The Line of Least Resistance Der Weg des geringsten Widerstands 最小抵抗線 Mažiausio pasipriešinimo linija Линия наименьшего сопротивления En Az Direnç Hattı Лінія найменшого опору

SHEP O’NEAL: Now, the weekly Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES. SHEP O'NEAL：今、毎週の特別英語プログラム、AMERICAN STORIES。

(MUSIC)

Our story today is called "The Line of Least Resistance.”  It was written by Edith Wharton. Unsere heutige Geschichte heißt "Die Linie des geringsten Widerstands". Sie wurde von Edith Wharton geschrieben. 今日の私たちの物語は「最小抵抗線」と呼ばれています。それはエディス・ウォートンによって書かれました。

Here is Larry West with the story. (MUSIC)

LARRY WEST:  Mister Mindon returned home for lunch. LARRY WEST：ミスターミンドンは昼食のために帰宅しました。

His wife Millicent was not at home. The servants did not know where she was. Mister Mindon sat alone at the table in the garden.

He ate a small piece of meat and drank some mineral water. Mister Mindon always ate simple meals, because he had problems with his stomach. Why then did he keep a cook among his servants? Зачем же тогда он держал кухарку среди своих слуг? Because his wife Millicent liked to invite her friends to big dinners and serve them rare and expensive food and wine. Mister Mindon did not enjoy his wife’s parties. Мистеру Миндону не нравились вечеринки его жены.

Millicent complained that he did not know how to enjoy life. Миллисент жаловалась, что не умеет радоваться жизни. She did a lot of things that he did not like. Millicent wasted Mister Mindon’s money and was unpleasant to him. Миллисент растратила деньги мистера Миндона и была ему неприятна.

But he never got angry with his wife. Но он никогда не злился на свою жену. After eating, Mister Mindon took a walk through his house.

He did not stay long in the living room. It reminded him of all the hours he had spent there at his wife’s parties. The sight of the formal dining room made him feel even more uncomfortable. He remembered the long dinners where he had to talk to his wife’s friends for hours. They never seemed very interested in what he was saying. Они никогда не казались очень заинтересованными в том, что он говорил. Mister Mindon walked quickly past the ballroom where his wife danced with her friends. He would go to bed after dinner. Он ложился спать после ужина. But he could hear the orchestra playing until three in the morning. Mister Mindon walked into the library.

No one in the house ever read any of the books. But Mister Mindon was proud to be rich enough to have a perfectly useless room in his house. Но мистер Миндон гордился тем, что был достаточно богат, чтобы иметь в своем доме совершенно бесполезную комнату. He went into the sunny little room where his wife planned her busy days and evenings. Он вошел в солнечную маленькую комнату, где его жена планировала свои напряженные дни и вечера. Her writing table was covered with notes and cards from all her friends. Her wastepaper basket was full of empty envelopes that had carried invitations to lunches, dinners, and theater parties. Ее корзина для бумаг была полна пустых конвертов, в которых были приглашения на обеды, ужины и театральные приемы. Mister Mindon saw a letter crushed into a small ball on the floor.

He bent to pick it up. Just as he was about to throw it into the wastepaper basket, he noticed that the letter was signed by his business partner, Thomas Antrim. But Antrim’s letter to Mister Mindon’s wife was not about business. As Mister Mindon read it, he felt as if his mind was spinning out of control. Als Mister Mindon es las, hatte er das Gefühl, als würde sein Verstand außer Kontrolle geraten. Когда мистер Миндон читал это, он почувствовал, что его разум выходит из-под контроля. He sat down heavily in the chair near his wife’s little writing table. Он тяжело опустился на стул возле маленького письменного стола жены. Now the room looked cold and unfamiliar.

"Who are you?" the walls seemed to say. "Who am I?" Mister Mindon said in a loud voice. "I’ll tell you who I am! I am the man who paid for every piece of furniture in this room. If it were not for me and my money, this room would be empty! Если бы не я и мои деньги, эта комната была бы пуста! "  Suddenly, Mister Mindon felt taller. Внезапно мистер Миндон почувствовал себя выше. He marched across his wife’s room. It belonged to him, didn’t it? The house belonged to him, too. He felt powerful. He sat at the table and wrote a letter to Millicent.

One of the servants came into the room. "Did you call, sir?" he asked. "No," Mister Mindon replied. "But since you are here, please telephone for a taxi cab at once. — Но раз уж вы здесь, пожалуйста, вызовите такси немедленно по телефону. The taxi took him to a hotel near his bank.

A clerk showed him to his room. It smelled of cheap soap. Пахло дешевым мылом. The window in the room was open and hot noises came up from the street. Mister Mindon looked at his watch. Four o’clock. He wondered if Millicent had come home yet and read his letter. His head began to ache, and Mister Mindon lay down on the bed.

When he woke up, it was dark. He looked at his watch. Eight o’clock. Millicent must be dressing for dinner. They were supposed to go to Missus Targe’s house for dinner tonight. Well, Mister Mindon thought, Millicent would have to go alone. Maybe she would ask Thomas Antrim to take her to the party! Mister Mindon realized he was hungry.

He left his room and walked down the stairs to the hotel dining room. The air -- smelling of coffee and fried food -- wrapped itself around his head. Воздух, пахнущий кофе и жареной едой, обволакивал его голову. Mister Mindon could not eat much of the food that the hotel waiter brought him. He went back to his room, feeling sick. He also felt hot and dirty in the clothing he had worn all day. He had never realized how much he loved his home! Someone knocked at his door.

