Chapter 83 Chapter two

Frau Perlmeneder was praying in the room where the old Senator's wife died.She knelt in front of a chair next to the bed, put her hands on the chair, her lower body was spread out on the ground, her head was lowered, and she was muttering something... She clearly heard her brother and sister-in-law walk in In the breakfast room, I heard them standing hesitantly in the middle of the room, waiting for her to finish her prayers, but she did not change her speed until the prayers were finished, she coughed twice, and then solemnly and slowly tidied up Clothes, stood up, and walked to her brother and sister-in-law.

Her walking posture is graceful and graceful, without showing the slightest embarrassment. "Thomas," she said, with some seriousness in her tone, "it's a poisonous snake in my arms to have Severine attend to my mother. " "how?" "This person is driving me to death. She can be so angry that she can't behave well... When the whole family is mourning, she does such a despicable thing and destroys other people's grief. How can she do such a thing?" What's up?" "what is the problem?" "First of all, she is greedy to the point of unbearable. She opened the closet and took out her mother's satin clothes, wrapped them into a big bundle, and was about to take them away." Li Kexin, "I called her to stop, "What do you have? The right to do this?'...'The old lady promised to give me these clothes!'...'Dear Severine!' I suppressed my anger and explained to her in a gentle tone that her anxious behavior It was indecent. Guess my words had an effect? ​​Not only did she take away the satin dress, but she also took a bag of shirts and drawers. Of course I can't touch her, can I? . . . And she's not alone ...and the maids... Baskets and baskets of clothing materials are taken out... These people are blatantly distributing the spoils in front of me, because Severine has the key to the wardrobe in her hand.'Miss Severin I said. 'Give me the key, please!' Guess how she answered me? She shamelessly said that I have no right to order her, she is not serving me, she is not hired by me, she wants the key Hold it until the day she leaves here!"

"Do you have the key to the silver cabinet?... That's fine, let them mess around. Once a family is disintegrated, this kind of thing is inevitable, especially in the past two years. There's no manners to speak of already. I don't want to make this a big deal right now. Besides the clothes are in ruins... Let's find out what's left. Do you have a copy? On the table Come on? All right. Let's take a look at it right away." They went into the bedroom, and after Mrs. Antoine removed the white cloth from the dead man's face, the three of them were silent for a while.

The old councilor's wife has been wrapped in a satin shroud, and will be buried in the hall that afternoon.Twenty-eight hours had passed since her death.Due to the lack of dentures, her mouth and cheeks are sunken, making her look particularly old, while her chin is pointed upwards.When the three people looked at the dead man's quietly closed eyelids, they couldn't connect the dead man with their mother.But from under the old woman's festive bonnet peeked out her smooth reddish-brown wig, just as it had been in life.It was the wig the three young ladies in Bradden Street used to make fun of... Dead men's quilts were strewn with flowers.

"The prettiest wreaths have come," whispered Mrs. Permaneder, "wreaths have been sent from every family. . . Oh, it's as if everyone in the world has a share, and I've got them all." It's on the veranda; you must see it later, Gerda and Tom. These are some sadly beautiful wreaths. Such wide satin ribbons..." "How is the arrangement in the hall?" asked the MP. "It's almost ready, Tom. There's not much left to do. Jacobs, the interior decorator, is busy on his hands and feet. And that..." She sobbed for a while..., "The birthday boy came just now Now, it's time for you to change into your mourning clothes, dear," she said, carefully putting the white cloth back in place. "It's cold here, but the breakfast room is getting a little heated... Let me help you, Gerda; be careful not to get your cloak dirty... Can I kiss you? You know, how I like it." You, though you always hate me... No, I will take off your hat and I will not mess up your hair... Your beautiful hair! Mother had the same hair as you when she was young. But you She's much prettier, but there was a time, when I was born, and she was a real beauty. But now... it's not like your Grobleben used to say: who in the end All have to go back to the soil...?

