Лондон Дж.
Мартин Иден Книга для чтения на английском языке

Chapter I

The young man opened the door with a latch-key and went in, followed by another young fellow who awkwardly took off his cap. He did not know what to do with it and was stuffing it into his coat-pocket, when the other took it from him. The act was done quietly and naturally, and the awkward young fellow appreciated it. “He understands,” was his thought.

He walked at his companion’s heels. The wide rooms seemed too narrow for his rolling gait, and he was in terror lest his broad shoulders should collide with the doorways. He watched the easy walk of the young man in front of him, and for the first time realized that his walk was different from that of other men. He experienced a momentary pang of shame that he should walk so uncouthly. The sweat burst through the skin of his forehead in tiny beads, and he paused and mopped his bronzed face with his handkerchief.

His companion tried to reassure him. “You mustn’t be frightened at us,” he said. “We’re just homely people. Hello, there’s a letter for me!”

He stepped back to a table piled with books and began to read his letter giving the stranger an opportunity to recover himself. And the stranger understood and appreciated. He glanced about him with a controlled face, though in the eyes there was an expression such as wild animals betray when they fear the trap. He was surrounded by the unknown, ignorant of what he should do, aware that he walked and bore himself awkwardly. He cursed himself for having come, and at the same time resolved that, happen what would, having come, he would carry it through. He looked about more unconcernedly, every detail of the pretty interior registering itself on his brain. He was responsive to beauty, and here was cause to respond.

An oil-painting caught and held him. There was beauty, it drew him irresistibly. He forgot his awkward walk and came closer to the painting – very close. The beauty faded out of the canvas. His face expressed his astonishment. He stared at what seemed a careless daub of paint, then stepped away. Immediately all the beauty flashed back into the canvas. “A trick picture,” was his thought. He did not know painting. He had been brought up on chromos and lithographs that were always definite and sharp, near or far. He had seen oil-paintings, it was true, in the show-windows of shops, but the glass of the windows had prevented his eager eyes from approaching too near.

He glanced around at his friend reading the letter, and saw the books on the table. He looked at them as a starving man would look at food. Approaching the table he glanced at the titles of the books and the authors’ names, read fragments of text, caressing the volumes with his eyes and hands. He took up a volume of poetry and began reading steadily, forgetful of where he was, his face glowing. He did not notice that a young woman had entered the room. The first he knew was when he heard Arthur’s voice saying:

“Ruth, this is Mr. Eden.”

The book was closed on his forefinger, and before he turned he was thrilling to the new impression, which was not of the girl, but of her brother’s words. “Mister Eden” was what he had thrilled to – he who had been called “Eden,” or “Martin Eden,” or just “Martin,” all his life.

And then he turned and saw the girl. She was a pale, ethereal creature, with wide, spiritual blue eyes, and golden hair. He did not know how she was dressed, except that the dress was as wonderful as she. He compared her to a pale gold flower upon a slender stem. No, she was a spirit, a divinity, a goddess; such beauty was not of the earth. Or perhaps the books were right, and there were many such as she in the upper walks of life.

“Won’t you sit down, Mr. Eden?” the girl said. “I have been looking forward to meeting you ever since Arthur told us. It was brave of you —”

He muttered that it was nothing at all what he had done, and that any fellow would have done it. She noticed that his hands were covered with fresh abrasions in the process of healing. Also, with quick, critical eyes, she noticed a scar on his cheek and another on his neck. Likewise her feminine eye took in the cheap clothes he wore. He sat down gingerly on the edge of the chair, greatly worried by his hands. They were in the way wherever he put them. Arthur was leaving the room, and Martin Eden felt lost, alone there in the room with that pale girl.

“You have such a scar on your neck, Mr. Eden,” the girl was saying. “How did it happen? I am sure it must have been some adventure.”

“A Mexican with a knife, miss,” he answered, moistening his parched lips and clearing his throat. “It was just a fight. After I got the knife away, he tried to bite off my nose.”

“Oh!” the girl said in a faint far voice, and he noticed the shock in her sensitive face.

He felt a shock himself, and a blush of embarrassment shone faintly on his sunburned cheeks. People in the books, in her walks of life, did not talk about such things – perhaps they did not know about them either.

There was a brief pause in the conversation they were trying to get started, then she asked about the scar on his cheek.

“It was just an accident,” he said, putting his hand to his cheek.

“Oh!” she said, this time with an accent of comprehension.

Then noticing the book he had been reading she began to talk quickly and easily upon the subject of poetry. He felt better, and settled back slightly from the edge of the chair, holding tightly to its arms with his hands. He listened to her thinking: here was intellectual life and here was beauty, warm and wonderful, as he had never dreamed it could be. He forgot himself and stared at her with hungry eyes. Here was something to live for, to win, to fight for and die for. The books were true. There were such women in the world. She was one of them. But he could not express what he felt. Well, he decided, it was up to him to get acquainted in this new world. It was time for him to want to learn to talk the things that were inside of him, so that she could understand.

“Now, Longfellow…” she was saying.

“Yes, I’ve read ’m,” he interrupted, wishing to show her that he was not wholly a stupid clod. “The Psalm of Life, Excelsior, an’… I guess that’s all.”

She nodded and smiled, and he felt somehow that her smile was tolerant – pitifully tolerant.

“Excuse me, miss, I guess the real fact is that I don’t know nothin’ much about such things. How did you learn all this you’ve ben talkin’?”

“By going to school, I fancy, and by studying,” she answered.

“I went to school when I was a kid,” he began.

“Yes; but I mean high school, and lectures, and the University.”

“You’ve gone to the University?” he demanded, in frank amazement. He felt that she had become remoter from him by at least a million miles.

“I’m going there now. I’m taking special courses in English.”

“How long would I have to study before I could go to the University?” he asked.

