The Kite-W.Somerset Maugham, Angielski

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
The Kite
♦
IknowthisisanoddstoryIdon’tunderstanditmyselfandifIsetitdowninblackandwhiteitisonly
with a faint hope that when I have written it I may get a clearer view of it, or rather with the hope that
some reader, better acquainted with the complications of human nature than I am, may offer me an
explanation that will make it comprehensible to me. Of course the first thing that occurs to me is that
there is something Freudian about it. Now, I have read a good deal by Freud, and some books by his
followers, and intending to write this story I have recently flipped through again the volume published
by the Modern Library which contains his basic writings. It was something of a task, for he is a dull and
verbose writer, and the acrimony with which he claims to have originated such and such a theory shows
a vanity and a jealousy of others working in the same field which somewhat ill become the man of
science.
I believe, however, that he was a kindly and benign old party. As we know, there is often a great
difference between the man and the writer. The writer may be bitter, harsh, and brutal, while the man
maybesomeekandmildthathewouldn’tsaybootoagooseButthatisneitherherenorthereIfound
nothing in my re–readingofFreud’sworks that cast any light on the subject I had in mind. I can only
relate the facts and leave it at that.
First of all I must make it plain that it is not my story and that I knew none of the persons with whom it is
concerned. It was told me one evening by my friendNedPrestonandhetolditmebecausehedidn’t
know how to deal with the circumstances and he thought, quite wrongly as it happened, that I might be
able to give him some advice that would help him. In a previous story I have related what I thought the
reader should know about Ned Preston, and so now I need only remind him that my friend was a prison
visitoratWormwoodScrubsHetookhisdutiesveryseriouslyandmadetheprisoners’troubleshis
own. We had been dining together at the Café Royal in that long, low room with its absurd and charming
decoration which is all that remains of the old Café Royal that painters have loved to paint; and we were
sittingoverourcoffeeandliqueursandsofarasNedwasconcernedagainsthisdoctor’sorders,
smoking very long and very good Havanas.
‘I’vegotafunnychaptodealwithattheScrubsjustnow’hesaidafterapause‘andI’mblowedifI
knowhowtodealwithhim’
‘What’sheinfor?’Iasked
‘Helefthiswifeandthecourtorderedhimtopaysomuchaweekinalimonyandhe’sabsolutely
refusedtopayitI’vearguedwithhimtillIwasblueinthefaceI’vetoldhimhe’sonlycuttingoffhis
nosetospitehisfaceHesayshe’llstayinjailallhisliferatherthanpayherapennyItell himhecan’t
letherstarveandallhesaysis“Whynot?”He’sperfectlywellbehavedhe’snotroubleheworkswell
heseemsquitehappyhe’sjustgettingalotoffunoutofthinkingwhatadevilofatimehiswifeis
having’
‘What’shegotagainsther?’
‘Shesmashedhiskite’
‘Shedidwhat?’Icried
‘ExactlythatShesmashedhiskiteHesayshe’llneverforgiveherforthattillhisdyingday’
‘Hemustbecrazy’
‘Noheisn’the’saperfectlyreasonablequiteintelligentdecentfellow’
Herbert Sunbury was his name, and his mother, who was very refined, never allowed him to be called
Herb or Bertie, but always Herbert, just as she never called her husband Sam but only Samuel. Mrs
Sunbury’sfirstnamewasBeatriceandwhenshegotengaged to Mr Sunbury and he ventured to call her
Bea she put her foot down firmly.
‘BeatriceIwaschristened’shesaid‘andBeatriceIalwayshavebeenandalwaysshallbetoyouandto
mynearestanddearest’
She was a little woman, but strong, active, and wiry, with a sallow skin, sharp, regular features, and
small beady eyes. Her hair, suspiciously black for her age, was always very neat, and she wore it in the
styleofQueenVictoria’sdaughterswhichshehadadoptedassoonasshewasoldenoughtoput it up
and had never thought fit to change. The possibility that she did something to keep her hair its original
colour was, if such was the case, her only concession to frivolity, for, far from using rouge or lipstick, she
had never in her life so much as passed a powder–puff over her nose. She never wore anything but black
dresses of good material, but made (by that little woman round the corner) regardless of fashion after a
pattern that was both serviceable and decorous. Her only ornament was a thin gold chain from which
hung a small gold cross.
Samuel Sunbury was a little man too. He was as thin and spare as his wife, but he had sandy hair, gone
very thin now so that he had to wear it very long on one side and brushed it carefully over the large bald
patch. He had pale blue eyes and his complexionwaspastyHewasaclerkinalawyer’sofficeandhad
worked his way up from office boy to a respectable position. His employer called him Mr Sunbury and
sometimes asked him to see an unimportant client. Every morning for twenty–four years Samuel
SunburyhadtakenthesametraintotheCityexceptofcourseonSundaysandduringhisfortnight’s
holiday at the seaside, and every evening he had taken the same train back to the suburb in which he
