The Awakening and Selected Short Stories
by Kate Chopin
I
A green and yellow
parrot, which hung in a cage outside the
door, kept repeating over and over:
"Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en! Sapristi! That's all right!"
He could speak a little Spanish, and also a language which
nobody understood, unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the
other side of the door, whistling his fluty notes out upon the
breeze with maddening persistence.
Mr. Pontellier,
unable to read his newspaper with any degree
of comfort, arose with an expression and an
exclamation of disgust.
He walked down the
gallery and across the narrow "bridges" which
connected the Lebrun
cottages one with the other. He had been
seated before the door of the main house. The
parrot and the
mockingbird were the property of Madame Lebrun, and they had the
right to make all the noise they wished. Mr. Pontellier had the
privilege of quitting their society when they ceased to be
entertaining.
He stopped before the door of his own
cottage, which was the
fourth one from the main building and next to the last. Seating
himself in a wicker rocker which was there, he once more applied
himself to the task of
reading the newspaper. The day was Sunday;
the paper was a day old. The Sunday papers had not yet reached
Grand Isle. He was already acquainted with the market reports,
and he glanced
restlessly over the editorials and bits of news which
he had not had time to read before quitting New Orleans the day before.
Mr. Pontellier wore eye-glasses. He was a man of forty, of
medium
height and rather
slender build; he stooped a little. His
hair was brown and straight, parted on one side. His beard was
neatly and closely trimmed.
Once in a while he
withdrew his glance from the newspaper and
looked about him. There was more noise than ever over at the
house. The main building was called "the house," to
distinguish it
from the
cottages. The chattering and whistling birds were still
at it. Two young girls, the Farival twins, were playing a duet
from "Zampa" upon the piano. Madame Lebrun was bustling in and
out, giving orders in a high key to a yard-boy
whenever she got
inside the house, and directions in an
equally high voice to a
dining-room servant
whenever she got outside. She was a fresh,
pretty woman, clad always in white with elbow sleeves. Her
starched skirts crinkled as she came and went. Farther down,
before one of the
cottages, a lady in black was walking demurely up
and down, telling her beads. A good many persons of the pension
had gone over to the Cheniere Caminada in Beaudelet's
lugger to hear mass. Some young people were out under the
wateroaks playing croquet. Mr. Pontellier's two children were there
sturdy little fellows of four and five. A quadroon nurse followed
them about with a faraway, meditative air.
Mr. Pontellier finally lit a cigar and began to smoke, letting
the paper drag idly from his hand. He fixed his gaze upon a white
sunshade that was advancing at snail's pace from the beach. He
could see it
plainly between the gaunt trunks of the water-oaks and
across the stretch of yellow camomile. The gulf looked far away,
melting hazily into the blue of the
horizon. The sunshade
continued to approach slowly. Beneath its pink-lined shelter were
his wife, Mrs. Pontellier, and young Robert Lebrun. When they
reached the
cottage, the two seated themselves with some appearance
of
fatigue upon the upper step of the porch, facing each other,
each leaning against a supporting post.
"What folly! to bathe at such an hour in such heat!" exclaimed
Mr. Pontellier. He himself had taken a
plunge at
daylight. That
was why the morning seemed long to him.
"You are burnt beyond recognition," he added, looking at his
wife as one looks at a
valuable piece of personal property which
has suffered some damage. She held up her hands, strong, shapely
hands, and surveyed them critically,
drawing up her fawn sleeves
above the wrists. Looking at them reminded her of her rings, which
she had given to her husband before leaving for the beach. She
silently reached out to him, and he, understanding, took the rings
from his vest pocket and dropped them into her open palm. She
slipped them upon her fingers; then clasping her knees, she looked
across at Robert and began to laugh. The rings sparkled upon her
fingers. He sent back an answering smile.
"What is it?" asked Pontellier, looking
lazily and amused from
one to the other. It was some utter
nonsense; some adventure out
there in the water, and they both tried to
relate it at once. It
did not seem half so
amusing when told. They realized this, and so
did Mr. Pontellier. He yawned and stretched himself. Then he got
up,
saying he had half a mind to go over to Klein's hotel and play
a game of billiards.
"Come go along, Lebrun," he proposed to Robert. But Robert
admitted quite
frankly that he preferred to stay where he was and
talk to Mrs. Pontellier.
"Well, send him about his business when he bores you, Edna,"
instructed her husband as he prepared to leave.
"Here, take the umbrella," she exclaimed,
holding it out to
him. He accepted the sunshade, and lifting it over his head
descended the steps and walked away.
"Coming back to dinner?" his wife called after him. He halted
a moment and shrugged his shoulders. He felt in his vest pocket;
there was a ten-dollar bill there. He did not know; perhaps he
would return for the early dinner and perhaps he would not.
