They started out in several cars. Tod rode in the front of the one Claude drove and as they went down Sunset Boulevard he described Mrs. Jenning for him. She had been a fairly prominent actress in the days of silent films, but sound made it impossible for her to get work. Instead of becoming an extra or a bit player like many other old stars, she had shown excellent business sense and had opened a callhouse. She wasn’t vicious. Far from it. She ran her business just as other women run lending libraries, shrewdly and with taste.
None of the girls lived on the premises1. You telephoned and she sent a girl over. The charge was thirty dollars for a single night of sport and Mrs. Jenning kept fifteen of it. Some people might think that fifty per cent is a high brokerage fee, but she really earned every cent of it. There was a big overhead. She maintained a beautiful house for the girls to wait in and a car and a chauffeur2 to deliver them to the clients.
Then, too, she had to move in the kind of society where she could make the right contacts. After all, not every man can afford thirty dollars. She permitted her girls to service only men of wealth and position, not to say taste and discretion3. She was so particular that she insisted on meeting the prospective4 sportsman before servicing him. She had often said, and truthfully, that she would not let a girl of hers go to a man with whom she herself would not be willing to sleep.
And she was really cultured. All the most distinguished5 visitors considered it quite a lark6 to meet her. They were disappointed, however, when they discovered how refined she was. They wanted to talk about certain lively matters of universal interest, but she insisted on discussing Gertrude Stein and Juan Gris. No matter how hard the distinguished visitor tried, and some had been known to go to really great lengths, he could never find a flaw in her refinement7 or make a breach8 in her culture.
Claude was still using his peculiar9 rhetoric10 on Mrs. Jenning when she came to the door of her house to greet them.
“It’s so nice to see you again,” she said. “I was telling Mrs. Prince at tea only yesterday — the Estees are my favorite couple.”
She was a handsome woman, smooth and buttery, with fair hair and a red complexion11.
She led them into a small drawing room whose color scheme was violet, gray and rose. The Venetian blinds were rose, as was the ceiling, and the walls were covered with a pale gray paper that had a tiny, widely spaced flower design in violet. On one wall hung a silver screen, the kind that rolls up, and against the opposite wall, on each side of a cherrywood table, was a row of chairs covered with rose and gray, glazed12 chintz bound in violet piping. There was a small projection13 machine on the table and a young man in evening dress was fumbling14 with it.
She waved them to their seats. A waiter then came in and asked what they wanted to drink. When their orders had been taken and filled, she flipped15 the light switch and the young man started his machine. It whirred merrily, but he had trouble in getting it focused.
“What are we going to see first?” Mrs. Schwartzen asked. “Le Predicament de Marie.”
“That sounds ducky.”
“It’s charming, utterly16 charming,” said Mrs. Jenning. “Yes,” said the cameraman, who was still having trouble. “I love Le Predicament de Marie. It has a marvelous quality that is too exciting.”
There was a long delay, during which he fussed desperately17 with his machine. Mrs. Schwartzen started to whistle and stamp her feet and the others joined in. They imitated a rowdy audience in the days of the nickelodeon.
“What’s your hurry? Here’s your hat.”
“Get a horse!”
“Get out and get under!”
The young man finally found the screen with his light beam and the film began.
LE PREDICAMENT DE MARIE ou LA BONNE DISTRAITE
Marie, the “bonne,” was a buxom19 young girl in a tight-fitting black silk uniform with very short skirts. On her head was a tiny lace cap. In the first scene, she was shown serving dinner to a middle-class family in an oak-paneled dining room full of heavy, carved furniture. The family was very respectable and consisted of a bearded, frock-coated father, a mother with a whalebone collar and a cameo brooch, a tall, thin son with a long mustache and almost no chin and a little girl wearing a large bow in her hair and a crucifix on a gold chain around her neck.
After some low comedy with father’s beard and the soup, the actors settled down seriously to their theme. It was evident that while the whole family desired Marie, she only desired the young girl. Using his napkin to hide his activities, the old man pinched Marie, the son tried to look down the neck of her dress and the mother patted her knee. Marie, for her part, surreptitiously fondled the child.
The scene changed to Marie’s room. She undressed and got into a chiffon negligee, leaving on only her black silk stockings and high-heeled shoes. She was making an elaborate night toilet when the child entered. Marie took her on her lap and started to kiss her. There was a knock on the door. Consternation20. She hid the child in the closet and let in the bearded father. He was suspicious and she had to accept his advances. He was embracing her when there was another knock. Again consternation and tableau21. This time it was the mustachioed son. Marie hid the father under the bed. No sooner had the son begun to grow warm than there was another knock. Marie made him climb into a large blanket chest. The new caller was the lady of the house. She, too, was just settling down to work when there was another knock.
Who could it be? A telegram? A policeman? Frantically22 Marie counted the different hiding places. The whole family was present. She tiptoed to the door and listened.
“Who can it be that wishes to enter now?” read the title card.
And there the machine stuck. The young man in evening dress became as frantic23 as Marie. When lie got it running again, there was a flash of light and the film whizzed through the apparatus24 until it had all run out. “I’m sorry, extremely,” he said. “I’ll have to rewind.”
“It’s a frameup,” someone yelled. “Fake!”
“Cheat!”
“The old teaser routine!”
They stamped their feet and whistled.
Under cover of the mock riot, Tod sneaked25 out. He wanted to get some fresh air. The waiter, whom he found loitering in the hall, showed him to the patio26 in back of the house.
On his return, he peeked27 into the different rooms. In one of them he found a large number of miniature dogs in a curio cabinet. There were glass pointers, silver beagles, porcelain28 schnauzers, stone dachshunds, aluminum29 bulldogs, onyx whippets, china bassets, wooden spaniels. Every recognized breed was represented and almost every material that could be sculptured, cast or carved.
While he was admiring the little figures, he heard a girl singing. He thought he recognized her voice and peeked into the hall. It was Mary Dove, one of Faye Greener’s best friends.
Perhaps Faye also worked for Mrs. Jenning. If so, for thirty dollars . . .
He went back to see the rest of the film.
收听单词发音 |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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chauffeur
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| n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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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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rhetoric
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| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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flipped
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| 轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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25
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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patio
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| n.庭院，平台 | |
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peeked
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| v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出 | |
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28
porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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aluminum
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| n.(aluminium)铝 | |
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