The Dilettante By edith Wharton It was on an impulse hardly need ing the arguments he found himself ad vancing in its favor, that Thursdale, on his way to the club, turned as usual into Mrs. Vervain's street The"as usual"was his own qual ification of the act; a convenient way of brid ging the interval -in days and other sequences - that lay between this visit and the last. It was characteristic of him that he instinctively excluded his call two days earlier. with Ruth gaynor, from the list of his visits to Mrs. Vervain: the special conditions attending it had made it no more like a visit to Mrs. Vervain than an engraved dinner invitation is like a personal letter. Yet it was to talk over his call with Miss gaynor that he was now returning to the scene of that episode and it was because Mrs Vervain could be trusted to handle the talking over as skilfully as the interview itself that, at her corner, he had felt the dilettante's irresistible crav ing 6 to take a last look at a work of art that was passing out of his possession On the whole, he knew no one better fitted to deal with the unexpected than Mrs Vervain?. She excelled in the rare art of taking things for granted, and Thursdale felt a pardonable pride in the thought that she owed her excellence to his training. Early in his career Thursdale had made the mistake, at the outset of his acquaintance with a lady, of telling her that he loved her and exacting the same avowal in return .The latter part of that episode had been like the long walk back from a picnic, when one has to carry all the crockery one has finished using: it was the last time Thursdale 1 The Dilettante:浅薄的涉猎者,半吊子 2.2 characteristic:特质,独有的品质 3.3 instinctively:本能,直觉地 4.‘ engraved:修饰的,雕饰的,故意安排的 5. 5 episode:一段经历,小插曲,片段 6.6 the dilettante's irresistible craving:半吊子艺术爱好者无法抵制的渴望 7.7 he knew no one better fitted to deal with the unexpected:他认为没有人可以更 好地处理他的背叛啦 8.8 pardonable:可原谅,可安慰的 9.9 at the outset of:从~一开始 10.0 exacting the same avowal in return:严格地要求得到同样的爱的回报 1l. II crockery:陶器,瓦器,碟盘The Dilettante1 By Edith Wharton It was on an impulse hardly needing the arguments he found himself advancing in its favor, that Thursdale, on his way to the club, turned as usual into Mrs. Vervain's street. The "as usual" was his own qualification of the act; a convenient way of bridging the interval -- in days and other sequences -- that lay between this visit and the last. It was characteristic2 of him that he instinctively3 excluded his call two days earlier, with Ruth Gaynor, from the list of his visits to Mrs. Vervain: the special conditions attending it had made it no more like a visit to Mrs. Vervain than an engraved4 dinner invitation is like a personal letter. Yet it was to talk over his call with Miss Gaynor that he was now returning to the scene of that episode5 ; and it was because Mrs. Vervain could be trusted to handle the talking over as skilfully as the interview itself that, at her corner, he had felt the dilettante's irresistible craving6 to take a last look at a work of art that was passing out of his possession. On the whole, he knew no one better fitted to deal with the unexpected than Mrs. Vervain7 . She excelled in the rare art of taking things for granted, and Thursdale felt a pardonable8 pride in the thought that she owed her excellence to his training. Early in his career Thursdale had made the mistake, at the outset of9 his acquaintance with a lady, of telling her that he loved her and exacting the same avowal in return 10 . The latter part of that episode had been like the long walk back from a picnic, when one has to carry all the crockery11 one has finished using: it was the last time Thursdale 1. 1 The Dilettante：浅薄的涉猎者，半吊子 2. 2 characteristic：特质，独有的品质 3. 3 instinctively：本能，直觉地 4. 4 engraved：修饰的，雕饰的，故意安排的 5. 5 episode：一段经历，小插曲，片段 6. 6 the dilettante's irresistible craving：半吊子艺术爱好者无法抵制的渴望 7. 7 he knew no one better fitted to deal with the unexpected：他认为没有人可以更 好地处理他的背叛啦 8. 8 pardonable：可原谅，可安慰的 9. 9 at the outset of：从~一开始 10. 10 exacting the same avowal in return：严格地要求得到同样的爱的回报 11. 11 crockery：陶器，瓦器，碟盘