It's not like a man like him can come up with words... Ah, Tom, here are some of the most important volumes. " At this time, they had returned to a room next to them and sat down around a round table.Mr. Thomas is reviewing the register of objects which will be distributed to several relatives and children in the future... Mrs. Perlmaneder's eyes never leave her brother's face, her expression is tense and excited.She had a question to discuss with her brother, and all her thoughts were occupied with apprehension, which must be brought up for discussion in a few hours. "I think," began the MP, "that it should be the same as when my grandfather died, and that gifts should be returned to their owners, so that..."

His wife interrupted him at this point. "Excuse me, let me interject, Thomas, I think . . . your brother should be here too." "Oh, my God, Christian!" exclaimed Frau Permaneder. "We forgot about him!" "By the way," said the MP, looking at his sister questioningly. "Didn't you call him?" Frau Permaned then went to ring the bell.But Christian has come out by himself.His steps were rather hurried, and the door did not close lightly and silently.He stood in the room frowning, his small deep-set round eyes didn't look at anyone, they just turned from left to right, his mouth opened and closed uneasily under the dense red beard... He seemed upset and wanted to find someone to fight.

"I hear you're here," he said, somewhat annoyed. "But why didn't you think of me when you discussed this matter? At least you should notify me." "We are going to inform you," said the MP coldly. "Sit down." While speaking, the congressman's eyes were fixed on the white collar button on Christian's shirt.No one could pick out a single irregularity in the filial piety he wore: a coat of black cloth, a wide black bow tie on the collar of a snow-white shirt, and black buttons on his chest instead of his usual gold buttons.Christian must have noticed his brother's gaze too, for as he pulled up a chair and sat down, he touched his breast with one hand and said: "I know, I wear white buttons. I I don't have the time to buy the right ones, or, more frankly, I've been willfully neglecting to. I've often had to borrow five shillings for tooth-powder these last few years, and have to go to bed with a match to light... I I don't know if it's all my fault. Besides, it's not the black buttons that matter in this world. I don't care much about appearance, I never thought it mattered."

Gerda looked at him all the time he spoke, and smiled involuntarily.But the MP said, "I'd like to see if this last sentence of yours lasts long, my dear." "Really? Maybe you know better, Thomas. I'm just saying, I don't take it very seriously. I've been through a lot, everything, and customs. I'm used to it, I can't... Besides, I'm already a middle-aged man," he suddenly raised his voice, "I'm already forty-three years old, I'm my own master, and I don't allow other people to interfere in my private affairs." "Is there something wrong with you, my friend," said the MP, startled. "As for buttons, if I remember correctly, I didn't say a word? Wear mourning as you like; but don't think you'll impress me with your legal informality..."

"I never thought about it that way..." "Tom...Christian..." Frau Permaned broke in. "Let's not talk so excitedly, shall we? ... Today ... here ... in the office ... you go on, Thomas.Do the gifts belong to their original owners?That's the right thing to do..." So Thomas went on. He started with the big stuff and took to himself what he needed: the big candle chandelier in the dining room and the carved trunk in the doorway. Wait a minute. Mrs. Perlmeneder is especially enthusiastic in this matter, and whenever the future owner hesitates even the slightest bit about something, she says with an inimitable expression: "Well, I Willing to have this..." From the look on her face, it looked as if she was sacrificing herself for the good of everyone else. Most of the furniture was being won for herself, for her daughter and granddaughter.

