American Tragedy 美国悲剧 chapter 14

The result of all this on Clyde was to cause him to think more specifically on the problem of the sexes than heever had before, and by no means in any orthodox way. For while he condemned ¹ his sister's lover for thusruthlessly deserting her, still he was not willing to hold her entirely ² blameless by any means. She had gone offwith him. As he now learned from her, he had been in the city for a week the year before she ran away with him, and it was then that he had introduced himself to her. The following year when he returned for two weeks, it wasshe who looked him up, or so Clyde suspected, at any rate. And in view of his own interest in and moodregarding Hortense Briggs, it was not for him to say that there was anything wrong with the sex relation in itself., ,Rather, as he saw it now, the difficulty lay, not in the deed itself, but in the consequences which followed uponnot thinking or not knowing. For had Esta known more of the man in whom she was interested, more of whatsuch a relationship with him meant, she would not be in her present pathetic plight ³. Certainly such girls asHortense Briggs, Greta and Louise, would never have allowed themselves to be put in any such position as Esta., ,Or would they? They were too shrewd. And by contrast with them in his mind, at least at this time, she suffered., , ,But the one influence that was affecting and troubling and changing him now was his infatuation for HortenseBriggs -- than which no more agitating ⁵ influence could have come to a youth of his years and temperament ⁶. Sheseemed, after his few contacts with her, to be really the perfect realization ⁷ of all that he had previously ⁸ wished for in a girl. She was so bright, vain, engaging, and so truly pretty. Her eyes, as they seemed to him, had a kindof dancing fire in them. She had a most entrancing way of pursing and parting her lips and at the same timelooking straightly and indifferently before her, as though she were not thinking of him, which to him was bothflame and fever. It caused him, actually, to feel weak and dizzy, at times, cruelly seared in his veins ⁹ with minuteand wriggling ¹⁰ threads of fire, and this could only be described as conscious lust ¹¹, a torturesome and yetunescapable thing which yet in her case he was unable to prosecute ¹² beyond embracing and kissing, a form of reserve and respect in regard to her which she really resented in the very youths in whom she sought to inspire it., ,The type of boy for whom she really cared and was always seeking was one who could sweep away all such psuedo-ingenuousness and superiorities in her and force her, even against herself, to yield to him., ,The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。,The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的 。