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American Tragedy 美国悲剧 chapter 12

Now trivial as this contact may seem to some, it was of the utmost significance to Clyde. Up to this time he hadnever seen a girl with so much charm who would deign 1 to look at him, or so he imagined. And now he had foundone, and she was pretty and actually interested sufficiently 2 to accompany him to dinner and to a show. It was true, perhaps, that she was a flirt 3, and not really sincere with any one, and that maybe at first he could not expecther to center her attentions on him, but who knew -- who could tell?, ,And true to her promise on the following Tuesday she met him at the corner of 14th Street and Wyandotte, nearthe Green-Davidson. And so excited and flattered and enraptured 4 was he that he could scarcely arrange hisjumbled thoughts and emotions in any seemly way. But to show that he was worthy 5 of her, he had made analmost exotic toilet -- hair pomaded, a butterfly tie, new silk muffler and silk socks to emphasize his bright brownshoes, purchased especially for the occasion., ,But once he had reencountered Hortense, whether all this was of any import to her he could not tell. For, after all,it was her own appearance, not his, that interested her. And what was more -- a trick with her -- she chose to keephim waiting until nearly seven o'clock, a delay which brought about in him the deepest dejection of spirit for thetime being. For supposing, after all, in the interval 6, she had decided 7 that she did not care for him and did not wishto see him any more. Well, then he would have to do without her, of course. But that would prove that he was notinteresting to a girl as pretty as she was, despite all the nice clothes he was now able to wear and the money hecould spend. He was determined 8 that, girl or no girl, he would not have one who was not pretty. Ratterer andHegglund did not seem to mind whether the girl they knew was attractive or not, but with him it was a passion., , ,And yet here he was now, on the street corner in the dark -- the flare 10 of many signs and lights about, hundreds ofpedestrians hurrying hither and thither 11, the thought of pleasurable intentions and engagements written upon the faces of many -- and he, he alone, might have to turn and go somewhere else -- eat alone, go to a theater alone, gohome alone, and then to work again in the morning. He had just about concluded that he was a failure when outof the crowd, a little distance away, emerged the face and figure of Hortense. She was smartly dressed in a blackvelvet jacket with a reddish-brown collar and cuffs 12, and a bulgy 13, round tam of the same material with a red leather buckle 14 on the side. And her cheeks and lips were rouged 15 a little. And her eyes sparkled. And as usual she gave herself all the airs of one very well content with herself., ,"Oh, hello, I'm late, ain't I? I couldn't help it. You see, I forgot I had another appointment with a fella, a friend ofmine -- gee 16, a peach of a boy, too, and it was only at six I remembered that I had the two dates. Well, I was in amess then. So I had to do something about one of you. I was just about to call you up and make a date for anothernight, only I remembered you wouldn't be at your place after six. Tom never is. And Charlie always is in hisplace till six-thirty, anyhow, sometimes later, and he's a peach of a fella that way -- never grouchy 17 or nothing. Andhe was goin' to take me to the theater and to dinner, too. He has charge of the cigar stand over here at the Orphia., ,I would not deign to comment on such behaviour. 这种行为不屑我置评 。,It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。

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