Christian got a few pieces of furniture, a clock, and the organ, and he said he was quite content with that.But when it came to distributing the silver, sheets, and crockery, he showed an zeal almost to the level of greed that one might expect. "What about me? What about me?" He asked anxiously... "Don't forget me..." "Who left you behind? I've given you... listen, I've given you the whole tea set with the silver tray. As for the gilded tableware for the holidays, you have no chance of using it..." "I'd like to have the pomegranate set for home use," said Frau Permaneder. "What about me?" Christian exclaimed, full of indignation.Usually, he would sometimes get angry like this, and at this time his cheeks sunk even deeper, and he made an indescribable expression... "I want to share some of the tableware too! How many spoons and sons can I get? I don't think I've got anything! . . . " "My dear, what do you want these things for? It's useless for you to take them... It's for married people..." "I do it because these things make me think of my mother often." Christian said unconvinced. "My dear fellow," said the Senator in an impatient tone... "I'm not in the mood for jesting now... but what you said just now seems like you'd like to put a soup bowl on the chest of drawers in memory of your mother." ?I can tell you officially now, if you take a little less on daily utensils, you will make up for it in other things in the future. The same is true for those sheets and shirts..." "I don't want money, I want sheets and tableware." "But you don't need these things, do you?" Christian replied with a remark which made Gerda Buddenbrook turn his head suddenly and look him up and down in bewilderment, and which at the same time made the Senator's eyes widen and fixed. stared intently in his face, and Frau Permaned folded her hands.What he said was, "Well, let me tell you, I'm going to get married sooner or later." He said this quickly and in a low voice, followed by a wave of his hand, as if throwing something at his brother across the table, and then collapsed on the chair with a distressed expression on his face. , as if he had been bullied, his mind was extremely restless, and his eyes were also uncertain.For a long time everyone was silent.Finally, the councilor said: "To be honest, Christian, your plans are a bit late... Of course, if this is your idea, it is not the kind of whimsical one you have proposed to your mother in the past." plan……" "My opinion is still the same as before," Christian said, still looking away from anyone, without changing the expression on his face in the slightest. "That's impossible. Don't you mean to wait for your mother to die so..." "It's true, yes. You seem to think you've got all the tact in the world for yourself." "I don't understand why you use such words when you speak. But I admire your scheming and arrangements. You actually showed your rebellious behavior just the day after your mother passed away..." "It's because we've gotten this far. But the main thing is, she won't be angry about it. She won't be angry now anyway, neither today nor a year from now. . . . It's not necessarily right, it's just her point of view, Thomas. As long as she's alive, I'll take her opinion seriously. But she's an old man, a generation ago, and sees things differently than we do... " "I will tell you that on this point I agree with her old man." "I can't control that much now." "You should, my friend." Christian looked into his face. "No...!" he shouted. "I can't control it! Let me tell you straight, I can't control it!"... "I know what to do. I'm an adult..." "Hey, what you said 'is a grown-up' is just the appearance! You don't know what you should do..." "Know! . . . First, I'm a respectable, well-behaved man . . . You don't know the truth of the matter, Thomas! Tony and Gerda are sitting here . But I told you it was my duty to do so. My own blood, little Gisela..." "I don't know what little Gisela is, and I don't want to know! All I know is that you've been fooled. Anyway, with such a person, with this woman in your heart, there is nothing but an obligation like the one you used to perform. , you have no other obligations..." "Woman, Thomas? Woman? You don't know what she's like! Alina..." "Shut up!" Buddenbrook snarled.The two brothers glared at each other across the table, Thomas pale and trembling with rage, his brother's small eyes wide open, red eyelids, mouth wide open with anger, cheeks sunken more than usual, At