It all depended upon the company which he found over at Klein's
and the size of "the game." He did not say this, but she understood it,
and laughed, nodding good-by to him.
Both children wanted to follow their father when they saw him
starting out. He kissed them and promised to bring them back
bonbons and peanuts.
II
Mrs. Pontellier's eyes were quick and bright; they were a
yellowish brown, about the color of her hair. She had a way of
turning them
swiftly upon an object and
holding them there as if
lost in some
inward maze of
contemplation or thought.
Her eyebrows were a shade darker than her hair. They were
thick and almost
horizontal, emphasizing the depth of her eyes.
She was rather handsome than beautiful. Her face was captivating
by reason of a certain
frankness of expression and a contradictory
subtle play of features. Her manner was engaging.
Robert rolled a cigarette. He smoked cigarettes because he
could not afford cigars, he said. He had a cigar in his pocket
which Mr. Pontellier had presented him with, and he was saving it
for his after-dinner smoke.
This seemed quite proper and natural on his part. In coloring
he was not
unlike his
companion. A clean-shaved face made the
resemblance more
pronounced than it would
otherwise have been.
There rested no shadow of care upon his open
countenance. His eyes
gathered in and reflected the light and languor of the summer day.
Mrs. Pontellier reached over for a palm-leaf fan that lay on
the porch and began to fan herself, while Robert sent between his
lips light puffs from his cigarette. They chatted incessantly:
about the things around them; their
amusing adventure out in the
water-it had again assumed its entertaining
aspect; about the wind, the trees,
the people who had gone to the Cheniere; about the children playing croquet
under the oaks, and the Farival twins, who were now performing the overture
to "The Poet and the Peasant."
Robert talked a good deal about himself. He was very young,
and did not know any better. Mrs. Pontellier talked a little about
herself for the same reason. Each was interested in what the other
said. Robert spoke of his
intention to go to Mexico in the autumn,
where fortune awaited him. He was always intending to go to
Mexico, but some way never got there. Meanwhile he held on to his
modest position in a mercantile house in New Orleans, where an
equal
familiarity with English, French and Spanish gave him no
small value as a clerk and correspondent.
He was spending his summer
vacation, as he always did, with
his mother at Grand Isle. In former times, before Robert could
remember, "the house" had been a summer
luxury of the Lebruns.
Now, flanked by its dozen or more
cottages, which were always
filled with
exclusive visitors from the "Quartier Francais,"
it enabled Madame Lebrun to
maintain the easy and comfortable
existence which appeared to be her birthright.
Mrs. Pontellier talked about her father's Mississippi
plantation and her girlhood home in the old Kentucky bluegrass
country. She was an American woman, with a small infusion of
French which seemed to have been lost in dilution. She read a
letter from her sister, who was away in the East, and who had
engaged herself to be married. Robert was interested, and wanted
to know what manner of girls the sisters were, what the father was
like, and how long the mother had been dead.
When Mrs. Pontellier folded the letter it was time for her to
dress for the early dinner.
"I see Leonce isn't coming back," she said, with a glance in
the direction
whence her husband had disappeared. Robert supposed
he was not, as there were a good many New Orleans club men over at Klein's.
When Mrs. Pontellier left him to enter her room, the young man
descended the steps and strolled over toward the croquet players,
where, during the
half-hour before dinner, he amused himself with
the little Pontellier children, who were very fond of him.
III
It was eleven o'clock that night when Mr. Pontellier returned
from Klein's hotel. He was in an excellent humor, in high spirits,
and very talkative. His entrance awoke his wife, who was in bed
and fast asleep when he came in. He talked to her while he
undressed, telling her anecdotes and bits of news and
gossip that
he had gathered during the day. From his
trousers pockets he took
a fistful of crumpled bank notes and a good deal of silver coin,
which he piled on the
bureau indiscriminately with keys, knife,
handkerchief, and
whatever else happened to be in his pockets. She
was
overcome with sleep, and answered him with little half
utterances.
He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was the
sole object of his
existence, evinced so little interest in things
which
concerned him, and valued so little his conversation.
Mr. Pontellier had forgotten the bonbons and peanuts for the
boys. Notwithstanding he loved them very much, and went into the
adjoining room where they slept to take a look at them and make
sure that they were resting
comfortably. The result of his
investigation was far from
satisfactory. He turned and shifted the
youngsters about in bed. One of them began to kick and talk about
a basket full of crabs.
Mr. Pontellier returned to his wife with the information that
Raoul had a high fever and needed looking after. Then he lit a
cigar and went and sat near the open door
to smoke it.
Mrs. Pontellier was quite sure Raoul had no fever. He had
gone to bed
perfectly well, she said, and nothing had ailed him all
day. Mr. Pontellier was too well acquainted with fever symptoms to
be
mistaken. He
assured her the child was consuming at that moment
in the next room.
