The Moon And Sixpence 46.4

The rogue, like the artistand perhaps the gentleman, belongs to no class. He is not embarrassed by thesans gene of the hobo, nor put out of countenance by the etiquette of theprince. But Mrs. Nichols belonged to the well-defined class, of late becomevocal, which is known as the lower-middle. Her father, in fact, was apoliceman. I am certain that he was an efficient one. I do not know what her holdwas on the Captain, but I do not think it was love. I never heard her speak,but it may be that in private she had a copious conversation. At any rate,Captain Nichols was frightened to death of her. Sometimes, sitting with me onthe terrace of the hotel, he would become conscious that she was walking in theroad outside. She did not call him; she gave no sign that she was aware of hisexistence; she merely walked up and down composedly. Then a strange uneasinesswould seize the Captain; he would look at his watch and sigh."Well, I must be off, " he said.Neither wit nor whisky could detain him then. Yet he was aman who had faced undaunted hurricane and typhoon, and would not have hesitatedto fight a dozen unarmed niggers with nothing but a revolver to help him.Sometimes Mrs. Nichols would send her daughter, a pale-faced, sullen child ofseven, to the hotel."Mother wants you, " she said, in a whining tone."Very well, my dear, " said Captain Nichols.He rose to his feet at once, and accompanied his daughteralong the road. I suppose it was a very pretty example of the triumph of spiritover matter, and so my digression has at least the advantage of a moral.社会油子和艺术家或者绅士相同，是不属于哪一个阶级的；无业游民的粗野无礼既不会使他感到难堪，王公贵人的繁文缛节也不会叫他感到拘束。但是尼柯尔斯太太却出身于一个最近名声渐着的阶层，就是人们称之为中下层（这个名称叫得好！）的社会阶层。她的父亲是个警察，而且我敢说还非常精明能干。我不知道她为什么要抓住船长不放，我不相信是因为爱情。我从来没听她开口讲过话，也许同她丈夫单独在一起的时候她的话很多。不管怎么说，尼柯尔斯船长怕她怕得要死。有时候他同我坐在旅馆的露台上会突然意识到自己的老婆正在外面马路上走动，她从来不叫他，她好象根本不知道他在这里，只是安详自若地在街头踱来踱去。这时候船长就浑身不安起来；他看了看表，长叹一口气。“唉，我该走了。”他说。在这种时候，说笑话也好，喝威士忌也好，再也没有什么能把他留住了。要知道，尼柯尔斯船长本是个经十二级风暴也面不改色的人，只要有一把手枪，就是一打黑人上来，他也有胆量对付。有时尼柯尔斯太太也派他们的女儿，一个面色苍白、总是耷拉着脸的七岁孩子，到旅馆来。“妈妈找你。”她带着哭音地说。“好，好，亲爱的孩子。”尼柯尔斯船长说。他马上站起身来，陪同女儿走回家去。我想这是精神战胜物质的一个极好的例证，所以我这段文章虽然写得走了题，却还是具有一些教训意义的。