the same time there were red spots on both cheekbones... Gerda looked from one to the other with a mocking face, and Tony rubbed her hands and begged, "Tom...Christian...Mother hasn't been buried yet." Woolen cloth!" "I can't describe you," continued the MP, "how can you... well, you have no heart at all, how can you mention this name in this place and in this environment! Your sense of propriety has reached an abnormal level , is simply a kind of sickness..." "Why didn't you let me mention Arina's name!" Christian was so angry that Gerda looked at him more and more attentively. "I'm just going to mention that name, and I want you to hear it, Thomas. I'm going to marry her, and I long for a quiet life. And I won't allow . . . you hear me? I can't let you interfere." This thing! I have my liberty, I am my own master..." "You are a fool! Wait until the day when the will is read and you will know that things will not go as you wish! Things are arranged in this way, listen to me tell you, mother's inheritance cannot be squandered by you, as you have ruined in the past It’s like dropping thirty thousand marks. I’ll be responsible for the rest of your property, and you won’t get a penny more than the monthly living expenses. . . . I swear to you . . . ” "Hmph, you know best why your mother made such a decision. But I'm surprised that my mother didn't entrust this responsibility to another person, to someone who is closer to me than you and is more of a sibling." People who love..." Christian's chest was now filled with anger; he said all the things he had never said to anyone.He leaned over the table, kept circling his index finger and knocking on the table, staring at his brother as if he was going to duel with the councilor.And Thomas sat there straight, pale, looking down at him with half-closed eyelids. "Your heart has nothing but indifference, resentment and contempt for me," Christian continued, his voice deep and hoarse... "In my memory, you are always cold to me, and you have never been A little bit of warmth... Yes, you may think that I use this word strangely, but this is how I actually feel!... You despise me, and you will show disgust on your face when you look at me, but even looking at me is rare for you What right do you have to do this? You are also a human being, and you also have your shortcomings! Yes, in the eyes of us two old people, you will always be a favorite. But if you are really like me, love from the heart They, you'll get a little of Christian life from them. If you don't have any fraternity, at least you should have a little Christian brotherhood. But your heart is so unfriendly, I You have no place in your heart... You never once came to see me in the hospital when I lay down with rheumatoid arthritis in Hamburg..." "I have more important things to think about than seeing your illness. And my health is not good..." "What have you, Thomas? Your health is wonderful! If your body had been like mine, you would never have been so unkind to me..." "Perhaps my illness is worse than yours." "You? . . . You're going too far. Tony, Gerda! He said he was sick! What? Did you die from rheumatoid arthritis in Hamburg too?! You too, because of a little awkwardness Is the pain inside the body unbearable?! Are the nerves on the left side of your body too short?! This is the authority of the medical profession to judge me! Do you sometimes come back to the house at dusk, Find someone smiling at you, but in fact this person doesn't exist at all?!..." "Christian!" Madame Perlmenede exclaimed. "What are you talking about! . . . My God, why are you two arguing? From what you say, it seems like an honor to be sick! If so, then Gerda and I have something to say too! "My mother hasn't been buried yet..." "Don't you see that you are the greatest fool in the world," exclaimed Thomas Buddenbrook passionately, "and that all these disgusting-sounding things are the result of your depravity? Your idleness, The result of your own cranky thinking?! Work! Stop taking pride in your ugliness and stop nagging about your illness!  …If you become a madman, let me tell you the truth, it’s not impossible Yes, I will not shed any tears for you, because this is your own fault, and all faults are caused by you..." "No, even if I die, you won't shed tears." "Are you going to die?" said the MP with disgust. "I'm not dying of sickness? Well, let's say I'm not dying of sickness! Let's see who gets out of this world first! . . . Work! What if I can't work? What if I can't keep doing one thing? Goodness! I just can't do one thing forever, it's gonna kill me! If you can do it, and you can do it now, then be happy for yourself, but you can't influence other people, it's not a virtue. … God gave strength to this man, but not to that man . Getting bigger..."You are always self-righteous... well, look where I am going, this is not what I want to say, it is not what I want to use to blame you...but I really don't know, how should I say it, And even if I could say it, it would be only a thousandth, a ten thousandth, of my grievances! You already have a place in life, a place above others, and you have nothing to worry about. Anything that disturbs your spirits, disturbs your peace of mind... even for a moment, you coldly and deliberately push away, because peace of mind is the most important thing to you. But let me say to you, Thomas, That's not the most important thing, for God's sake, you're an extremely selfish person! You're a selfish person, that's right, that's what you are! I still love it when you curse, lose your temper, and throw a tantrum Yours. The worst thing is your silence, which is the most important thing. When someone said something to you, you suddenly fell silent, retreated silently, and pushed all responsibility from yourself arrogantly and distantly. Come on, I never considered other people's feelings... You just don't know what sympathy, friendship and humility are... Cough!" He suddenly shouted, shaking his arms behind his head for a while, and then spread them forward Stretch it out, as if pushing everything away... "I'm so tired of these things, so smooth, so thoughtful, so peaceful, so dignified, so dignified... I'm so tired of them!..." This last cry was uttered, and it was very shocking, a voice that came from the heart, contained such strong disgust and boredom, so it did have some shocking power.Thomas shrank back a little, and was speechless for a moment, looking forward with a weary dull look. "The reason I'm the way I am," Thomas finally began, his voice sentimental, "is because I don't want to be like you. If I've ever avoided you in my heart, it's because I have to be wary of you, because you My nature, your existence is dangerous to me...I'm telling the truth." After a short pause, he resumed in short forceful tones: "We have strayed too far. You have given a speech on my character... a messy one, but it may not be unreasonable. But Now we are not talking about me, but about you. You're planning to get married, and let me tell you, give up, your plans won't work.First of all, I won't be able to pay you much interest in the future, so you don't have to hope for it..." "Alina has a little savings." The congressman swallowed, trying to suppress his emotions. "Hmph... there is a little money. Do you want to mix up your mother's inheritance with this woman's savings..." "Yes. I long to marry her, for someone who will comfort me in my illness. Besides, we are a perfect match. We are both somewhat crippled..." "You still have to take care of your children... In other words, give them the right to inherit?" "certainly." "So that after your death your property will go into their hands?" growling loudly at her brother, Frau Permanede put a hand on his arm and begged in a low voice: "Thomas! ... Mother hasn't been buried yet? ..." "Yes," Christian replied, "it's not unreasonable." "Here, you can't do that!" cried the MP, jumping to his feet.Christian stood up too, walked around the chair, grabbed it with one hand, rested his chin on his chest... and looked at his brother in horror and annoyance. "What right do you have..." cried Thomas Buddenbrook again, almost mad with rage, pale and convulsed and trembling. "As long as I live, this can't happen...I swear to you!...Be careful...Be careful...! Now our family is very unlucky. People play despicable tricks, we have already lost enough money, you are not allowed to throw a quarter of your mother's property on this woman and her illegitimate children!... Especially Tibusius has cheated A quarter of the time! . . . You've disgraced the family enough, you can't marry us to a bitch and give her kids our last names. I won't let you do that, you hear No? I don't promise!" His voice made the room hum, and Frau Permaned curled up in a corner of the sofa, whimpering. "And let me tell you, don't try to break my ban! I won't change my attitude of contempt for you, I don't see you in my eyes... But if you push me to