make to Mrs Mendham——would be shorn at least of the supernatural element. There is such a feeling against the supernatural element nowadays[Pg 75]—even in the pulpit. You would hardly believe——"

 

"It's a pity that was not the case," said the Angel.

 

"Of course," said the Vicar. "It is a great pity that was not the case. But at anyrate you will oblige me if you do not obtrude⁷ your angelic nature. You will oblige everyone, in fact. There is a settled opinion that angels do not do this kind of thing. And nothing is more painful—as I can testify—than a decaying settled opinion.... Settled opinions are mental teeth in more ways than one. For my own part,"—the Vicar's hand passed over his eyes for a moment—"I cannot but believe you are an angel.... Surely I can believe my own eyes."

 

"We always do ours," said the Angel.

 

"And so do we, within limits."

 

Then the clock upon the mantel chimed seven, and almost simultaneously⁸ Mrs Hinijer announced dinner.

1 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

4 feign   

vt.假装，佯作

参考例句：

• He used to feign an excuse.他惯于伪造口实。
• She knew that her efforts to feign cheerfulness weren't convincing.她明白自己强作欢颜是瞒不了谁的。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

7 obtrude   

v.闯入；侵入；打扰

参考例句：

• I'm sorry to obtrude on you at such a time.我很抱歉在这个时候打扰你。
• You had better not obtrude your opinions on others.你最好不要强迫别人接受你的意见。

8 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。