迪文小说

第13章 the￡1000000 banknte（第3页）

"Oh，verywell;Iaologize。

"

Hereceiveditwithasmile，oneofthoselargesmileswhichgoesallaroundover，andhasfoldsinit，andwrinkles，andsirals，andlookslikethelacewhereyouhavethrownabrickinaond;andthenintheactofhistakingaglimseofthebillthissmilefrozesolid，andturnedyellow，andlookedlikethosewavy，wormysreadsoflavawhichyoufindhardenedonlittlelevelsonthesideofVesuvius。Ineverbeforesawasmilecaughtlikethat，anderetuated。Themanstoodthereholdingthebill，andlookinglikethat，andtherorietorhustledutoseewhatwasthematter，andsaid，briskly:

"Well，What&aos;su?What&aos;sthetrouble?What&aos;swanting?

"

Isaid:

"Thereisn&aos;tanytrouble。I&aos;mwaitingformychange。

"

"Come，come;gethimhischange，Tod;gethimhischange。

"

Todretorted:

"Gethimhischange!It&aos;seasytosay，sir;butlookatthebillyourself。

"

Therorietortookalook，gavealow，eloquentwhistle，thenmadeadivefortheileofrejectedclothing，andbegantosnatchitthiswayandthat，talkingallthetimeexcitedly，andasiftohimself:

"Sellaneccentricmillionairesuchanunseakablesuitasthat!Tod&aos;safool-abornfool。Alwaysdoingsomethinglikethis。Driveseverymillionaireawayfromthislace，becausehecan&aos;ttellamillionairefromatram，andnevercould。Ah，here&aos;sthethingIamafter。Pleasegetthosethingsoff，sir，andthrowtheminthefire。Domethefavortoutonthisshirtandthissuit;it&aos;sjustthething，theverything-lain，rich，modest，andjustducallynobby;madetoorderforaforeignrince-youmayknowhim，sir，hisSereneHighnesstheHosodarofHalifax;hadtoleaveitwithusandtakeamourning-suitbecausehismotherwasgoingtodie-whichshedidn&aos;t。Butthat&aos;sallright;wecan&aos;talwayshavethingsthewaywe-thatis，thewaythey-there!trousersallright，theyfityoutoacharm，sir;nowthewaistcoat;aha，rightagain!nowthecoat-Lord!lookatthat，now!Perfect-thewholething!Ineversawsuchatriumhinallmyexerience。

"

Iexressedmysatisfaction。

"Quiteright，sir，quiteright;it&aos;lldoforamakeshift，I&aos;mboundtosay。Butwaittillyouseewhatwe&aos;llgetuforyouonyourownmeasure。Come，Tod，bookanden;getatit。Lengthofleg，32

"-andsoon。BeforeIcouldgetinawordhehadmeasuredme，andwasgivingordersfordress-suits，morningsuits，shirts，andallsortsofthings。WhenIgotachanceIsaid:

"But，mydearsir，Ican&aos;tgivetheseorders，unlessyoucanwaitindefinitely，orchangethebill。

"

"Indefinitely!It&aos;saweakword，sir，aweakword。Eternally-that&aos;stheword，sir。Tod，rushthesethingsthrough，andsendthemtothegentleman&aos;saddresswithoutanywasteoftime。Lettheminorcustomerswait。Setdownthegentleman&aos;saddressand-

"

"I&aos;mchangingmyquarters。Iwilldroinandleavethenewaddress。

"

"Quiteright，sir，quiteright。Onemoment-letmeshowyouout，sir。There-goodday，sir，goodday。

"

Well，don&aos;tyouseewhatwasboundtohaen?IdriftednaturallyintobuyingwhateverIwanted，andaskingforchange。WithinaweekIwassumtuouslyequiedwithallneedfulcomfortsandluxuries，andwashousedinanexensiverivatehotelinHanoverSquare。Itookmydinnersthere，butforbreakfastIstuckbyHarris&aos;shumblefeedinghouse，whereIhadgotmyfirstmealonmymillion-oundbill。IwasthemakingofHarris。Thefacthadgoneallabroadthattheforeigncrankwhocarriedmillion-oundbillsinhisvestocketwastheatronsaintofthelace。Thatwasenough。Frombeingaoor，struggling，littlehand-to-mouthenterrise，ithadbecomecelebrated，andovercrowdedwithcustomers。Harriswassogratefulthatheforcedloansuonme，andwouldnotbedenied;andso，auerasIwas，Ihadmoneytosend，andwaslivingliketherichandthegreat。Ijudgedthattherewasgoingtobeacrashbyandby，butIwasinnowandmustswimacrossordrown。Youseetherewasjustthatelementofimendingdisastertogiveaseriousside，asoberside，yes，atragicside，toastateofthingswhichwouldotherwisehavebeenurelyridiculous。Inthenight，inthedark，thetragedyartwasalwaystothefront，andalwayswarning，alwaysthreatening;andsoImoanedandtossed，andsleewashardtofind。Butinthecheerfuldaylightthetragedyelementfadedoutanddisaeared，andIwalkedonair，andwashaytogiddiness，tointoxication，youmaysay。

Anditwasnatural;forIhadbecomeoneofthenotorietiesofthemetroolisoftheworld，anditturnedmyhead，notjustalittle，butagooddeal。Youcouldnottakeuanewsaer，English，Scotch，orIrish，withoutfindinginitoneormorereferencestothe

