NOT having as yet been in the Cirque privé at Monte Carlo, I was perhaps unduly1 impressed by the splendor2 of the rooms devoted3 to gambling4 in this amazingly large casino. There were eight hundred or a thousand people all in evening clothes, who had paid a heavy price for the mere5 privilege of entering, and were now gathered about handsome green-covered mahogany tables under glittering and ornate electroliers, playing a variety of carefully devised gambling games with a fervor6 that at times makes martyrs7 in other causes. To a humble-minded American person like myself, unused to the high world of fashion, this spectacle was, to say the least, an interesting one. Here were a dozen nationalities represented by men and women whose hands were manicured to perfection, whose toilets were all that a high social occasion might require, their faces showing in every instance a keen understanding of their world and how it works. Here in Nice, if you walk away from these centers of social perfection, where health and beauty and sophistication and money abound8, the vast run of citizens are as poverty-stricken as any; but this collection of nobility and gentry9, of millionaires, adventurers, intellectual prostitutes and savage10 beauties is recruited from all over the world. I hold that is something to see.
The tables were fairly swarming11 with a fascinating throng12 all very much alike in their attitude and their love of the game, but still individual and interesting. I venture to say that any one of the people I saw289 in this room, if you saw him in a crowd on the street, would take your attention. A native force and self-sufficiency went with each one. I wondered constantly where they all came from. It takes money to come to the Riviera; it takes money to buy your way into any gambling-room. It takes money to gamble; and what is more it takes a certain amount of self-assurance and individual selection to come here at all. By your mere presence you are putting yourself in contact and contrast with a notable standard of social achievement. Your intellectuality, your ability to take care of yourself, your breeding and your subtlety13 are at once challenged—not consciously, but unconsciously. Do you really belong here? the eyes of the attendants ask you as you pass. And the glitter and color and life and beauty of the room is a constant challenge.
It did not surprise me in the least that all these men and women in their health and attractiveness carried themselves with cynical14, almost sneering15 hauteur16. They might well do so—as the world judges these material things—for they are certainly far removed from the rank and file of the streets; and to see them extracting from their purses and their pockets handfuls of gold, unfolding layers of crisp notes that represented a thousand francs each, and with an almost indifferent air laying them on their favorite numbers or combinations was to my unaccustomed eye a gripping experience. Yet I was not interested in gambling—only in the people who played.
I know that to the denizens17 of this world who are fascinated by chance and find their amusement in such playing, this atmosphere is commonplace. It was not so to me. I watched the women—particularly the beautiful women—who strolled about the chambers19 with their escorts solely20 to show off their fine clothes. You290 see a certain type of youth here who seems to be experienced in this gay world that drifts from one resort to another, for you hear such phrases as “Oh, yes, I saw her at Aix-les-Bains,” or, “She was at Karlsbad last summer.” “Is that the same fellow she was with last year? I thought she was living with —” (this of a second individual). “My heaven, how well she keeps up!” or, “This must be her first season here—I have never seen her before.” Two or three of these young bloods would follow a woman all around the rooms, watching her, admiring her beauty quite as a horseman might examine the fine points of a horse. And all the while you could see that she was keenly aware of the critical fire of these eyes.
At the tables was another type of woman whom I had first casually21 noticed at Monte Carlo, a not too good looking, rather practical, and perhaps disillusioned23 type of woman—usually inclined to stoutness24, as is so often the case with women of indolent habits and no temperament25—although, now that I think of it, I have the feeling that neither illusion nor disillusion22 have ever played much part in the lives of such as these. They looked to me like women who, from their youth up, had taken life with a grain of salt and who had never been carried away by anything much—neither love, nor fashion, nor children, nor ambition. Perhaps their keenest interest had always been money—the having and holding of it. And here they sat—not good-looking, not apparently26 magnetic—interested in chance, and very likely winning and losing by turns, their principal purpose being, I fancy, to avoid the dullness and monotony of an existence which they are not anxious to endure. I heard one or two derogatory comments on women of this type while I was abroad; but I cannot say that they did more than appeal291 to my sympathies. Supposing, to look at it from another point of view, you were a woman of forty-five or fifty. You have no family—nothing to hold you, perhaps, but a collection of dreary27 relatives, or the ennui28 of a conventional neighborhood with prejudices that are wearisome to your sense of liberty and freedom. If by any chance you have money, here on the Riviera is your resource. You can live in a wonderful climate of sun and blue water; you can see nature clad in her daintiest raiment the year round; you can see fashion and cosmopolitan29 types and exchange the gossip of all the world; you can go to really excellent restaurants—the best that Europe provides; and for leisure, from ten o’clock in the morning until four or five o’clock the next morning, you can gamble if you choose, gamble silently, indifferently, without hindrance30 as long as your means endure.
If you are of a mathematical or calculating turn of mind you can amuse yourself infinitely31 by attempting to solve the strange puzzle of chance—how numbers fall and why. It leads off at last, I know, into the abstrusities of chemistry and physics. The esoteric realms of the mystical are not more subtle than the strange abnormalities of psychology32 that are here indulged in. Certain people are supposed to have a chemical and physical attraction for numbers or cards. Dreams are of great importance. It is bad to sit by a losing person, good to sit by a winning one. Every conceivable eccentricity33 of thought in relation to personality is here indulged in; and when all is said and done, in spite of the wonders of their cobwebby calculations, it comes to about the same old thing—they win and lose, win and lose, win and lose.