“That depends upon how much studying you have already done,” she answered. “You have never attended high school? Of course not. But did you finish grammar-school?”

“I had two years to run when I left,” he answered. “But I was always honourably promoted at school.”

The next moment he felt angry with himself for the boast. At the same moment he became aware that a woman was entering the room. He saw the girl leave her chair and trip swiftly across the floor to the new-comer. That must be her mother, he thought. She was a tall, blonde woman, slender, and stately, and beautiful. He knew that he must stand up to be introduced, and he struggled painfully to his feet, his face set hard for the impending ordeal.

_______

In the dining-room he was seated alongside of Her.

He glanced around the table. Opposite him was Arthur, and Arthur’s brother, Norman. They were her brothers, he reminded himself and his heart warmed toward them. How they loved each other, the members of this family! He had starved for love all his life. His nature craved love. It was an organic demand of his being.

He was glad that Mr. Morse was not there. It was difficult enough getting acquainted with her and her mother, and her brother Norman. Arthur he already knew somewhat. The father would have been too much for him, he felt sure. It seemed to him that he had never worked so hard in his life. He had to eat as he had never eaten before, to glance about and learn just what knife or fork was to be used in any particular occasion. Then he had to talk, to hear what was said to him, to answer, when it was necessary.

During the first part of the dinner he was very quiet. He kept himself in the background, listening, observing, replying in reticent monosyllables, saying, “Yes, miss,” and “No, miss,” to her; and “Yes, ma’am,” and “No, ma’am,” to her mother. He curbed the impulse to say, “Yes, sir,” and “No, sir,” to her brother. He felt that it would be a confession of inferiority on his part.

“By God!” he cried to himself once, “I’m just as good as they are, and if they do know many things that I don’t, I could teach them a few myself, all the same!” And the next moment, when she or her mother addressed him as “Mr. Eden,” his aggressive pride was forgotten. He was a civilized man, shoulder to shoulder, at dinner, with people he had read about in books.

“It was brave of you to help Arthur the way you did – and you a stranger,” Ruth said tactfully, aware of his discomfiture.

“It wasn’t nothin’ at all,” he said. “Any guy ’ud do it for another.” He paused, and Arthur took up the tale,for the twentieth time, of his adventure with the drunken hoodlums on the ferry-boat, and of how Martin Eden had rushed in and rescued him.

Later, at the piano, Ruth played for him. He did not understand the music she played. It was different from the dance-hall pianobanging bands he had heard, but he was remarkably susceptible to music.

Glancing at him across her shoulder Ruth saw that his face was a transfigured face, with great shining eyes that gazed beyond the veil of sound. She was startled. The raw, stumbling lout was gone. The ill-fitting clothes, battered hands, and sunburned face remained; but these seemed to be prison bars through which she saw a great soul looking forth.

_______

Later he was saying good-bye to her.

“The greatest time of my life. You see, I ain’t used to things…” He looked about him helplessly. “To people and houses like this. It’s all new to me, and I like it.”

“I hope you’ll call again,” she said, as he was saying good night to her brothers.

He pulled on his cap, pushed clumsily through the doorway, and was gone.

Exercises

1. Listen to the chapter with books closed and mark the sentences T(true), F (false), NI (no information).

1. Martin felt rather embarrassed.

2. Martin was very surprised when he saw piles of books on the table.

3. Martin was not thrilled having heard his name Mr. Eden.

4. The girl looked very common.

5. Ruth was looking forward to meeting Eden.

6. Martin felt lost alone with Ruth.

7. Martin did not comprehend Ruth’s ideas about poetry.

8. Martin understood poetry very well.

9. Martin was upset that Mr. Morse had not come.

10. Martin liked the music Ruth played for him.

2. Learn the words from the text:

awkward, appreciate, momentary, reassure, glance, betray, irresistible, astonishment, stare, forgetful, mutter, faint, embarrassment, comprehension, tolerant, fancy, promote, ordeal, confession, rescue.

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the text. Make the changes where necessary.

1. I nearly died of .......... when he said that.

2. He was offered money to .......... his colleagues.

3. The more she tried to get out of the situation the more .......... it began.

4. The students looked at me without .......... .

5. I .......... something about the necessity to get back to work.

6. He .......... with .......... at the stranger.

7. She .......... round to see if there was anyone that she knew.

8. She has been very .......... in recent years.

9. He .......... a child from the fire.

10. They have suffered a terrible .......... .

4. Choose a word to match the following definitions.

1) able to accept what other people say or do even if you do not agree with it

2) to want something or want to do something

3) a feeling of being nervous or ashamed because of what people know or think about you

4) to understand how good or useful someone or something is

5) a feeling of very great surprise

6) the ability to understand

7) lasting for a very short period of time

8) to speak or say something in a quiet voice that is difficult to hear

9) to make someone feel calmer or less emotional or frightened about a problem or situation

5. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

держаться в тени, изящная обстановка, походка вразвалку, освоиться в новом месте, широкие плечи, стремиться что-либо сделать, неуклюжая походка, высшие круги общества, опасаться ловушки, новое ощущение, вытерпеть все, приковывать внимание.

6. Find the words in the text for which the following are synonyms:

amazement, suffering, absent-minded, understanding, feel like, gaze, justification, mumble, clumsy.