Mister Mindon jumped to his feet. "Mindon?" a voice asked. "Are you there? "  Mister Mindon recognized that voice. It belonged to Laurence Meysy. Thirty years ago, Meysy had been very popular with women -- especially with other men’s wives. Тридцать лет назад Мейси пользовался большой популярностью у женщин, особенно у жен других мужчин. As a young man he had interfered in many marriages. В молодости он вмешивался во многие браки. Now, in his old age, Laurence Meysy had become a kind of "marriage doctor.”  He helped husbands and wives save their marriages. Mister Mindon began to feel better as soon as Laurence Meysy walked into his hotel room. Two men followed him. One was Mister Mindon’s rich uncle, Ezra Brownrigg. The other was the Reverend Doctor Bonifant, the minister of Saint Luke’s church where Mister Mindon and his family prayed every Sunday. Mister Mindon looked at the three men and felt very proud that they had come to help him. For the first time in his married life, Mister Mindon felt as important as his wife Millicent. Впервые в супружеской жизни мистер Миндон почувствовал себя таким же важным, как и его жена Миллисент. Laurence Meysy sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette.

"Misses Mindon sent for me," he said. Mister Mindon could not help feeling proud of Millicent. She had done the right thing. Она поступила правильно. Meysy continued. "She showed me your letter. She asks you for mercy." Meysy paused, and then said: "The poor woman is very unhappy. And we have come here to ask you what you plan to do. Now Mister Mindon began to feel uncomfortable.

"To do?" he asked. "To do? Well…I, I plan to…to leave her. Meysy stopped smoking his cigarette.

"Do you want to divorce her?" he asked. "Why, yes!

Yes!" Mister Mindon replied. Meysy knocked the ashes from his cigarette. Мейси стряхнул пепел с сигареты.

"Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this?" he asked. Mister Mindon nodded his head.

"I plan to divorce her," he said loudly. Mister Mindon began to feel very excited.

It was the first time he had ever had so many people sitting and listening to him. こんなにたくさんの人が座って聞いていたのは初めてでした。 He told his audience everything, beginning with his discovery of his wife’s love affair with his business partner, and ending with his complaints about her expensive dinner parties. 彼は、妻のビジネスパートナーとの恋愛の発見から始まり、彼女の高価なディナーパーティーについての不満で終わるまで、すべてを聴衆に話しました。 His uncle looked at his watch. 彼の叔父は彼の時計を見た。

Doctor Bonifant began to stare out of the hotel window. ボニファント博士はホテルの窓から見つめ始めました。 Meysy stood up. メイシーは立ち上がった。 "Do you plan to dishonor yourself then?" 「じゃあ、自分を不名誉にするつもりですか？」 — Значит, ты собираешься обесчестить себя? he asked. "No one knows what has happened. 「何が起こったのか誰も知らない。 You are the only one who can reveal the secret. 秘密を明かすことができるのはあなただけです。 Вы единственный, кто может раскрыть секрет. You will make yourself look foolish.” あなたは自分を愚かに見せます。」 Вы будете выглядеть глупо». Mister Mindon tried to rise. ミスターミンドンは上昇しようとしました。 Мистер Миндон попытался подняться.

But he fell back weakly. しかし、彼は弱く後退しました。 Но он слабо отступил. The three men picked up their hats. 3人の男は帽子をかぶった。 Трое мужчин взяли шляпы. In another moment, they would be gone. 別の瞬間に、彼らは消えてしまうでしょう。 В другой момент они исчезнут. When they left, Mister Mindon would lose his audience, and his belief in himself and his decision. 彼らが去ったとき、ミスターミンドンは彼の聴衆と彼自身への彼の信念と彼の決定を失うでしょう。 Когда они уйдут, мистер Миндон потеряет аудиторию и веру в себя и свое решение. "I won’t leave for New York until tomorrow," he whispered. 「私は明日までニューヨークに向けて出発しません」と彼はささやいた。 Laurence Meysy smiled. "Tomorrow will be too late," he said. 「明日は遅すぎるだろう」と彼は言った。

"Tomorrow everyone will know you are here." 「明日は誰もがあなたがここにいることを知るでしょう。」 Meysy opened the hotel room door. Meysyはホテルの部屋のドアを開けました。 Mister Brownrigg and Doctor Bonifant walked out of the room. ブラウンリグミスターとボニファント博士が部屋から出て行った。 Meysy turned to follow them, when he felt Mister Mindon’s hand grab his arm. ミンドンミスターの手が彼の腕をつかむのを感じたとき、メイシーは彼らに従うようになりました。 "I…I will come with you," Mister Mindon sighed. 「私は…私はあなたと一緒に行きます」とミンドン氏はため息をついた。 — Я… я пойду с вами, — вздохнул мистер Миндон. "It’s…it’s…for the children." 「それは…それは…子供たちのためです。」 Laurence Meysy nodded as Mister Mindon walked out of the room. ミンドン・ミンミスターが部屋から出て行くと、ローレンス・メイシーはうなずいた。 He closed the door gently. 彼はそっとドアを閉めた。 (MUSIC)

SHEP O’NEAL:  You have just heard the story "The Line of Least Resistance.”  It was written by Edith Wharton and adapted for Special English by Dona de Sanctis. SHEP O'NEAL：「TheLine ofLeastResistance」という話を聞いたばかりです。 Edith Whartonによって書かれ、Dona deSanctisによって特別英語に適合されました。 Your storyteller was Larry West. For VOA Special English, this is Shep O’Neal.