At the minute when he wondered whether or not he had time for a drink at the buffet, and began clutching at the soggy wad of thousand-franc notes in his pocket, one end of his pendulous glance came to rest upon the apparition of Nicole at the stair-head. He watched her – she was self-revelatory in her little expressions as people seem to someone waiting for them, who as yet is himself unobserved. She was frowning, thinking of her children, less gloating over them than merely animally counting them – a cat checking her cubs with a paw.
When she saw Abe, the mood passed out of her face; the glow of the morning skylight was sad, and Abe made a gloomy figure with dark circles that showed through the crimson tan under his eyes. They sat down on a bench.
“I came because you asked me,” said Nicole defensively. Abe seemed to have forgotten why he asked her and Nicole was quite content to look at the travellers passing by.
“That’s going to be the belle of your boat – that one with all the men to say good-by – you see why she bought that dress?” Nicole talked faster and faster. “You see why nobody else would buy it except the belle of the world cruise? See? No? Wake up! That’s a story dress – that extra material tells a story and somebody on world cruise would be lonesome enough to want to hear it.”
She bit close her last words; she had talked too much for her; and Abe found it difficult to gather from her serious set face that she had spoken at all. With an effort he drew himself up to a posture that looked as if he were standing up while he was sitting down.
“The afternoon you took me to that funny ball – you know, St. Genevieve’s —” he began.
“I remember. It was fun, wasn’t it?”
“No fun for me. I haven’t had fun seeing you this time. I’m tired of you both, but it doesn’t show because you’re even more tired of me – you know what I mean. If I had any enthusiasm, I’d go on to new people.”
There was a rough nap on Nicole’s velvet gloves as she slapped him back:
“Seems rather foolish to be unpleasant, Abe. Anyhow you don’t mean that. I can’t see why you’ve given up about everything.”
Abe considered, trying hard not to cough or blow his nose. “I suppose I got bored; and then it was such a long way to go back in order to get anywhere.”
Often a man can play the helpless child in front of a woman, but he can almost never bring it off when he feels most like a helpless child.
“No excuse for it,” Nicole said crisply. Abe was feeling worse every minute – he could think of nothing but disagreeable and sheerly nervous remarks. Nicole thought that the correct attitude for her was to sit staring straight ahead, hands in her lap. For a while there was no communication between them – each was racing away from the other, breathing only insofar as there was blue space ahead, a sky not seen by the other. Unlike lovers they possessed no past; unlike man and wife, they possessed no future; yet up to in this morning Nicole had liked Abe better than any one except Dick – and he had been heavy, belly-frightened, with love for her for years.
“Tired of women’s worlds,” he spoke up suddenly.
“Then why don’t you make a world of your own?”
“Tired of friends. The thing is to have sycophants.”
Nicole tried to force the minute hand around on the station clock, but, “You agree?” he demanded.
“I am a woman and my business is to hold things together.”
“My business is to tear them apart.”
“When you get drunk you don’t tear anything apart except yourself,” she said, cold now, and frightened and unconfident. The station was filling but no one she knew came. After a moment her eyes fell gratefully on a tall girl with straw hair like a helmet, who was dropping letters in the mail slot.
“A girl I have to speak to, Abe. Abe, wake up! You fool!”
Patiently Abe followed her with his eyes. The woman turned in a startled way to greet Nicole, and Abe recognized her as someone he had seen around Paris. He took advantage of Nicole’s absence to cough hard and retchingly into his handkerchief, and to blow his nose loud. The morning was warmer and his underwear was soaked with sweat. His fingers trembled so violently that it took four matches to light a cigarette; it seemed absolutely necessary to make his way into the buffet for a drink, but immediately Nicole returned.
“That was a mistake,” she said with frosty humor. “After begging me to come and see her, she gave me a good snubbing. She looked at me as if I were rotted.” Excited, she did a little laugh, as with two fingers high in the scales. “Let people come to you.”
Abe recovered from a cigarette cough and remarked:
“Trouble is when you’re sober you don’t want to see anybody, and when you’re tight nobody wants to see you.”
“Who, me?” Nicole laughed again; for some reason the late encounter had cheered her.
“No – me.”
“Speak for yourself. I like people, a lot of people – I like —”
Rosemary and Mary North came in sight, walking slowly and searching for Abe, and Nicole burst forth grossly with “Hey! Hi! Hey!” and laughed and waved the package of handkerchiefs she had bought for Abe.
They stood in an uncomfortable little group weighted down by Abe’s gigantic presence: he lay athwart them like the wreck of a galleon, dominating with his presence his own weakness and self-indulgence, his narrowness and bitterness. All of them were conscious of the solemn dignity that flowed from him, of his achievement, fragmentary, suggestive and surpassed. But they were frightened at his survivant will, once a will to live, now become a will to die.
Dick Diver came and brought with him a fine glowing surface on which the three women sprang like monkeys with cries of relief, perching on his shoulders, on the beautiful crown of his hat or the gold head of his cane. Now, for a moment, they could disregard the spectacle of Abe’s gigantic obscenity. Dick saw the situation quickly and grasped it quietly. He pulled them out of themselves into the station, making plain its wonders. Nearby, some Americans were saying good-by in voices that mimicked the cadence of water running into a large old bathtub. Standing in the station, with Paris in back of them, it seemed as if they were vicariously leaning a little over the ocean, already undergoing a sea-change, a shifting about of atoms to form the essential molecule of a new people.
So the well-to-do Americans poured through the station onto the platforms with frank new faces, intelligent, considerate, thoughtless, thought-for. An occasional English face among them seemed sharp and emergent. When there were enough Americans on the platform the first impression of their immaculacy and their money began to fade into a vague racial dusk that hindered and blinded both them and their observers.
Nicole seized Dick’s arm crying, “Look!” Dick turned in time to see what took place in half a minute. At a Pullman[160] entrance two cars off, a vivid scene detached itself from the tenor of many farewells. The young woman with the helmet-like hair to whom Nicole had spoken made an odd dodging little run away from the man to whom she was talking and plunged a frantic hand into her purse; then the sound of two revolver shots cracked the narrow air of the platform. Simultaneously the engine whistled sharply and the train began to move, momentarily dwarfing the shots in significance. Abe waved again from his window, oblivious to what had happened. But before the crowd closed in, the others had seen the shots take effect, seen the target sit down upon the platform.
Only after a hundred years did the train stop; Nicole, Mary, and Rosemary waited on the outskirts while Dick fought his way through. It was five minutes before he found them again – by this time the crowd had split into two sections, following, respectively, the man on a stretcher and the girl walking pale and firm between distraught gendarmes.
“It was Maria Wallis,” Dick said hurriedly. “The man she shot was an Englishman – they had an awful time finding out who, because she shot him through his identification card.” They were walking quickly from the train, swayed along with the crowd. “I found out what poste de police[161] they’re taking her to so I’ll go there“
“But her sister lives in Paris,” Nicole objected. “Why not phone her? Seems very peculiar nobody thought of that. She’s married to a Frenchman, and he can do more than we can.”
Dick hesitated, shook his head and started off.
“Wait!” Nicole cried after him. “That’s foolish – how can you do any good – with your French?”
“At least I’ll see they don’t do anything outrageous to her.”
“They’re certainly going to hold on to her,” Nicole assured him briskly. “She did shoot the man. The best thing is to phone right away to Laura – she can do more than we can.”
Dick was unconvinced – also he was showing off for Rosemary.
“You wait,” said Nicole firmly, and hurried off to a telephone booth.
“When Nicole takes things into her hands,” he said with affectionate irony, “there is nothing more to be done.”
He saw Rosemary for the first time that morning. They exchanged glances, trying to recognize the emotions of the day before. For a moment each seemed unreal to the other – then the slow warm hum of love began again.
“You like to help everybody, don’t you?” Rosemary said.
“I only pretend to.”
“Mother likes to help everybody – of course she can’t help as many people as you do.” She sighed. “Sometimes I think I’m the most selfish person in the world.”
For the first time the mention of her mother annoyed rather than amused Dick. He wanted to sweep away her mother, remove the whole affair from the nursery footing upon which Rosemary persistently established it. But he realized that this impulse was a loss of control – what would become of Rosemary’s urge toward him if, for even a moment, he relaxed. He saw, not without panic, that the affair was sliding to rest; it could not stand still, it must go on or go back; for the first time it occurred to him that Rosemary had her hand on the lever more authoritatively than he.
Примечания
1
fêtes – (фр.) праздники
2
строчки из стихотворения Джона Китса (1795–1821)
3
French Riviera – Французская Ривьера (или Лазурный берег) – средиземноморское побережье Франции, примыкающее к итало-французской границе, где расположены фешенебельные курорты и туристические центры: Канны, Ницца, Ментона, Антиб, а также государство-княжество Монако с его игорным центром Монте-Карло
4
Hôtel des Étrangers – (фр.) гостиница для иностранцев
5
victoria – (зд.) легкая четырехколесная коляска с откидным верхом
6
French windows – двустворчатые узкие окна, доходящие до пола, так называемые французские окна
7
tights – (зд.) мужской купальный костюм в виде трико
8
four-beat crawl – (спорт.) кроль со вдохом-выдохом через каждые четыре движения
9
raft – (зд.) плот, укрепленный в некотором отдалении от берега, на котором отдыхают и загорают
10
with a slow Oxford drawl – по-оксфордски растягивая слова
11
flotte – (фр.) флот
12
Heavens! – (воскл.) Боже мой! О Боже!