the point where I can't bear it, then let's see who is the loser I tell you again, you have to be careful, I have no scruples! I'm going to have you declared insane, you're going to be locked up in a madhouse, I'm going to destroy you! Destroy! Do you understand?! ..." "I'll tell you too..." Christian retorted...and it all turned into a quarrel between you and me, an incoherent, empty, pathetic quarrel, without definite content, and Not to clarify anything.They think about how to break the other person's heart, how to attack the other person's sore spot.Christian returned to his brother's character and searched for examples from the distant past, some unpleasant anecdotes to prove Thomas' selfishness.These, of course, were something Christian could not forget in his life, on the contrary, he always thought of them over and over again with great anger.On the other hand, the Senator also deliberately answered him with exaggerated contempt and threats, which he himself regretted a little after ten minutes.The wife of the Senate sat blankly at the side, looking at the two of them with bewildered eyes, and it was completely impossible to judge her emotions at this time from the expression on her face.Mrs. Permanede, still immersed in grief and despair, kept saying: "Mother is not yet buried... Mother is not yet buried..." Christian had already started walking up and down the room while he was replying the last few sentences, and he went all the way out of the room. "Okay! Let's wait and see!" He yelled and walked out the door angrily.His beard was shaggy, his eyes were red, his coat was unbuttoned, and he was clutching a handkerchief.He slammed the door violently. The senator stood erect for a while in the suddenly silent room, looking towards the side where his brother walked out.Afterwards, he sat down without saying a word, continued to pick up the notebook, and continued to distribute it with dry words.When he had finished this, he leaned back in his chair, stroked the tip of his beard, and fell into deep thought. Frau Perlmeneder's heart was pounding with terror!There is no time to push that question any further.It must be said, and he must be answered... But in terms of his current mood, can he still care about filial piety and kindness? "Ah... Tom...," she looked first into her arms, then at the Senator with an uneasy glance, and then began to say... "Those furniture... you naturally thought of everything... What's for us, I mean, what's for Erika, Little Thing, and me...it's all here...under our hands...but this house, what are you going to do with it?" she asked, furtively wringing hands. The MP didn't answer right away.He continued to twirl his beard for a while, and brooded sadly for a while.Then he looked at his sister and sat up straight. "The house?" he said... "Of course the house belongs to all of us, you, Christian and I... It's funny that Reverend Tibusius has a share too, and he should have a share. I can't make it all by myself." Any decision requires the consent of all of you. But the matter is very clear, and the sooner you sell it, the better." When he said the last sentence, he shrugged his shoulders, and he didn't seem to care too much.But at the same time his expression changed, as if he too was horrified by what he had said. Madame Pelmenide's head drooped, and she understood, her limbs went limp. "We all agree!" She repeated after a while of silence, her tone was very sad, helpless, and even a bit pungent. "Dear God, you know it very well, Tom, you've always done the right thing, you've got to do it, and we've got to say yes sooner or later! . . . But if we're allowed to interject... a request to you words," her voice was almost inaudible, and her upper lip began to tremble. "This house! My parents' life's work! Our inheritance! We lived in it so happily! And now it's for sale...!" The MP shrugged again, expressing his understanding of his sister's feelings. "Take my word for it, boy, I didn't make this decision with a clear conscience... But that's not what keeps us from doing it, it's just our emotions. It's what we have to do. We have such a large piece of land... What is the use of such a large area? For many years, when my father was still alive, the whole back room has begun to collapse. The billiard room has made a nest for wild cats to come into the house , there is a danger of sinking into the floor... Yes, if I don't have the new house in Fisherman's Lane... But that house has already been built, and