登陆注册
15465600000025

第25章 CHAPTER X AN ALIEN(1)

The individual on the doorstep had fallen into slumber over his own knees. No greater air of prosperity clung about him than is conveyed by a rusty overcoat and wisps of cloth in place of socks. Shelton endeavoured to pass unseen, but the sleeper woke.

"Ah, it's you, monsieur!" he said "I received your letter this evening, and have lost no time." He looked down at himself and tittered, as though to say, "But what a state I 'm in!"The young foreigner's condition was indeed more desperate than on the occasion of their first meeting, and Shelton invited him upstairs.

"You can well understand," stammered Ferrand, following his host, "that I did n't want to miss you this time. When one is like this--"and a spasm gripped his face.

"I 'm very glad you came," said Shelton doubtfully.

His visitor's face had a week's growth of reddish beard; the deep tan of his cheeks gave him a robust appearance at variance with the fit of, trembling which had seized on him as soon as he had entered.

"Sit down-sit down," said Shelton; "you 're feeling ill!"Ferrand smiled. "It's nothing," said he; "bad nourishment."Shelton left him seated on the edge of an armchair, and brought him in some whisky.

"Clothes," said Ferrand, when he had drunk, "are what I want. These are really not good enough."The statement was correct, and Shelton, placing some garments in the bath-room, invited his visitor to make himself at home. While the latter, then, was doing this, Shelton enjoyed the luxuries of self-denial, hunting up things he did not want, and laying them in two portmanteaus. This done, he waited for his visitor's return.

The young foreigner at length emerged, unshaved indeed, and innocent of boots, but having in other respects an air of gratifying affluence.

"This is a little different," he said. "The boots, I fear"--and, pulling down his, or rather Shelton's, socks he exhibited sores the size of half a crown. "One does n't sow without reaping some harvest or another. My stomach has shrunk," he added simply. "To see things one must suffer. 'Voyager, c'est plus fort que moi'!"Shelton failed to perceive that this was one way of disguising the human animal's natural dislike of work--there was a touch of pathos, a suggestion of God-knows-what-might-have-been, about this fellow.

"I have eaten my illusions," said the young foreigner, smoking a cigarette. "When you've starved a few times, your eyes are opened.

'Savoir, c'est mon metier; mais remarquez ceci, monsieur': It 's not always the intellectuals who succeed.""When you get a job," said Shelton, "you throw it away, I suppose.""You accuse me of restlessness? Shall I explain what I think about that? I'm restless because of ambition; I want to reconquer an independent position. I put all my soul into my trials, but as soon as I see there's no future for me in that line, I give it up and go elsewhere. 'Je ne veux pas etre rond de cuir,' breaking my back to economise sixpence a day, and save enough after forty years to drag out the remains of an exhausted existence. That's not in my character." This ingenious paraphrase of the words "I soon get tired of things" he pronounced with an air of letting Shelton into a precious secret.

"Yes; it must be hard," agreed the latter.

Ferrand shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not all butter," he replied; "one is obliged to do things that are not too delicate. There's nothing I pride myself on but frankness."Like a good chemist, however, he administered what Shelton could stand in a judicious way. "Yes, yes," he seemed to say, "you'd like me to think that you have a perfect knowledge of life: no morality, no prejudices, no illusions; you'd like me to think that you feel yourself on an equality with me, one human animal talking to another, without any barriers of position, money, clothes, or the rest--'ca c'est un peu trop fort'! You're as good an imitation as I 've come across in your class, notwithstanding your unfortunate education, and I 'm grateful to you, but to tell you everything, as it passes through my mind would damage my prospects. You can hardly expect that."In one of Shelton's old frock-coats he was impressive, with his air of natural, almost sensitive refinement. The room looked as if it were accustomed to him, and more amazing still was the sense of familiarity that he inspired, as, though he were a part of Shelton's soul. It came as a shock to realise that this young foreign vagabond had taken such a place within his thoughts. The pose of his limbs and head, irregular but not ungraceful; his disillusioned lips; the rings of smoke that issued from them--all signified rebellion, and the overthrow of law and order. His thin, lopsided nose, the rapid glances of his goggling, prominent eyes, were subtlety itself; he stood for discontent with the accepted.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 王牌特工:二品狂妃

