Easy English ↔ Source English
Chapter 1
Source paragraphs anchor each row. Semantically matched easy-English paragraphs stay grouped beside the source they rewrite.
Easy-English paragraphs are matched to the source by meaning; numbering follows the source text.
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01
Easy English
It was a January evening in the early 1870s. At the Academy of Music in New York, Christine Nilsson was singing in the opera Faust.
Source English
On a January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in Faust at the Academy of Music in New York.
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02
Easy English
People were already talking of a new opera house, far uptown, "above the Forties." It would match the grand, costly houses of Europe. But the world of fashion still came back, winter after winter, to the dear old Academy. Its boxes were worn, red and gold.
Lovers of old ways valued the Academy just because it was small and uncomfortable. They liked it so. The discomfort kept out the "new people." New York feared them, yet felt drawn to them. Soft-hearted people loved the Academy for its memories. Music lovers loved it for its excellent sound. Good sound was rare, even in halls built for hearing music.
Source English
Though there was already talk of the erection, in remote metropolitan distances "above the Forties," of a new Opera House which should compete in costliness and splendour with those of the great European capitals, the world of fashion was still content to reassemble every winter in the shabby red and gold boxes of the sociable old Academy. Conservatives cherished it for being small and inconvenient, and thus keeping out the "new people" whom New York was beginning to dread and yet be drawn to; and the sentimental clung to it for its historic associations, and the musical for its excellent acoustics, always so problematic a quality in halls built for the hearing of music.
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03
Easy English
It was Madame Nilsson's first night that winter. The daily papers already called such a crowd "a very brilliant audience." The fashionable world came through the wet, snowy streets, in carriages.
Some came in a private brougham, a small closed carriage with one horse. Some came in the wide open family landau, a larger carriage. Others came in the humbler but more useful "Brown coupe," a plain carriage for hire.
Coming in a Brown coupe was almost as honorable as coming in your own carriage. But to leave in one was far better. With a small joke about being democratic, you could jump into the first Brown carriage in line.
You did not wait for your own driver. His nose, red from cold and strong drink, would show under the roof of the Academy. The man who owned the Brown carriages understood Americans. They want to leave their fun even faster than they want to reach it.
Source English
It was Madame Nilsson's first appearance that winter, and what the daily press had already learned to describe as "an exceptionally brilliant audience" had gathered to hear her, transported through the slippery, snowy streets in private broughams, in the spacious family landau, or in the humbler but more convenient "Brown coupe." To come to the Opera in a Brown coupe was almost as honourable a way of arriving as in one's own carriage; and departure by the same means had the immense advantage of enabling one (with a playful allusion to democratic principles) to scramble into the first Brown conveyance in the line, instead of waiting till the cold-and-gin congested nose of one's own coachman gleamed under the portico of the Academy. It was one of the great livery-stableman's most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.
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04
Easy English
When Newland Archer opened the door at the back of the club box, the garden scene was just starting. There was no reason for the young man to be late. He ate dinner at seven, alone with his mother and sister.
Afterward he smoked in the dark Gothic library. It had black wood bookcases and carved chairs. It was the only room where Mrs. Archer allowed smoking.
But New York was a great city. In great cities, it was "not the thing" to come early to the opera. What was or was not "the thing" ruled Newland Archer's New York. It ruled him as dark, unexplained fears once ruled his fathers' fathers, thousands of years ago.
Source English
When Newland Archer opened the door at the back of the club box the curtain had just gone up on the garden scene. There was no reason why the young man should not have come earlier, for he had dined at seven, alone with his mother and sister, and had lingered afterward over a cigar in the Gothic library with glazed black-walnut bookcases and finial-topped chairs which was the only room in the house where Mrs. Archer allowed smoking. But, in the first place, New York was a metropolis, and perfectly aware that in metropolises it was "not the thing" to arrive early at the opera; and what was or was not "the thing" played a part as important in Newland Archer's New York as the inscrutable totem terrors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago.
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05
Easy English
The second reason for his lateness was his own. He was at heart a dilettante, a man of fine, careful tastes. He liked to hold a coming pleasure in his mind first. Often the thought of a pleasure gave him a finer joy than the thing itself. This was most true of quiet, delicate joys. Most of his joys were like that.
The moment he waited for was rare and perfect. No stage manager could plan his entry better. He came in just as the great singer sang, "He loves me — he loves me not — he loves me!" She was pulling apart a daisy, a small white flower. Her notes fell as clear as drops of water.
