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The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, BOOK I. CHAPTER II.

BOOK I. CHAPTER II.

Newland Archer, during this brief episode, had been thrown into a strange state of embarrassment.

It was annoying that the box which was thus attracting the undivided attention of masculine New York should be that in which his betrothed was seated between her mother and aunt; and for a moment he could not identify the lady in the Empire dress, nor imagine why her presence created such excitement among the initiated.

Then light dawned on him, and with it came a momentary rush of indignation. No, indeed; no one would have thought the Mingotts would have tried it on! But they had; they undoubtedly had; for the low-toned comments behind him left no doubt in Archer's mind that the young woman was May Welland's cousin, the cousin always referred to in the family as "poor Ellen Olenska.

Archer knew that she had suddenly arrived from Europe a day or two previously; he had even heard from Miss Welland (not disapprovingly) that she had been to see poor Ellen, who was staying with old Mrs. Mingott. Archer entirely approved of family solidarity, and one of the qualities he most admired in the Mingotts was their resolute championship of the few black sheep that their blameless stock had produced. There was nothing mean or ungenerous in the young man's heart, and he was glad that his future wife should not be restrained by false prudery from being kind (in private) to her unhappy cousin; but to receive Countess Olenska in the family circle was a different thing from producing her in public, at the Opera of all places, and in the very box with the young girl whose engagement to him, Newland Archer, was to be announced within a few weeks. No, he felt as old Sillerton Jackson felt; he did not think the Mingotts would have tried it on! He knew, of course, that whatever man dared (within Fifth Avenue's limits) that old Mrs. Manson Mingott, the Matriarch of the line, would dare.

He had always admired the high and mighty old lady, who, in spite of having been only Catherine Spicer of Staten Island, with a father mysteriously discredited, and neither money nor position enough to make people forget it, had allied herself with the head of the wealthy Mingott line, married two of her daughters to "foreigners" (an Italian marquis and an English banker), and put the crowning touch to her audacities by building a large house of pale cream-coloured stone (when brown sandstone seemed as much the only wear as a frock-coat in the afternoon) in an inaccessible wilderness near the Central Park. Old Mrs. Mingott's foreign daughters had become a legend.

They never came back to see their mother, and the latter being, like many persons of active mind and dominating will, sedentary and corpulent in her habit, had philosophically remained at home. But the cream-coloured house (supposed to be modelled on the private hotels of the Parisian aristocracy) was there as a visible proof of her moral courage; and she throned in it, among pre-Revolutionary furniture and souvenirs of the Tuileries of Louis Napoleon (where she had shone in her middle age), as placidly as if there were nothing peculiar in living above Thirty-fourth Street, or in having French windows that opened like doors instead of sashes that pushed up. Every one (including Mr. Sillerton Jackson) was agreed that old Catherine had never had beauty—a gift which, in the eyes of New York, justified every success, and excused a certain number of failings.

Unkind people said that, like her Imperial namesake, she had won her way to success by strength of will and hardness of heart, and a kind of haughty effrontery that was somehow justified by the extreme decency and dignity of her private life. Mr. Manson Mingott had died when she was only twenty-eight, and had "tied up" the money with an additional caution born of the general distrust of the Spicers; but his bold young widow went her way fearlessly, mingled freely in foreign society, married her daughters in heaven knew what corrupt and fashionable circles, hobnobbed with Dukes and Ambassadors, associated familiarly with Papists, entertained Opera singers, and was the intimate friend of Mme. Taglioni; and all the while (as Sillerton Jackson was the first to proclaim) there had never been a breath on her reputation; the only respect, he always added, in which she differed from the earlier Catherine. Mrs.

Manson Mingott had long since succeeded in untying her husband's fortune, and had lived in affluence for half a century; but memories of her early straits had made her excessively thrifty, and though, when she bought a dress or a piece of furniture, she took care that it should be of the best, she could not bring herself to spend much on the transient pleasures of the table. Therefore, for totally different reasons, her food was as poor as Mrs. Archer's, and her wines did nothing to redeem it. Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living; but people continued to come to her in spite of the "made dishes" and flat champagne, and in reply to the remonstrances of her son Lovell (who tried to retrieve the family credit by having the best chef in New York) she used to say laughingly: "What's the use of two good cooks in one family, now that I've married the girls and can't eat sauces? Newland Archer, as he mused on these things, had once more turned his eyes toward the Mingott box.

