The Moon And Sixpence 12.3

"What,then?" asked Strickland.I tried to curlmy lip."Well, ifyou acknowledge that, there doesn't seem much more to be said. ""I don'tthink there is. "I felt that I wasnot carrying out my embassy with any great skill. I was distinctly nettled."Hang itall, one can't leave a woman without a bob. ""Whynot?""How isshe going to live?""I'vesupported her for seventeen years. Why shouldn't she support herself for a change?""Shecan't. ""Let hertry. "Of course therewere many things I might have answered to this. I might have spoken of theeconomic position of woman, of the contract, tacit and overt, which a manaccepts by his marriage, and of much else; but I felt that there was only onepoint which really signified."Don't youcare for her any more?""Not abit, " he replied.The matter wasimmensely serious for all the parties concerned, but there was in the manner ofhis answer such a cheerful effrontery that I had to bite my lips in order notto laugh. I reminded myself that his behaviour was abominable. I worked myselfup into a state of moral indignation.“你还要说什么？”思特里克兰德说。我对他撇了撇嘴。“没什么了，如果你都承认了，好象也没有什么要多说的了。”“我想也是。”我觉得我这次执行任务手腕太不高明。我显然有些冒火了。“别的都不要说了，你总不能一个铜板也不留就把你女人甩了啊！”“为什么不能？”“她怎么活下去呢？”“我已经养活她十七年了。为什么她不能换换样，自己养活自己呢？”“她养活不了。”“她不妨试一试。”我当然有许多话可以答辩。我可以谈妇女的经济地位，谈男人结婚以后公开或默认地承担的义务，还有许许多多别的道理，但是我认为真正重要的只有一点。“你还爱她不爱她了？”“一点儿也不爱了，”他回答。不论对哪方面讲，这都是一件极端严肃的事，可是他的答话却带着那么一种幸灾乐祸、厚颜无耻的劲儿；为了不笑出声来，我拼命咬住嘴唇。我一再提醒自己他的行为是可恶的。我终于激动起自己的义愤来。