Source English
The second reason for his delay was a personal one. He had dawdled over his cigar because he was at heart a dilettante, and thinking over a pleasure to come often gave him a subtler satisfaction than its realisation. This was especially the case when the pleasure was a delicate one, as his pleasures mostly were; and on this occasion the moment he looked forward to was so rare and exquisite in quality that--well, if he had timed his arrival in accord with the prima donna's stage-manager he could not have entered the Academy at a more significant moment than just as she was singing: "He loves me--he loves me not--he loves me!--" and sprinkling the falling daisy petals with notes as clear as dew.
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06
Easy English
Of course, she did not really sing "he loves me." She sang "M'ama!" For the world of music had a firm law that no one questioned. When Swedish artists sang French operas, the German words must be turned into Italian. Then English speakers could understand more clearly.
This seemed natural to Newland Archer, like all the other rules of his life. He parted his hair with two silver-backed brushes, marked with his initials in blue. He never appeared in society without a flower in his coat. Best of all was a gardenia.
Source English
She sang, of course, "M'ama!" and not "he loves me," since an unalterable and unquestioned law of the musical world required that the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists should be translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences. This seemed as natural to Newland Archer as all the other conventions on which his life was moulded: such as the duty of using two silver-backed brushes with his monogram in blue enamel to part his hair, and of never appearing in society without a flower (preferably a gardenia) in his buttonhole.
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07
Easy English
"M'ama ... non m'ama ..." sang the singer. Then, "M'ama!" with one last burst of winning love. She pressed the torn daisy to her lips. She raised her large eyes to the face of Capoul, the small brown-haired Faust.
Source English
"M'ama ... non m'ama ..." the prima donna sang, and "M'ama!", with a final burst of love triumphant, as she pressed the dishevelled daisy to her lips and lifted her large eyes to the sophisticated countenance of the little brown Faust-Capoul, who was vainly trying, in a tight purple velvet doublet and plumed cap, to look as pure and true as his artless victim.
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08
Easy English
He wore a tight coat of purple velvet and a cap with a feather. He tried hard to look as pure and true as the simple girl he meant to ruin. He did not quite succeed.
Newland Archer leaned against the back wall of the club box. He turned his eyes from the stage and studied the far side of the house.
Straight across from him was the box of old Mrs. Manson Mingott. She was now far too fat to come to the opera herself. On fashionable nights, younger family members always appeared there for her.
At the front sat Mrs. Lovell Mingott, the wife of the old lady's son. Beside her sat Mrs. Welland, the old lady's daughter. A little behind these two grand women sat a young girl in white. Her eyes were fixed with joy on the lovers on the stage.
The boxes always fell silent during the Daisy Song. When Madame Nilsson's "M'ama!" rang out over the quiet house, a warm pink rose in the girl's face. It spread to the roots of her fair hair, and down her neck to her modest white dress. At her breast was a single gardenia.
She dropped her eyes to the great bunch of lilies-of-the-valley on her knee.
Newland Archer watched her touch the flowers softly with her gloved finger-tips. He drew a deep breath of satisfied vanity. His eyes went back to the stage.
No money was spared on the stage scene. Even people who knew the opera houses of Paris and Vienna called it beautiful.
Source English
Newland Archer, leaning against the wall at the back of the club box, turned his eyes from the stage and scanned the opposite side of the house. Directly facing him was the box of old Mrs. Manson Mingott, whose monstrous obesity had long since made it impossible for her to attend the Opera, but who was always represented on fashionable nights by some of the younger members of the family. On this occasion, the front of the box was filled by her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lovell Mingott, and her daughter, Mrs. Welland; and slightly withdrawn behind these brocaded matrons sat a young girl in white with eyes ecstatically fixed on the stage-lovers. As Madame Nilsson's "M'ama!" thrilled out above the silent house (the boxes always stopped talking during the Daisy Song) a warm pink mounted to the girl's cheek, mantled her brow to the roots of her fair braids, and suffused the young slope of her breast to the line where it met a modest tulle tucker fastened with a single gardenia. She dropped her eyes to the immense bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley on her knee, and Newland Archer saw her white-gloved finger-tips touch the flowers softly. He drew a breath of satisfied vanity and his eyes returned to the stage.
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09
Easy English
The front of the stage was covered in bright green cloth. Behind it rose neat round hills of soft green, like wool. On these hills stood small trees shaped like orange trees, but covered with big pink and red roses.
Giant pansies, much larger than the roses, sprang up from the green below the trees. They looked like the flower-shaped pen-wipers that church ladies made as gifts for popular ministers.
