Easy English ↔ Source English
Chapter 4
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
The next day, the first engagement visits began. Old New York had exact and unchanging rules for these visits. So Newland Archer, with his mother and sister, first called on Mrs. Welland, May's mother.
Source English
In the course of the next day the first of the usual betrothal visits were exchanged. The New York ritual was precise and inflexible in such matters; and in conformity with it Newland Archer first went with his mother and sister to call on Mrs. Welland, after which he and Mrs. Welland and May drove out to old Mrs. Manson Mingott's to receive that venerable ancestress's blessing.
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02
Easy English
Then he drove with Mrs. Welland and May to old Mrs. Manson Mingott's house. May's grandmother was the head of the family. The couple came for her blessing, her official good wishes.
The young man always enjoyed a visit to Mrs. Manson Mingott. The house itself was already a piece of history. Still, it was not as respected as the older houses in University Place and lower Fifth Avenue. Those were pure 1830, full of dark rose-patterned carpets, black stone fireplaces, and tall dark bookcases behind glass.
Mrs. Mingott built her house later and threw out the heavy furniture of her younger years. She mixed the old family pieces with light, playful French furniture of the Second Empire.
She liked to sit at her ground-floor sitting-room window and watch for life and fashion to flow north. She was in no hurry, for her patience equaled her confidence.
She was sure of what was coming. One day the board walls, the holes where men cut stone, and the one-story drinking houses would disappear. So would the ragged gardens, the wooden greenhouses, and the rocks where goats, little farm animals, stood watching.
In their place would rise houses as grand as her own. Perhaps, she thought — for she was a fair woman — even grander. And the rough street stones, where old horse-buses bumped, would become smooth hard roads, like those people saw in Paris.
Meanwhile, she never suffered in her far corner of the city. Everyone she cared to see came to her. She could fill her rooms as easily as the Beauforts, without adding one dish to her simple evening meals.
Source English
A visit to Mrs. Manson Mingott was always an amusing episode to the young man. The house in itself was already an historic document, though not, of course, as venerable as certain other old family houses in University Place and lower Fifth Avenue. Those were of the purest 1830, with a grim harmony of cabbage-rose-garlanded carpets, rosewood consoles, round-arched fire-places with black marble mantels, and immense glazed book-cases of mahogany; whereas old Mrs. Mingott, who had built her house later, had bodily cast out the massive furniture of her prime, and mingled with the Mingott heirlooms the frivolous upholstery of the Second Empire. It was her habit to sit in a window of her sitting-room on the ground floor, as if watching calmly for life and fashion to flow northward to her solitary doors. She seemed in no hurry to have them come, for her patience was equalled by her confidence. She was sure that presently the hoardings, the quarries, the one-story saloons, the wooden green-houses in ragged gardens, and the rocks from which goats surveyed the scene, would vanish before the advance of residences as stately as her own--perhaps (for she was an impartial woman) even statelier; and that the cobble-stones over which the old clattering omnibuses bumped would be replaced by smooth asphalt, such as people reported having seen in Paris. Meanwhile, as every one she cared to see came to her (and she could fill her rooms as easily as the Beauforts, and without adding a single item to the menu of her suppers), she did not suffer from her geographic isolation.
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03
Easy English
In her middle years, fat came down on her like a river of fire that buries a city. Before, she was a round, active little woman with a neat foot and ankle. After, she was vast and grand, like a force of nature. She accepted it as calmly as all her other troubles.
Now, in extreme old age, she had her reward. Her mirror showed firm pink and white skin, wide and almost without lines. In the middle, the marks of a small face survived, as if waiting to be dug out.
Soft rolls of skin stepped down to her snow-white chest, under thin white cloth. A tiny painted picture of the late Mr. Mingott held the cloth in place. Below, black silk flowed, wave after wave, over the arms of her chair. Her two tiny white hands rested on the black waves like sea birds.
Source English
The immense accretion of flesh which had descended on her in middle life like a flood of lava on a doomed city had changed her from a plump active little woman with a neatly-turned foot and ankle into something as vast and august as a natural phenomenon. She had accepted this submergence as philosophically as all her other trials, and now, in extreme old age, was rewarded by presenting to her mirror an almost unwrinkled expanse of firm pink and white flesh, in the centre of which the traces of a small face survived as if awaiting excavation. A flight of smooth double chins led down to the dizzy depths of a still-snowy bosom veiled in snowy muslins that were held in place by a miniature portrait of the late Mr. Mingott; and around and below, wave after wave of black silk surged away over the edges of a capacious armchair, with two tiny white hands poised like gulls on the surface of the billows.
