I was at Pagan, in Burma2, and from there I took the steamship to Mandalay3, but two days before I got there, when the boat was tied up4 for the night at a riverside village, I made up my mind to go ashore. The captain told me that there was a pleasant little club where I could go and be comfortable; they were quite used to having strangers come like that from the ship, and the secretary was a very nice fellow; I might even get a game of cards5. I had nothing in the world to do, so I got into one of the carts that were waiting at the landing stage6 and was driven to the club.
There was a man sitting there and as I walked up he welcomed me and asked me what kind of drink I would like. He never considered the possibility that I might not want any kind of drink at all. I chose one and sat down. He was a tall, thin man, browned by the sun. I never knew his name, but when we had been talking for a short time another man came in who told me he was the secretary, and called my friend George.
“Have you heard from your wife yet?” he asked him. The other's eyes brightened.
“Yes, I had letters by this mail. She's having a pleasant time. ”
“Did she tell you not to worry?”
George gave a little laugh, but was I mistaken in thinking that there was in it a sound of sorrow?
“In fact she did. But that's easier said than done. Of course I know she wants a holiday, and I'm glad she should have it, but it's hard on me.” He turned to me. “You see, this is the first time I've ever been separated from my wife, and I'm like a lost dog without her.”
“How long have you been married?”
“Five minutes.”
The secretary of the club laughed. “Don't be a fool, George. You've been married eight years.”
After we had talked a little, George, looking at his watch, said he must go and change his clothes for dinner and left us. The secretary watched him disappear into the night with a smile that was not unkind.
“We all ask him as much as we can, now that he's alone;” he told me.“He's so terribly miserable since his wife went home.”
“It must be very pleasant for her to know that her husband loves her as much as that.”
“Mabel is an unusual kind of woman.”
He called the boy and ordered more drinks. These generous7 people did not ask you if you would have anything; they supposed8 that you would. Then he settled himself in his long chair and started to smoke. He told me the story of George and Mabel.
George proposed marriage9 to her when he was in England, and she accepted him; and when he returned to Burma it was arranged that she should join him in six months. But one difficulty arose after another; Mabel's father died, the war came, George was sent to a district unsuitable for a white woman; so that in the end it was seven years before she was able to start10. He made all arrangements for the marriage, which was to take place on the day of her arrival, and went down to Rangoon11 to meet her. On the morning on which the ship was due12 he borrowed a motor-car and drove along to meet it.
Then, suddenly, without warning, he was afraid. He had not seen Mabel for seven years. He had forgotten what she was like. She was a total stranger. He felt a terrible sinking in his stomach, and his knees began to shake. He couldn't do it. He must tell Mabel that he was very sorry, but he couldn't, he really couldn't marry her. But how could a man tell a girl a thing like that when she had been expecting to marry him for seven years and had come six thousand miles to do it?13 He couldn't do that either. George was seized with despair14. There was a boat there just about to start for Singapore; he wrote a hurried letter to Mabel, and without any baggage at all, just in the clothes he stood up in15, he jumped on board.
The letter that Mabel received was something like this:
Dearest Mabel, I have been suddenly called away on business and do not know when I shall be back． I think it would be much wiser if you returned to England． My plans are very uncertain．
Your loving George．
But when he arrived at Singapore he found a telegram waiting for him.
“Quite understand． don＇t worry． Love． Mabel．”
Fear made him think quickly.
“Good heavens, I believe she's following me,” he said.
He telegraphed to the shipping office at Rangoon and, sure enough, her name was on the passenger list of the ship that was now on its way to Singapore. There was not a moment to lose. He jumped on the train to Bangkok16. But he was anxious; she would have no difficulty in finding out that he had gone to Bangkok and it was just as simple for her to take the train as it had been for him. Fortunately there was a French ship sailing next day for Saigon17. He took it. At Saigon he would be safe; she would never suppose that he had gone there; and if she did, surely by now she would have understood.
It is a five days' journey from Bangkok to Saigon and the boat is dirty, crowded and uncomfortable. He was glad to arrive and drove to the hotel. He signed his name in the visitors' book and a telegram was immediately handed to him. It contained only two words: “Love. Mabel.” They were enough to make him sweat coldly18.
“When is the next boat for Hong Kong?” he asked.