He saw that Mrs. Welland and her sister-in-law were facing their semicircle of critics with the Mingottian APLOMB which old Catherine had inculcated in all her tribe, and that only May Welland betrayed, by a heightened colour (perhaps due to the knowledge that he was watching her) a sense of the gravity of the situation. As for the cause of the commotion, she sat gracefully in her corner of the box, her eyes fixed on the stage, and revealing, as she leaned forward, a little more shoulder and bosom than New York was accustomed to seeing, at least in ladies who had reasons for wishing to pass unnoticed. Few things seemed to Newland Archer more awful than an offence against "Taste," that far-off divinity of whom "Form" was the mere visible representative and vicegerent.

Madame Olenska's pale and serious face appealed to his fancy as suited to the occasion and to her unhappy situation; but the way her dress (which had no tucker) sloped away from her thin shoulders shocked and troubled him. He hated to think of May Welland's being exposed to the influence of a young woman so careless of the dictates of Taste. "After all," he heard one of the younger men begin behind him (everybody talked through the Mephistopheles-and-Martha scenes), "after all, just WHAT happened?

"Well—she left him; nobody attempts to deny that.

"He's an awful brute, isn't he?

continued the young enquirer, a candid Thorley, who was evidently preparing to enter the lists as the lady's champion. "The very worst; I knew him at Nice," said Lawrence Lefferts with authority.

"A half-paralysed white sneering fellow—rather handsome head, but eyes with a lot of lashes. Well, I'll tell you the sort: when he wasn't with women he was collecting china. Paying any price for both, I understand. There was a general laugh, and the young champion said: "Well, then——?

"Well, then; she bolted with his secretary.

"Oh, I see.

The champion's face fell. "It didn't last long, though: I heard of her a few months later living alone in Venice.

I believe Lovell Mingott went out to get her. He said she was desperately unhappy. That's all right—but this parading her at the Opera's another thing. "Perhaps," young Thorley hazarded, "she's too unhappy to be left at home.

This was greeted with an irreverent laugh, and the youth blushed deeply, and tried to look as if he had meant to insinuate what knowing people called a "double entendre.

"Well—it's queer to have brought Miss Welland, anyhow," some one said in a low tone, with a side-glance at Archer.

"Oh, that's part of the campaign: Granny's orders, no doubt," Lefferts laughed.

"When the old lady does a thing she does it thoroughly. The act was ending, and there was a general stir in the box.

Suddenly Newland Archer felt himself impelled to decisive action. The desire to be the first man to enter Mrs. Mingott's box, to proclaim to the waiting world his engagement to May Welland, and to see her through whatever difficulties her cousin's anomalous situation might involve her in; this impulse had abruptly overruled all scruples and hesitations, and sent him hurrying through the red corridors to the farther side of the house. As he entered the box his eyes met Miss Welland's, and he saw that she had instantly understood his motive, though the family dignity which both considered so high a virtue would not permit her to tell him so.

The persons of their world lived in an atmosphere of faint implications and pale delicacies, and the fact that he and she understood each other without a word seemed to the young man to bring them nearer than any explanation would have done. Her eyes said: "You see why Mamma brought me," and his answered: "I would not for the world have had you stay away. "You know my niece Countess Olenska?

Mrs. Welland enquired as she shook hands with her future son-in-law. Archer bowed without extending his hand, as was the custom on being introduced to a lady; and Ellen Olenska bent her head slightly, keeping her own pale-gloved hands clasped on her huge fan of eagle feathers. Having greeted Mrs. Lovell Mingott, a large blonde lady in creaking satin, he sat down beside his betrothed, and said in a low tone: "I hope you've told Madame Olenska that we're engaged? I want everybody to know—I want you to let me announce it this evening at the ball. Miss Welland's face grew rosy as the dawn, and she looked at him with radiant eyes.

"If you can persuade Mamma," she said; "but why should we change what is already settled?" He made no answer but that which his eyes returned, and she added, still more confidently smiling: "Tell my cousin yourself: I give you leave. She says she used to play with you when you were children. She made way for him by pushing back her chair, and promptly, and a little ostentatiously, with the desire that the whole house should see what he was doing, Archer seated himself at the Countess Olenska's side.

