第 14 节
作者:青词      更新:2021-08-14 15:19      字数:9322
  day。
  We have changed so radically that even a casual observer cannot help
  being      struck    by    the    difference。     Among       other    most     significant
  〃phenomena〃 has   appeared   a phase of   life that not only  neither of   these
  great men observed (for the very good reason that it had not appeared in
  their time); but which seems also to have escaped the notice of the writers
  of   our   own   day;   close   observers   as   they   are   of   any   new   development。   I
  mean the class of Social Exiles; pitiable wanderers from home and country;
  who haunt the Continent; and are to be found (sad little colonies) in out…
  of…the…way corners of almost every civilized country。
  To   know   much   of   this   form   of   modern   life;   one   must   have   been   a
  wanderer; like myself; and have pitched his tent in many queer places; for
  they are shy game and not easily raised; frequenting mostly quiet old cities
  like   Versailles   and   Florence;   or   inexpensive   watering…places   where   their
  meagre      incomes     become     affluence    by   contrast。   The    first  thought   on
  dropping in on such a settlement is; 〃How in the world did these people
  ever   drift   here?〃   It   is   simple   enough   and   generally   comes   about   in   this
  way:
  The father of a wealthy family dies。 The fortune turns out to be less
  than was expected。 The widow and children decide to go abroad for a year
  or    so;  during   their   period   of  mourning;      partially  for   distraction;   and
  partially (a fact which is not spoken of) because at home they would be
  forced to change their way of living to a simpler one; and that is hard to do;
  just at first。 Later they think it will be quite easy。 So the family emigrates;
  and after a little sight…seeing; settles in Dresden or Tours; casually at first;
  49
  … Page 50…
  Worldly Ways and Byways
  in   a   hotel。   If   there   are   young   children   they   are   made   the   excuse。   〃The
  languages are so important!〃 Or else one of the daughters develops a taste
  for music; or   a son takes up   the study  of art。  In a   year or   two; before   a
  furnished      apartment      is  taken;   the   idea   of  returning     is  discussed;     but
  abandoned 〃for the present。〃 They begin vaguely to realize how difficult it
  will   be   to   take   life   up   again   at   home。   During   all   this   time   their   income
  (like   everything   else   when   the   owners   are   absent)   has   been   slowly   but
  surely  disappearing;   making   the   return   each   year   more   difficult。   Finally;
  for economy; an unfurnished apartment is taken。 They send home for bits
  of furniture and family belongings; and gradually drop into the great army
  of the expatriated。
  Oh; the pathos of it! One who has not seen these poor stranded waifs
  in   their   self…imposed   exile;   with   eyes   turned   towards   their   native   land;
  cannot realize all the sadness and loneliness they endure; rarely adopting
  the country of their residence but becoming more firmly American as the
  years   go   by。   The   home   papers   and   periodicals   are   taken;   the   American
  church attended; if there happens to be one; the English chapel; if there is
  not。 Never a French church! In their hearts they think it almost irreverent
  to read the service in French。 The acquaintance of a few fellow… exiles is
  made and that of a half…dozen English families; mothers and daughters and
  a younger son or two; whom the ferocious primogeniture custom has cast
  out of the homes of their childhood to economize on the Continent。
  I have in my mind a little settlement of this kind at Versailles; which
  was a type。 The formal old city; fallen from its grandeur; was a singularly
  appropriate   setting   to   the   little   comedy。   There   the   modest   purses   of   the
  exiles    found    rents   within    their   reach;   the   quarters    vast  and    airy。  The
  galleries and the park afforded a diversion; and then Paris; dear Paris; the
  American Mecca; was within reach。 At the time I knew it; the colony was
  fairly prosperous; many of its members living in the two or three principal
  PENSIONS; the others in apartments of their own。 They gave feeble little
  entertainments among themselves; card…parties and teas; and dined about
  with   each   other   at   their   respective   TABLES   D'HOTE;   even   knowing   a
  stray  Frenchman   or   two;   whom   the   quest   of   a   meal   had   tempted   out   of
  their native fastnesses as it does the wolves in a hard winter。 Writing and
  50
  … Page 51…
  Worldly Ways and Byways
  receiving letters from America was one of the principal occupations; and
  an epistle descriptive of a particular event at home went the rounds; and
  was eagerly read and discussed。
  The merits of the different PENSIONS also formed a subject of vital
  interest。 The   advantages   and   disadvantages   of   these   rival   establishments
  were;   as   a   topic;   never   exhausted。   MADAME   UNE   TELLE   gave   five
  o'clock tea; included in the seven francs a day; but her rival gave one more
  meat   course   at   dinner   and   her   coffee   was   certainly   better;   while   a   third
  undoubtedly had a nicer set of people。 No one here at home can realize the
  importance these matters gradually assume in the eyes of the exiles。 Their
  slender incomes have to be so carefully handled to meet the strain of even
  this simple way of living; if they are to show a surplus for a little trip to
  the seashore in the summer months; that an extra franc a day becomes a
  serious consideration。
  Every now and then a family stronger…minded than the others; or with
  serious reasons for returning home (a daughter to bring out or a son to put
  into business); would break away from its somnolent surroundings and re…
  cross the Atlantic; alternating between hope and fear。 It is here that a sad
  fate   awaits   these   modern   Rip Van Winkles。 They   find   their   native   cities
  changed      beyond     recognition。     (For   we   move     fast  in  these   days。)   The
  mother gets out her visiting list of ten years before and is thunderstruck to
  find    that   it  contains   chiefly    names    of   the   〃dead;   the   divorced;    and
  defaulted。〃   The   waves   of   a   decade   have   washed   over   her   place   and   the
  world she once belonged to knows her no more。 The leaders of her day on
  whose   aid   she   counted   have   retired   from   the   fray。   Younger;   and   alas!
  unknown faces sit in the opera boxes and around the dinner tables where
  before she had found only friends。 After a feeble little struggle to get again
  into the 〃swim;〃 the family drifts back across the ocean into the quiet back
  water of a continental town; and goes circling around with the other twigs
  and dry leaves; moral flotsam and jetsam; thrown aside by the great rush
  of the outside world。
  For the parents the life is not too sad。 They have had their day; and are;
  perhaps; a little glad in their hearts of a quiet old age; away from the heat
  and sweat of the battle; but for the younger generation it is annihilation。
  51
  … Page 52…
  Worldly Ways and Byways
  Each year their circle grows smaller。 Death takes away one member after
  another of the family; until one is left alone in a foreign land with no ties
  around her; or with her far…away 〃home;〃 the latter more a name now than
  a reality。
  A   year    or  two    ago   I  was   taking    luncheon      with   our   consul    at  his
  primitive   villa;   an   hour's   ride   from   the   city   of   Tangier;   a   ride   made   on
  donkey…back;   as   no   roads   exist   in   that   sunny   land。 After   our   coffee   and
  cigars; he   took   me   a  half…hour's   walk   into   the  wilderness   around   him  to
  call on his nearest neighbors; whose mode of existence seemed a source of
  anxiety to him。 I found myself in the presence of two American ladies; the
  younger being certainly not less than seventy…five。 To my astonishment I
  found they had been living there some thirty years; since the death of their
  parents; in an isolation and remoteness impossible to describe; in an Arab
  house;   with   native   servants;   〃the   world   forgetting;  by  the   world   forgot。〃
  Yet these ladies had names well known in New York fifty years ago。
  The   glimpse   I   had   of   their   existence   made   me   thoughtful   as   I   rode
  home in the twilight; across a suburb none too safe for strangers。 What had
  the future in store for those two? Or; worse still; for