Alonzo Fitz and Other Stories.docx

1、Alonzo Fitz and Other StoriesAlonzo Fitz and Other Stories by Mark Twain CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME:THE LOVES OF ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE AND ROSANNAH ETHELTONON THE DECAY OF THE ART OF LYINGABOUT MAGNANIMOUS-INCIDENT LITERATURETHE GRATEFUL POODLETHE BENEVOLENT AUTHORTHE GRATEFUL HUSBANDPUNCH, BROTHERS, PU

2、NCHTHE GREAT REVOLUTION IN PITCAIRNTHE CANVASSERS TALEAN ENCOUNTER WITH AN INTERVIEWERPARIS NOTESLEGEND OF SAGENFELD, IN GERMANYSPEECH ON THE BABIESSPEECH ON THE WEATHERCONCERNING THE AMERICAN LANGUAGEROGERSTHE LOVES OF ALONZO FITZ CLARENCE AND ROSANNAH ETHELTONIt was well along in the forenoon of a

3、 bitter winters day. The town of Eastport, in the state of Maine, lay buried under a deep snow that was newly fallen. The customary bustle in the streets was wanting. One could look long distances down them and see nothing but a dead-white emptiness, with silence to match. Of course I do not mean th

4、at you could see the silence-no, you could only hear it. The sidewalks were merely long, deep ditches, with steep snow walls on either side. Here and there you might hear the faint, far scrape of a wooden shovel, and if you were quick enough you might catch a glimpse of a distant black figure stoopi

5、ng and disappearing in one of those ditches, and reappearing the next moment with a motion which you would know meant the heaving out of a shovelful of snow. But you needed to be quick, for that black figure would not linger, but would soar drop that shovel and scud for the house, thrashing itself w

6、ith its arms to warm them. Yes, it was too venomously cold for snow-shovelers or anybody else to stay out long.Presently the sky darkened; then the wind rose and began to blow in fitful, vigorous gusts, which sent clouds of powdery snow aloft, and straight ahead, and everywhere. Under the impulse of

7、 one of these gusts, great white drifts banked themselves like graves across the streets; a moment later another gust shifted them around the other way, driving a fine spray of snow from their sharp crests, as the gale drives the spume flakes from wave-crests at sea; a third gust swept that place as

8、 clean as your hand, if it saw fit. This was fooling, this was play; but each and all of the gusts dumped some snow into the sidewalk ditches, for that was business.Alonzo Fitz Clarence was sitting in his snug and elegant little parlor, in a lovely blue silk dressing-gown, with cuffs and facings of

9、crimson satin, elaborately quilted. The remains of his breakfast were before him, and the dainty and costly little table service added a harmonious charm to the grace, beauty, and richness of the fixed appointments of the room. A cheery fire was blazing on the hearth.A furious gust of wind shook the

10、 windows, and a great wave of snow washed against them with a drenching sound, so to speak. The handsome young bachelor murmured:That means, no going out to-day. Well, I am content. But what to do for company? Mother is well enough, Aunt Susan is well enough; but these, like the poor, I have with me

11、 always. On so grim a day as this, one needs a new interest, a fresh element, to whet the dull edge of captivity. That was very neatly said, but it doesnt mean anything.One doesnt want the edge of captivity sharpened up, you know, but just the reverse.He glanced at his pretty French mantel-clock.Tha

12、t clocks wrong again. That clock hardly ever knows what time it is;and when it does know, it lies about it-which amounts to the same thing.Alfred!There was no answer.Alfred! . . . Good servant, but as uncertain as the clock.Alonzo touched an electric bell button in the wall. He waited a moment, then

13、 touched it again; waited a few moments more, and said:Battery out of order, no doubt. But now that I have started, I will find out what time it is. He stepped to a speaking-tube in the wall, blew its whistle, and called, Mother! and repeated it twice.Well, thats no use. Mothers battery is out of or

14、der, too. Cant raise anybody down-stairs-that is plain.He sat down at a rosewood desk, leaned his chin on the left-hand edge of it and spoke, as if to the floor: Aunt Susan!A low, pleasant voice answered, Is that you, Alonzo?Yes. Im too lazy and comfortable to go downstairs; I am in extremity, and I

15、 cant seem to scare up any help.Dear me, what is the matter?Matter enough, I can tell you!Oh, dont keep me in suspense, dear! What is it?I want to know what time it is.You abominable boy, what a turn you did give me! Is that all?All-on my honor. Calm yourself. Tell me the time, and receive my blessi

16、ng.Just five minutes after nine. No charge-keep your blessing.Thanks. It wouldnt have impoverished me, aunty, nor so enriched you that you could live without other means.He got up, murmuring, Just five minutes after nine, and faced his clock. Ah, said he, you are doing better than usual. You are onl

