It was when they had been married for two years that they got a neighbour. The price of rubber at that time was so high that new estates were being put under cultivation and one of the big companies had bought a great tract of land on the opposite side of the river. It was a rich company and everything was done on a lavish scale. The manager they had put in had a launch at his disposal so that it was no trouble for him to pop over and have a drink whenever he felt inclined. Jack Carr his name was. He was quite a different sort of chap from Norman; for one thing he was a gentleman, he'd been to a public school and a university; he was about thirty-five, tall, not beefy like Norman, but slight, he had the sort of figure that looked lovely in evening dress; and he had crisply curling hair and a laughing look in his eyes. Just her type. She took to him at once. It was a treat, having someone you could talk about London to, and the theatre. He was gay and easy. He made the sort of jokes you could understand. In a week or two she felt more at home with him than she did with her husband after two years. There had always been something about Norman that she hadn't quite been able to get to the bottom of. He was crazy about her, of course, and he'd told her a lot about himself, but she had a funny feeling that there was something he kept from her, not because he wanted to, but-well, you couldn't hardly explain it, because it was so alien, you might say, that he couldn't put it into words. Later, when she knew Jack better, she mentioned it to him, and Jack said it was because he was country-born; even though he hadn't a drop of native blood in his veins, something of the country had gone to the making of him so that he wasn't white really; he had an Eastern streak in him. However hard he tried he could never be quite English.
She chattered away aloud, in that emply house, for the two boys, the cook and the house boy, were in their own quarters, and the sound of her voice, ringing along the wooden floors, piercing the wooden walls, was like the uncanny, unhuman gibber of new wine fermenting in a vat. She spoke just as though Skelton were there, but so incoherently that if he had been, he would have had difficulty in following the story she told. It did not take her long to discover that Jack Carr wanted her. She was excited. She'd never been promiscuous, but in all those years she'd been on the stage naturally there'd been episodes. You couldn't hardly have put up with being on tour month after month if you didn't have a bit of fun sometimes. Of course now she wasn't going to give in too easily, she didn't want to make herself cheap, but what with the life she led, she'd be a fool if she missed the chance; and as far as Norman was concerned, well, what the eye didn't see the heart didn't grieve over. They understood one another all right, Jack and her; they knew it was bound to happen sooner or later, it was only a matter of waiting for the opportunity; and the opportunity came. But then something happened that they hadn't bargained for: they fell madly in love with one another. If Mrs Grange really had been telling the story to Skelton it might have seemed as unlikely to him as it did to her. They were two very ordinary people, he a jolly, good-natured, common-place planter,and she a small-part actress far from clever, not even very young, with nothing to recommend her but a neat figure and a prettyish face. What started as a casual affair turned without warning into a devastating passion, and neither of them was of a texture to sustain its exorbitant compulsion. They longed to be with one another; they were restless and miserable apart. She'd been finding Norman a bore for some time, but she'd put up with him because he was her husband; now he irritated her to frenzy because he stood between her and Jack.There was no question of their going off together, Jack Carr had nothing but his salary, and he couldn't throw up a job he'd been only too glad to get. It was difficult for them to meet. They had to run awful risks.
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Perhars the chances they had to take, the obstacles they had to surmount, were fuel to their love; a year passed and it was as overwhelming as at the beginning; it was a year of agony and bliss, of fear and thrill.
(From: W.S.Maugham. "Flotsam and Jetsam".)
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1.to happen - to have happened ( ). 2. .
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| Manager- . | er, | ||
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: figure that looked lovely ;
a laughing look in his eyes ;
a drop of native blood ;
a native - ( ).
III
1. If Mrs. Grange really had been telling the story to
Skelton it might have seemed as unlikely to him as it did to them.
1. had been telling
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2. might have seemed
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2.There was no question of their going away together.
Going - , , .
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together, (their going).
Going - having gone ( ). .
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1. cook, boy - , , , , ( ), .
of fear and thrill -
company, public -
Skelton, Norman -
2. boy - boys - .
company - companies -
gentleman - gentlemen -
hair, passion, love - singularia tantum
lothes -
3. : Jack's - .
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irritated her - , 3- , ., . , .
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He was gay and easy - ,
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1. : gay and easy; not beefy..... but slight.
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2. ): those years - ;
): - irritated her ( / );
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3. Just her type - .
It was a treat having someone you could talk about London to. it ( ), .
It was when they had been married for two years that they got a neighbour. - (subject - clause), ( it). when ( ).
4. It was difficult for then to meet. . for them to meet (complex subject).
5. nd as for as Norman was concerned, well, what the eye didnt see the heart didnt grieve for. As for.
6. In a week or two ahe felt more at home with him than she did with her husband after two years. . did felt.