7. Say the following statements in your own words.

1. He was in terror lest his broad shoulders collided with the doorways.

2. Every detail of the pretty interior registered itself on his brain.

3. An oil-painting caught and held him.

4. He was thrilling to his new impression.

5. It was up to him to get acquainted in this new world.

6. It was an organic demand of his being.

7. He kept himself in the background.

8. He was remarkably susceptible to music.

8. Explain and expand on the following.

1. Martin felt awkward when he entered his friend’s place.

2. Martin’s companion tried to assure him.

3. Martin was astonished looking at an oil-painting.

4. Martin’s soul strove for everything beautiful.

5. Ruth’s appearance excited him deeply.

6. Ruth was worried by Martin’s hands and scar.

7. Martin was glad that Mr. Morse was not in the dining-room.

8. Ruth behaved tactfully at dinner.

9. Ruth was startled.

9. Answer the following questions.

1. Why did Martin feel awkward when he went in?

2. What impression did an oil-painting produce on Martin?

3. Why did he not pay attention to Ruth having entered the room?

4. Whom did Martin compare Ruth with? Why?

5. What did Ruth notice?

6. What did Ruth ask Martin to tell her about?

7. What was Martin thinking about while talking to Ruth?

8. Was Martin glad that Mr. Morse was not there? Why?

9. Why was Martin quiet during the first part of the dinner?

10. Why was Ruth startled?

10. Correct the statements.

1. Martin was accustomed to such places as Arthur’s home.

2. Martin was a habitué of the art galleries.

3. Martin was not fond of reading, especially poetry.

4. Ruth did not impress Martin a bit.

5. They spoke about Ruth.

6. Martin was not going to get acquainted in this new world.

7. Martin was very vivacious during the first part of the dinner.

8. He understood and liked the music Ruth was playing though he was not susceptible to music.

11. Develop the following statement.

1. Arthur gave Martin an opportunity to recover himself.

2. An oil-painting caught and held Martin.

3. Martin looked at books as a starving man would look at food.

4. Martin was thrilling to the new impression.

5. Martin felt a shock looking at Ruth.

6. Martin felt himself angry for the boast.

7. During the first part of the dinner Martin was very quiet.

8. Martin was a brave man.

9. Ruth was glancing at Martin across her shoulder.

12. Retell the chapter for the persons of Martin Eden, Ruth, Mrs. Morse, Arthur.

Chapter II

Martin awoke next morning from rosy scenes of dream to a steamy atmosphere that smelled of soapsuds and dirty clothes. As he came out of his room he heard the splash of water, a sharp exclamation, and a resounding smack as his sister Gertrude visited her irritation upon one of her numerous progeny. The squall of the child went through him like a knife. He was aware that the whole thing, the very air he breathed, was repulsive and mean. How different, he thought, from the atmosphere of beauty and repose of the house wherein Ruth dwelt.

“Come here, Alfred,” he called to the crying child, at the same time thrusting his hand into his trousers pocket. He put a quarter in the youngster’s hand, and held him in his arms a moment, soothing his sobs. “Now run along and get some candy, and don’t forget to give some to your brothers and sisters.”

His sister lifted a flushed face from the wash-tub and looked at him.

“A nickel would have been enough,” she said. “It’s just like you, no idea of the value of money. The child’ll eat himself sick.”

“That’s all right, Sis,” he answered jovially. “My money will take care of itself. If you weren’t so busy I’d kiss you.”

He wanted to be affectionate to this sister, who was good, and who, in her way, he knew loved him. But the hard work, the many children, and the nagging of her husband had changed her.

“Go along an’ get your breakfast,” she said roughly, though secretly pleased. He had always been her favourite.

Martin had his breakfast in the kitchen, then went downstairs and out into the street, breathing great breaths of air.

He decided to visit the Oakland Library, because Ruth lived in Oakland. Who could tell? A library was a most likely place for her, and he might see her there. He did not know the way of libraries, and he wandered through endless rows of books. He had heard of book philosophy, but had not imagined there had been so much written about it. He found books on trigonometry in the mathematics section, and ran through the pages staring at the meaningless formulas and figures. From every side the books seemed to press upon him and crush him. He had never dreamed that the fund of human knowledge bulked so big. He was frightened. How could his brain ever master it all? Later, he remembered that there were other men, many men, who had mastered it; and he swore that his brain could do what theirs had done. No more of the sea for him. There was power in all that wealth of books, and if he would do great things he must do them on the land.

Noon came, and afternoon. He forgot to eat, and searched for the books on etiquette; for his mind was troubled by a simple and very concrete problem. When you meet a young lady, and she asks you to call, how soon can you call? But he sought vainly for the answer. He abandoned his search. He had not found what he wanted though he had discovered that he would have to learn how to be polite.

“Did you find what you wanted?” the man at the desk asked him as he was leaving.

“Yes, sir,” he answered. “You have a fine library here.”

The man nodded. “We should be glad to see you here often. Are you a sailor?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered. “And I’ll come again.”

“Now how did he know that?” he asked himself, as he went down the stairs.

_______

Martin spent long hours in the Oakland and Berkeley Libraries, and made out application blanks for membership for himself, his sisters Gertrude and Marian, and Jim, his sister’s boarder, the latter’s consent being obtained at the expense of several glasses of beer. With four cards permitting him to draw books, he burned the gas late in the servant’s room, and was charged fifty cents a week for it by Mr. Higginbotham, his sister’s husband.

He bought a dictionary and many different books.

He dared not go near Ruth’s neighbourhood in the daytime, but night found him lurking like a thief around the Morse home, stealing glimpses at the windows. One afternoon he saw her mother coming out of a bank, and received another proof of the enormous distance that separated Ruth from him. She was of the class that dealt with banks. He had never been inside a bank in his life, and he had an idea that such institutions were frequented only by the very rich and the very powerful.

In one way he had undergone a moral revolution. He must be clean if he wished to be worthy of breathing the same air with Ruth. He washed his teeth, and scrubbed his hands with a kitchen scrub-brush, till he saw a nail-brush in a drug-store window. He swiftly noted the difference between the baggy knees of the trousers worn by the working-class, and the straight line from knee to foot of those worn by the men above the working-class. Also, he learned the reason why, and invaded his sister’s kitchen in search of irons and ironing-board. He had misadventure at first, hopelessly burning one pair and buying another with what little money he still had.

But the reform went deeper than mere outward appearance. He still smoked, but he drank no more. Up to that time, drinking had seemed to him the proper thing for men to do, and he had prided himself on his strong head. But now the need for strong drink had vanished. He was drunken in new and more profound ways – with Ruth, who had fired him with love, with books and with the sense of personal cleanliness.

Exercises

1. Listen to the chapter with your book closed and put the statements in the correct order.

1. Martin spent hours on end in the servant’s room reading.

2. The books in the library pressed upon Martin and crushed him.

3. Martin’s dwelling differed much from Ruth’s home.

4. Ruth had fired with love.

5. Martin liked his sister and nephew.

6. Martin did not exactly know how to behave in the company of such a girl as Ruth was.

7. Martin thought the library was a most lovely place for Ruth.

2. Learn the words from the text:

exclamation, irritation, aware, repulsive, mean, soothe, value, affectionate, crush, swear, vain, abandon, consent, obtain, dare, undergo, misadventure, vanish.

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the text. Make the changes where necessary.

1. He did not .......... say what he thought.

2. The newspaper reports of scandals are a constant source of .......... for the president.

3. The magician .......... in a puff of smoke.

4. They are .......... of dangers.

5. His mother .......... abandoned him when he was five years old.

6. What a .......... man.

7. The winner will receive a prize to the .......... of 10,000.

8. Don’t be so .......... to your little brother.

9. She was doing her best to .......... her crying baby.

4. Choose a word to match the following definitions.

1) to disappear suddenly

2) something that you say suddenly loudly

3) to experience something

4) a feeling of being annoyed or impatient

5) showing caring feelings and love for somebody

6) knowing about a situation or a fact

7) the amount of money that is something worth

8) very unpleasant

9) to make somebody who feels upset fell calmer

10) cruel or unkind

5. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

самый замечательный день в жизни, выместить свою досаду, библиотечные порядки, запас человеческих знаний, заполнить бланки, получить согласие, глядеть украдкой, в известном смысле, до этого времени, зажечь чувство любви.

6. Find the words in the text for which the following are synonyms:

suffer, declare, futile, permission, accident, break, offensive, annoyance, disappear, calm.

7. Say the following statements in your own words.

1. His sister visited her irritation upon one of her numerous progeny.

2. He was aware that the whole thing was repulsive and mean.

3. He had no idea of the value of money.

4. He wanted to be affectionate to his sister.

5. He had always been her favourite.

6. He did not know the way of libraries.

7. He had never dreamed that the fund of human knowledge bulked so big.

8. He abandoned his search.

9. He was walking near the home stealing glimpses at the windows.

10. Ruth had fired Martin with love.

8. Explain and expand on the following.

1. Next morning Martin awoke in a steamy atmosphere.

2. “A nickel would have been enough,” Gertrude said.

3. Martin wanted to be affectionate to his sister.

4. From every side the books seemed to press upon him and crush him.

5. He had never dreamed that the fund of human knowledge bulked so big.

6. One day he received another proof of enormous distance that separated Ruth from him.

7. In one way Martin had undergone a moral revolution.

8. The reform went deeper than mere outward appearance.

9. Answer the following questions.

1. How did Martin feel at home?

2. Why wasn’t Martin’s sister contented?

3. Why did Martin want to be affectionate to Gertrude?

4. Why did Martin decide to visit the Oakland Library?

5. What kind of books did he find there?

6. Why did he search for the books on etiquette?

7. Why did he make out application blanks for membership for all his family?

8. Why did he decide to change his life?

10. Correct the statements.

1. Next morning Martin awoke in his hotel room.

2. Martin wanted to give his nephew some money but he did not have any.

3. His sister was happy to learn that Martin had given a child a quarter.

4. Martin did not like his sister.

5. Martin went to the Oakland Library because Ruth worked there.

6. Martin had rather delicate manners.

7. Martin did not want to go to the library any more.

8. He spent days and nights near Ruth’s neighbourhood.

9. Martin had not changed a bit.

11. Develop the following statements.

1. Martin awoke next morning from the rosy scenes of dream to a steamy atmosphere of his dwelling.

2. Gertrude liked her brother who was her favourite.

3. Martin decided to visit the Oakland Library.

4. The books seemed to press upon Martin and crush him.

5. He had not found what he wanted.

6. Martin dared not go near Ruth’s neighbourhood at day time.

7. Martin had undergone a moral revolution.

12. Retell the chapter from the persons of Martin Eden, Martin’s sister Gertrude, the librarian.

Chapter III

A week of heavy reading had passed since the evening he first met Ruth Morse, and still he dared not call. He did not know the proper time to call, nor was there anyone to tell him, and he was afraid of making a blunder. Having shaken himself free from his old companions and old ways of life, and having no new companions, nothing remained for him but to read, and the long hours he devoted to it would have ruined a dozen pairs of ordinary eyes. But his eyes were strong.

It seemed to him, by the end of the week, that he had lived centuries, so far behind were the old life and outlook. He attempted to read books that required years of preliminary specialisation. One day he would read a book of antiquated philosophy, and the next day one that was ultra-modern, so that his head would be whirling with the conflict and contradiction of ideas. He would sit up in bed, and the dictionary was in front of him more often than the book. He looked up so many new words that, when they recurred, he had forgotten their meaning, and had to look them up again. He devised the plan of writing definitions in a notebook, and filled page after page with them. And still he could not always understand what he read.

He read much poetry, finding his greatest joy in the simpler poets, who were more understandable. He loved beauty, and there he found beauty. Poetry, like music, stirred him profoundly; and though he did not know it, he was preparing his mind for the heavier work that would come later.

The man at the desk in the library had seen Martin there so often that he had become quite pleasant, always greeting him with a smile and a nod when he entered.

