酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

The Gaming Table-Vol. 1-Part22_Andrew Steinmetz(1816-1877)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页
broken-down courtesans of Paris, Vienna, and Berlin have agreed

to make Wiesbaden their autumn rendezvous. Arrayed in all the



colours of the rainbow, painted up to the roots of their dyed

hair, shamelessly _decolletees_, prodigal of "free" talk



and unseemly gesture, these ghastly creatures, hideous

caricatures of youth and beauty, flaunt about the play-rooms and



gardens, levying black-mail upon those who are imprudent enough

to engage them in "chaff" or badinage, and desperately



endeavouring to hook themselves on to the wealthier and younger

members of the male community. They poison the air round them



with sickly perfumes; they assume titles, and speak of one

another as "cette chere comtesse;" their walk is something



between a prance and a wriggle; they prowl about the terrace

whilst the music is playing, seeking whom they may devour, or



rather whom they may inveigle into paying for their devouring:

and, _bon Dieu!_ how they do gorge themselves with food and drink



when some silly lad or aged roue allows himself to be bullied

or wheedled into paying their scot! Their name is legion; and



they constitute the very worst feature of a place which,

naturally a Paradise, is turned into a seventh hell by the



uncontrolled rioting of human passions. They have no friends--no

"protectors;" they are dependent upon accident for a meal or a



piece of gold to throw away at the tables; they are plague-spots

upon the face of society; they are, as a rule, crassly ignorant



and horriblycynical; and yet there are many men here who are

proud of their acquaintance, always ready to entertain them in



the most expensive manner, and who speak of them as if they were

the only desirable companions in the world!



`Amongst our notabilities of the eccentric sort, not the least

singular in her behaviour is the Countess C----o, an aged



patrician of immense fortune, who is as constant to Wiesbaden as

old Madame de K----f is to Hombourg on the Heights. Like the



last-named lady, she is daily wheeled to her place in the Black

and Red temple, and plays away for eight or nine hours with



wonderful spirit and perseverance. She has with her a _suite_ of

eight domestics; and when she wins (which is not often), on



returning to her hotel at night, she presents each member of her

retinue with--twopence! "not," as she naively avows, "from



a feeling of generosity, but to propitiate Fortune." When

she loses, none of them, save the man who wheels her home, get



anything but hard words from her; and he, happy fellow, receives

a donation of six kreutzers. She does not curse the croupiers



loudly for her bad luck, like her contemporary, the once lovely

Russian Ambassadress; but, being very far advanced in years, and



of a tender disposition, sheds tears over her misfortunes,

resting her chin on the edge of the table. An edifying sight is



this venerable dame, bearing an exalted title, as she mopes and

mouths over her varying luck, missing her stake twice out of



three times, when she fain would push it with her rake into some

particular section of the table! She is very intimate with one



or two antediluvian diplomatists and warriors, who are here

striving to bolster themselves up for another year with the



waters, and may be heard crowing out lamentations over her fatal

passion for play, interspersed with bits of moss-grown scandal,



disinterred from the social ruins of an age long past: Radetzky,

Wratislaw (le beau sabreur), the two Schwarzenbergs (he of



Leipsic, and the former Prime Minister), Paul Eszterhazy,

Wrangel, and Blucher were friends of her youth; judging from



her appearance, one would not be surprised to hear that she

had received a "poulet" from Baron Trenck, or played whist with



Maria Theresa. She has outlived all human friendships or

affections, and exists only for the chink of the gold as it



jingles on the gaming table. I cannot help fancying that her




文章总共2页
文章标签:名著  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号