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Tender Is the Night - Book Three
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Chapter 11
Dick and Nicole were accustomed to go together to the barber, and have haircuts and shampoos in adjoining rooms. From Dick's side Nicole could hear the snip1 of shears2, the count of changes, the Voilàs and Pardons. The day after his return they went down to be shorn and washed in the perfumed breeze of the fans.
In front of the Carleton Hotel, its windows as stubbornly blank to the summer as so many cellar doors, a car passed them and Tommy Barban was in it. Nicole's momentary3 glimpse of his expression, taciturn and thoughtful and, in the second of seeing her, wide-eyed and alert, disturbed her. She wanted to be going where he was going. The hour with the hair-dresser seemed one of the wasteful4 intervals5 that composed her life, another little prison. The coiffeuse in her white uniform, faintly sweating lip-rouge and cologne reminded her of many nurses.
In the next room Dick dozed6 under an apron7 and a lather8 of soap. The mirror in front of Nicole reflected the passage between the men's side and the women's, and Nicole started up at the sight of Tommy entering and wheeling sharply into the men's shop. She knew with a flush of joy that there was going to be some sort of showdown.
She heard fragments of its beginning.
"Hello, I want to see you."
"… serious."
"… serious."
In a minute Dick came into Nicole's booth, his expression emerging annoyed from behind the towel of his hastily rinsed10 face.
"Your friend has worked himself up into a state. He wants to see us together, so I agreed to have it over with. Come along!"
"But my hair—it's half cut."
"Nevermind—come along!"
Resentfully she had the staring coiffeuse remove the towels.
"We'll go to the Café des Alliées," said Dick.
"Wherever we can be alone," Tommy agreed.
Under the arching trees, central in summer, Dick asked: "Will you take anything, Nicole?"
"A citron pressé."
"For me a demi," said Tommy.
"The Blackenwite with siphon," said Dick.
"Il n'y a plus de Blackenwite. Nous n'avons que le Johnny Walkair."
"Ca va."
"She's—not—wired for sound
but on the quiet
you ought to try it—"
"Your wife does not love you," said Tommy suddenly. "She loves me."
The two men regarded each other with a curious impotence of expression. There can be little communication between men in that position, for their relation is indirect, and consists of how much each of them has possessed13 or will possess of the woman in question, so that their emotions pass through her divided self as through a bad telephone connection.
"Wait a minute," Dick said. "Donnez moi du gin et du siphon."
"Bien, Monsieur."
"All right, go on, Tommy."
"It's very plain to me that your marriage to Nicole has run its course. She is through. I've waited five years for that to be so."
"What does Nicole say?"
They both looked at her.
"I've gotten very fond of Tommy, Dick."
He nodded.
"You don't care for me any more," she continued. "It's all just habit. Things were never the same after Rosemary."
Unattracted to this angle, Tommy broke in sharply with:
"You don't understand Nicole. You treat her always like a patient because she was once sick."
They were suddenly interrupted by an insistent14 American, of sinister15 aspect, vending16 copies of The Herald17 and of The Times fresh from New York.
"Got everything here, Buddies," he announced. "Been here long?"
"Cessez cela! Allez Ouste!" Tommy cried and then to Dick, "Now no woman would stand such—"
"Buddies," interrupted the American again. "You think I'm wasting my time—but lots of others don't." He brought a gray clipping from his purse—and Dick recognized it as he saw it. It cartooned millions of Americans pouring from liners with bags of gold. "You think I'm not going to get part of that? Well, I am. I'm just over from Nice for the Tour de France."
As Tommy got him off with a fierce "allez-vous-en," Dick identified him as the man who had once hailed him in the Rue18 de Saints Anges, five years before.
"When does the Tour de France get here?" he called after him.
He departed at last with a cheery wave and Tommy returned to Dick.
"Elle doit avoir plus avec moi qu'avec vous."
"Speak English! What do you mean 'doit avoir'?"
"'Doit avoir?' Would have more happiness with me."
"You'd be new to each other. But Nicole and I have had much happiness together, Tommy."
"If you and Nicole married won't that be 'l'amour de famille'?" The increasing commotion21 made him break off; presently it came to a serpentine22 head on the promenade23 and a group, presently a crowd, of people sprung from hidden siestas24, lined the curbstone.
Boys sprinted25 past on bicycles, automobiles26 jammed with elaborate betasselled sportsmen slid up the street, high horns tooted to announce the approach of the race, and unsuspected cooks in undershirts appeared at restaurant doors as around a bend a procession came into sight. First was a lone12 cyclist in a red jersey27, toiling28 intent and confident out of the westering sun, passing to the melody of a high chattering29 cheer. Then three together in a harlequinade of faded color, legs caked yellow with dust and sweat, faces expressionless, eyes heavy and endlessly tired.
Tommy faced Dick, saying: "I think Nicole wants a divorce—I suppose you'll make no obstacles?"
A troupe30 of fifty more swarmed31 after the first bicycle racers, strung out over two hundred yards; a few were smiling and self-conscious, a few obviously exhausted32, most of them indifferent and weary. A retinue33 of small boys passed, a few defiant34 stragglers, a light truck carried the dupes of accident and defeat. They were back at the table. Nicole wanted Dick to take the initiative, but he seemed content to sit with his face half-shaved matching her hair half-washed.
"Isn't it true you're not happy with me any more?" Nicole continued. "Without me you could get to your work again—you could work better if you didn't worry about me."
Tommy moved impatiently.
"That is so useless. Nicole and I love each other, that's all there is to it."
"Well, then," said the Doctor, "since it's all settled, suppose we go back to the barber shop."
Tommy wanted a row: "There are several points—"
"Nicole and I will talk things over," said Dick equitably35. "Don't worry—I agree in principal, and Nicole and I understand each other. There's less chance of unpleasantness if we avoid a three-cornered discussion."
Unwillingly36 acknowledging Dick's logic37, Tommy was moved by an irresistible38 racial tendency to chisel39 for an advantage.
"Let it be understood that from this moment," he said, "I stand in the position of Nicole's protector until details can be arranged. And I shall hold you strictly40 accountable for any abuse of the fact that you continue to inhabit the same house."
"I never did go in for making love to dry loins," said Dick.
He nodded, and walked off toward the hotel with Nicole's whitest eyes following him.
"He was fair enough," Tommy conceded. "Darling, will we be together to-night?"
"I suppose so."
So it had happened—and with a minimum of drama; Nicole felt outguessed, realizing that from the episode of the camphor-rub, Dick had anticipated everything. But also she felt happy and excited, and the odd little wish that she could tell Dick all about it faded quickly. But her eyes followed his figure until it became a dot and mingled41 with the other dots in the summer crowd.
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1
snip
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| n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断 | |
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shears
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| n.大剪刀 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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5
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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lather
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| n.(肥皂水的)泡沫，激动 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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10
rinsed
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| v.漂洗( rinse的过去式和过去分词 )；冲洗；用清水漂洗掉（肥皂泡等）；（用清水）冲掉 | |
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11
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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lone
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| adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的 | |
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13
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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14
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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16
vending
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| v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明 | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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19
buddy
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| n.（美口）密友，伙伴 | |
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20
scoffing
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| n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽 | |
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21
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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22
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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23
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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24
siestas
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| n.（气候炎热国家的）午睡，午休( siesta的名词复数 ) | |
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25
sprinted
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| v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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automobiles
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| n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 ) | |
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27
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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28
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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29
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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30
troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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32
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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35
equitably
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| 公平地 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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39
chisel
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| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
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40
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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41
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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