One day Martin blurted out:

“Say, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

The man smiled and paid attention.

“When you meet a young lady an’ she asks you to call, how soon can you call?”

“Why, I’d say any time,” the man answered.

“What is the best time to call? The afternoon – not too close to meal-time? Or the evening? Or Sunday?”

“I’ll tell you,” the librarian said, with a brightening face. “You call her up on the telephone and find out.”

“I’ll do it,” he said, picking up his books and starting away.

He turned back and asked: “When you’re speakin’ to a young lady – say, for instance, Miss Lizzie Smith – do you say ‘Miss Lizzie’ or ‘Miss Smith?’”

“Say ‘Miss Smith,’” the librarian stated authoritatively. “Say ‘Miss Smith’ always – until you know her better.”

So it was that Martin Eden solved the problem.

“Come down any time; I’ll be at home all afternoon,” was Ruth’s reply over the telephone to his stammered request as to when he could return the books she had given him.

She met him at the door herself, and her woman’s eye took in immediately the creased trousers, and the slight, but indefinable, change in him for the better.

Once they were seated in the drawing-room, he began to get on easily. She made it easy for him. They talked first of the borrowed books; she led the conversation on from subject to subject, while she pondered the problem of how she could help him. She had thought of this often since their first meeting. She wanted to help him.

“I wonder if I can get some advice from you”, he said. “You remember the other time I was here I said I couldn’t talk about books and things because I didn’t know how? Well, I’ve ben doin’ a lot of thinkin’ ever since.I’ve ben to the library a whole lot, but most of the books I’ve tackled have ben over my head. Mebbe I’d better begin at the beginnin’. I’ve worked pretty hard ever since I was a kid, an’ since I’ve ben to the library, lookin’ with new eyes at books – an’ lookin’ at new books, too – I’ve concluded that I ain’t ben reading the right kind. But I ain’t got to the point yet. Here it is: I want to make my way to the kind of life you have in this house. Now, how am I goin’ to get it? Where do I begin? I’m willin’ to work. Once I get started, I’ll work night an’ day. Mebbe you think it’s funny, me askin’ you about all this. I know you’re the last person in the world I ought to ask, but I don’t know anybody else I could ask…”

His voice died away. He feared he had made a fool of himself. Ruth did not speak immediately. Her face was all sympathy when she did speak.

“What you need you realize yourself, and it is education. You should go back and finish grammar-school, and then go through the high school and University.”

“But that takes money,” he interrupted.

“Oh!” she cried, “I had not thought of that. But, then, you have relatives – somebody who could assist you?”

He shook his head.

“My father and mother are dead. I’ve two sisters – one married, an’ the other’ll get married soon, I suppose. Then I’ve a string of brothers – I’m the youngest – but they never helped nobody. The oldest died in India. Two are in South Africa now, an’ another’s on a whaling voyage, an’ one’s travellin’ with a circus – he does trapeze-work. An’ I guess I’m just like them. I’ve taken care of myself since I was eleven – that’s when my mother died. I’ve got to study by myself I guess, an’ what I want to know is where to begin.”

“I should say the first thing of all would be to get a grammar book. Your grammar is…” She had intended saying “awful,” but she amended it to, “is not particularly good.”

He flushed and sweated.

“I know I must talk a lot of slang an’ words you don’t understand. But, then, they’re only words I know… how to speak. I’ve got other words in my mind – picked ’emup from books – but I can’t pronounce ’em, so I don’t use ’em.”

“It isn’t what you say so much as how you say it. You don’t mind my being frank, do you? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“No, no!” he cried; while he secretly blessed her for her kindness. “Fire away; I’ve got to know, and I’d sooner know from you than anybody else.”

“Well, then, you say ‘You was’; it should be ‘You were.’ You say ‘I seen’ for ‘I saw.’ You use the double negative…”

“What’s the double negative?” he demanded, then added humbly: “You see, I don’t even understand your explanations.”

“I’m afraid I didn’t explain that,” she smiled. “A double negative is… let me see – well, you say, ‘Never helped nobody.’ ‘Never’ is a negative. ‘Nobody’ is another negative. It is a rule that two negatives make a positive. ‘Never helped nobody’ means that, not helping nobody, they must have helped somebody.”

“That’s pretty clear,” he said. “I never thought of it before, and I’ll never say it again.”

“You’ll find it all in the grammar book,” she went on. “There’s something else I noticed in your speech. You say ‘don’t’ when you shouldn’t. ‘Don’t’ is a contraction, and stands for two words. Do you know them?”

He thought a moment, then answered: “‘Do not.’”

She nodded her head, and said: “And you use ‘don’t’ when you mean ‘does not.’”

He was puzzled over this.

“Give me an illustration,” he asked.

“Well…” she thought a moment. “’It don’t do to be hasty.’ Change ‘don’t’ to ‘do not,’ and it reads, ‘It do not do to be hasty,’ which is wrong. It must jar on your ear.”

“Can’t say that it does,” he replied judicially.

“Why didn’t you say, ‘Can’t say that it do?’”

“That sounds wrong,” he said slowly. “As for the other, I guess my ear ain’t had the trainin’ yours has.”

“There is no such word as ‘ain’t,’” she said emphatically.

Martin flushed again,

“And you say ‘ben’ for ‘been,’” she continued; “‘I come’ for ‘I came’; and the way you chop your endings is something dreadful.”

“What do you mean?” He leaned forward, feeling that he ought to get down on his knees before so marvellous a mind. “How do I chop?”

“You don’t complete the endings. ‘A-n-d’ spells ‘and.’ You pronounce it ‘an.’ ‘I-n-g’ spells ‘ing.’ Sometimes you pronounce it ‘ing,’ and sometimes you leave off the ‘g.’ And then you slur by dropping initial letters and diphthongs. ‘T-h-e-m’ spells ‘them.’ You pronounce it – oh, well, it is not necessary to go over all of them. What you need is a grammar book. I’ll get one and show you how to begin.”