17、y thirty-four minutes wrong. Let me see . . , let me see. . . .Thirty-three and twenty-one are fifty-four; four times fifty-four are two hundred and thirty-six. One off, leaves two hundred and thirty-five.Thats right.He turned the hands of his clock forward till they marked twenty-five minutes to on

18、e, and said, Now see if you cant keep right for a while -else Ill raffle you!He sat down at the desk again, and said, Aunt Susan!Yes, dear.Had breakfast?Yes, indeed, an hour ago.Busy?No-except sewing. Why?Got any company?No, but I expect some at half past nine.I wish I did. Im lonesome. I want to ta

19、lk to somebody.Very well, talk to me.But this is very private.Dont be afraid-talk right along, theres nobody here but me.I hardly know whether to venture or not, but-But what? Oh, dont stop there! You know you can trust me, Alonzo-you know, you can.I feel it, aunt, but this is very serious. It affec

20、ts me deeply-me, and all the family-even the whole community.Oh, Alonzo, tell me! I will never breathe a word of it. What is it?Aunt, if I might dare-Oh, please go on! I love you, and feel for you. Tell me all.Confide in me. What is it?The weather!Plague take the weather! I dont see how you can have

21、 the heart to serve me so, Lon.There, there, aunty dear, Im sorry; I am, on my honor. I wont do it again. Do you forgive me?Yes, since you seem so sincere about it, though I know I oughtnt to.You will fool me again as soon as I have forgotten this time.No, I wont, honor bright. But such weather, oh,

22、 such weather! Youve got to keep your spirits up artificially. It is snowy, and blowy, and gusty, and bitter cold! How is the weather with you?Warm and rainy and melancholy. The mourners go about the streets with their umbrellas running streams from the end of every whalebone. Theres an elevated dou

23、ble pavement of umbrellas, stretching down the sides of the streets as far as I can see. Ive got a fire for cheerfulness, and the windows open to keep cool. But it is vain, it is useless: nothing comes in but the balmy breath of December, with its burden of mocking odors from the flowers that posses

24、s the realm outside, and rejoice in their lawless profusion whilst the spirit of man is low, and flaunt their gaudy splendors in his face while his soul is clothed in sackcloth and ashes and his heart breaketh.Alonzo opened his lips to say, You ought to print that, and get it framed, but checked him

25、self, for he heard his aunt speaking to some one else. He went and stood at the window and looked out upon the wintry prospect. The storm was driving the snow before it more furiously than ever; window-shutters were slamming and banging; a forlorn dog, with bowed head and tail withdrawn from service

26、, was pressing his quaking body against a windward wall for shelter and protection; a young girl was plowing knee-deep through the drifts, with her face turned from the blast, and the cape of her waterproof blowing straight rearward over her head. Alonzo shuddered, and said with a sigh, Better the s

27、lop, and the sultry rain, and even the insolent flowers, than this!He turned from the window, moved a step, and stopped in a listening attitude. The faint, sweet notes of a familiar song caught his ear. He remained there, with his head unconsciously bent forward, drinking in the melody, stirring nei

28、ther hand nor foot, hardly breathing. There was a blemish in the execution of the song, but to Alonzo it seemed an added charm instead of a defect. This blemish consisted of a marked flatting of the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh notes of the refrain or chorus of the piece. When the music

29、ended, Alonzo drew a deep breath, and said, Ah, I never have heard In the Sweet By-and-by sung like that before!He stepped quickly to the desk, listened a moment, and said in a guarded, confidential voice, Aunty, who is this divine singer?She is the company I was expecting. Stays with me a month or

30、two.I will introduce you. Miss-For goodness sake, wait a moment, Aunt Susan! You never stop to think what you are about!He flew to his bedchamber, and returned in a moment perceptibly changed in his outward appearance, and remarking, snappishly:Hang it, she would have introduced me to this angel in

31、that sky-blue dressing-gown with red-hot lapels! Women never think, when they get a-going.He hastened and stood by the desk, and said eagerly, Now, Aunty, I am ready, and fell to smiling and bowing with all the persuasiveness and elegance that were in him.Very well. Miss Rosannah Ethelton, let me in

32、troduce to you my favorite nephew, Mr. Alonzo Fitz Clarence. There! You are both good people, and I like you; so I am going to trust you together while I attend to a few household affairs. Sit down, Rosannah; sit down, Alonzo. Good-by; Ishant be gone long.Alonzo had been bowing and smiling all the while, and motioning imaginary young ladies to sit down in imaginary chair