13
Latin – (зд.) испанец или итальянец
14
darn = damn
15
gallery – (театр.) галерка
16
don’t be too ghastly for words – не говори такие ужасные слова
17
flourish – (зд.) демонстративные, показные движения (телом)
18
Antheil – Джордж Антейль (1900–1959), американский композитор-авангардист
19
Joyce – Джеймс Джойс (1882–1941), англо-ирландский писатель, один из основоположников школы «потока сознания»
20
Ulysses – «Улисс» (1922), центральное произведение Джойса, в романе описан один день из жизни нескольких жителей Дублина
21
inside – (разг.) внутренний, скрытый смысл
22
table d’hôte – (фр.) табльдот, общий обеденный стол в пансионах, курортных столовых и ресторанах
23
it’s usually the way – так всегда бывает
24
it isn’t as if you didn’t speak French – ты ведь говоришь по-французски
25
Empire – вероятно, здесь речь идет о США
26
père – (фр.) отец
27
métier – (фр.) профессия
28
Pont du Gard – (фр.) Пон-дю-Гар; речь идет о древнеримском акведуке (I в. до н. э.), архитектурном памятнике, находящемся возле Нима, города на юге Франции, административного центра департамента Гар; the Ampitheatre at Orange – Амфитеатр в Оранже, древнеримский театр, построенный в годы правления императора Адриана (117–138) на юго-востоке Франции; Chamonix – Шамони, высокогорный курорт на юго-востоке Франции у подножья Монблана
29
LeTemps – ежедневная французская республиканская газета, основана в 1861 г.
30
The Saturday Evening Post – еженедельный журнал, издававшийся в США с 1821 по 1969 г.
31
citronade = lemonade – лимонад
32
a Russian Czar of the period of Ivan the Terrible – вероятно, автор имел в виду, что шофер выглядел как русский боярин времен Ивана Грозного
33
for they were never coming back any more – поскольку они так и не вернулись
34
green milk – сок растений
35
estaminets – (фр.) небольшие кафе
36
chicken Maryland – курица по-мэрилендски
37
Rodinesque – прилагательное от Rodin – Огюст Роден (1840–1917), французский скульптор, один из основоположников импрессионизма в скульптуре
38
Mercy! – (зд.) междометие, выражающее удивление и сожаление
39
garçon – (фр.) официант; chasseur – (фр.) слуга в гостинице
40
Deauville – Довиль, фешенебельный курорт во Франции, на берегу Ла-Манша
41
The New York Herald – ежедневная нью-йоркская газета, выходила с 1835 по 1967 г.; в 1924 г. слилась с газетой Tribune и изменила свое название на The New York Herald Tribune
42
a portable bath house for dressing – складная кабинка для переодевания
43
Yale prom – бал в Йельском университете, одном из старейших университетов США, основанном в 1701 г.
44
wit de quality = with the quality (имитация просторечного произношения)
45
gourmandise – (фр., зд.) гурманство
46
Gaumont – Леон Гомон (1864–1946), французский изобретатель, один из создателей кинематографа
47
basketballs – баскетбольные мячи
48
stage – (зд.) павильон для съемок
49
A bank of lights – (кино) осветительный прибор
50
blinding lights – (кино, театр.) софиты
51
I thought you’d be along any day now – Я ждал, что вы появитесь на днях
52
I wired the coast right away to see if you were signed. – Я отправил телеграмму на побережье, чтобы выяснить, подписали ли вы контракт с кем-нибудь.
53
First National – американская кинокомпания
54
Famous = Famous Players – американская кинокомпания
55
Connie Talmadge – Конни (Констанция) Толмедж (1897– 1973), звезда американского немого кино, снималась с 1916 по 1925 г. главным образом в комедийных ролях
56
to pass out – (разг.) падать в обморок
57
cabinet de toilette – (фр.) ванная комната
58
Powdery Mildew, Fly Speck, Late Blight – мучнистая роса, фитофтора, септория – грибковые заболевания растений
59
“Mon ami Pierrot” – «Мой друг Пьеро»
60
При лунном свете, Мой друг Пьеро, Прошу, ссуди мне Твое перо. Погасла свечка, И нет огня, Я жду у двери, Впусти меня. – перевод Е. Калашниковой в кн.: Фицджеральд Ф. Скотт. Ночь нежна. М., 1971.
61
on their heels – (разг.) сразу после них
62
to be in a rut – двигаться по накатанной колее, погрязнуть в рутине
63
to no avail – безрезультатно
64
Dick had taken her mother on his right hand – Дик посадил ее мать справа от себя (согласно правилам этикета самую почетную гостью сажают справа от хозяина)
65
to talk shop – говорить о работе, на профессиональные темы
66
cater-cornered – (редк.) диагональный
67
Veuve Cliquot – «Вдова Клико», марка дорогого французского шампанского
68
viking – (зд.) скандинавский
69
Mrs. Burnett – Френсис Элиза Бёрнетт (1849–1924), американская писательница, автор нескольких сентиментальных книг для детей и юношества
70
the Riff – имеется в виду Рифская республика – военно-политическое объединение племен горной области Риф в Северном Марокко, – которая до 27 мая 1926 г. оставалась независимой, отражая объединенный натиск французских и испанских войск