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04
Easy English
Her great weight stopped her from using stairs. In her own independent way, she put the visiting rooms upstairs and lived on the ground floor. It broke every rule of proper New York living.
A visitor beside her could see straight into her bedroom, for the door was always open. Past the yellow curtain, you saw a huge low bed, covered like a great soft seat. You saw a dressing table with playful cloth edges and a gold-framed mirror.
Source English
The burden of Mrs. Manson Mingott's flesh had long since made it impossible for her to go up and down stairs, and with characteristic independence she had made her reception rooms upstairs and established herself (in flagrant violation of all the New York proprieties) on the ground floor of her house; so that, as you sat in her sitting-room window with her, you caught (through a door that was always open, and a looped-back yellow damask portière) the unexpected vista of a bedroom with a huge low bed upholstered like a sofa, and a toilet-table with frivolous lace flounces and a gilt-framed mirror.
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05
Easy English
Her visitors were surprised and strangely interested. It felt foreign, like a scene from a French novel. That was how women with lovers lived in the shameless old societies of Europe. All the rooms lay on one floor, close together. The simple American never dreamed of such things.
Newland Archer found this quietly funny. In secret, he placed the love scenes of "Monsieur de Camors," a French novel, in Mrs. Mingott's bedroom. A blameless old woman lived on a stage set for secret lovers. Yet he thought, with real respect, that if this fearless woman wanted a lover, she would have one.
Source English
Her visitors were startled and fascinated by the foreignness of this arrangement, which recalled scenes in French fiction, and architectural incentives to immorality such as the simple American had never dreamed of. That was how women with lovers lived in the wicked old societies, in apartments with all the rooms on one floor, and all the indecent propinquities that their novels described. It amused Newland Archer (who had secretly situated the love-scenes of "Monsieur de Camors" in Mrs. Mingott's bedroom) to picture her blameless life led in the stage-setting of adultery; but he said to himself, with considerable admiration, that if a lover had been what she wanted, the intrepid woman would have had him too.
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06
Easy English
To everyone's relief, the Countess Olenska was not in her grandmother's sitting room. Mrs. Mingott said Ellen was out. On a day of such bright sun, at the busy shopping hour, this seemed wrong in itself. A woman with a damaged name should not show herself so freely.
Still, her absence spared them an uncomfortable meeting. It kept the shadow of her unhappy past away from the couple's bright future.
The visit went well, as everyone expected. Old Mrs. Mingott was very pleased about the engagement. The watchful family saw it coming years before and carefully approved it. The ring itself pleased her completely. It was a large thick sapphire, a deep-blue stone, held by little metal points too small to see.
Source English
To the general relief the Countess Olenska was not present in her grandmother's drawing-room during the visit of the betrothed couple. Mrs. Mingott said she had gone out; which, on a day of such glaring sunlight, and at the "shopping hour," seemed in itself an indelicate thing for a compromised woman to do. But at any rate it spared them the embarrassment of her presence, and the faint shadow that her unhappy past might seem to shed on their radiant future. The visit went off successfully, as was to have been expected. Old Mrs. Mingott was delighted with the engagement, which, being long foreseen by watchful relatives, had been carefully passed upon in family council; and the engagement ring, a large thick sapphire set in invisible claws, met with her unqualified admiration.
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07
Easy English
"It is the new setting," Mrs. Welland explained. "Of course it shows the stone beautifully. But to old-fashioned eyes it looks a little bare." She gave a careful, friendly look to her daughter's future husband.
Source English
"It's the new setting: of course it shows the stone beautifully, but it looks a little bare to old-fashioned eyes," Mrs. Welland had explained, with a conciliatory side-glance at her future son-in-law.
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08
Easy English
"Old-fashioned eyes? I hope you don't mean mine, my dear? I like all the new things," said the old lady. She lifted the stone to her small bright eyes, which never needed glasses.
"Very handsome," she added, and gave back the ring. "Very rich, very free. In my time a cameo set in pearls was thought enough." A cameo was a small carved picture-stone.