"We DID use to play together, didn't we?

she asked, turning her grave eyes to his. "You were a horrid boy, and kissed me once behind a door; but it was your cousin Vandie Newland, who never looked at me, that I was in love with." Her glance swept the horse-shoe curve of boxes. "Ah, how this brings it all back to me—I see everybody here in knickerbockers and pantalettes," she said, with her trailing slightly foreign accent, her eyes returning to his face. Agreeable as their expression was, the young man was shocked that they should reflect so unseemly a picture of the august tribunal before which, at that very moment, her case was being tried.

Nothing could be in worse taste than misplaced flippancy; and he answered somewhat stiffly: "Yes, you have been away a very long time. "Oh, centuries and centuries; so long," she said, "that I'm sure I'm dead and buried, and this dear old place is heaven;" which, for reasons he could not define, struck Newland Archer as an even more disrespectful way of describing New York society.

BOOK I. CHAPTER II. BUCH I. KAPITEL II. ΒΙΒΛΊΟ I. ΚΕΦΆΛΑΙΟ II. LIBRO I. CAPITOLO II. 第1巻 第2章 LIVRO I. CAPÍTULO II. KİTAP I. BÖLÜM II.

Newland Archer, during this brief episode, had been thrown into a strange state of embarrassment. Newland Archer, bu kısa olay sırasında garip bir utanç duygusuna kapılmıştı.

It was annoying that the box which was thus attracting the undivided attention of masculine New York should be that in which his betrothed was seated between her mother and aunt; and for a moment he could not identify the lady in the Empire dress, nor imagine why her presence created such excitement among the initiated. Eril New York'un tüm dikkatini üzerine çeken locanın, nişanlısının annesi ve teyzesi arasında oturduğu loca olması can sıkıcıydı; ve bir an için İmparatorluk giysisi içindeki kadını teşhis edemedi ve onun varlığının inisiyeler arasında neden bu kadar heyecan yarattığını düşünemedi.

Then light dawned on him, and with it came a momentary rush of indignation. Затем его озарил свет, а вместе с ним и мгновенный прилив негодования. Sonra kafasında bir ışık belirdi ve onunla birlikte anlık bir öfke patlaması yaşandı. No, indeed; no one would have thought the Mingotts would have tried it on! Нет, конечно; Никто бы не подумал, что Минготты примерили бы его! Hayır, gerçekten; hiç kimse Mingott'ların bunu deneyeceğini düşünmezdi! But they had; they undoubtedly had; for the low-toned comments behind him left no doubt in Archer’s mind that the young woman was May Welland’s cousin, the cousin always referred to in the family as "poor Ellen Olenska. Ama vardı; şüphesiz vardı; çünkü arkasından gelen alçak tonlu yorumlar Archer'ın zihninde genç kadının May Welland'ın kuzeni, ailede her zaman 'zavallı Ellen Olenska' olarak anılan kuzeni olduğuna dair hiçbir şüphe bırakmamıştı.

