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

Whirligigs-Part36_O.Henry(1862-1910)_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
untarnished, pale prettiness doomed to please. Her



voice, when she spoke, dwarfed her theme. It was the

voice capable of investing little subjects with a large



interest. She sat at ease, bestowing her skirts with the

little womanly touch, serene as if the begrimed pier were



a summer garden. Lorison poked the rotting boards

with his cane.



He began by telling her that he was in love with some

one to whom he durst not speak of it. "And why not?"



she asked, accepting swiftly his fatuous presentation of

a third person of straw. "My place in the world," he



answered, "is none to ask a woman to share. I am an

outcast from honest people; I am wrongly accused of



one crime, and am, I believe, guilty of another."

Thence he plunged into the story of his abdication from



society. The story, pruned of his moral philosophy,

deserves no more than the slightest touch. It is no new



tale, that of the gambler's declension. During one

night's sitting he lost, and then had imperilled a certain



amount of his employer's money, which, by accident, he

carried with him. He continued to lose, to the last wager,



and then began to gain, leaving the game winner to a

somewhat formidable sum. The same night his



employer's safe was robbed. A search was had; the

winnings of Lorison were found in his room, their total



forming an accusative nearness to the sum purloined.

He was taken, tried and, through incomplete evidence,



released, smutched with the sinister devoirs of a dis-

agreeing jury.



"It is not in the unjust accusation," he said to the girl,

"that my burden lies, but in the knowledge that from the



moment I staked the first dollar of the firm's money I

was a criminal -- no matter whether I lost or won. You



see why it is impossible for me to speak of love to her."

"It is a sad thing," said Norah, after a little pause.



"to think what very good people there are in the world."

"Good?" said Lorison.



"I was thinking of this superior person whom you

say you love. She must be a very poor sort of creature."



"I do not understand."

"Nearly," she continued, "as poor a sort of creature



as yourself."

"You do not understand," said Lorison, removing his



hat and sweeping back his fine, light hair. "Suppose

she loved me in return, and were willing to marry me.



Think, if you can, what would follow. Never a day

Would pass but she would be reminded of her sacrifice.



I would read a condescension in her smile, a pity even in

her affection, that would madden me. No. The thing



would stand between us forever. Only equals should

mate. I could never ask her to come down upon my



lower plane."

An arc light faintly shone upon Lorison's face. An



illumination from within also pervaded it. The girl

saw the rapt, ascetic look; it was the face either of Sir



Galahad or Sir Fool.

"Quite starlike," she said, "is this unapproachable



angel. Really too high to be grasped."

"By me, yes."



She faced him suddenly. "My dear friend, would you

prefer your star fallen?" Lorison made a wide gesture.



"You push me to the bald fact," he declared; "you

are not in sympathy with my argument. But I will



answer you so. If I could reach my particular star, to

drag it down, I would not do it; but if it were fallen, I



would pick it up, and thank Heaven for the privilege."

They were silent for some minutes. Norah shivered,



and thrust her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket.

Lorison uttered a remorseful exclamation.



"I'm not cold," she said. "I was just thinking. I

ought to tell you something. You have selected a strange



confidante. But you cannot expect a chance acquain-

ance, picked up in a doubtfulrestaurant, to be an angel."



"Norah!" cried Lorison.




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