Now his journey grew serious. He sailed to Hong Kong, but dared not stay there; he went to Manila19; Manila seemed to threaten him; he went on to Shanghai, Shanghai made him anxious; every time he went out of the hotel he expected to run straight into Mabel's arms20; no, Shanghai did not suit him at all. The only thing was to go to Yokohama21. At the Grand Hotel at Yokohama a telegram was waiting for him.
“So sorry to have missed you at Manila． Love． Mabel．”
He examined the shipping news feverishly22. Where was she now? He went back to Shanghai. This time he went straight to the club and asked for a telegram. It was handed to him.
“Arriving soon． Love． Mabel．”
No, no, he was not so easy to catch as that. He had already made his plans. The Yangtse is a long river and the Yangtse was falling. He must just catch the last ship that could get him up to Chungking23 and then no one could travel till the following spring except in a smaller boat. Such a journey in a smaller boat was impossible for a woman alone. He went to Hankow24 and from Hankow to Ichang25, he changed boats here and from Ichang went to Chungking. But he was in despair now, he was not going to take any risks: there was a place called Cheng-tu26, the capital of Szechuan27, and it was four hundred miles away. It could only be reached by road. A man would be safe there.
George collected chair-bearers and servants and set out. It was with great relief28 that he saw at last the walls of the Chinese city. From those walls at sunset you could see the snowy mountains of Tibet29.
He could rest at last: Mabel would never find him there. The consul30 happened to be a friend of his and he stayed with him. He enjoyed the comfort of a splendid house, he enjoyed his idleness31 after that tiring escape across Asia, and chiefly he enjoyed his wonderful safety. The weeks passed lazily one after the other.
One morning George and the consul were in the courtyard looking at some curious old objects that a Chinese had brought for their examination when there was a loud knocking at the great door of the Consulate32. The doorman threw it open. A chair carried by four men entered, and was put down. Mabel stepped out. She was neat and cool and fresh. There was nothing in her appearance to suggest that she had just come in after two weeks on the road. George was turned to stone. He was as pale as death. She went up to him.
“Hullo, George, I was so afraid I had missed you again.”
“Hullo, Mabel,” he said in a trembling voice.
He did not know what to say. He looked this way and that she stood between him and the doorway. She looked at him with a smile in her blue eyes.
“You haven't changed at all; ”she said. “Men can change so terribly in seven years and I was afraid you'd got fat and had lost your hair. I've been so anxious. It would have been terrible if after all these years I simply hadn't been able to make myself marry you after all.”
She turned to George's host33.
“Are you the consul?” she asked.
“I am.”
“If you are the consul, you can marry34 us. I'm ready to marry him as soon as I've had a bath.”
And she did.
1． W． Somerset Maugham: 毛姆, 英国短篇小说家、剧作家及小说家，著有《剃刀边缘》、《月亮与六便士》等，最有名的小说是《人性的枷锁》。
2． Pagan (缅甸地名)蒲甘 Burma [?謖b?藜?蘼m?藜] n． 缅甸
3． Mandalay [?謣m?覸nd?藜?謖lei] 曼德勒（缅甸城市）
4． tie up 停泊
5． game of cards 纸牌游戏
6． landing stage 栈桥
7． generous [?謖d?廾en?藜r?藜s] adj． 慷慨的，大方的
8． suppose [s?藜?謖p?藜uz] v． 以为；假设
9． propose marriage 求婚
10． 此句意为：七年过去了，她的婚姻还未能开始。
11． Rangoon n． 仰光（缅甸城市）
12． due adj. （车、船）预定应到的
13． 此句意为：但面对一个等了7年希望嫁给他、不远6000英里来完婚的女孩，他怎么说得出口？
14． despair n． 绝望
15． just in the clothes he stood up in 仅穿着身上的衣服
16． Bangkok n． 曼谷（泰国首都）
17． Saigon n． 西贡（旧时越南首都）
18． 此句意为：这些话足以让他发一身冷汗。
19． Manila n． 马尼拉（菲律宾首都）
20． 此句意为：每次他走出酒店，就预料会径直撞进梅布尔的怀抱。
21． Yokohama n． 横滨（日本港市）
22． feverishly adv． 兴奋地
23. Chungking 重庆
24． Hankow 汉口
25． Ichang 宜昌
26． Cheng－tu 成都
27． Szechuan 四川
28． with great relief 大松一口气
29． Tibet n． 西藏
30． consul n． 领事
31． idleness n． 闲散
32． consulate n． 领事馆
33. host n. 主人（此处指领事）
34． marry v． 为……证婚