Archer knew that she had suddenly arrived from Europe a day or two previously; he had even heard from Miss Welland (not disapprovingly) that she had been to see poor Ellen, who was staying with old Mrs. Mingott. Archer onun bir iki gün önce Avrupa'dan aniden geldiğini biliyordu; hatta Bayan Welland'dan (onaylamayarak değil) yaşlı Bayan Mingott'la kalan zavallı Ellen'ı görmeye gittiğini duymuştu. Archer entirely approved of family solidarity, and one of the qualities he most admired in the Mingotts was their resolute championship of the few black sheep that their blameless stock had produced. Archer aile dayanışmasını tamamen onaylıyordu ve Mingott'larda en çok hayranlık duyduğu özelliklerden biri, suçsuz soylarının ürettiği birkaç kara koyunu kararlılıkla savunmalarıydı. There was nothing mean or ungenerous in the young man’s heart, and he was glad that his future wife should not be restrained by false prudery from being kind (in private) to her unhappy cousin; but to receive Countess Olenska in the family circle was a different thing from producing her in public, at the Opera of all places, and in the very box with the young girl whose engagement to him, Newland Archer, was to be announced within a few weeks. В сердце молодого человека не было ничего подлого или неблагородного, и он был рад, что его будущая жена не удержалась из-за ложного стыдливости и не была доброй (наедине) со своим несчастным кузеном; но встречать графиню Оленскую в семейном кругу было совсем не так, как показывать ее публично, в любой опере и в самой ложе с молодой девушкой, о помолвке которой с ним, Ньюленд Арчер, должно было быть объявлено в течение нескольких недели. Genç adamın kalbinde kaba ya da cömert olmayan hiçbir şey yoktu ve müstakbel karısının, mutsuz kuzenine karşı nazik davranmaktan (özel olarak) sahte bir tutuculukla alıkonulmamasından memnundu; ama Kontes Olenska'yı aile çevresinde kabul etmek, onu herkesin içinde, Opera'da ve birkaç hafta içinde Newland Archer'la nişanı ilan edilecek olan genç kızla aynı locada ağırlamaktan farklı bir şeydi. No, he felt as old Sillerton Jackson felt; he did not think the Mingotts would have tried it on! Нет, он чувствовал себя так же, как старый Силлертон Джексон; он не думал, что Минготты примерили бы его! Hayır, o da yaşlı Sillerton Jackson gibi hissediyordu; Mingott'ların bunu deneyeceklerini sanmıyordu! He knew, of course, that whatever man dared (within Fifth Avenue’s limits) that old Mrs. Manson Mingott, the Matriarch of the line, would dare. Elbette, Beşinci Cadde'nin sınırları içinde kim cesaret ederse etsin, soyun anası olan yaşlı Bayan Manson Mingott'un buna cesaret edeceğini biliyordu.

He had always admired the high and mighty old lady, who, in spite of having been only Catherine Spicer of Staten Island, with a father mysteriously discredited, and neither money nor position enough to make people forget it, had allied herself with the head of the wealthy Mingott line, married two of her daughters to "foreigners" (an Italian marquis and an English banker), and put the crowning touch to her audacities by building a large house of pale cream-coloured stone (when brown sandstone seemed as much the only wear as a frock-coat in the afternoon) in an inaccessible wilderness near the Central Park. Он всегда восхищался высокой и могущественной старушкой, которая, несмотря на то, что была всего лишь Кэтрин Спайсер из Статен-Айленда, с загадочно дискредитированным отцом и не имеющим ни денег, ни положения, достаточных, чтобы заставить людей забыть об этом, вступила в союз с главой богатая линия Минготт выдавила двух своих дочерей замуж за «иностранцев» (итальянского маркиза и английского банкира) и завершила свою дерзость, построив большой дом из камня бледно-кремового цвета (когда коричневый песчаник казался таким же единственная одежда в качестве сюртука днем) в труднодоступной глуши возле Центрального парка. Sadece Staten Island'lı Catherine Spicer olmasına, babasının gizemli bir şekilde gözden düşmesine ve bunu unutturacak kadar ne parası ne de mevkisi olmasına rağmen, zengin Mingott soyunun lideriyle ittifak kuran bu yüksek ve kudretli yaşlı kadına her zaman hayranlık duymuştu, Kızlarından ikisini "yabancılarla" (bir İtalyan markisi ve bir İngiliz banker) evlendirdi ve Central Park'ın yakınındaki ulaşılmaz bir çölde soluk krem rengi taştan (kahverengi kumtaşının öğleden sonra bir frak kadar giyilebilir göründüğü zamanlarda) büyük bir ev inşa ederek cüretlerini taçlandırdı. Old Mrs. Mingott’s foreign daughters had become a legend. Yaşlı Bayan Mingott'un yabancı kızları bir efsane haline gelmişti.