When she returned with the book she drew a chair near his and sat down beside him. She turned the pages of the grammar and their heads were inclined towards each other.

For the moment the great gulf that separated them was bridged. He had been caught up into the clouds and carried to her.

_______

Several weeks went by, during which Martin Eden studied the grammar book Ruth had given him, reviewed the books on etiquette, and read voraciously the books that caught his fancy.

Of his own class he saw nothing. The girls of the Lotus Club which he had frequented wondered what had become of him.

During those several weeks he saw Ruth half a dozen times. She helped him with his English, corrected his pronunciation, and started him on arithmetic. But their intercourse was not all devoted to elementary study; and there were times when their conversation turned on other themes – the last poetry he had read, the latest poet she had studied.

As her interest in Martin increased the remodelling of his life became a passion with her.

“I want to tell you about father’s friend Mr. Butler,” she said one afternoon when grammar and arithmetic and poetry had been put aside. “His father had come from Australia and when he died Mr. Butler, Charles Butler he was called, found himself alone in the world without any relatives in California. He went to work in a printing office – I have heard him tell of it many times – and he got three dollars a week at first. His income to-day is at least thirty thousand a year. How did he do it? He was honest and industrious and economical. He denied himself the enjoyments that most boys indulge in. He had his eyes fixed always on the future. He worked in the daytime and at night he went to night school. He was ambitious. He wanted a career, not a livelihood and he made sacrifices for his ultimate gain. He decided upon the law and he entered father’s office as an office boy, think of that, and got only four dollars a week.

But he had learned how to be economical and out of that four dollars he continued saving money. He studied bookkeeping and typewriting. He quickly became a clerk and made himself invaluable. Father appreciated him. It was on father’s suggestion that he went to law college. He became a lawyer and father took him in as junior partner. He is a great man. Such a life is an inspiration to all of us. It shows that a man with a will may rise superior to his environment.”

She paused for breath and to see how Martin was receiving it.

“Do you know,” he said, “I feel sorry for Mr. Butler. He robbed himself of life for the sake of thirty thousand dollars a year. Working all day and studying all night – just working, never having a good time!”

Martin was dissatisfied with Mr. Butler’s career. There was something paltry about it after all. Thirty thousand a year was all right, but inability to be humanly happy robbed such an income of its value.

Much of this he tried to express to Ruth and shocked her and made it clear that more remodelling was necessary. She could not guess that this man who had come from beyond her horizon had wider and deeper concepts than her own;

and she dreamed of helping him to see as she saw, of widening his horizon until it was identified with hers.

Exercises

1. Listen to the chapter with your book closed and mark the statements Y (yes) or N (no).

1. Nothing remained for Martin but to read.

2. The librarian was annoyed to see Eden every day.

3. The librarian did not give Eden any advice.

4. Martin decided to phone Ruth.

5. Ruth wondered if she could get some advice from Martin.

6. Martin’s grammar was awful.

7. Ruth explained to Martin how to speak correct English.

8. Ruth did not have any intention to remodel Martin’s life.

9. Ruth considered the life of Mr. Butler should be an inspiration to all.

10. Martin’s ideas did not surprise Ruth.

2. Learn the words from the text:

proper, devote, ordinary, attempt, contradiction, profoundly, solve, advice, tackle, interrupt, assist, hurt, demand, complete, ambitious, sacrifice, identify.

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the text. Make the changes where necessary.

1. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to .......... you.”

2. Nothing is in its .......... place.

3. She .......... her carrier to bring up her children.

4. He .......... most of her time to his music.

5. The suspect .......... by a witness.

6. It was just an .......... Sunday evening.

7. He was an .......... hard working young clerk.

8. He thinks money .......... all his problems.

9. “Please, don’t .......... her while she is sleeping.”

10. The government is determined to .......... inflation.

11. “Can you give some .......... about buying a car?”

4. Choose a word to match the following definitions.

1) to say in a very firm way that you want something

2) right, appropriate or correct

3) to make somebody unhappy or upset

4) to spend a lot of time or effort doing something

5) determined to be successful, rich, famous, etc.

6) an act of trying to do something

7) to help someone or something

8) to find or provide a way of dealing with a problem

9) normal or average

10) an opinion you give someone about what they should do

5. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

неделя усиленного чтения, порвать с прежними привычками, столкновение идей, когда угодно, попросить совета, добраться до главного, выставить себя в глупом свете, куча родственников, резать слух, увлечь воображение, предаваться удовольствиям, человек с сильной волей.

6. Find the words in the text for which the following are synonyms:

dedicate, finish, common, suitable, effort, apprehend, deeply, claim (inquire), suggestion, help.

