d out in his alarming way, "Con-gratulations, Maurice, on your triumph. Overwhelming! I drink to it in this cup"—he drained it—"of extremely nasty tea."
Maurice laughed and went up to him, rather guiltily; for his conscience was bad. Dr Barry had asked him to befriend a little nephew, who had entered the school that term, but he had done nothing—it was not the thing. He wished that he had had more courage now that it was too late and he felt a man.
"And what's the next stage in your triumphal career? Cam-bridge?"
"So they say."
"So they say, do they? And what do you say?"
"I don't know," said the hero good-temperedly.
"And after Cambridge, what? Stock Exchange?"
"I suppose so—my father's old partner talks of letting me in if all goes well."
"And after you're let in by your father's old partner, what? A pretty wife?"
Maurice laughed again.
"Who will present the expectant world with a Maurice the third? After which old age, grandchildren, and finally the daisies. So that's your notion of a career. Well, it isn't mine."
"What's your notion, Doctor?" called Kitty.
"To help the weak and right the wrong, my dear," he replied, looking across at her.
"I'm sure it is all our notions," said the housemaster's wife, and Mrs Hall agreed.
"Oh no, it's not. It isn't consistently mine, or I should be look-ing after my Dickie instead of lingering on this scene of splen-dour."
"Do bring dear Dickie to say how d'ye do to me," asked Mrs Hall. "Is his father down here too?"
"Mother!" Kitty whispered.
"Yes. My brother died last year," said Dr Barry. "The incident slipped your memory. War did not render him robust by exer-cising his limbs, as Maurice supposes. He got a shell in the stomach."
He left them.☉☉網☉
"I think Dr Barry gets cynical," remarked Ada. "I think he's jealous." She was right: Dr Barry, who had been a lady killer in his time, did resent the continuance of young men. Poor Maur-ice encountered him again. He had been saying goodbye to his housemaster's wife, who was a handsome woman, very civil to the older boys. They shook hands warmly. On turning away he heard Dr Barry's "Well, Maurice; a youth irresistible in love as in war," and caught his cynical glance.
"I don't know what you mean, Dr Barry."
"Oh, you young fellows! Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth these days. Don't know what I mean! Prudish of a petticoat! Be frank, man, be frank. You don't take anyone in. The frank mind's the pure mind. I'm a medical man and an old man and I tell you
that. Man that is bom of woman must go with woman if the human race is to continue."
Maurice stared after the housemaster's wife, underwent a violent repulsion from her, and blushed crimson: he had re-membered Mr Ducie's diagrams. A trouble—nothing as beauti-ful as a sorrow—rose to the surface of his mind, displayed its ungainliness, and sank. Its precise nature he did not ask himself, for his hour was not yet, but the hint was appalling, and, hero though he was, he longed to be a little boy again, and to stroll half awake for ever by the colourless sea. Dr Barry went on lecturing him, and under the cover of a friendly manner said much that gave pain.
他快要满19岁了。
在年度颁奖日，他站在讲坛上，背诵着他本人写的希腊文演说稿。讲堂里挤满了学生与家长，莫瑞斯却只当自己是在海牙会议（译注：1899年和1907年在荷兰海牙举行过两次国际会议。第一次会议址未能就其主要目的即限制军备问题达成协议，但签订了和平解决国际争端的公约。第二次会议也未能就限制军备问题达成协议，但会议精神对第一次世界大战后国际联盟的成立大有影响。）上讲话，指出会议精神有多么愚蠢。“哦，欧洲的人们，协议废止战争，这是何等愚蠢的举动！啊？战神阿瑞斯难道不是主神宙斯的儿子吗？况且，战争还会促使你锻炼肢体，身躯健壮，与我的论敌迥然不同。”莫瑞斯的希腊文蹩脚透了，他是凭着有见解而获奖的，如此而已。负责审查的那位教师把他的分数打宽了一些，因为他是个品行端正的毕业生，而且即将升人剑桥。在那里，把作为奖品颁给他的那些书籍排列在书架上，就能帮助本校做宣传。于是，他在雷鸣般的掌声中接受了格罗特（译注：乔治•格罗特1794-1871，英国历史学家，代表作为《希腊史》1846-1856，共12卷）的《希腊史》。当他回到紧挨着母亲的座位上时，就认识到自己重新变得受欢迎，他感到很奇怪。掌声持续下去，甚至为他全场起立喝彩。艾达和吉蒂满脸涨得通红，在尽头接连不断地鼓掌。毕业班的几个同学大声喊着：“演说！”这不符合程序，被主持人制止了。然而，校长本人起身说了几句话：霍尔是他们当中的一个，并且他们会一直这样看待他。他说得恰到好处。学生们并非因为莫瑞斯出类拔萃才为他鼓掌，而是由于他是平庸的。人们可以假借他这个形象来颂扬自己。事后，人们朝着他蜂拥而来，用十分感伤的口吻说：“好极啦，老兄。”甚至感叹道：“你走了以后，这个鬼地方就没意思啦。”他的家族也大沾其光。以往家里人参加学校的活动时，他总对她们表示敌意。一场足球比赛结束后，他满身泥泞，沐浴着胜利的光辉。当母亲和妹妹们跑过来，想跟他待在一起时，他却说：“对不起，妈，您和小家伙们不得不单独走。”那一次，艾达哭了。眼下艾达正干练