They never came back to see their mother, and the latter being, like many persons of active mind and dominating will, sedentary and corpulent in her habit, had philosophically remained at home. Они так и не вернулись, чтобы увидеть свою мать, и последняя, как многие люди с активным умом и властной волей, сидячая и тучная по своим привычкам, философски оставалась дома. Annelerini görmek için bir daha geri dönmediler ve anneleri, aktif bir zihne ve baskın bir iradeye sahip olan pek çok kişi gibi, alışkanlıkları gereği hareketsiz ve şişman olduğundan, felsefi olarak evde kalmıştı. But the cream-coloured house (supposed to be modelled on the private hotels of the Parisian aristocracy) was there as a visible proof of her moral courage; and she throned in it, among pre-Revolutionary furniture and souvenirs of the Tuileries of Louis Napoleon (where she had shone in her middle age), as placidly as if there were nothing peculiar in living above Thirty-fourth Street, or in having French windows that opened like doors instead of sashes that pushed up. Но дом кремового цвета (предположительно построенный по образцу частных отелей парижской аристократии) был явным доказательством ее морального мужества; и она восседала в нем среди дореволюционной мебели и сувениров Тюильри Луи-Наполеона (где она блистала в своем среднем возрасте) так спокойно, как если бы не было ничего особенного в том, чтобы жить выше Тридцать четвертой улицы или в том, чтобы иметь французский язык. окна, которые открывались, как двери, а не поднимались вверх. Every one (including Mr. Sillerton Jackson) was agreed that old Catherine had never had beauty—a gift which, in the eyes of New York, justified every success, and excused a certain number of failings. Все (включая мистера Силлертона Джексона) были согласны с тем, что старая Кэтрин никогда не отличалась красотой - даром, который в глазах Нью-Йорка оправдывает любой успех и оправдывает определенное количество неудач. Herkes (Bay Sillerton Jackson da dahil) yaşlı Catherine'in hiçbir zaman güzel olmadığı konusunda hemfikirdi - New York'un gözünde her başarıyı haklı çıkaran ve belirli sayıda başarısızlığı mazur gösteren bir yetenek.

Unkind people said that, like her Imperial namesake, she had won her way to success by strength of will and hardness of heart, and a kind of haughty effrontery that was somehow justified by the extreme decency and dignity of her private life. Недобрые люди говорили, что, как и ее имперский тезка, она добилась успеха благодаря силе воли и жестокосердию, а также своего рода надменной наглости, которая каким-то образом была оправдана крайней порядочностью и достоинством ее личной жизни. Kaba insanlar, İmparatorluktaki adaşı gibi, başarıya giden yolu irade gücü ve kalp katılığıyla ve özel hayatının aşırı nezaketi ve saygınlığıyla bir şekilde haklı çıkarılan bir tür kibirli küstahlıkla kazandığını söylediler. Mr. Manson Mingott had died when she was only twenty-eight, and had "tied up" the money with an additional caution born of the general distrust of the Spicers; but his bold young widow went her way fearlessly, mingled freely in foreign society, married her daughters in heaven knew what corrupt and fashionable circles, hobnobbed with Dukes and Ambassadors, associated familiarly with Papists, entertained Opera singers, and was the intimate friend of Mme. Мистер Мэнсон Минготт умер, когда ей было всего двадцать восемь лет, и он «привязал» деньги с дополнительной осторожностью, порожденной общим недоверием к Спайсерам; но его смелая молодая вдова безбоязненно шла своим путем, свободно смешивалась с иностранным обществом, вышла замуж за своих дочерей, и небеса знали, в каких коррумпированных и модных кругах, дружили с герцогами и послами, дружили с папистами, развлекали оперных певцов и были близкими подругами мадам . Bay Manson Mingott, o henüz yirmi sekiz yaşındayken ölmüştü ve Spicer'lara duyulan genel güvensizlikten kaynaklanan ek bir ihtiyatla parayı "bağlamıştı"; ancak cesur genç dul eşi korkusuzca yoluna devam etti, yabancı sosyeteye özgürce karıştı, kızlarını kim bilir hangi yozlaşmış ve modaya uygun çevrelerde evlendirdi, Dükler ve Büyükelçilerle takıldı, Papacılarla samimi ilişkiler kurdu, Opera şarkıcılarını ağırladı ve Madam'ın yakın arkadaşıydı. Taglioni; and all the while (as Sillerton Jackson was the first to proclaim) there had never been a breath on her reputation; the only respect, he always added, in which she differed from the earlier Catherine. Тальони; и все это время (как первым провозгласил Силлертон Джексон) на ее репутации не было и капли; единственное уважение, всегда добавлял он, чем она отличалась от прежней Екатерины. Taglioni; ve tüm bu süre boyunca (Sillerton Jackson'ın ilk ilan ettiği gibi) itibarına asla bir nefes bile gelmemişti; her zaman eklediği gibi, onun önceki Catherine'den farklı olduğu tek konu buydu. Mrs.