Here and there, a daisy grew from the branch of a rose tree. It seemed an early sign of the wonders of Mr. Luther Burbank, the plant scientist of later years.
Source English
No expense had been spared on the setting, which was acknowledged to be very beautiful even by people who shared his acquaintance with the Opera houses of Paris and Vienna. The foreground, to the footlights, was covered with emerald green cloth. In the middle distance symmetrical mounds of woolly green moss bounded by croquet hoops formed the base of shrubs shaped like orange-trees but studded with large pink and red roses. Gigantic pansies, considerably larger than the roses, and closely resembling the floral pen-wipers made by female parishioners for fashionable clergymen, sprang from the moss beneath the rose-trees; and here and there a daisy grafted on a rose-branch flowered with a luxuriance prophetic of Mr. Luther Burbank's far-off prodigies.
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10
Easy English
In the center of this magic garden stood Madame Nilsson. She wore soft white cloth with lines of pale blue. A small bag hung from the blue band of her dress. Her heavy yellow hair lay carefully on each side of her breast.
With lowered eyes, she listened to M. Capoul's burning words of love. Again and again, by word or look, he pointed to the low window of the brick house on the stage. Each time, she pretended sweetly that she did not understand him.
Source English
In the centre of this enchanted garden Madame Nilsson, in white cashmere slashed with pale blue satin, a reticule dangling from a blue girdle, and large yellow braids carefully disposed on each side of her muslin chemisette, listened with downcast eyes to M. Capoul's impassioned wooing, and affected a guileless incomprehension of his designs whenever, by word or glance, he persuasively indicated the ground floor window of the neat brick villa projecting obliquely from the right wing.
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11
Easy English
"The darling!" thought Newland Archer. His glance flew back to the young girl with the lilies-of-the-valley. "She doesn't even guess what it's all about."
He studied her young face, lost in the music, and felt a warm rush of ownership. Pride in his own man's knowledge mixed with tender respect for her pure, unknowing heart.
"We'll read Faust together ... by the Italian lakes ..." he thought. In a soft, unclear way, he mixed their marriage trip with the great books of the world. As her husband, he would have the proud right to open those books to her.
Only that afternoon, May Welland let him guess that she "cared." In New York, "to care" was the holy word for a girl admitting her love. Already his mind jumped past the ring, the first kiss, and the marriage music from Lohengrin. He saw her at his side in some magic old corner of Europe.
Source English
"The darling!" thought Newland Archer, his glance flitting back to the young girl with the lilies-of-the-valley. "She doesn't even guess what it's all about." And he contemplated her absorbed young face with a thrill of possessorship in which pride in his own masculine initiation was mingled with a tender reverence for her abysmal purity. "We'll read Faust together ... by the Italian lakes ..." he thought, somewhat hazily confusing the scene of his projected honey-moon with the masterpieces of literature which it would be his manly privilege to reveal to his bride. It was only that afternoon that May Welland had let him guess that she "cared" (New York's consecrated phrase of maiden avowal), and already his imagination, leaping ahead of the engagement ring, the betrothal kiss and the march from Lohengrin, pictured her at his side in some scene of old European witchery.
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12
Easy English
He did not want the future Mrs. Newland Archer to be a fool. With the help of his own fine company, she would grow into a woman of quick social skill.
She should hold her own among the most popular young married women. In that set, the custom was to draw men's attention and then push it away with a laugh.
Deep at the bottom of his vanity lay a wish. He sometimes came close to seeing it. He wished his wife to be as clever and as pleasing as a certain married lady. That lady's charms held his mind for two mildly troubled years.
Of course, his wife must have none of the weakness that almost ruined that poor lady's life. The same weakness had upset his own plans for a whole winter.
Source English
He did not in the least wish the future Mrs. Newland Archer to be a simpleton. He meant her (thanks to his enlightening companionship) to develop a social tact and readiness of wit enabling her to hold her own with the most popular married women of the "younger set," in which it was the recognised custom to attract masculine homage while playfully discouraging it. If he had probed to the bottom of his vanity (as he sometimes nearly did) he would have found there the wish that his wife should be as worldly-wise and as eager to please as the married lady whose charms had held his fancy through two mildly agitated years; without, of course, any hint of the frailty which had so nearly marred that unhappy being's life, and had disarranged his own plans for a whole winter.
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13
Easy English
How could such a wonder of fire and ice be created? How could it live on in a hard world? He never took time to think this out. He was happy to hold the view without looking into it. All the other gentlemen in the club box held the same view, and he knew it.
