6.The Model Millionaire

更新时间:2023-07-18 22:37:14 阅读: 评论:0

The Model Millionaire
-- Oscar Wilde
A note of admirationk
goodbye my lover
Unless one is wealthy there is no u in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. The are the great truths of modern life which Hughie Erskine never realid. Poor Hughie! Intellectually, we must admit, he was not of much importance. He never said a brilliant or even an ill-natured thing in his life. But then he was wonderfully good-looking, with his crisp brown hair, his clear-cut profile, and his grey eyes. He was as popular with men as he was with women, and he had every accomplishment except that of making money. His father had bequeathed him his cavalry sword, and a History of the Peninsular War in fifteen volumes. Hughie hung the first over his looking-glass, put the cond on a shelf between Ruff's Guide and Bailey's Magazine, and lived on two hundred a year that an old aunt allowed him. He had tried ever
ything. He had gone on the Stock Exchange for six months; but what was a butterfly to do among bulls and bears? He had been a tea-merchant for a little longer, but had soon tired of pekoe and souchong. Then he had tried lling dry sherry. That did not answer; the sherry was a little too dry. Ultimately he became nothing, a delightful, ineffectual young man with a perfect profile and no profession.
To make matters wor, he was in love. The girl he loved was Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel who had lost his temper and his digestion in India, and had never found either of them again. Laura adored him, and he was ready to kiss her shoe-strings. They were the handsomest couple in London, and had not a penny-piece between them. The Colonel was very fond of Hughie, but would not hear of any engagement.toastmasters
3q之争'Come to me, my boy, when you have got ten thousand pounds of your own, and we will e about it,' he ud to say; and Hughie looked very glum on tho days, and had to go to Laura for consolation.
wealthOne morning, as he was on his way to Holland Park, where the Mertons lived, he dropped in to e a great friend of his, Alan Trevor. Trevor was a painter. Indeed, few people escape that nowadays. But he was also an artist, and artists are rather rare. Personally he was a strange rough fellow, with a freckled face and a red ragged beard. However, when he took up the brush he was a real master, and his pictures were eagerly sought after. He had been very much attracted by Hughie at first, it must be acknowledged, entirely on account of his personal charm. 'The only people a painter should know,' he ud to say, 'are people who are bete and beautiful, people who are an artistic pleasure to look at and an intellectual repo to talk to. Men who are dandies and women who are darlings rule the world, at least they should do so.' However, after he got to know Hughie better, he liked him quite as much for his bright buoyant spirits and his generous reckless nature, and had given him the permanent entree to his studio.
When Hughie came in he found Trevor putting the finishing touches to a wonderful life-size picture of a beggar-man. The beggar himlf was standing on a raid platform in a corner of the studio. He was a wizened old man, with a face like wrinkled parchment, and
a most piteous expression. Over his shoulders was flung a coar brown cloak, all tears and tatters; his thick boots were patched and cobbled, and with one hand he leant on a rough stick, while with the other he held out his battered hat for alms.
'What an amazing model!' whispered Hughie, as he shook hands with his friend.
'An amazing model?' shouted Trevor at the top of his voice; 'I should think so! Such beggars as he are not to be met with every day. A trouvaille, mort cher; a living Velasquez! My stars! what an etching Rembrandt would have made of him!'
'Poor old chap! said Hughie, 'how mirable he looks! But I suppo, to you painters, his face is his fortune?'
'Certainly,' replied Trevor, 'you don't want a beggar to look happy, do you?'
'How much does a model get for sitting?' asked Hughie, as he found himlf a comfortable at on a divan.
'A shilling an hour.'
'And how much do you get for your picture, Alan?'
'Oh, for this I get two thousand!'
ilunch'Pounds?'
'Guineas. Painters, poets, and physicians always get guineas.'
'Well, I think the model should have a percentage,' cried Hughie, laughing; 'they work quite as hard as you do.'
'Nonn, nonn! Why, look at the trouble of laying on the paint alone, and standing all day long at one's eal! It's all very well, Hughie, for you to talk, but I assure you that there are moments when Art almost attains to the dignity of manual labour. But you mustn't chatter; I'm very busy. Smoke a cigarette, and keep quiet.'
亚加达外语专修学院
After some time the rvant came in, and told Trevor that the frame-maker wanted to speak to him.
假如我是校长
'Don't run away, Hughie,' he said, as he went out, 'I will be back in a moment.'建议英语
The old beggar-man took advantage of Trevor's abnce to rest for a moment on a wooden bench that was behind him. He looked so forlorn and wretched that Hughie could not help pitying him, and felt in his pockets to e what money he had. All he could find was a sovereign and some coppers. 'Poor old fellow,' he thought to himlf, 'he wants it more than I do, but it means no hansoms for a fortnight;' and he walked across the studio and slipped the sovereign into the beggar's hand.
The old man started, and a faint smile flitted across his withered lips. 'Thank you, sir,' he said, 'thank you.'如何学好英语语法
Then Trevor arrived, and Hughie took his leave, blushing a little at what he had done. He spent the day with Laura, got a charming scolding for his extravagance, and had to walk home.

本文发布于:2023-07-18 22:37:14,感谢您对本站的认可!

本文链接:https://www.wtabcd.cn/fanwen/fan/90/181599.html

版权声明:本站内容均来自互联网,仅供演示用,请勿用于商业和其他非法用途。如果侵犯了您的权益请与我们联系,我们将在24小时内删除。

标签:学院   英语语法   破产   外语
相关文章
留言与评论(共有 0 条评论)
   
验证码:
Copyright ©2019-2022 Comsenz Inc.Powered by © 专利检索| 网站地图