Manson Mingott had long since succeeded in untying her husband’s fortune, and had lived in affluence for half a century; but memories of her early straits had made her excessively thrifty, and though, when she bought a dress or a piece of furniture, she took care that it should be of the best, she could not bring herself to spend much on the transient pleasures of the table. Мэнсон Минготт давно сумел развязать состояние своего мужа и полвека жил в достатке; но воспоминания о ее ранних трудностях сделали ее излишне бережливой, и хотя, когда она покупала платье или предмет мебели, она заботилась о том, чтобы оно было из лучших, она не могла заставить себя тратить много на преходящие удовольствия стол. Manson Mingott uzun zaman önce kocasının servetini çözmeyi başarmış ve yarım yüzyıl boyunca bolluk içinde yaşamıştı; ama eski sıkıntılarının anıları onu aşırı tutumlu yapmıştı ve bir elbise ya da mobilya aldığında en iyisi olmasına dikkat etmesine rağmen, masanın geçici zevkleri için fazla harcama yapmayı kendine yediremiyordu. Therefore, for totally different reasons, her food was as poor as Mrs. Archer’s, and her wines did nothing to redeem it. Bu nedenle, tamamen farklı nedenlerden dolayı, yemekleri Bayan Archer'ınki kadar kötüydü ve şarapları bunu telafi etmek için hiçbir şey yapmadı. Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living; but people continued to come to her in spite of the "made dishes" and flat champagne, and in reply to the remonstrances of her son Lovell (who tried to retrieve the family credit by having the best chef in New York) she used to say laughingly: "What’s the use of two good cooks in one family, now that I’ve married the girls and can’t eat sauces? Ее родственники считали, что скудость ее стола дискредитировала имя Минготт, которое всегда ассоциировалось с хорошей жизнью; но люди продолжали приходить к ней, несмотря на «приготовленные блюда» и простое шампанское, и в ответ на возражения ее сына Ловелла (который пытался вернуть себе репутацию семьи, имея лучшего шеф-повара в Нью-Йорке) она говорила со смехом: «Что толку от двух хороших поваров в одной семье, когда я женился на девушках и не могу есть соусы? Akrabaları onun sofrasındaki sefaletin, her zaman iyi bir yaşamla özdeşleşmiş olan Mingott adının itibarını zedelediğini düşünüyordu; ancak insanlar "yapılmış yemeklere" ve patlak şampanyaya rağmen ona gelmeye devam etti ve (New York'taki en iyi aşçıya sahip olarak ailenin itibarını geri kazanmaya çalışan) oğlu Lovell'ın serzenişlerine cevap olarak gülerek şöyle derdi: "Kızlarla evlendikten ve sos yiyemedikten sonra bir ailede iki iyi aşçının ne faydası var? Newland Archer, as he mused on these things, had once more turned his eyes toward the Mingott box. Newland Archer bunları düşünürken gözlerini bir kez daha Mingott'un kutusuna çevirmişti.

He saw that Mrs. Welland and her sister-in-law were facing their semicircle of critics with the Mingottian APLOMB which old Catherine had inculcated in all her tribe, and that only May Welland betrayed, by a heightened colour (perhaps due to the knowledge that he was watching her) a sense of the gravity of the situation. Он увидел, что миссис Велланд и ее невестка столкнулись со своим полукругом критиков с Минготтовским АПЛОМБОМ, который старая Кэтрин привила всему своему племени, и что только Мэй Велленд предала своим обострением (возможно, из-за осведомленности). что он наблюдал за ней) ощущение серьезности ситуации. Bayan Welland ve baldızının, yaşlı Catherine'in tüm kabilesine telkin ettiği Mingottian APLOMB ile eleştirmenlerin yarım çemberine baktıklarını ve sadece May Welland'ın artan bir renkle (belki de onu izlediğini bildiği için) durumun ciddiyetini hissettiğini gördü. As for the cause of the commotion, she sat gracefully in her corner of the box, her eyes fixed on the stage, and revealing, as she leaned forward, a little more shoulder and bosom than New York was accustomed to seeing, at least in ladies who had reasons for wishing to pass unnoticed. Kargaşanın nedenine gelince, locadaki köşesinde zarif bir şekilde oturuyor, gözlerini sahneye dikiyor ve öne doğru eğildiğinde, New York'un görmeye alışık olduğundan biraz daha fazla omzunu ve göğsünü ortaya çıkarıyordu, en azından fark edilmemek için nedenleri olan bayanlarda. Few things seemed to Newland Archer more awful than an offence against "Taste," that far-off divinity of whom "Form" was the mere visible representative and vicegerent. Мало что казалось Ньюленду Арчеру более ужасным, чем оскорбление «Вкуса», того далекого божества, для которого «Форма» была просто видимым представителем и наместником. Newland Archer'a çok az şey "Zevk "e, "Biçim "in yalnızca görünür temsilcisi ve vekili olduğu o uzak tanrısallığa karşı işlenen bir suçtan daha korkunç görünüyordu.

