“Who are you?”
“I can't tell you exactly who I am, because I've only been born a few hours-but my last name is certainly Button.”
“You lie!”
The old man turned wearily to the nurse. “Nice way to welcome a new-born child,” he complained in a weak voice. “Tell him he's wrong, why don't you?”
“You're wrong. Mr. Button,” said the nurse. “This is your child. We're going to ask you to take him home with you as soon as possible.” “Home?” repeated Mr. Button. “Yes, we can't have him here. We really can't, you know?”
Mr. Button sank down upon a chair near his son and put his face in his hands. “My heavens!” he murmured, in horror. “What will people say? What must I do?”
“You'll have to take him home,” insisted the nurse- ”immediately!”
“I can't. I can't,” he moaned. People would stop to speak to him, and what was he going to say? He would have to introduce this- this creature: “This is my son, born early this morning. ” And then the old man would gather his blanket around him and they would go on, past stores, the slave market-for a dark instant Mr. Button wished his son was black-past luxurious houses, past the home for the aged…
“Pull yourself together,” commanded the nurse.
“If you think I'm going to walk home in this blanket, you're entirely mistaken,” the old man announced suddenly.
“Babies always have blankets.” Mr. Button turned to the nurse. “What'll I do?”
“Go down town and buy your son some clothes.”
Mr. Button's son's voice followed him down into the hall:
“And a cane, father. I want to have a cane.”
“Good-morning,” Mr. Button said, nervously, to the clerk in the Chesapeake Dry Goods Company. “I want to buy some clothes for my child.”
“How old is your child, sir?”
“About six hours,” answered Mr. Button.
“Babies' supply department in the rear.”
“I'm not sure that's what I want. It's-he's an unusually large-size child. Exceptionally-ah-large. ”
“They have the largest child's sizes.”
“Where is the boys' department?” inquired Mr. Button. He felt that the clerk must scent his shameful secret.
“Right here.”
“Well-” He hesitated. If he could only find a very large boy's suit, he might cut off that long and awful beard[77], dye the white hair brown, and hide the worst and retain something of his own self-respect-not to mention his position in Baltimore society.
But there were no suits to fit the new-born Button in the boys' department. He blamed the store, of course-in such cases it is the thing to blame the store.
“How old did you say that boy of yours was?” demanded the clerk curiously.
“He's-sixteen.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon. I thought you said six hours. You'll find the youths' department in the next aisle.”
Mr. Button turned miserably away. Then he stopped, brightened, and pointed his finger toward a dressed dummy in the window display. “There!” he exclaimed. “I'll take that suit, out there on the dummy.”
The clerk stared. “Why,” he protested, “that's not a child's suit. You could wear it yourself!”
“Wrap it up,” insisted his customer nervously. “That's what I want.”
The astonished clerk obeyed.
Back at the hospital Mr. Button entered the nursery and almost threw the package at his son: “Here's your clothes.”
The old man untied the package and viewed the contents.
“They look sort of funny to me,” he complained, “I don't want to be made a monkey of-”
“You've made a monkey of me! Put them on-or I'll-or I'll spank you.” He swallowed uneasily at the word, feeling nevertheless that it was the proper thing to say.
“All right, father”-this with a grotesque simulation of respect- ”you've lived longer; you know best. Just as you say.”
As before, the sound of the word “father” confused Mr. Button. “And hurry.”
“I'm hurrying, father.”
When his son was dressed Mr. Button regarded him with depression. The costume consisted of dotted socks, pink pants, and a belted blouse with a wide white collar. Over the collar waved the long beard.
The effect was not good.
“Wait!”
Mr. Button seized a pair of hospital shears and with three quick snaps cut a large section of the beard. But even without it his son was far from perfection. The remaining hair, the watery eyes, the ancient teeth seemed out of tone with the gayety of the costume. Mr. Button, however, held out his hand.
“Come along!” he said sternly.
His son took the hand trustingly. “What are you going to call me, dad?” he quavered as they walked from the nursery-”just 'baby' for a while? till you think of a better name?”
Mr. Button grunted. “I don't know,” he answered harshly. “I think we'll call you Methuselah.”
