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heartbreak house-第21部分

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and he'll catch cold 'she makes for the door leading to the
hall'。

LADY UTTERWORD。 Your husband is quite charming; darling。 He has
actually condescended to kiss me at last。 I shall go into the
garden: it's cooler now 'she goes out by the port door'。

MRS HUSHABYE。 Take care; dear child。 I don't believe any man can
kiss Addy without falling in love with her。 'She goes into the
hall'。

HECTOR 'striking himself on the chest'。 Fool! Goat!

Mrs Hushabye comes back with the captain's cap。

HECTOR。 Your sister is an extremely enterprising old girl。
Where's Miss Dunn!

MRS HUSHABYE。 Mangan says she has gone up to her room for a nap。
Addy won't let you talk to Ellie: she has marked you for her own。

HECTOR。 She has the diabolical family fascination。 I began making
love to her automatically。 What am I to do? I can't fall in love;
and I can't hurt a woman's feelings by telling her so when she
falls in love with me。 And as women are always falling in love
with my moustache I get landed in all sorts of tedious and
terrifying flirtations in which I'm not a bit in earnest。

MRS HUSHABYE。 Oh; neither is Addy。 She has never been in love in
her life; though she has always been trying to fall in head over
ears。 She is worse than you; because you had one real go at
least; with me。

HECTOR。 That was a confounded madness。 I can't believe that such
an amazing experience is common。 It has left its mark on me。 I
believe that is why I have never been able to repeat it。

MRS HUSHABYE 'laughing and caressing his arm'。 We were
frightfully in love with one another; Hector。 It was such an
enchanting dream that I have never been able to grudge it to you
or anyone else since。 I have invited all sorts of pretty women to
the house on the chance of giving you another turn。 But it has
never come off。

HECTOR。 I don't know that I want it to come off。 It was damned
dangerous。 You fascinated me; but I loved you; so it was heaven。
This sister of yours fascinates me; but I hate her; so it is
hell。 I shall kill her if she persists。

MRS。 HUSHABYE。 Nothing will kill Addy; she is as strong as a
horse。 'Releasing him'。 Now I am going off to fascinate somebody。

HECTOR。 The Foreign Office toff? Randall?

MRS HUSHABYE。 Goodness gracious; no! Why should I fascinate him?

HECTOR。 I presume you don't mean the bloated capitalist; Mangan?

MRS HUSHABYE。 Hm! I think he had better be fascinated by me than
by Ellie。 'She is going into the garden when the captain comes in
from it with some sticks in his hand'。 What have you got there;
daddiest?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 Dynamite。

MRS HUSHABYE。 You've been to the gravel pit。 Don't drop it about
the house; there's a dear。 'She goes into the garden; where the
evening light is now very red'。

HECTOR。 Listen; O sage。 How long dare you concentrate on a
feeling without risking having it fixed in your consciousness all
the rest of your life?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 Ninety minutes。 An hour and a half。 'He goes
into the pantry'。

Hector; left alone; contracts his brows; and falls into a
day…dream。 He does not move for some time。 Then he folds his
arms。 Then; throwing his hands behind him; and gripping one with
the other; he strides tragically once to and fro。 Suddenly he
snatches his walking stick from the teak table; and draws it; for
it is a swordstick。 He fights a desperate duel with an imaginary
antagonist; and after many vicissitudes runs him through the body
up to the hilt。 He sheathes his sword and throws it on the sofa;
falling into another reverie as he does so。 He looks straight
into the eyes of an imaginary woman; seizes her by the arms; and
says in a deep and thrilling tone; 〃Do you love me!〃 The captain
comes out of the pantry at this moment; and Hector; caught with
his arms stretched out and his fists clenched; has to account for
his attitude by going through a series of gymnastic exercises。

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 That sort of strength is no good。 You will
never be as strong as a gorilla。

HECTOR。 What is the dynamite for?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 To kill fellows like Mangan。

HECTOR。 No use。 They will always be able to buy more dynamite
than you。

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 I will make a dynamite that he cannot explode。

HECTOR。 And that you can; eh?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 Yes: when I have attained the seventh degree of
concentration。

HECTOR。 What's the use of that? You never do attain it。

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 What then is to be done? Are we to be kept
forever in the mud by these hogs to whom the universe is nothing
but a machine for greasing their bristles and filling their
snouts?

HECTOR。 Are Mangan's bristles worse than Randall's lovelocks?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER;。 We must win powers of life and death over them
both。 I refuse to die until I have invented the means。

HECTOR。 Who are we that we should judge them?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 What are they that they should judge us? Yet
they do; unhesitatingly。 There is enmity between our seed and
their seed。 They know it and act on it; strangling our souls。
They believe in themselves。 When we believe in ourselves; we
shall kill them。

HECTOR。 It is the same seed。 You forget that your pirate has a
very nice daughter。 Mangan's son may be a Plato: Randall's a
Shelley。 What was my father?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 The damnedst scoundrel I ever met。 'He replaces
the drawing…board; sits down at the table; and begins to mix a
wash of color'。

HECTOR。 Precisely。 Well; dare you kill his innocent
grandchildren?

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 They are mine also。

HECTOR。 Just sowe are members one of another。 'He throws
himself carelessly on the sofa'。 I tell you I have often thought
of this killing of human vermin。 Many men have thought of it。
Decent men are like Daniel in the lion's den: their survival is a
miracle; and they do not always survive。 We live among the
Mangans and Randalls and Billie Dunns as they; poor devils; live
among the disease germs and the doctors and the lawyers and the
parsons and the restaurant chefs and the tradesmen and the
servants and all the rest of the parasites and blackmailers。 What
are our terrors to theirs? Give me the power to kill them; and
I'll spare them in sheer

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER 'cutting in sharply'。 Fellow feeling?

HECTOR。 No。 I should kill myself if I believed that。 I must
believe that my spark; small as it is; is divine; and that the
red light over their door is hell fire。 I should spare them in
simple magnanimous pity。

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER。 You can't spare them until you have the power
to kill them。 At present they have the power to kill you。 There
are millions of blacks over the water for them to train and let
loose on us。 They're going to do it。 They're doing it already。

HECTOR。 They are too stupid to use their power。

CAPTAIN SHOTOVER 'throwing down his brush and coming to the end
of the sofa'。 Do not deceive yourself: they do use it。 We kill
the better half of ourselves every day to propitiate them。 The
knowledge that these people are there to render all our
aspirations barren prevents us having the aspirations。 And when
we are tempted to seek their destruction they bring forth demons
to delude us; disguised as pretty daughters; and singers
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