Теодор Драйзер (1871 - 1945) - американский прозаик и общественный деятель. Реализм может навевать тоску, но только не драйзеровский: почитать его книгу - всё равно что поговорить с наблюдательным и умным человеком.
(...) And on such occasions she was almost insistent upon introductions and "Who's Who" explanations which could only prove disagreeable. More than once I was compelled to make it plain that I abhorred promiscuous
introductions, especially in this field. I had no stomach for such manoeuvring as she was indulging in. Our friendship must rest upon simpler and less conspicuous things if it was to endure. This, as one hears it phrased these days, she accepted in principle but not in fact. And yet, in spite of all her faults, I liked her as a type and example and made strenuous efforts not to prove too irritable or inconvenient.
But it was not to be. In spite of all hints, and even definite
objections, there was this tendency or nearly every occasion that we met. Irritated one afternoon by the sudden descent of a group when it had been plainly understood that there was to be no one, I left, and that in the face of the suddenly assembled company. Thereafter, our contacts were not so numerous, accidental mostly, in the streets or restaurants.
But during the time that I was with her I was really fascinated by the picture she presented of one who keenly realized
the defects of the world in which she found herself and because of that I was troubled at the thought of an ideal implanted in her by Kinsey which she was unwilling to relinquish. Yet, at the same time, as I could see, she was still anxious to unite the two fields in some way, to make herself something in both. Once she brought out a book of poems written by Kinsey and showed me those she liked most. They were obviously about her and it was easy to see that she was still fascinated by the tribute. She spoke
of his genius, his essential culture and superiority - so different from those with whom she was now associated. In the room also was a portrait of her by an artist friend of Kinsey's, made at the time that they were still together. The painter had caught not a little of that remarkable appeal that was hers then. By contrast I was forced to note that after a lapse of about six years she had coarsened and hardened to some extent, and yet not so much as to make it disturbingly apparent. There was still about her
at times, especially when she was made up to go out, that seeming freshness and youthfulness and inexperience which had characterized her when I first saw her, and which no doubt she sought consciously to retain. When she inquired if I thought she had changed any, I gallantly lied. (...)
----------------------------------------------- I was compelled to make it plain: [kэm’peld] [plein] - я был вынужден навести ясность
I abhorred promiscuous introductions: [эb’hO:d]
[prэ’miskjuэs] [,intrэ’dAkш(э)nz] - я питал отвращение к беспорядочным знакомствам
I had no stomach for such manoeuvring as she was indulging in: [mэ’nu:vriN] [in’dAldжiN] - я не мог терпеть того маневрирования, которым она себя баловала
our friendship must rest upon simpler and less conspicuous things if it was to endure: [kэn’spikjuэs] [in’djuэ], [en’djuэ] - наша дружба должна основываться на более простых и менее привлекающих внимание вещах,
если её нужно было продолжать
in spite of: - несмотря на
and made strenuous efforts not to prove too irritable or inconvenient: [‘strenjuэs] [‘iritэbl] [,inkэn’vi:niэnt] - и предпринимал усердные попытки не показаться слишком несдержанным или стесняющим
hints, and even definite objections: [‘dэfn(э)t] - намёки и даже чётко выражаемые протесты
I was
troubled at the thought of an ideal implanted in her by Kinsey: [im’pla:ntid] - меня тревожила мысль о неком идеале, который внушил ей Кинзи
which she was unwilling to relinquish: [An’wiliN] [ri’liNkwiш] - от которого она не хотела отказываться
after a lapse of about six years: [lEps] - после [промежутка времени примерно в шесть лет]
she had coarsened and hardened to some extent: [‘kO:s(э)nd] [ik’stent], [ek’stent] - она до некоторой степени
огрубела и очерствела
made up to go out: - подкрашена для выхода в свет
and which no doubt she sought consciously to retain: seek - sought - sought [si:k - sO:t - sO:t] [‘kO:n(t)шэsli] - и которые она, вне сомнений, умышленно пыталась сохранить -----------------------------------------------