    王牌特工:二品狂妃

    特工队长,重生,不是简单的魂穿。一穿,遇到他,无意中救了他,从此被他缠上了。在“商人”的交易中爱上了他,遇神杀神,可是最终还是分开。她发誓,自己要强大,一年后,自己重卷而归。该死的就得死。(更书开始)
  • 沉眠之最后的仙人

    沉眠之最后的仙人

    她,舞漫兮,乃御兽宗三长老。从小便可御万兽,可听、言万兽之语。百年之中,她便突破到元婴期成为最年轻的长老,没有之一。可天妒英才,在突破的第二天便引发从小隐藏在身体中的剧毒,。舞漫兮以真气苦苦压制,经过数日,剧毒却猛烈爆发。不幸昏死。待醒来之后,一切都已物是人非………
  • 做你永远的骑士

    做你永远的骑士

    我愿意陪你看海我愿意陪你看雪我愿意为你做任何事原谅我的自私,原谅我想再陪陪你原谅我的无能,原谅我不能再爱你我不在以后,要懂得照顾自己,不要让自己受伤,我会心疼
  • 萌妻就范:邪魅总裁太阴柔

    萌妻就范:邪魅总裁太阴柔

    曾经爱的死去活来的男友,最终熬不过七年之痒。已不再相信爱情的沐晗晴又遇上不可一世的他...长得清纯无害无害的他内心却是腹黑又闷骚,每每当她遇到危险,他都会挺身而出,却又时不时骂她笨,这样的男神让人又爱又恨,你准备好了吗?
  • 重生国民老板

    重生国民老板

    国民老板,世界首富。中国文化发扬人。文学大枭雄,网络投机者。流行音乐的风向标。世界级的灵魂歌者。地球上最强的男人。综艺制作之王。国漫的崛起者。奥运大冠军,钢琴大名家。。。。。。。但是真正的他却是一个偏执狂,人格分裂者。为何要平庸卑微一世,为何要穷困潦倒一世,我有强大的野心的。
  • 傲世神明

    傲世神明

    一念,风云变色。意动,血染九天。在这片强者为尊的大陆中,亿万生灵追求法术高强者为尊,人人追求神道……这里,群魔乱舞,这里,妖兽纵横,这里,是强者的天堂,各式各样的生灵种族,为修求长生道,破坏天地法则,不惜血染苍穹。当天地血网散向这片大陆时,谁是九天世界的主宰,谁为九天世界的狂徒,谁能耸立强者之巅!李敢,一个纨绔少爷的神道不灭神话,谁言纨绔无作为?谁说纨绔不能耸立于九天世界之巅?
  • 大千天庭

    大千天庭

    一个神邸,仙人,鬼魂,妖魔并存的世界。一个少年以鬼魂的形式来到这个世界,从一个最弱小的一家祖先开始,成祖灵,谋土地,争山神,当城隍。征战小千世界,中千大千,建轮回,分气运,立天庭,一步步最终执掌万界的故事。
  • 征战神迹

    征战神迹

    这是一片广袤的世界,它是万世的起源,生命的归宿,自甘堕落的弃神,行走在人世间漠然寻找着归宿……
  • 初唐鸠鸩

    初唐鸠鸩

    历史总是由胜利者来书写,然后胜利者书写的历史真的是真实的历史吗?是忠还是奸,是智者还是莽夫,真如历史所说的一样吗?本书的主角是一个杀手,在推动着历史巨轮前进的同时,消失在胜利者所书写的历史之中,不留名姓,遵循着杀手最基本的准则,消失在人们的视野之中。
  • 上仙有毒

    上仙有毒

    她是辗转几世的妖,他是杀伐果断的魔,几世的孽缘,剪不断理还乱的纠缠,将他们紧紧的扭转在一起,彼岸花开,几世纷乱的记忆接踵而至的复始,他与她会如何了断……(推荐叶小晔的书《婚然天成:男神的神秘娇妻》)我的书友群玫瑰の后宫,群号码:313099084,欢迎大家进来探讨《上仙有毒》的剧情