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6
'You are completely idiotic,' I said. 'If I did not want to marry, do you imagine that I should have spent
three days reading love letters from women I have never set eyes on?'
10
'Calm yourself and listen to me,' he replied. 'I have a cousin who lives in Geneva. She is Swiss. Her
morals are without reproach, she is of a suitable age, a spinster, for she has spent the last fifteen years
nursing an invalid mother who has lately died, she is well educated and she is not ugly.'
'There is one thing you forget. What inducement would there be for her to give up her accustomed life to
accompany in exile a man of forty-nine who is by no means a beauty?'
When I made this remark to my friend he replied: 'One can never tell with women.
11
There is something
about marriage that wonderfully attracts them. There would be no harm in asking her. '
'But I do not know your cousin and I don't see how I am to make her acquaintance.'
'I will tell you what to do,' said my friend. 'Go to Geneva and take her a box of chocolates from me. You
can have a little talk and then if you do not like the look of her you take your leave and no harm is done.'
That night I took the train to Geneva. No sooner had I arrived than I sent her a letter to say that I was the
bearer of a gift from her cousin. Within an hour I received her reply to the effect that she would be pleased
to receive me at four o'clock in the afternoon. As the clock struck four I presented myself at the door other
house. She was waiting for me. Imagine my surprise to see a young woman with the dignity of Juno, the
features of Venus, and in her expression the intelligence of Minerva. I was so taken aback that I nearly
dropped the box of chocolates. We talked for a quarter of an hour. And then I said to her.
'Mademoiselle,
12
1 must tell you that I did not come here merely to give you a box of chocolates. I came
to ask you to do me the honour of marrying me.'
She gave a start.
13
'But, monsieur, you are mad,' she said.
Then I repeated my offer.
'I will not deny that your offer has come as a surprise. I had not thought of marrying, I have passed the
age. I must consult my friends and my family.'
'What have they got to do with it? You are of full age. The matter is pressing. I cannot wait. '
'You are not asking me to say yes or no this very minute? That is outrageous.'
'That is exactly what I am asking.'
'You are quite evidently a lunatic.'
'Well, which is it to be? ' I said. 'Yes or no?'
She shrugged her shoulders. She waited a minute and I was on tenterhooks.
14
'Yes.'
And there she is. We were married in a fortnight and I became Governor of a colony. 'I married a jewel,
my dear sirs, one in a thousand.'
He turned to the Belgian colonel.
'Are you a bachelor? If so I strongly recommend you to go to Geneva. It is a nest of the most adorable
young women.'
It was she who summed up the story.
'The fact is that in a marriage of convenience you expect less and so you are less likely to be
disappointed. Passion is all very well,
15
but it is not a proper foundation for marriage. For two people to be
happy in marriage they must be able to respect one another, and their interests must be alike; then if they are
decent people and are willing to give and take, to live and let live, there is no reason why their union should
not be as happy as ours.' She paused. 'But, of course, my husband is a very remarkable man.'
Proper Names
William Somerset Maugham [w
lj
m 's
m
set 'm
m] — Уильям Сомерсег Моэм
Bangkok [b
'k
k] — Бангкок
Belgian [bеld
n] — бельгиец
Monsieur le Gourvemeur [m
:'sj
: l
,
v
r'n
:r] (French) — мсье губернатор
Neapolitan [n
'p
l
t
n] — неаполитанский
Figaro [
f
r
] — Фигаро (Прим.: популярная французская газета)
Cafe de la Paix ['k
fe
d
l
рe:]— кафе де ля Пэ
Geneva [
n
v
] — Женева
Juno ['
u:n
] (Latin) — Юнона (Прим.: супруга Юпитера, богиня брака)
Venus [
v
n
s] (Latin) — Венера (Прим.: богиня любви и красоты)
Minerva [m
n
:v
] (Latin) — Минерва (Прим.: богиня мудрости)