"But a ring is only as beautiful as the hand that wears it. Isn't that true, my dear Mr. Archer?" She waved a tiny hand with small pointed nails. Rolls of aged fat circled her wrist like little white rings.
"The great Ferrigiani made a model of mine in Rome. You should have May's hand done too. No doubt he will do it, my child. Her hand is large — these modern sports spread the fingers — but the skin is white."
She broke off and fixed her eyes on Archer's face. "And when is the wedding to be?"
Source English
"Old-fashioned eyes? I hope you don't mean mine, my dear? I like all the novelties," said the ancestress, lifting the stone to her small bright orbs, which no glasses had ever disfigured. "Very handsome," she added, returning the jewel; "very liberal. In my time a cameo set in pearls was thought sufficient. But it's the hand that sets off the ring, isn't it, my dear Mr. Archer?" and she waved one of her tiny hands, with small pointed nails and rolls of aged fat encircling the wrist like ivory bracelets. "Mine was modelled in Rome by the great Ferrigiani. You should have May's done: no doubt he'll have it done, my child. Her hand is large--it's these modern sports that spread the joints--but the skin is white.--And when's the wedding to be?" she broke off, fixing her eyes on Archer's face.
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09
Easy English
"Oh—" Mrs. Welland said softly. The young man smiled at May and answered, "As soon as it possibly can be, Mrs. Mingott. If only you will back me up."
Source English
"Oh--" Mrs. Welland murmured, while the young man, smiling at his betrothed, replied: "As soon as ever it can, if only you'll back me up, Mrs. Mingott."
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10
Easy English
"We must give them time to know each other a little better, mamma," Mrs. Welland said. Her voice made the proper show of holding back.
The old lady answered, "Know each other? Foolishness! Everybody in New York has always known everybody."
"Let the young man have his way, my dear. Don't wait till the wine goes flat."
"Marry them before Lent," she went on. Lent was the quiet church season in early spring. "Any winter now, a lung sickness may kill me. And I want to give the wedding breakfast."
Source English
"We must give them time to get to know each other a little better, mamma," Mrs. Welland interposed, with the proper affectation of reluctance; to which the ancestress rejoined: "Know each other? Fiddlesticks! Everybody in New York has always known everybody. Let the young man have his way, my dear; don't wait till the bubble's off the wine. Marry them before Lent; I may catch pneumonia any winter now, and I want to give the wedding-breakfast."
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11
Easy English
The family gave each statement its proper answer: a laugh, a cry of surprise, a word of thanks. The visit was ending in light, easy talk when the door opened. The Countess Olenska came in, still in her street hat and coat. Behind her came a man nobody expected. It was Julius Beaufort.
Source English
These successive statements were received with the proper expressions of amusement, incredulity and gratitude; and the visit was breaking up in a vein of mild pleasantry when the door opened to admit the Countess Olenska, who entered in bonnet and mantle followed by the unexpected figure of Julius Beaufort.
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12
Easy English
The ladies greeted each other with pleased family voices. Mrs. Mingott held out to the banker the tiny hand of Ferrigiani's model.
"Ha! Beaufort, this is a rare honor!" she cried. She had an odd, foreign way of calling men by their family names.
Source English
There was a cousinly murmur of pleasure between the ladies, and Mrs. Mingott held out Ferrigiani's model to the banker. "Ha! Beaufort, this is a rare favour!" (She had an odd foreign way of addressing men by their surnames.)
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13
Easy English
"Thank you. I wish it happened more often," said Beaufort in his easy, proud way. "But I am kept so tied down. I met the Countess Ellen in Madison Square, and she was kind enough to let me walk home with her."
Source English
"Thanks. I wish it might happen oftener," said the visitor in his easy arrogant way. "I'm generally so tied down; but I met the Countess Ellen in Madison Square, and she was good enough to let me walk home with her."
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14
Easy English
"Ah! I hope this house will be brighter now, with Ellen here!" cried Mrs. Mingott with grand, shameless boldness.
"Sit down, sit down, Beaufort, and push up the yellow armchair. Now that I have you, I want a good gossip."
"I hear your ball was wonderful. And I understand you invited Mrs. Lemuel Struthers? Well, I want to see the woman for myself."
Source English
"Ah--I hope the house will be gayer, now that Ellen's here!" cried Mrs. Mingott with a glorious effrontery. "Sit down--sit down, Beaufort: push up the yellow armchair; now I've got you I want a good gossip. I hear your ball was magnificent; and I understand you invited Mrs. Lemuel Struthers? Well--I've a curiosity to see the woman myself."