lived. He was neat in his dress; he went to work in quiet grey trousers, a black coat, and a bowler hat,
and when he came home he put
on his slippers and a black coat which was too old and shiny to wear at the office; but on Sundays when
he went to the chapel he and Mrs Sunbury attended he wore a morning coat with his bowler. Thus he
showed his respect for the day of rest and at the same time registered a protest against the ungodly
who went bicycling or lounged about the streets until the pubs opened. On principle the Sunburys were
total abstainers, but on Sundays, when to make up for the frugal lunch, consisting of a scone and butter
with a glass of milk, which Samuel had during the week, Beatrice gave him a good dinner of roast beef
andYorkshirepuddingforhishealth’ssakeshelikedhimtohaveaglassofbeerSinceshewouldn’tfor
the world have kept liquor in the house, he sneaked out with a jug after morning service and got a quart
from the pub round the corner; but nothing would induce him to drink alone, so, just to be sociable–like,
she had a glass too.
Herbert was the only child the Lord had vouchsafed to them, and this certainly through no precaution
on their part. It just happened that way. They doted on him. He was a pretty baby and then a good–
looking child. Mrs Sunbury brought him up carefully. She taught him to sit up at table and not put his
elbows on it, and she taught him how to use his knife and fork like a little gentleman. She taught him to
stretch out his little finger when he took his tea¬cup to drink out of it and when he asked why, she said:
‘NeveryoumindThat’showit’sdoneItshowsyouknowwhat’swhat’
In due course Herbert grew old enough to go to school. Mrs Sunbury was anxious because she had never
let him play with the children in the street.
‘Evilcommunicationscorruptgoodmanners’shesaid‘IalwayshavekeptmyselftomyselfandIalways
shallkeepmyselftomyself’
Although they had lived in the same house ever since they were married she had taken care to keep her
neighbours at a distance.
‘YouneverknowwhopeopleareinLondon’shesaid‘Onethingleadstoanotherandbeforeyouknow
whereyouareyou’remixedupwithalotofriff–raffandyoucan’tgetridofthem’
Shedidn’tliketheideaofHerbertbeingthrownintocontactwithalotofroughboysatthe County
Council school and she said to him:
‘NowHerbertdowhatIdokeepyourselftoyourselfanddon’thaveanythingmoretodowiththem
thanyoucanhelp’
But Herbert got on very well at school. He was a good worker and far from stupid. His reports were
excellent. It turned out that he had a good head for figures.
‘Ifthat’safact’saidSamuelSunbury‘he’dbetterbeanaccountantThere’salwaysagoodjobwaiting
foragoodaccountant’
So it was settled there and then that this was what Herbert was to be. He grew tall.
‘WhyHerbert’saidhismother‘soonyou’llbeastallasyourdad’
By the time he left school he was two inches taller, and by the time he stopped growing he was five feet
ten.
‘Justtherightheight’saidhismother‘Not tootallandnottooshort’
He was a nice–lookingboywithhismother’sregularfeaturesanddarkhairbuthehadinheritedhis
father’sblueeyesandthoughhewasratherpalehisskinwassmoothandclearSamuelSunburyhad
got him into the office of the accountants who came twice a year to do the accounts of his own firm and
by the time he was twenty–one he was able to bring back to his mother every
week quite a nice little sum. She gave him back three half–crowns for his
lunches and ten shillings for pocket money, and the rest she put in the Savings Bank for him against a
rainy day.
WhenMrandMrsSunburywenttobedonthenightofHerbert’stwenty–first birthday, and in passing I
may say that Mrs Sunbury never went to bed, she retired, but Mr Sunbury, who was not quite so refined
ashiswifealwayssaid‘MeforBedford’–when then Mr and Mrs Sunbury went to bed, Mrs Sunbury
said:
‘Somepeopledon’tknowhowluckytheyarethanktheLordIdoNoone’severhadabettersonthan
our HerbertHardlyaday’sillnessinhislifeandhe’snevergivenmeamoment’sworryItjustshowsif
youbringupsomebodyrightthey’llbeacredittoyouFancyhimbeingtwenty–one, I can hardly believe
it’
‘YesIsupposebeforeweknowwherewearehe’llbemarryingandleavingus’
‘Whatshouldhewanttodothatfor?’askedMrsSunburywithasperity‘He’sgotagoodhomehere
hasn’the?Don’tyougoputtingsillyideasintohisheadSamueloryouandme’llhavewordsandyou
knowthat’sthelastthingIwantMarryindeed!He’sgotmoresensethanthatHeknowswhenhe’s
welloffHe’sgotsenseHerberthas’
MrSunburywassilentHehadlongagolearntthatitdidn’tgethimanywherewithBeatricetoanswer
back.
‘Idon’tholdwithamanmarryingtillheknowshisownmind’shewenton‘ndamandoesn’tknowhis
ownmindtillhe’sthirtyorthirty–five’
‘Hewaspleasedwithhispresents’saidMrSunburytochangetheconversation
‘ndsoheoughttobe’saidMrsSunburystillupset
They had in fact been handsome. Mr Sunbury had given him a silver wrist–watch, with hands that you
couldseeinthedarkandMrsSunburyhadgivenhimakiteItwasn’tbyanymeansthefirstoneshe
had given him. That was when he was seven years old, and it happened this way. There was a large
common near where they lived and on Saturday afternoons when it was fine Mrs Sunbury took her
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

The Kite-W.Somerset Maugham, Angielski

Linki