Now and then some interesting personality—stranger, youth, celebrity34, or other—wins heavily or loses heavily;292 in which case, if he plunges35 fiercely on, his table will be surrounded by a curious throng, their heads craning over each other’s shoulders, while he piles his gold on his combinations. Such a man or woman for the time being becomes an intensely dramatic figure. He is aware of the audacity36 of the thing he is doing, and he moves with conscious gestures—the manner of a grand seigneur. I saw one such later—in the Cirque privé at Monte Carlo—a red-bearded man of fifty—tall, intense, graceful37. It was rumored38 that he was a prince out of Russia—almost any one can be a prince out of Russia at Monte Carlo! He had stacks of gold and he distributed it with a lavish39 hand. He piled it in little golden towers over a score of numbers; and when his numbers fell wrong his towers fell with them, and the croupier raked great masses of metal into his basket. There was not the slightest indication on his pale impassive face that the loss or the gain was of the slightest interest to him. He handed crisp bills to the clerk in charge of the bank and received more gold to play his numbers. When he wearied, after a dozen failures—a breathing throng watching him with moist lips and damp, eager eyes—he rose and strolled forth40 to another chamber18, rolling a cigarette as he went. He had lost thousands and thousands.
The next morning it was lovely and sunshiny again. Sitting out on my balcony high over the surrounding land, commanding as it did all of Monte Carlo, the bay of Mentone and Cap Martin, I made many solemn resolutions. This gay life here was meretricious41 and artificial, I decided42. Gambling was a vice43, in spite of Sir Scorp’s lofty predilection44 for it; it drew to and around it the allied45 viciousness of the world, gormandizing, harlotry, wastefulness46, vain-glory. I resolved here in the cool morning that I would reform. I would see293 something of the surrounding country and then leave for Italy where I would forget all this.
I started out with Barfleur about ten to see the Oceanographical Museum and to lunch at the Princess, but the day did not work out exactly as we planned. We visited the Oceanographical Museum; but I found it amazingly dull—the sort of a thing a prince making his money out of gambling would endow. It may have vast scientific ramifications47, but I doubt it. A meager48 collection of insects and dried specimens49 quickly gave me a headache. The only case that really interested me was the one containing a half-dozen octopi of large size. I stood transfixed before their bulbous centers and dull, muddy, bronze-green arms, studded with suckers. I can imagine nothing so horrible as to be seized upon by one of these things, and I fairly shivered as I stood in front of the case. Barfleur contemplated50 solemnly the possibility of his being attacked by one of them, monocle and all. He foresaw a swift end to his career.
We came out into the sunlight and viewed with relief, by contrast with the dull museum, the very new and commonplace cathedral—oh, exceedingly poorly executed—and the castle or palace or residence of His Highness, the Prince of Monaco. I cannot imagine why Europe tolerates this man with his fine gambling privileges unless it is that the different governments look with opposition51 on the thought of any other government having so fine a source of wealth. France should have it by rights; and it would be suitable that the French temperament should conduct such an institution. The palace of the Prince of Monaco was as dull as his church and his museum; and the Monacoan Army drawn52 up in front of his residence for their morning exercise looked like a company of third-rate French policemen.
However I secured as fine an impression of the beauty294 of Monaco and the whole coast from this height, as I received at any time during my stay; for it is like the jewel of a ring projecting out of the sea. You climb up to the Oceanographical Museum and the palace by a series of stairways and walks that from time to time bring you out to the sheer edge of the cliff overlooking the blue waters below. There is expensive gardening done here, everywhere; for you find vines and flowers and benches underneath53 the shade of palms and umbrella trees where you can sit and look out over the sea. Lovely panoramas54 confront you in every direction; and below, perhaps as far down as three and four hundred feet, you can see and hear the waves breaking and the foam55 eddying56 about the rocks. The visitor to Monte Carlo, I fancy, is not greatly disturbed about scenery, however. Such walks as these are empty and still while the Casino is packed to the doors. The gaming-tables are the great center; and to these we ourselves invariably returned.
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1
unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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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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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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10
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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12
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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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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14
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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sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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16
hauteur
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| n.傲慢 | |
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denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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18
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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22
disillusion
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| vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭 | |
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disillusioned
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| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
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24
stoutness
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| 坚固，刚毅 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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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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30
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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33
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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34
celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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36
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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rumored
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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39
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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40
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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41
meretricious
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| adj.华而不实的，俗艳的 | |
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42
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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43
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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44
predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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45
allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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46
wastefulness
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| 浪费，挥霍，耗费 | |
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47
ramifications
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| n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 ) | |
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48
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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49
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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50
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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51
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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52
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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53
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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54
panoramas
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| 全景画( panorama的名词复数 )； 全景照片； 一连串景象或事 | |
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55
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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56
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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