They came in one after another, with brushed hair and flowers on their coats. Each wore a black evening coat with a white waistcoat under it. They greeted him in a friendly way. Then they turned their opera-glasses on the circle of ladies below. These ladies were the product of the system the men believed in.
In matters of mind and art, Newland Archer felt himself far above these chosen men of old New York. He probably read more, thought more, and even saw more of the world than any of them. One by one, each man showed himself the smaller. But together, they were "New York."
The habit of standing with other men made him accept their teaching on everything called moral. He felt, deep down, that going his own way would be trouble, and also very bad form.
Source English
How this miracle of fire and ice was to be created, and to sustain itself in a harsh world, he had never taken the time to think out; but he was content to hold his view without analysing it, since he knew it was that of all the carefully-brushed, white-waistcoated, button-hole-flowered gentlemen who succeeded each other in the club box, exchanged friendly greetings with him, and turned their opera-glasses critically on the circle of ladies who were the product of the system. In matters intellectual and artistic Newland Archer felt himself distinctly the superior of these chosen specimens of old New York gentility; he had probably read more, thought more, and even seen a good deal more of the world, than any other man of the number. Singly they betrayed their inferiority; but grouped together they represented "New York," and the habit of masculine solidarity made him accept their doctrine on all the issues called moral. He instinctively felt that in this respect it would be troublesome--and also rather bad form--to strike out for himself.
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14
Easy English
"Well — upon my soul!" said Lawrence Lefferts. He turned his opera-glass sharply away from the stage.
Lawrence Lefferts was, on the whole, New York's chief judge of "form." He probably gave more time than any other man to this deep question. But study alone could not explain his easy, complete power.
His high forehead was bald. His fine fair moustache had a perfect curve. His long feet, in shining shoes, ended a lean and well-made body. He wore fine clothes carelessly and carried his height with lazy ease. The knowledge of "form" must be born in such a man.
A young admirer once put it this way. "Nobody can tell a man just when to wear a black tie with evening clothes, and when not to. Nobody but Larry Lefferts." There was also the question of pumps against shining-leather "Oxfords." On that question, no one ever doubted his word.
Source English
"Well--upon my soul!" exclaimed Lawrence Lefferts, turning his opera-glass abruptly away from the stage. Lawrence Lefferts was, on the whole, the foremost authority on "form" in New York. He had probably devoted more time than any one else to the study of this intricate and fascinating question; but study alone could not account for his complete and easy competence. One had only to look at him, from the slant of his bald forehead and the curve of his beautiful fair moustache to the long patent-leather feet at the other end of his lean and elegant person, to feel that the knowledge of "form" must be congenital in any one who knew how to wear such good clothes so carelessly and carry such height with so much lounging grace. As a young admirer had once said of him: "If anybody can tell a fellow just when to wear a black tie with evening clothes and when not to, it's Larry Lefferts." And on the question of pumps versus patent-leather "Oxfords" his authority had never been disputed.
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15
Easy English
"My God!" he said. Then he silently handed his opera-glass to old Sillerton Jackson.
Source English
"My God!" he said; and silently handed his glass to old Sillerton Jackson.
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16
Easy English
Newland Archer followed Lefferts's eyes and saw, with surprise, the cause of his cry. A new figure was entering old Mrs. Mingott's box. It was a slim young woman, a little shorter than May Welland. Small rings of brown hair lay close around her face. They were held in place by a narrow band of diamonds.
That headband gave her what people then called a "Josephine look."
The cut of her dress carried out the same idea. It was of dark blue velvet, caught up boldly under her breast, as if for the stage. A band with a large old-fashioned clasp held it there.
The woman in this unusual dress did not seem to notice the attention it drew. She stood a moment in the center of the box. She spoke with Mrs. Welland about the right to take her seat at the front right corner.
Then, with a small smile, she gave way. She sat down in line with Mrs. Lovell Mingott, Mrs. Welland's sister-in-law, who sat in the opposite corner.
Source English
Newland Archer, following Lefferts's glance, saw with surprise that his exclamation had been occasioned by the entry of a new figure into old Mrs. Mingott's box. It was that of a slim young woman, a little less tall than May Welland, with brown hair growing in close curls about her temples and held in place by a narrow band of diamonds. The suggestion of this headdress, which gave her what was then called a "Josephine look," was carried out in the cut of the dark blue velvet gown rather theatrically caught up under her bosom by a girdle with a large old-fashioned clasp. The wearer of this unusual dress, who seemed quite unconscious of the attention it was attracting, stood a moment in the centre of the box, discussing with Mrs. Welland the propriety of taking the latter's place in the front right-hand corner; then she yielded with a slight smile, and seated herself in line with Mrs. Welland's sister-in-law, Mrs. Lovell Mingott, who was installed in the opposite corner.