7. Say the following statements in your own words.

1. A week of heavy reading had passed.

2. Nothing remained for Martin but to read.

3. His head would be whirling with the conflict and contra-diction of ideas.

4. Ruth’s woman’s eye took in the slight but indefinable change in Martin for the better.

5. His voice died away.

6. He feared he had made a fool of himself.

7. Martin read voraciously the books that caught his fancy.

8. A man with a will may rise superior to his environment.

9. She could not guess that this man who had come from beyond her horizon had wider and deeper concepts than her own.

8. Explain and expand on the following.

1. Martin was afraid of making a blunder.

2. He attempted to read books that required years of preliminary specialisation.

3. Once Ruth and Martin were seated in the drawing-room he began to get on easily.

4. Martin feared he had made a fool of himself.

5. Ruth thought Martin needed to realise himself.

6. Martin’s grammar was awful.

7. Ruth’s interest in Martin increased.

8. Ruth dreamed of helping Martin to see as she saw.

9. Answer the following questions.

1. Why didn’t Martin call Ruth?

2. Why did it seem to Martin that he had lived centuries?

3. What kind of books did he read?

4. What advice did the librarian give Eden?

5. What change in Martin did Ruth feel?

6. What did they speak about?

7. What did Martin tell Ruth?

8. What was Martin’s origin?

9. What lesson did Ruth teach Martin?

10. What story did Ruth tell Martin?

11. Why was Eden dissatisfied with Mr. Butler’s career?

10. Correct the statements.

1. Martin could not get rid of his old companions.

2. Reading did not change his life at all.

3. The librarian was very annoyed when he saw Eden in the library every day.

4. Ruth guessed that Martin had not changed a bit.

5. Martin irritated Ruth.

6. Martin descended from a noble family.

7. Martin did not want to learn proper English.

8. Martin was fascinated with Mr. Butler’s career.

9. Ruth guessed that Martin was wiser than she was.

11. Develop the following statements.

1. A week of heavy reading had passed.

2. It seemed to Martin that he had lived centuries.

3. The librarian paid attention to Eden.

4. Ruth saw that Martin had changed for the better.

5. Martin wanted to turn to Ruth for advice.

6. Martin’s voice died away.

7. Ruth taught him to speak correctly.

8. Martin increased the remodelling of his life.

9. Martin was dissatisfied with Mr. Butler’s career.

12. Retell the chapter from the persons of Martin Eden, Ruth.

Chapter IV

Back from sea Martin Eden came, homing for California.

When his store of money was exhausted, he had shipped on a treasure-hunting schooner; and after eight months of failure to find treasure, the expedition had broken up.

The men had been paid off in Australia, and Martin had immediately returned to San Francisco. Not only had those eight months earned him enough money to stay on land for many weeks, but they had enabled him to do a great deal of studying and reading.

He went through the grammar he had taken again and again, until his brain had mastered it. He noticed the bad grammar used by his shipmates. Now a double negative jarred him like a discord.

After he had mastered the grammar book, he took up the dictionary, and added twenty words a day to his vocabulary. He found that this was no light task, and at wheel or lookout he steadily went over and over his lengthening list of pronunciations and definitions.

The captain of the schooner had somehow fallen into possession of a complete Shakespeare, which he never read, and Martin had washed his clothes for him, and in return he had been permitted access to the precious volumes.

The eight months had been well spent, and, in addition to what he had learned of right speaking and high thinking, he had learned much of himself. Along with his humbleness, because he knew so little, there arose a conviction of power. He decided that he would describe many of the bits of South Sea beauty to Ruth. The creative spirit in him flamed up and then came the great idea. He would write. He would be one of the eyes through which the world saw, one of the ears through which it heard, one of the hearts through which it felt. He would write – everything – poetry and prose, fiction and description, and plays like Shakespeare. There was career and the way to win Ruth. The men of literature were the world’s giants and he conceived them to be far finer than the Mr. Butlers who earned thirty thousand a year.

Once the idea had germinated, it mastered him, and the return voyage to San Francisco was like a dream. To write! The thought was fire in him. He would begin as soon as he got back. The first thing he would do would be to describe the voyage of the treasure-hunters. He would sell it to some San Francisco newspaper. He would not tell Ruth anything about it, and she would be surprised and pleased when she saw his name in print. While he wrote he could go on studying. There were twenty-four hours in each day. He knew how to work, and the citadels would go down before him. Of course, he cautioned himself, it would be hard at first, and for a time he would be content to earn enough money by his writing to enable him to go on studying. And then, after some time – a very indeterminate time – when he had learned and prepared himself, he would write the great things, and his name would be on all men’s lips. But, greater than that – infinitely greater and greatest of all – he would have proved himself worthy of Ruth. Fame was all very well, but it was for Ruth that this splendid dream arose.

When he returned to Oakland, he took up his old room at Bernard Higginbotham’s and set to work. He did not even let Ruth know he was back. He would go and see her when he finished the article on the treasure-hunters. Three days, at white heat, completed his narrative, but when he had copied it carefully, in a large scrawl that was easy to read, he learned from a rhetoric he had picked up in the library that there were such things as paragraphs and quotation marks. He had never thought of such things before, and he promptly set to work writing the article over, referring continually to the pages of the rhetoric, and learning more in a day about composition than the average schoolboy in a year. When he had copied the article a second time and rolled it up carefully, he read in a newspaper an item on hints to beginners, and discovered the iron law that manuscripts should never be rolled, and that they should be written on one side of the paper. Also, he learned from the item that first-class papers paid a minimum of ten dollars a column. So, while he copied the manuscript a third time, he consoled himself by multiplying ten columns by ten dollars. The product was always the same – one hundred dollars – and he decided that that was better than seafaring. One hundred dollars in three days! It would have taken him three months and longer on the sea to earn a similar amount. A man was a fool to go to sea when he could write, he concluded, though the money in itself meant nothing to him. Its value was in the liberty it would get him, the clothes it would buy him, all of which would bring him nearer – swiftly nearer – to the slender, pale girl who had turned his life back upon itself and given him inspiration.

He mailed the manuscript in a flat envelope, and addressed it to the editor of the San Francisco Examiner. He had an idea that anything accepted by a paper was published immediately, and as he had sent the manuscript in on Friday he expected it to come out on the following Sunday.

A week went by and then another week. His article was not yet published. He concluded that he had been wrong about the speed with which things found their way into newspaper columns. Besides, there had not been any news value in his article, and most likely the editor would write to him about it first.