He reproached his wife with her inattention, her habitual
neglect of the children. If it was not a mother's place to look
after children, whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands
full with his brokerage business. He could not be in two places at
once; making a living for his family on the street, and staying at
home to see that no harm
befell them. He talked in a monotonous,
insistent way.
Mrs. Pontellier
sprang out of bed and went into the next room.
She soon came back and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning her head
down on the pillow. She said nothing, and refused to answer her
husband when he questioned her. When his cigar was smoked out he
- unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的;无能为力的 (初中英语单词)
- gallery [´gæləri] n.画廊;美术馆;长廊 (初中英语单词)
- cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍;小屋;小别墅 (初中英语单词)
- reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读;朗读;读物 (初中英语单词)
- height [hait] n.高度;顶点;卓越 (初中英语单词)
- slender [´slendə] a.细长的;微薄的 (初中英语单词)
- distinguish [di´stiŋgwiʃ] v.区分;识别;立功 (初中英语单词)
- whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
- equally [´i:kwəli] ad.相等地;平等地 (初中英语单词)
- plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地;简单地 (初中英语单词)
- horizon [hə´raizən] n.地平线;范围;视野 (初中英语单词)
- plunge [plʌndʒ] v.插进 n.投入;冲击 (初中英语单词)
- daylight [´deilait] n.日光;黎明 (初中英语单词)
- valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl] a.有价值的,贵重的 (初中英语单词)
- relate [ri´leit] v.阐明;使联系;涉及 (初中英语单词)
- frankly [´fræŋkli] ad.直率地;慷慨地 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地,敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象... (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴;同事;伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)
- countenance [´kauntinəns] n.面部表情;脸色;面容 (初中英语单词)
- aspect [´æspekt] n.面貌;神色;方向 (初中英语单词)
- intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图;打算;意义 (初中英语单词)
- mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
- meanwhile [´mi:n´wail] n.&ad.其间;同时 (初中英语单词)
- vacation [və´keiʃən, vei´keiʃən] n.假期;休庭期;腾空 (初中英语单词)
- luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品);享受 (初中英语单词)
- maintain [mein´tein] vt.维持;保持;继续 (初中英语单词)
- trousers [´trauzəz] n.裤子,长裤 (初中英语单词)
- bureau [´bjuərəu] n.局;编辑部;事务所 (初中英语单词)
- whatever [wɔt´evə] pron.&a.无论什么 (初中英语单词)
- overcome [,əuvə´kʌm] vt.战胜,克服 (初中英语单词)
- existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在;生存;生活 (初中英语单词)
- satisfactory [,sætis´fæktəri] a.令人满意的 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- withdrew [wið´dru:] withdraw的过去式 (高中英语单词)
- fatigue [fə´ti:g] n.&vt.(使)疲劳(劳累) (高中英语单词)
- nonsense [´nɔnsəns] n.胡说 int.胡说!废话 (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语;言论;格言 (高中英语单词)
- inward [´inwəd] a.向内的;心灵上的 (高中英语单词)
- pronounced [prə´naunst] a.发出音的;显著的 (高中英语单词)
- exclusive [ik´sklu:siv] a.独有的;集中的 (高中英语单词)
- kentucky [kən´tʌki] n.肯塔基 (高中英语单词)
- gossip [´gɔsip] n.&vi.说闲话;聊天 (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的;担心的 (高中英语单词)
- notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然;还是 (高中英语单词)
- comfortably [´kʌmfətəbli] ad.舒适地 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地;完美地 (高中英语单词)
- mistaken [mis´teikən] mistake的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- parrot [´pærət] n.鹦鹉;应声虫 (英语四级单词)
- exclamation [,eksklə´meiʃən] n.喊(惊)叫;感叹词 (英语四级单词)
- orleans [ɔ:´liənz] n.奥尔良 (英语四级单词)
- drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图;制图;图样 (英语四级单词)
- contemplation [,kɔntem´pleiʃən] n.注视;冥想;打算 (英语四级单词)
- horizontal [,hɔri´zɔntl] a.水平的,横的 (英语四级单词)
- whence [wens] ad.从何处;从那里 (英语四级单词)
- befell [bi´fel] befall的过去式 (英语四级单词)
- awakening [ə´weikəniŋ] n.&a.觉醒(中的) (英语六级单词)
- restlessly [´restlisli] ad.不安定地;烦躁地 (英语六级单词)
- lazily [´leizili] ad.懒惰地,慢吞吞地 (英语六级单词)
- holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持,固定,存储 (英语六级单词)
- frankness [´fræŋknis] n.坦白,直率,真诚 (英语六级单词)
- familiarity [fə,mili´æriti] n.熟悉;新近;随便 (英语六级单词)
- half-hour [´hɑ:f-auə] n.&a.(每)三十分钟的 (英语六级单词)
- assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)