The following morning Mr. Pontellier, upon leaving for his office, asked Edna if she would not meet him in town in order to look at some new fixtures1 for the library.
“I hardly think we need new fixtures, Leonce. Don’t let us get anything new; you are too extravagant2. I don’t believe you ever think of saving or putting by.”
“The way to become rich is to make money, my dear Edna, not to save it,” he said. He regretted that she did not feel inclined to go with him and select new fixtures. He kissed her good-by, and told her she was not looking well and must take care of herself. She was unusually pale and very quiet.
She stood on the front veranda3 as he quitted the house, and absently picked a few sprays of jessamine that grew upon a trellis near by. She inhaled4 the odor of the blossoms and thrust them into the bosom5 of her white morning gown. The boys were dragging along the banquette a small “express wagon,” which they had filled with blocks and sticks. The quadroon was following them with little quick steps, having assumed a fictitious6 animation7 and alacrity8 for the occasion. A fruit vender9 was crying his wares10 in the street.
Edna looked straight before her with a self-absorbed expression upon her face. She felt no interest in anything about her. The street, the children, the fruit vender, the flowers growing there under her eyes, were all part and parcel of an alien world which had suddenly become antagonistic11.
She went back into the house. She had thought of speaking to the cook concerning her blunders of the previous night; but Mr. Pontellier had saved her that disagreeable mission, for which she was so poorly fitted. Mr. Pontellier’s arguments were usually convincing with those whom he employed. He left home feeling quite sure that he and Edna would sit down that evening, and possibly a few subsequent evenings, to a dinner deserving of the name.
Edna spent an hour or two in looking over some of her old sketches12. She could see their shortcomings and defects, which were glaring in her eyes. She tried to work a little, but found she was not in the humor. Finally she gathered together a few of the sketches-those which she considered the least discreditable; and she carried them with her when, a little later, she dressed and left the house. She looked handsome and distinguished13 in her street gown. The tan of the seashore had left her face, and her forehead was smooth, white, and polished beneath her heavy, yellow-brown hair. There were a few freckles14 on her face, and a small, dark mole15 near the under lip and one on the temple, half-hidden in her hair.
As Edna walked along the street she was thinking of Robert. She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of him was like an obsession16, ever pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt upon details of their acquaintance, or recalled in any special or peculiar17 way his personality; it was his being, his existence, which dominated her thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into the mist of the forgotten, reviving again with an intensity18 which filled her with an incomprehensible longing19.
Edna was on her way to Madame Ratignolle’s . Their intimacy20, begun at Grand Isle21, had not declined, and they had seen each other with some frequency since their return to the city. The Ratignolles lived at no great distance from Edna’s home, on the corner of a side street, where Monsieur Ratignolle owned and conducted a drug store which enjoyed a steady and prosperous trade. His father had been in the business before him, and Monsieur Ratignolle stood well in the community and bore an enviable reputation for integrity and clearheadedness. His family lived in commodious22 apartments over the store, having an entrance on the side within the porte cochere. There was something which Edna thought very French, very foreign, about their whole manner of living. In the large and pleasant salon23 which extended across the width of the house, the Ratignolles entertained their friends once a fortnight with a soiree musicale, sometimes diversified24 by card-playing. There was a friend who played upon the ‘cello. One brought his flute25 and another his violin, while there were some who sang and a number who performed upon the piano with various degrees of taste and agility26. The Ratignolles’ soirees musicales were widely known, and it was considered a privilege to be invited to them.
Edna found her friend engaged in assorting the clothes which had returned that morning from the laundry. She at once abandoned her occupation upon seeing Edna, who had been ushered27 without ceremony into her presence.
“‘Cite can do it as well as I; it is really her business,” she explained to Edna, who apologized for interrupting her. And she summoned a young black woman, whom she instructed, in French, to be very careful in checking off the list which she handed her. She told her to notice particularly if a fine linen28 handkerchief of Monsieur Ratignolle’s , which was missing last week, had been returned; and to be sure to set to one side such pieces as required mending and darning.
Then placing an arm around Edna’s waist, she led her to the front of the house, to the salon, where it was cool and sweet with the odor of great roses that stood upon the hearth29 in jars.
Madame Ratignolle looked more beautiful than ever there at home, in a neglige which left her arms almost wholly bare and exposed the rich, melting curves of her white throat.
“Perhaps I shall be able to paint your picture some day,” said Edna with a smile when they were seated. She produced the roll of sketches and started to unfold them. “I believe I ought to work again. I feel as if I wanted to be doing something. What do you think of them? Do you think it worth while to take it up again and study some more? I might study for a while with Laidpore.”
She knew that Madame Ratignolle’s opinion in such a matter would be next to valueless, that she herself had not alone decided30, but determined31; but she sought the words of praise and encouragement that would help her to put heart into her venture.
“Your talent is immense, dear!”
“Nonsense!” protested Edna, well pleased.
“Immense, I tell you,” persisted Madame Ratignolle, surveying the sketches one by one, at close range, then holding them at arm’s length, narrowing her eyes, and dropping her head on one side. “Surely, this Bavarian peasant is worthy32 of framing; and this basket of apples! never have I seen anything more lifelike. One might almost be tempted33 to reach out a hand and take one.”
Edna could not control a feeling which bordered upon complacency at her friend’s praise, even realizing, as she did, its true worth. She retained a few of the sketches, and gave all the rest to Madame Ratignolle, who appreciated the gift far beyond its value and proudly exhibited the pictures to her husband when he came up from the store a little later for his midday dinner.
Mr. Ratignolle was one of those men who are called the salt of the earth. His cheerfulness was unbounded, and it was matched by his goodness of heart, his broad charity, and common sense. He and his wife spoke34 English with an accent which was only discernible through its un-English emphasis and a certain carefulness and deliberation. Edna’s husband spoke English with no accent whatever. The Ratignolles understood each other perfectly35. If ever the fusion36 of two human beings into one has been accomplished37 on this sphere it was surely in their union.
As Edna seated herself at table with them she thought, “Better a dinner of herbs,” though it did not take her long to discover that it was no dinner of herbs, but a delicious repast, simple, choice, and in every way satisfying.
Monsieur Ratignolle was delighted to see her, though he found her looking not so well as at Grand Isle, and he advised a tonic38. He talked a good deal on various topics, a little politics, some city news and neighborhood gossip. He spoke with an animation and earnestness that gave an exaggerated importance to every syllable39 he uttered. His wife was keenly interested in everything he said, laying down her fork the better to listen, chiming in, taking the words out of his mouth.
Edna felt depressed40 rather than soothed41 after leaving them. The little glimpse of domestic harmony which had been offered her, gave her no regret, no longing. It was not a condition of life which fitted her, and she could see in it but an appalling42 and hopeless ennui43. She was moved by a kind of commiseration44 for Madame Ratignolle,-a pity for that colorless existence which never uplifted its possessor beyond the region of blind contentment, in which no moment of anguish45 ever visited her soul, in which she would never have the taste of life’s delirium46. Edna vaguely47 wondered what she meant by “life’s delirium.” It had crossed her thought like some unsought, extraneous48 impression.
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1
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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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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inhaled
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| v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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vender
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| n.小贩 | |
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wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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sketches
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| n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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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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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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commodious
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| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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diversified
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| adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域 | |
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flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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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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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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33
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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34
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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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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36
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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37
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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38
tonic
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| n./adj.滋补品，补药，强身的，健体的 | |
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39
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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40
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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41
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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42
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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43
ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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45
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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46
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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47
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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48
extraneous
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| adj.体外的；外来的；外部的 | |
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