In the meantime he worked at a serial story for boys. The words flowed from his pen, though he broke off from the writing frequently to look up definitions in the dictionary or to refer to the rhetoric. He often read or re-read a chapter at a time during such pauses; and he consoled himself that while he was not writing the great things he felt to be in him, he was learning composition, at any rate, and training himself to express his thoughts. He toiled on till dark, when he went out to the reading-room and explored magazines and weeklies until the place closed at ten o’clock. This was his programme for a week. One thing was certain. What the multitudinous writers did he could do, and only give him time, and he would do what they could not do.

On Friday night he finished the serial – twenty-one thousand words long. At two cents a word, he calculated, that would bring him four hundred and twenty dollars – not a bad week’s work. It was more money than he had ever possessed at one time. He did not know how he could spend it all. He planned to buy some more clothes, to subscribe to many magazines, and to buy dozens of reference-books. And still there was a large portion of the four hundred and twenty dollars unspent. This worried him until the thought came to him of hiring a servant for Gertrude and of buying a bicycle for Marian, his younger sister.

He mailed the bulky manuscript to the Youth’s Companion, and on Saturday afternoon, after having planned an article on pearl-diving, he went to see Ruth. He had telephoned, and she went herself to greet him at the door.

She noted the change in his appearance. But the most radical change of all, and the one that pleased her most, was the change in his speech. Not only did he speak more correctly, but he spoke more easily, and there were many new words in his vocabulary.

He told her of what he had been doing, and of his plan to write for a livelihood, and of going on with his studies. But he was disappointed at her lack of approval. She did not think much of his plan.

“You must get a thorough education first,” she said.

“This education is indispensable for whatever career you select. You should go to high school.”

“Yes…” he began; but she interrupted:

“Of course, you could go on with your writing, too.”

“I would have to,” he said grimly.

“Why?” She looked at him puzzled.

“Because, without writing there wouldn’t be any high school. I must live and buy books and clothes, you know.”

“I’d forgotten that,” she laughed. “Why weren’t you born with an income?”

“I prefer good health and imagination,” he answered.

Exercises

1. Listen to the chapter with your book closed and choose the correct answer.

1. Martin had shipped

A. on a package tour

B. on a treasure hunting schooner

C. on a cruise across the Atlantic

2. Martin had enough money

A. to come back home

B. to go on a journey to Australia

C. to stay on land for many weeks

3. The captain of the schooner

A. permitted Eden to read his books in exchange for washing captain’s clothes

B. was fond of reading Shakespeare’s works

C. presented Eden a complete Shakespeare

4. Martin decided to start

A. writing children’s books

B. poetry and prose

C. newspaper articles

5. He

A. told Ruth everything

B. discussed with Ruth what to write about

C. decided not to tell Ruth anything

6. When he returned to Oakland Eden

A. set to work writing the article

B. started writing poems

C. wrote two stories at once

7. When Martin came to see Ruth he

A. brought her his works to read

B. was happy Ruth approved of his idea

C. told Ruth what he had been doing

2. Learn the words from the text:

exhausted, failure, treasure, enable, permit, precious, describe, creative, conceive, splendid, promptly, average, liberty, inspiration, console, explore, approval, imagination.

3. Complete the sentences using the words from the text. Make the changes where necessary.

1. Children often have got vivid .......... .

2. The .......... climbers were rescued by the rescue rangers.

3. .......... Island is a very famous book by Stevenson.

4. Being diligent in her studies she wanted to win her parents’ .......... .

5. Climbing this mountain ended in .......... .

6. He .......... a painting in details.

7. The audience is not .......... to use the mobile phones during the performance.

8. Money left by his uncle .......... him to buy a new car.

9. I have got a very .......... job.

10. He has got a lot of .......... stones in his collection.

11. Before starting to write he was usually waiting for .......... .

12. The performance begins .......... at nine o clock.

13. They .......... a new land to find minerals.

4. Choose a word to match the following definitions.

1) to think of a new idea, plan, etc.

2) to give comfort or sympathy to somebody

3) to give someone the ability or opportunity to do something

4) very impressive or very good

5) extremely tired

6) around a usual or ordinary level

7) a store of gold, silver, jewels 8) to say what somebody is like

9) a lack of success of doing something

10) rare and worth a lot of money

11) to allow something to happen

5. Find in the text the English equivalents for:

поспешить домой, распустить экспедицию, перечитывать вновь, отослать рукопись, во всяком случае, оказаться случайным обладателем, отрываться от работы, слава – вещь хорошая, перевернуть всю жизнь, без передышки.

6. Find the words in the text for which the following are synonyms:

design, investigate, let, immediately, very tired, superb, independence, fiasco, depict, priceless, inventive.

7. Say the following statements in your own words.

1. The expedition had broken up.

2. He went through the grammar again and again.

3. The citadels would go down before him.

4. Fame was all very well.

5. Ruth had turned his life back upon itself.

6. In his article there had not been any news value.

7. She did not think much of his plan.

8. Explain and expand on the following.

1. When Martin came back he did a great deal of studying and reading.

2. Martin had not been permitted access to the precious volumes.

3. The creative spirit in Martin flamed up.

4. The return voyage to San Francisco was like a dream.

5. He did not let Ruth know he was back.

6. He mailed his work to the San Francisco Examiner.

7. He had his programme for a week.

8. Ruth noted the change in Martin.

9. She did not approve of Eden’s idea.

9. Answer the following questions.

1. What was the end of Eden’s expedition?

2. How did Martin get a complete Shakespeare?

3. What did Martin decide?

4. How did he want to win Ruth?

5. What was he going to describe first of all?

6. Why didn’t he let Ruth know he was back?

7. Where did he mail his manuscript?

8. What was his next work about?

9. What did Ruth notice in Eden?

10. Why didn’t Ruth approve of Eden’s idea?

10. Correct the statements.

1. Martin did not earn enough to stay on land.

2. Martin did not like the eight months spent on board the ship.

3. He did not know what to tell Ruth about his voyage.

4. The return voyage to San Francisco was like a nightmare.

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