-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Уильям Сомерсет Моэм
-
- Луна и грош
-
- Стр. 156/193
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
They
must
have
spent
something
like
four
months
at
Marseilles
in
one
another
’
s
society
.
Their
career
was
devoid
of
adventure
,
if
by
adventure
you
mean
unexpected
or
thrilling
incident
,
for
their
days
were
occupied
in
the
pursuit
of
enough
money
to
get
a
night
’
s
lodging
and
such
food
as
would
stay
the
pangs
of
hunger
.
But
I
wish
I
could
give
here
the
pictures
,
coloured
and
racy
,
which
Captain
Nichols
’
vivid
narrative
offered
to
the
imagination
.
His
account
of
their
discoveries
in
the
low
life
of
a
seaport
town
would
have
made
a
charming
book
,
and
in
the
various
characters
that
came
their
way
the
student
might
easily
have
found
matter
for
a
very
complete
dictionary
of
rogues
.
But
I
must
content
myself
with
a
few
paragraphs
.
I
received
the
impression
of
a
life
intense
and
brutal
,
savage
,
multicoloured
,
and
vivacious
.
It
made
the
Marseilles
that
I
knew
,
gesticulating
and
sunny
,
with
its
comfortable
hotels
and
its
restaurants
crowded
with
the
well
-
to
-
do
,
tame
and
commonplace
.
I
envied
men
who
had
seen
with
their
own
eyes
the
sights
that
Captain
Nichols
described
.
When
the
doors
of
the
Asile
de
Nuit
were
closed
to
them
,
Strickland
and
Captain
Nichols
sought
the
hospitality
of
Tough
Bill
.
This
was
the
master
of
a
sailors
’
boarding
-
house
,
a
huge
mulatto
with
a
heavy
fist
,
who
gave
the
stranded
mariner
food
and
shelter
till
he
found
him
a
berth
.
They
lived
with
him
a
month
,
sleeping
with
a
dozen
others
,
Swedes
,
negroes
,
Brazilians
,
on
the
floor
of
the
two
bare
rooms
in
his
house
which
he
assigned
to
his
charges
;
and
every
day
they
went
with
him
to
the
Place
Victor
Gelu
,
whither
came
ships
’
captains
in
search
of
a
man
.
He
was
married
to
an
American
woman
,
obese
and
slatternly
,
fallen
to
this
pass
by
Heaven
knows
what
process
of
degradation
,
and
every
day
the
boarders
took
it
in
turns
to
help
her
with
the
housework
.
Captain
Nichols
looked
upon
it
as
a
smart
piece
of
work
on
Strickland
’
s
part
that
he
had
got
out
of
this
by
painting
a
portrait
of
Tough
Bill
.
Tough
Bill
not
only
paid
for
the
canvas
,
colours
,
and
brushes
,
but
gave
Strickland
a
pound
of
smuggled
tobacco
into
the
bargain
.
For
all
I
know
,
this
picture
may
still
adorn
the
parlour
of
the
tumbledown
little
house
somewhere
near
the
Quai
de
la
Joliette
,
and
I
suppose
it
could
now
be
sold
for
fifteen
hundred
pounds
.
Strickland
’
s
idea
was
to
ship
on
some
vessel
bound
for
Australia
or
New
Zealand
,
and
from
there
make
his
way
to
Samoa
or
Tahiti
.
I
do
not
know
how
he
had
come
upon
the
notion
of
going
to
the
South
Seas
,
though
I
remember
that
his
imagination
had
long
been
haunted
by
an
island
,
all
green
and
sunny
,
encircled
by
a
sea
more
blue
than
is
found
in
Northern
latitudes
.
I
suppose
that
he
clung
to
Captain
Nichols
because
he
was
acquainted
with
those
parts
,
and
it
was
Captain
Nichols
who
persuaded
him
that
he
would
be
more
comfortable
in
Tahiti
.
"
You
see
,
Tahiti
’
s
French
,
"
he
explained
to
me
.
"
And
the
French
aren
’
t
so
damned
technical
.
"
I
thought
I
saw
his
point
.
Strickland
had
no
papers
,
but
that
was
not
a
matter
to
disconcert
Tough
Bill
when
he
saw
a
profit
(
he
took
the
first
month
’
s
wages
of
the
sailor
for
whom
he
found
a
berth
)
,
and
he
provided
Strickland
with
those
of
an
English
stoker
who
had
providentially
died
on
his
hands
.
But
both
Captain
Nichols
and
Strickland
were
bound
East
,
and
it
chanced
that
the
only
opportunities
for
signing
on
were
with
ships
sailing
West
.
Twice
Strickland
refused
a
berth
on
tramps
sailing
for
the
United
States
,
and
once
on
a
collier
going
to
Newcastle
.
Tough
Bill
had
no
patience
with
an
obstinacy
which
could
only
result
in
loss
to
himself
,
and
on
the
last
occasion
he
flung
both
Strickland
and
Captain
Nichols
out
of
his
house
without
more
ado
.
They
found
themselves
once
more
adrift
.
Tough
Bill
’
s
fare
was
seldom
extravagant
,
and
you
rose
from
his
table
almost
as
hungry
as
you
sat
down
,
but
for
some
days
they
had
good
reason
to
regret
it
.
They
learned
what
hunger
was
.
The
Cuillere
de
Soupe
and
the
Asile
de
Nuit
were
both
closed
to
them
,
and
their
only
sustenance
was
the
wedge
of
bread
which
the
Bouchee
de
Pain
provided
.
They
slept
where
they
could
,
sometimes
in
an
empty
truck
on
a
siding
near
the
station
,
sometimes
in
a
cart
behind
a
warehouse
;
but
it
was
bitterly
cold
,
and
after
an
hour
or
two
of
uneasy
dozing
they
would
tramp
the
streets
again
.
What
they
felt
the
lack
of
most
bitterly
was
tobacco
,
and
Captain
Nichols
,
for
his
part
,
could
not
do
without
it
;
he
took
to
hunting
the
"
Can
o
’
Beer
,
"
for
cigarette
-
ends
and
the
butt
-
end
of
cigars
which
the
promenaders
of
the
night
before
had
thrown
away
.
"
I
’
ve
tasted
worse
smoking
mixtures
in
a
pipe
,
"
he
added
,
with
a
philosophic
shrug
of
his
shoulders
,
as
he
took
a
couple
of
cigars
from
the
case
I
offered
him
,
putting
one
in
his
mouth
and
the
other
in
his
pocket
.