it is still so big, what do you think about the house? Sold it? Tell me... to whom? And even if someone bought it, I'd lose half my money. Why, Tony, we've got a lot of land, we can't use it up! Those warehouses, two Big house! The price of the land and the working capital must always form a certain ratio! No, you should make up your mind to sell it, you have to sell it...!" But Mrs. Pelmenide did not listen to his words. She sat silent in her chair, lost in thought, and looked ahead blankly, blurred with tears. "Our home!" she murmured... "I still remember when someone else gave us a warm home...we are only this tall. No one is missing.Uncle Hovestede recited a poem...that poem was in the folder...I recited it...Venus Anagiomini...Scenic Hall!restaurant!So many people came to congratulate...! " "Yes, Tony, the people who moved out must have thought so when my grandfather bought the property. They spent all their money and had to move out, and now they're all dead and don't even know where their bones are. There is no end-of-life feast. Our family is not what it used to be with the Raden Kamps, and we should be glad that we are saying goodbye to this house in a far better state than they were, God forbid... " A sob, a long sob of grief, interrupted him.Madame Pelmenide let her sorrows out, she kept crying, she bent forward, curled up in a ball, and the hot tears fell on her hands limp on her knees, and she did not go. Tube. "Tom," she said at last, her voice choked with sobs then with some touching firmness. "You don't know how painful I am now, you don't know. Your sister has never lived a happy life and has been teased by fate. All unimaginable bad luck has fallen on my head... I really don't know , what have I done. But I am not terrified by the torments of life, Tom, I am not discouraged, neither by Grünlich nor by Perlmeneder. And the Weinshchenk thing is fine too. Because every time the gods shatter my life, I still have a way out. I always have a place in my heart, a safe haven, so to speak, I was born there, I grew up there, and now I can still escape there to avoid all disasters... Even this time, everything is hopeless, and Wien Schenk has been arrested, I still said to my mother: 'Mom, can we move back? ?''Okay, boy, come on,'... When we were kids, Tom, when we were playing war games, we always had a 'home', and we always had to set aside a small area. I can run to that place and rest quietly for a while, it is a safe umbrella. Mother's house, this house is my 'home' in life, where I can feel safe from being disturbed, Tom... But now... now... to sell..." She lost her last strength, covered her face with her handkerchief, and burst into tears. He drew her hand towards him and held it in his own. "I know, dear Tony, I understand what you are saying! But we should live rationally! Our kind mother has passed away...we can never call her back. Now what What to do? Keeping the house as an unrevolving capital is the most foolish thing to do... Or, let's rent it out piecemeal?... I understand you would It's painful; but as long as you can't see it, it's better than seeing people living here. You and your family can take another nice little house, or a floor, outside the city gates, say... Or, would you still like to live in the house, and would rather live with a bunch of tenants? ... And you're not homeless ever after, Gerda and I, of Bradden Street, Crowe The Greg family, Miss Wesiebrot... I didn't mention Clotilde here, because I don't know if she finds it convenient for her to come and go with our family. She dedicated everything to God and became a nun.就应该和别人疏远些……” 她叹了一口气，但那声音里已经隐含着笑意。她随即把头转过去，用手帕紧紧地捂住眼睛。以她现在的表情来说，活像一个发脾气的孩子正在被大人逗弄要他破涕为笑的样子。但是过了一会她好像下了决心似地一下子把脸上的手帕拿开，把身体坐直，像平时她在显示高贵的出身那样，一面把头向后扬着，一面又尽力把下巴抵在胸脯上。 “是的，汤姆，”她说，眨动着一双泪水模糊的眼睛，坚定而严肃地望着窗户。“我知道应该理智地面对生活……我现在已经是很理智了。你一定要原谅我……你也要原谅我，盖尔达……刚才我哭了这么一通。人常常会这样的……感情总是起伏不定的。但这并不代表我很脆弱，请你们相信我。你们知道得很清楚，生活总算把我磨炼出来了；……是的，汤姆，我很明白你说的固定资本，这点脑子我还有。我只能再重复一句，凡是你认为对的，你就必须去作。你是唯一能帮助我们的人，因为盖尔达和我都是女人，而克利斯蒂安呢……咳，上帝保佑他吧！……我们不能反对你，因为我们提出来的根本不是反对的理由，只是我们的情绪，这谁也无法否认。你打算把它卖给谁呢，汤姆？你想，很快地就能脱手吗？” “啊，孩子，这我还没决定，还没想好，不过……迟早会卖出去……今天早晨我已经跟高什简单地谈了几句，就是那个老经纪人高什，他似乎对这件事很感兴趣……” “要是他肯出头，那可好极了。当然，塞吉斯门德·高什也不是十全十美……听人说，他从西班牙文翻译东西……是谁写的那本书我不记得了。真是个怪人，你说是不是，汤姆？可是早年间他和咱们的父亲也是朋友。这个人很诚实，而且很通人情，这一点大家都知道。他一定能了解，这可不是普通的房子，我们不会随便卖掉的……你准备要多少钱，汤姆？是少得十万马克，是不是？……” “不能比十万再低了，汤姆！”当她的兄嫂已经走下台阶，她手里握着门柄还添补了一句。以后，只剩下她一个人了，她静静地站在屋子中间，胳臂垂着，两手在身前交叠着，掌心朝着地面。 她漫无目的的向四周望了一圈，一副神不守舍的样子。她那戴着一顶镶着黑缎带的软帽的头不住地轻轻摇摆着，因为思绪重重，渐渐地向一边肩头歪过去、歪过去。