"vest-ocketmillion-ounder

"andhislatestdoingsandsaying。Atfirst，inthesementions，Iwasatthebottomoftheersonal-gossicolumn;next，Iwaslistedabovetheknights，nextabovethebaronets，nextabovethebarons，andsoon，andsoon，climbingsteadily，asmynotorietyaugmented，untilIreachedthehighestaltitudeossible，andthereIremained，takingrecedenceofalldukesnotroyal，andofallecclesiasticsexcettherimateofallEngland。Butmind，thiswasnotfame;asyetIhadachievedonlynotoriety。Thencametheclimaxingstroke-theaccolade，sotoseak-whichinasingleinstanttransmutedtheerishabledrossofnotorietyintotheenduringgoldoffame:Punchcaricaturedme!Yes，Iwasamademannow;mylacewasestablished。Imightbejokedaboutstill，butreverently，nothilariously，notrudely;Icouldbesmiledat，butnotlaughedat。Thetimeforthathadgoneby。Punchicturedmealla-flutterwithrags，dickeringwithabeefeaterfortheTowerofLondon。Well，youcanimaginehowitwaswithayoungfellowwhohadneverbeentakennoticeofbefore，andnowallofasuddencouldn&aos;tsayathingthatwasn&aos;ttakenuandreeatedeverywhere;couldn&aos;tstirabroadwithoutconstantlyoverhearingtheremarkflyingfromlitoli，

"Therehegoes;that&aos;shim!

"couldn&aos;ttakehisbreakfastwithoutacrowdtolookon;couldn&aos;taearinanoera-boxwithoutconcentratingtherethefireofathousandlorgnettes。Why，Ijustswamingloryalldaylong-thatistheamountofit。

Youknow，Ievenketmyoldsuitofrags，andeverynowandthenaearedinthem，soastohavetheoldleasureofbuyingtrifles，andbeinginsulted，andthenshootingthescofferdeadwiththemillion-oundbill。ButIcouldn&aos;tkeethatu。TheillustratedaersmadetheoutfitsofamiliarthatwhenIwentoutinitIwasatoncerecognizedandfollowedbyacrowd，andifIattemtedaurchasethemanwouldoffermehiswholeshooncreditbeforeIcouldullmynoteonhim。

AboutthetenthdayofmyfameIwenttofulfilmydutytomyflagbyayingmyresectstotheAmericanminister。Hereceivedmewiththeenthusiasmroerinmycase，ubraidedmeforbeingsotardyinmyduty，andsaidthattherewasonlyonewaytogethisforgiveness，andthatwastotaketheseatathisdinner-artythatnightmadevacantbytheillnessofoneofhisguests。IsaidIwould，andwegottotalking。Itturnedoutthatheandmyfatherhadbeenschoolmatesinboyhood，Yalestudentstogetherlater，andalwayswarmfriendsutomyfather&aos;sdeath。SothenherequiredmetoutinathishousealltheoddtimeImighthavetosare，andIwasverywilling，ofcourse。

Infact，Iwasmorethanwilling;Iwasglad。Whenthecrashshouldcome，hemightsomehowbeabletosavemefromtotaldestruction;Ididn&aos;tknowhow，buthemightthinkofaway，maybe。Icouldn&aos;tventuretounbosommyselftohimatthislatedate，athingwhichIwouldhavebeenquicktodointhebeginningofthisawfulcareerofmineinLondon。No，Icouldn&aos;tventureitnow;Iwasintoodee;thatis，toodeeformetoberiskingrevelationstosonewafriend，thoughnotclearbeyondmydeth，asIlookedatit。Because，yousee，withallmyborrowing，Iwascarefullykeeingwithinmymeans-Imeanwithinmysalary。Ofcourse，Icouldn&aos;tknowwhatmysalarywasgoingtobe，butIhadagoodenoughbasisforanestimateinthefact，thatifIwonthebetIwastohavechoiceofanysituationinthatricholdgentleman&aos;sgiftrovidedIwascometent-andIshouldcertainlyrovecometent;Ihadn&aos;tanydoubtaboutthat。Andastothebet，Iwasn&aos;tworryingaboutthat;Ihadalwaysbeenlucky。Nowmyestimateofthesalarywassixhundredtoathousandayear;say，sixhundredforthefirstyear，andsoonuyearbyyear，tillIstrucktheuerfigurebyrovedmerit。AtresentIwasonlyindebtformyfirstyear&aos;ssalary。Everybodyhadbeentryingtolendmemoney，butIhadfoughtoffthemostofthemononeretextoranother;sothisindebtednessreresentedonly￡300borrowedmoney，theother￡300reresentedmykeeandmyurchases。Ibelievedmysecondyear&aos;ssalarywouldcarrymethroughtherestofthemonthifIwentonbeingcautiousandeconomical，andIintendedtolooksharlyoutforthat。Mymonthended，myemloyerbackfromhisjourney，Ishouldbeallrightoncemore，forIshouldatoncedividethetwoyears&aos;salaryamongmycreditorsbyassignment，andgetrightdowntomywork。

Itwasalovelydinner-artyoffourteen。TheDukeandDuchessofShoreditch，andtheirdaughtertheLadyAnne-Grace-Eleanor-Celeste-and-so-forth-and-so-forth-deBohun，theEarlandCountessofNewgate，ViscountCheaside，LordandLadyBlatherskite，someuntitledeoleofbothsexes，theministerandhiswifeanddaughter，andhisdaughter&aos;svisitingfriend，anEnglishgirloftwenty-two，namedPortiaLangham，whomIfellinlovewithintwominutes，andshewithme-Icouldseeitwithoutglasses。Therewasstillanotherguest，anAmerican-butIamalittleaheadofmystory。Whiletheeolewerestillinthedrawing-room，whettingufordinner，andcoldlyinsectingthelatecomers，theservantannounced: