The Beautiful and Damned / Прекрасные и обреченные. Уровень 4. Фрэнсис Скотт Фицджеральд

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ that Anthony was unwise enough to smile. Unfortunate man! His smile made her mistress of the situation.

      The Gray House

      In six weeks Anthony and Gloria arrived in New York. It was a struggle to keep many of their conversations on the level of discussions. Arguments were fatal to Gloria’s disposition. She had all her life been associated with men who had not dared to contradict her. What Anthony chiefly missed in her mind was the sense of order and accuracy.

      It is in the twenties that the actual momentum of life begins to slacken. At thirty an organ-grinder[22] is a more or less moth-eaten man who grinds an organ – and once he was an organ-grinder!

      The gray house caught Gloria and Anthony when she was twenty-three; he was twenty-six. They lived impatiently in Anthony’s apartment for the first fortnight after the return from California, in a stifled atmosphere of open trunks, too many callers, and the eternal laundry-bags[23]. They discussed with their friends the stupendous problem of their future. Dick and Maury would sit with them agreeing solemnly, almost thoughtfully, as Anthony ran through his list of what they “ought” to do, and where they “ought” to live.

      “I’d like to take Gloria abroad,” he complained, “and then to have a place in the country, somewhere near New York, of course, where I could write – or whatever I decide to do.”

      Gloria laughed.

      “Isn’t he cute?” she required of Maury. “‘Whatever he decides to do!’ But what am I going to do if he works? Maury, will you entertain me if Anthony works?”

      “Anyway, I’m not going to work yet,” said Anthony quickly.

      “Why don’t you go out to – out to Greenwich or something?” suggested Richard Caramel.

      “I’d like that,” said Gloria, brightening. “Do you think we could get a house there?”

      Dick shrugged his shoulders and Maury laughed.

      “Well, it seems to me there’re a lot of towns like Rye between New York and Greenwich where you could buy a little gray house,” said Dick.

      Gloria leaped at the phrase triumphantly. For the first time since their return she knew what she wanted.

      “Oh, yes!” she cried. “Oh, yes! that’s it: a little gray house! Where can we find one?”

      As the unfortunate upshot of this conversation, they took Dick’s advice literally, and two days later went out to Rye. They were shown houses at a hundred a month; they were shown isolated houses. They looked at a few really nice houses, aloof, dignified, and cool – at three hundred a month. But they did not like them.

      Anthony ran into the living room one afternoon.

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      Примечания

      1

      Anthony Patch – Энтони Пэтч

      2

      conscious stage – стадия пробуждения сознания

      3

      Cross Patch – Сердитый Пэтч

      4

      Tarrytown – Тэрритаун

      5

      Alicia Withers – Алисия Уитерс

      6

      Henrietta Lebrune – Генриетта Лебрюн

      7

      he was looked upon – его почитали

      8

      the Ritz – отель «Риц»

      9

      Dick Caramel – Дик Кэрэмэл

      10

      Maury Noble – Мори Нобл

      11

      shakes hands – здоровается за руку

      12

      High Jinks – «Шумные забавы»

      13

      telephone girl – телефонистка

      14

      Geraldine – Джеральдина

      15

      Abercrombie – Аберкромби

      16

      soon as – как только

      17

      had called on him – зашёл к нему

      18

      Muriel Kane – Мюриэл Кейн

      19

      What do СКАЧАТЬ