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15
Easy English
She forgot her family, and Ellen Olenska led them out into the hall. Old Mrs. Mingott never hid how much she liked Beaufort. The two were alike. Both were cool, both liked to rule, and both took short cuts through the rules of society.
She was eager to learn one thing. Why did the Beauforts invite Mrs. Lemuel Struthers for the first time? Mrs. Struthers was a widow, a woman whose husband was dead. His money came from Struthers's Shoe-polish, a paste for shining shoes.
The year before, she came back from long years in Europe. Now she meant to attack the small closed castle of New York society.
"Of course, if you and Regina invite her, the thing is settled. Well, we need new blood and new money. And I hear she is still very good-looking," said the old lady hungrily, like a meat-eating animal.
Source English
She had forgotten her relatives, who were drifting out into the hall under Ellen Olenska's guidance. Old Mrs. Mingott had always professed a great admiration for Julius Beaufort, and there was a kind of kinship in their cool domineering way and their short-cuts through the conventions. Now she was eagerly curious to know what had decided the Beauforts to invite (for the first time) Mrs. Lemuel Struthers, the widow of Struthers's Shoe-polish, who had returned the previous year from a long initiatory sojourn in Europe to lay siege to the tight little citadel of New York. "Of course if you and Regina invite her the thing is settled. Well, we need new blood and new money--and I hear she's still very good-looking," the carnivorous old lady declared.
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16
Easy English
In the hall, Mrs. Welland and May put on their furs, coats of animal skin. Archer saw that the Countess Olenska was watching him with a faint, questioning smile.
Source English
In the hall, while Mrs. Welland and May drew on their furs, Archer saw that the Countess Olenska was looking at him with a faintly questioning smile.
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17
Easy English
"Of course you know already — about May and me," he said with a shy laugh. "May blamed me for not giving you the news last night at the Opera. She ordered me to tell you that we were engaged. But I couldn't, in that crowd."
Source English
"Of course you know already--about May and me," he said, answering her look with a shy laugh. "She scolded me for not giving you the news last night at the Opera: I had her orders to tell you that we were engaged--but I couldn't, in that crowd."
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18
Easy English
The smile passed from the Countess's eyes to her lips. She looked younger, more like the bold, brown Ellen Mingott he knew when they were children.
"Of course I know. Yes. And I am so glad," she said. "But one does not tell such things first in a crowd." The ladies were at the door, and she held out her hand.
Source English
The smile passed from Countess Olenska's eyes to her lips: she looked younger, more like the bold brown Ellen Mingott of his boyhood. "Of course I know; yes. And I'm so glad. But one doesn't tell such things first in a crowd." The ladies were on the threshold and she held out her hand.
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19
Easy English
"Good-bye. Come and see me some day," she said, still looking at Archer.
Source English
"Good-bye; come and see me some day," she said, still looking at Archer.
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20
Easy English
In the carriage, on the way down Fifth Avenue, they talked only of Mrs. Mingott. They spoke of her age, her spirit, her wonderful ways. No one said one word about Ellen Olenska.
But Archer knew what Mrs. Welland was thinking. "Ellen has made a mistake. She is out on Fifth Avenue with Julius Beaufort, at the crowded hour, on her first day home."
The young man added his own silent thought. "She should know that a newly engaged man does not spend his time visiting married women. But perhaps, in the world she has lived in, people do. Perhaps they never do anything else."
Archer was proud of his cosmopolitan views, his open ideas from the whole world. But in spite of them, he thanked God he was a New Yorker. Soon he would join his life to one of his own kind.
Source English
In the carriage, on the way down Fifth Avenue, they talked pointedly of Mrs. Mingott, of her age, her spirit, and all her wonderful attributes. No one alluded to Ellen Olenska; but Archer knew that Mrs. Welland was thinking: "It's a mistake for Ellen to be seen, the very day after her arrival, parading up Fifth Avenue at the crowded hour with Julius Beaufort--" and the young man himself mentally added: "And she ought to know that a man who's just engaged doesn't spend his time calling on married women. But I daresay in the set she's lived in they do--they never do anything else." And, in spite of the cosmopolitan views on which he prided himself, he thanked heaven that he was a New Yorker, and about to ally himself with one of his own kind.