Madame Olenska’s pale and serious face appealed to his fancy as suited to the occasion and to her unhappy situation; but the way her dress (which had no tucker) sloped away from her thin shoulders shocked and troubled him. Бледное и серьезное лицо мадам Оленской привлекало его воображение как подходящее к случаю и к ее несчастному положению; но то, как ее платье (без подкладки) ниспадало с ее тонких плеч, шокировало и беспокоило его. Madam Olenska'nın solgun ve ciddi yüzü, bu duruma ve içinde bulunduğu mutsuz duruma uygun düşüyordu; ama elbisesinin (büzgüsüzdü) ince omuzlarından aşağıya doğru eğilmesi onu şaşırtmış ve rahatsız etmişti. He hated to think of May Welland’s being exposed to the influence of a young woman so careless of the dictates of Taste. Он ненавидел думать о том, что Мэй Веллэнд подверглась влиянию молодой женщины, которая так безразлична к велениям Вкуса. May Welland'ın, zevk kurallarını bu kadar umursamayan genç bir kadının etkisine maruz kalacağını düşünmekten nefret ediyordu. "After all," he heard one of the younger men begin behind him (everybody talked through the Mephistopheles-and-Martha scenes), "after all, just WHAT happened? "Sonuçta," diye gençlerden birinin arkasından başladığını duydu (herkes Mephistopheles-ve-Martha sahneleri boyunca konuşuyordu), "sonuçta, sadece NE oldu?

"Well—she left him; nobody attempts to deny that. "Onu terk etti; kimse bunu inkâr etmeye kalkışmasın.

"He’s an awful brute, isn’t he? "Он ужасный зверь, не так ли?

continued the young enquirer, a candid Thorley, who was evidently preparing to enter the lists as the lady’s champion. продолжал молодой вопрошатель, искренний Торли, который, очевидно, готовился войти в списки как чемпион леди. diye devam etti genç soruşturmacı, belli ki hanımefendinin şampiyonu olarak listelere girmeye hazırlanan samimi Thorley. "The very worst; I knew him at Nice," said Lawrence Lefferts with authority. Lawrence Lefferts otoriter bir tavırla, "En kötüsü; onu Nice'ten tanıyorum," dedi.

"A half-paralysed white sneering fellow—rather handsome head, but eyes with a lot of lashes. "Наполовину парализованный белый насмешливый парень - довольно красивая голова, но глаза с множеством ресниц. "Yarı felçli, beyaz, alaycı bir adam; kafası oldukça yakışıklı ama gözleri çok kirpikli. Well, I’ll tell you the sort: when he wasn’t with women he was collecting china. Size şöyle söyleyeyim: Kadınlarla birlikte olmadığı zamanlarda porselen koleksiyonu yapardı. Paying any price for both, I understand. İkisi için de her türlü bedeli ödemeyi anlarım. There was a general laugh, and the young champion said: "Well, then——? Genel bir gülüşme oldu ve genç şampiyon şöyle dedi: "Peki, o zaman--?

"Well, then; she bolted with his secretary. "Peki, o zaman; sekreteriyle birlikte kaçtı.

"Oh, I see.

The champion’s face fell. "It didn’t last long, though: I heard of her a few months later living alone in Venice.

I believe Lovell Mingott went out to get her. He said she was desperately unhappy. That’s all right—but this parading her at the Opera’s another thing. "Perhaps," young Thorley hazarded, "she’s too unhappy to be left at home.

This was greeted with an irreverent laugh, and the youth blushed deeply, and tried to look as if he had meant to insinuate what knowing people called a "double entendre.

"Well—it’s queer to have brought Miss Welland, anyhow," some one said in a low tone, with a side-glance at Archer.

"Oh, that’s part of the campaign: Granny’s orders, no doubt," Lefferts laughed.