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17
Easy English
Mr. Sillerton Jackson gave the opera-glass back to Lawrence Lefferts. The whole club box turned to him, waiting for what he would say. For old Mr. Jackson was as great a judge of "family" as Lawrence Lefferts was of "form."
He knew how every great New York family was related to every other. He could explain the hardest questions.
How were the Mingotts tied, through the Thorleys, to the Dallases of South Carolina? How was the older branch of the Philadelphia Thorleys related to the Albany Chiverses? And the Albany Chiverses must never be confused with the Manson Chiverses of University Place.
He could also name the chief mark of every family. The younger Leffertses, the Long Island ones, were famous for holding on to their money. The Rushworths had a sad family habit of foolish marriages. And in every second generation of the Albany Chiverses, madness returned.
So their New York relations always refused to marry them. The one unhappy exception was poor Medora Manson. Everybody knew her story. But then, her mother was a Rushworth.
Source English
Mr. Sillerton Jackson had returned the opera-glass to Lawrence Lefferts. The whole of the club turned instinctively, waiting to hear what the old man had to say; for old Mr. Jackson was as great an authority on "family" as Lawrence Lefferts was on "form." He knew all the ramifications of New York's cousinships; and could not only elucidate such complicated questions as that of the connection between the Mingotts (through the Thorleys) with the Dallases of South Carolina, and that of the relationship of the elder branch of Philadelphia Thorleys to the Albany Chiverses (on no account to be confused with the Manson Chiverses of University Place), but could also enumerate the leading characteristics of each family: as, for instance, the fabulous stinginess of the younger lines of Leffertses (the Long Island ones); or the fatal tendency of the Rushworths to make foolish matches; or the insanity recurring in every second generation of the Albany Chiverses, with whom their New York cousins had always refused to intermarry--with the disastrous exception of poor Medora Manson, who, as everybody knew ... but then her mother was a Rushworth.
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18
Easy English
Besides this forest of family trees, Mr. Jackson carried something more in his narrow old head. Under his soft silver hair lay most of the dark secrets of New York society. He knew the hidden shames and strange stories of the last fifty years. They burned slowly under society's calm surface.
His knowledge reached far, and his memory was sharp. People said he alone could tell you who Julius Beaufort, the banker, really was. He alone knew what became of handsome Bob Spicer, old Mrs. Manson Mingott's father.
Bob Spicer disappeared in a strange way, less than a year after his marriage. He took a large sum of money that others had trusted him to keep safe. He went on the very day that a beautiful Spanish dancer took ship for Cuba. Great crowds went night after night to watch her at the old opera house on the Battery.
But these secrets, and many more, stayed locked inside Mr. Jackson. His sharp sense of honor never let him repeat anything told to him in private. And a name for keeping secrets gave him more chances to learn new ones.
Source English
In addition to this forest of family trees, Mr. Sillerton Jackson carried between his narrow hollow temples, and under his soft thatch of silver hair, a register of most of the scandals and mysteries that had smouldered under the unruffled surface of New York society within the last fifty years. So far indeed did his information extend, and so acutely retentive was his memory, that he was supposed to be the only man who could have told you who Julius Beaufort, the banker, really was, and what had become of handsome Bob Spicer, old Mrs. Manson Mingott's father, who had disappeared so mysteriously (with a large sum of trust money) less than a year after his marriage, on the very day that a beautiful Spanish dancer who had been delighting thronged audiences in the old Opera-house on the Battery had taken ship for Cuba. But these mysteries, and many others, were closely locked in Mr. Jackson's breast; for not only did his keen sense of honour forbid his repeating anything privately imparted, but he was fully aware that his reputation for discretion increased his opportunities of finding out what he wanted to know.
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19
Easy English
So the club box waited, watching, while Mr. Sillerton Jackson handed back Lawrence Lefferts's opera-glass. For a moment he studied the eager group in silence. His pale blue eyes, dim with age, moved slowly over their faces. Then he gave his moustache a thoughtful twist, and said simply, "I did not think the Mingotts would try it."
Source English
The club box, therefore, waited in visible suspense while Mr. Sillerton Jackson handed back Lawrence Lefferts's opera-glass. For a moment he silently scrutinised the attentive group out of his filmy blue eyes overhung by old veined lids; then he gave his moustache a thoughtful twist, and said simply: "I didn't think the Mingotts would have tried it on."