American Tragedy 美国悲剧 chapter 9

And so the interesting dinner, with Clyde attending, came to pass. And it was partaken of at Frissell's, as Rattererhad said. And by now Clyde, having come to be on genial ¹ terms with all of these youths, was in the gayest ofmoods about it all. Think of his new state in life, anyhow. Only a few weeks ago he was all alone, not a boyfriend, scarcely a boy acquaintance in the world! And here he was, so soon after, going to this fine dinner withthis interesting group., ,And true to the illusions of youth, the place appeared far more interesting than it really was. It was little morethan an excellent chop-house of the older American order. Its walls were hung thick with signed pictures ofactors and actresses, together with playbills of various periods. And because of the general excellence ² of thefood, to say nothing of the geniality ³ of its present manager, it had become the hangout of passing actors,politicians, local business men, and after them, the generality of followers ⁴ who are always drawn ⁵ by that whichpresents something a little different to that with which they are familiar., ,And these boys, having heard at one time and another from cab and taxi drivers that this was one of the bestplaces in town, fixed ⁶ upon it for their monthly dinners. Single plates of anything cost from sixty cents to a dollar., , ,And so this day, having drawn their pay at noon, and being off at six for the night, they gathered outside the hotelat the corner nearest the drug store at which Clyde had originally applied ⁸ for work, and were off in a happy,noisy frame of mind -- Hegglund, Ratterer, Paul Shiel, Davis Higby, another youth, Arthur Kinsella and Clyde., ,"Didja hear de trick de guy from St. Louis pulled on the main office yesterday?" Hegglund inquired of the crowdgenerally, as they started walking. "Wires last Saturday from St. Louis for a parlor ⁹, bedroom and bat for himselfand wife, an' orders flowers put in de room. Jimmy, the key clerk, was just tellin' me. Den ¹⁰ he comes on here andregisters himself an' his girl, see, as man and wife, an', gee ¹¹, a peach of a lookin' girl, too -- I saw 'em. Listen, youfellows, cantcha? Den, on Wednesday, after he's been here tree days and dey're beginnin' to wonder about him alittle -- meals sent to de room and all dat -- he comes down and says dat his wife's gotta go back to St. Louis, anddat he won't need no suite ¹², just one room, and dat they can transfer his trunk and her bags to de new room untiltrain time for her. But de trunk ain't his at all, see, but hers. And she ain't goin', don't know nuttin about it. But heis. Den he beats it, see, and leaves her and de trunk in de room. And widout a bean, see? Now, dey're holdin' herand her trunk, an' she's cryin' and wirin' friends, and dere's hell to pay all around. Can ya beat dat? An' deflowers, too. Roses. An' six different meals in de room and drinks for him, too." "Sure, I know the one you mean," exclaimed Paul Shiel. "I took up some drinks myself. I felt there wassomething phony about that guy. He was too smooth and loud-talking. An' he only comes across with a dime ¹³ atthat." "I remember him, too," exclaimed Ratterer. "He sent me down for all the Chicago papers Monday an' only giveme a dime. He looked like a bluff ¹⁴ to me." "Well, dey fell for him up in front, all right." It was Hegglund talking. "An' now dey're tryin' to gouge ¹⁵ it outa her., ,He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友 ，也是友善待客的主人 。,His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。