"When the old lady does a thing she does it thoroughly. "Когда старушка что-то делает, она делает это тщательно. The act was ending, and there was a general stir in the box.

Suddenly Newland Archer felt himself impelled to decisive action. The desire to be the first man to enter Mrs. Mingott’s box, to proclaim to the waiting world his engagement to May Welland, and to see her through whatever difficulties her cousin’s anomalous situation might involve her in; this impulse had abruptly overruled all scruples and hesitations, and sent him hurrying through the red corridors to the farther side of the house. Желание быть первым мужчиной, который войдет в ложе миссис Минготт, объявить ожидающему миру о своей помолвке с Мэй Велланд и увидеть ее через все трудности, с которыми она могла столкнуться в аномальной ситуации кузины; этот импульс внезапно пересилил все сомнения и колебания и отправил его поспешно по красным коридорам в дальний конец дома. As he entered the box his eyes met Miss Welland’s, and he saw that she had instantly understood his motive, though the family dignity which both considered so high a virtue would not permit her to tell him so.

The persons of their world lived in an atmosphere of faint implications and pale delicacies, and the fact that he and she understood each other without a word seemed to the young man to bring them nearer than any explanation would have done. Люди их мира жили в атмосфере слабых подтекстов и бледной деликатности, и тот факт, что он и она понимали друг друга без единого слова, казалось молодому человеку ближе, чем любое объяснение. Her eyes said: "You see why Mamma brought me," and his answered: "I would not for the world have had you stay away. Ее глаза сказали: «Вы видите, почему мама привела меня», и он ответил: «Я бы ни за что не стал, если бы вы остались в стороне. "You know my niece Countess Olenska?

Mrs. Welland enquired as she shook hands with her future son-in-law. - спросила миссис Велланд, пожимая руку своему будущему зятю. Archer bowed without extending his hand, as was the custom on being introduced to a lady; and Ellen Olenska bent her head slightly, keeping her own pale-gloved hands clasped on her huge fan of eagle feathers. Having greeted Mrs. Lovell Mingott, a large blonde lady in creaking satin, he sat down beside his betrothed, and said in a low tone: "I hope you’ve told Madame Olenska that we’re engaged? I want everybody to know—I want you to let me announce it this evening at the ball. Miss Welland’s face grew rosy as the dawn, and she looked at him with radiant eyes.

"If you can persuade Mamma," she said; "but why should we change what is already settled?" «Если ты сможешь убедить маму», - сказала она; "но зачем нам менять то, что уже решено?" He made no answer but that which his eyes returned, and she added, still more confidently smiling: "Tell my cousin yourself: I give you leave. She says she used to play with you when you were children. Она говорит, что играла с вами, когда вы были детьми. She made way for him by pushing back her chair, and promptly, and a little ostentatiously, with the desire that the whole house should see what he was doing, Archer seated himself at the Countess Olenska’s side.

"We DID use to play together, didn’t we?

she asked, turning her grave eyes to his. "You were a horrid boy, and kissed me once behind a door; but it was your cousin Vandie Newland, who never looked at me, that I was in love with." «Ты был ужасным мальчиком и однажды поцеловал меня за дверью; но я был влюблен в твоего кузена Ванди Ньюлэнда, который никогда не смотрел на меня». Her glance swept the horse-shoe curve of boxes. "Ah, how this brings it all back to me—I see everybody here in knickerbockers and pantalettes," she said, with her trailing slightly foreign accent, her eyes returning to his face. Agreeable as their expression was, the young man was shocked that they should reflect so unseemly a picture of the august tribunal before which, at that very moment, her case was being tried. Каким бы приятным ни было выражение их лица, молодой человек был потрясен тем, что они отразили столь неприличную картину августейшего трибунала, в котором в тот самый момент рассматривалось ее дело.

Nothing could be in worse taste than misplaced flippancy; and he answered somewhat stiffly: "Yes, you have been away a very long time. "Oh, centuries and centuries; so long," she said, "that I’m sure I’m dead and buried, and this dear old place is heaven;" which, for reasons he could not define, struck Newland Archer as an even more disrespectful way of describing New York society. «О, столетия и столетия; до тех пор, - сказала она, - что я уверена, что я мертва и похоронена, а это милое старое место - рай»; который по причинам, которые он не мог определить, поразил Ньюленд Арчер еще более неуважительным способом описания нью-йоркского общества.