Even after the new-born Button had had his hair cut short and then dyed to an unnatural black, had had his face shaved so close that it glistened, and had been dressed in small-boy clothes made to order, it was impossible for Button to ignore the fact that his son was a poor excuse for a first family baby. Benjamin Button-for it was by this name they called him instead of by Methuselah- was five feet eight inches tall. His clothes did not conceal this, nor did the dyeing of his eyebrows disguise the fact that the eyes under were watery and tired. In fact, the baby-nurse left the house after one look at him in a state of considerable indignation.
But Mr. Button persisted that Benjamin was a baby, and a baby he should remain. At first, he declared that if Benjamin didn't like warm milk he could go without food altogether, but he finally allowed his son bread and butter, and even oatmeal by way of a compromise. One day he brought home a rattle and, giving it to Benjamin, insisted that he should “play with it.” The old man took it with a weary expression and jingled it obediently at intervals throughout the day.
There can be no doubt that the rattle bored him, and that he found other amusements when he was left alone. For instance, Mr. Button discovered one day that some cigars were missing. A few days later he found the room full of faint blue haze and Benjamin, with a guilty expression on his face[78], trying to hide the butt.
This, of course, called for a severe spanking, but Mr. Button found that he could not do it.
Nevertheless, he persisted in his attitude. He brought home lead soldiers, he brought toy trains, he brought large pleasant animals made of cotton, and, to perfect the illusion, which he was creating-for himself at least-he passionately demanded of the clerk in the toy store whether “the paint would come of the pink duck if the baby put it in his mouth.” But Benjamin refused to be interested. He would steal down the back stairs and return to the nursery with a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica[79], which he would read through an afternoon, while his cotton cows were left neglected on the floor. Mr. Button could do nothing against such stubbornness.
The sensation was, at first, huge in Baltimore. But the outbreak of the Civil War drew the city's attention to other things. A few people who tried to be polite about the child finally declared that the baby resembled his grandfather. Mr. and Mrs. Roger Button were not pleased, and Benjamin's grandfather was furiously insulted.
Benjamin, once he left the hospital, took life as he found it. Several small boys were brought to see him, and he spent all afternoon trying to work up an interest in tops and marbles- he even managed, quite accidentally, to break a kitchen window with a stone from a sling shot, which secretly delighted his father.
Thereafter Benjamin decided to break something every day, but he did these things only because they were expected of him, and because he was by nature obliging. When his grandfather's initial antagonism wore off, Benjamin and that gentleman took enormous pleasure in one another's company. They would sit for hours, these two, so different in age and experience, and, like old friends, discuss with tireless monotony the slow events of the day. Benjamin felt more at ease in his grandfather's presence than in his parents'-they seemed always somewhat afraid of him and, despite their dictatorial authority, frequently addressed him as “Mr.”
He was as puzzled as anyone else at the advanced age of his mind and body at birth. He read up on it in the medical journal, but found that no such case had been previously recorded.
When he was five, he was sent to kindergarten, where he was taught the art of pasting green paper on orange paper, of weaving coloured maps and manufacturing eternal cardboard necklaces. He often fell asleep in the middle of these tasks, a habit, which both irritated and frightened his young teacher. To his relief she complained to his parents, and he was removed from the school. The Roger Buttons told their friends that they felt he was too young.
By the time he was twelve years old his parents had grown used to him. Moreover, they no longer felt that he was different from any other child-except when some curious anomaly reminded them of the fact. But one day a few weeks after his twelfth birthday, looking in the mirror, Benjamin made, or thought he made, an astonishing discovery. Did his eyes deceive him, or had his hair turned from white to iron-gray under its dye? Was the network of wrinkles on his face fade? Was his skin healthier and firmer? He could not tell. He knew that his physical condition had improved since the early days of his life.
Примечания
1
Whenever you feel like criticizing any one – Если тебе вдруг захочется осудить кого-то
2
secret griefs – горести
3
riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart – увлекательные вылазки с привилегией заглядывать в человеческие души
4
which I have an unaffected scorn – всё, что я искренне презирал и презираю
5
promises of life – посулы жизни
6
as if he were related to – словно он был частью
7
Carraways – Каррауэи
8
New Haven – имеется в виду Йельский университет (который находится в городе Нью-Хейвен)
9
bond business – кредитное дело
10
in the spring of twenty-two – весной 1922 года
11
Dodge – «додж», марка автомобиля
12
West Egg – Уэст-Эгг
13
Buchanan – Бьюкенен
14
Daisy – Дэзи
15
second cousin – троюродная сестра
16
was a matter for reproach – вызывала нарекания
17
a rather hard mouth – твёрдо очерченный рот
18
enormous leverage – сокрушительная сила
19
Senior Society – студенческое общество
20
I'm a bond man. – Я занимаюсь кредитными операциями.
21
This annoyed me. – Это меня задело.
22
with an erect carriage – с очень прямой спиной
23
Tom's got some woman in New York. – У Тома есть женщина в Нью-Йорке.
24
mistress – любовница
25
Repairs. GEORGE B. WILSON. Cars Bought and Sold – Джордж Уилсон. Автомобили. Покупка, продажа и ремонт.
26
She was in the middle thirties. – Она была лет тридцати пяти.
27
faintly stout – с наклонностью к полноте
28
It does her good to get away. – Она и бывает рада проветриться.
29
Myrtle – Миртл
30
Kaiser Wilhelm – кайзер Вильгельм
31
He wasn't fit to lick my shoe. – Он мне в подмётки не годился.
32
Rolls-Royce – «Роллс-ройс»
33
one of the few guests who had actually been invited – один из немногих действительно приглашённых гостей
34
Long Island – Лонг-Айленд
35
the honor would be entirely Jay Gatsby's – Джей Гэтсби почтёт для себя величайшей честью
36
I don't think it's so much that. – Не думаю, что дело в этом.
37
old sport – старина
38
come across – встретить
39
He was an Oxford man. – Он учился в Оксфорде.
40
incurably dishonest – неисправимо бесчестна
41
bootlegger – бутлегер (подпольный торговец спиртным во время сухого закона в США)
42
I came into a good deal of money. – Мне досталось большое состояние.
43
was promoted to be a major – был произведён в майоры
44
let him come over – позволить ему зайти
45
I've been in several things. – Я много чем занимался.
46
Dan Cody – Дэн Коди
47
James Gatz – Джеймс Гетц
48
I hadn't been there two minutes. – Я не просидел и пары минут.
49
That so? – Неужели?
50
I remember being surprised – Я помню, как меня удивил.
51
I had never seen him dance – Я никогда не видел его раньше танцующим.
52
I'll make a point of finding out. – Я постараюсь это выяснить.
53
of course – конечно
54
Trimalchio – Тримальхион, герой сатирического романа Петрония «Сатирикон», вольноотпущенник и нувориш, задающий роскошные пиры
55
would choose this occasion for a scene – собираются воспользоваться случаем, чтобы устроить сцену
56
Like hell he is! – Чёрта с два!
57
Mr. Nobody from Nowhere – мистер Невесть Кто, Невесть Откуда
58
Angry as I was – как я ни был зол.
59
You've been seeing this fellow – Ты встречалась с этим типом.
60
What about it? – И что из этого?
61
Michaelis – Михаэлис
62
I've got my wife locked in up there. – Там наверху я запер жену.
63
had never seemed capable of such a statement – не казался способным на такое
64
the business was over – всё было кончено
65
They're a rotten crowd. – Ничтожества, вот кто они.
66
You're worth the whole damn bunch put together. – Вы один стоите их всех, вместе взятых.
67
were afterward traced – удалось позже проследить
68
on the strength of what he said – основываясь на словах
69
holocaust – искупительная жертва
70
to get somebody for him – найти ему кого-нибудь
71
They picked him up. – Его поймали.
72
Blessed are the dead that the rain falls on. – Блаженны мёртвые, на которых падает дождь.
73
He hoped it would be a boy – Он надеялся, это будет мальчик
74
What's the matter? Triplets? – В чем дело? Тройня?
75
trembling from head to foot – дрожа от головы до ног
76
his sparse hair was almost white – его редкие волосы были почти белыми
77
he might cut off that long and awful beard – он мог бы отрезать ту длинную и ужасную бороду
78
with a guilty expression on his face – с виноватым выражением лица
79
He would steal down the back stairs and return to the nursery with a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica – Он прокрадывался вниз по чёрной лестнице в детскую комнату с томиком энциклопедии «Британника»