Main Street Sinclair Lewis (books to read romance TXT) đ
- Author: Sinclair Lewis
Book online «Main Street Sinclair Lewis (books to read romance TXT) đ». Author Sinclair Lewis
She begged, âI didnât mean to wake you up, dear. And please donât smoke. Youâve been smoking so much. Please go back to sleep. Iâm sorry.â
âBeing sorryâs all right, but Iâm going to tell you one or two things. This falling for anybodyâs say-so about medical jealousy and competition is simply part and parcel of your usual willingness to think the worst you possibly can of us poor dubs in Gopher Prairie. Trouble with women like you is, you always want to argue. Canât take things the way they are. Got to argue. Well, Iâm not going to argue about this in any way, shape, manner, or form. Trouble with you is, you donât make any effort to appreciate us. Youâre so damned superior, and think the city is such a hell of a lot finer place, and you want us to do what you want, all the timeâ ââ
âThatâs not true! Itâs I who make the effort. Itâs theyâ âitâs youâ âwho stand back and criticize. I have to come over to the townâs opinion; I have to devote myself to their interests. They canât even see my interests, to say nothing of adopting them. I get ever so excited about their old Lake Minniemashie and the cottages, but they simply guffaw (in that lovely friendly way you advertise so much) if I speak of wanting to see Taormina also.â
âSure, Tormina, whatever that isâ âsome nice expensive millionaire colony, I suppose. Sure; thatâs the idea; champagne taste and beer income; and make sure that we never will have more than a beer income, too!â
âAre you by any chance implying that I am not economical?â
âWell, I hadnât intended to, but since you bring it up yourself, I donât mind saying the grocery bills are about twice what they ought to be.â
âYes, they probably are. Iâm not economical. I canât be. Thanks to you!â
âWhere dâ you get that âthanks to youâ?â
âPlease donât be quite so colloquialâ âor shall I say vulgar?â
âIâll be as damn colloquial as I want to. How do you get that âthanks to youâ? Here about a year ago you jump me for not remembering to give you money. Well, Iâm reasonable. I didnât blame you, and I said I was to blame. But have I ever forgotten it sinceâ âpractically?â
âNo. You havenâtâ âpractically! But that isnât it. I ought to have an allowance. I will, too! I must have an agreement for a regular stated amount, every month.â
âFine idea! Of course a doctor gets a regular stated amount! Sure! A thousand one monthâ âand lucky if he makes a hundred the next.â
âVery well then, a percentage. Or something else. No matter how much you vary, you can make a rough average forâ ââ
âBut whatâs the idea? What are you trying to get at? Mean to say Iâm unreasonable? Think Iâm so unreliable and tightwad that youâve got to tie me down with a contract? By God, that hurts! I thought Iâd been pretty generous and decent, and I took a lot of pleasureâ âthinks I, âsheâll be tickled when I hand her over this twentyââ âor fifty, or whatever it was; and now seems you been wanting to make it a kind of alimony. Me, like a poor fool, thinking I was liberal all the while, and youâ ââ
âPlease stop pitying yourself! Youâre having a beautiful time feeling injured. I admit all you say. Certainly. Youâve given me money both freely and amiably. Quite as if I were your mistress!â
âCarrie!â
âI mean it! What was a magnificent spectacle of generosity to you was humiliation to me. You gave me moneyâ âgave it to your mistress, if she was complaisant, and then youâ ââ
âCarrie!â
â(Donât interrupt me!)â âthen you felt youâd discharged all obligation. Well, hereafter Iâll refuse your money, as a gift. Either Iâm your partner, in charge of the household department of our business, with a regular budget for it, or else Iâm nothing. If Iâm to be a mistress, I shall choose my lovers. Oh, I hate itâ âI hate itâ âthis smirking and hoping for moneyâ âand then not even spending it on jewels as a mistress has a right to, but spending it on double-boilers and socks for you! Yes indeed! Youâre generous! You give me a dollar, right outâ âthe only proviso is that I must spend it on a tie for you! And you give it when and as you wish. How can I be anything but uneconomical?â
âOh well, of course, looking at it that wayâ ââ
âI canât shop around, canât buy in large quantities, have to stick to stores where I have a charge account, good deal of the time, canât plan because I donât know how much money I can depend on. Thatâs what I pay for your charming sentimentalities about giving so generously. You make meâ ââ
âWait! Wait! You know youâre exaggerating. You never thought about that mistress stuff till just this minute! Matter of fact, you never have âsmirked and hoped for money.â But all the same, you may be right. You ought to run the household as a business. Iâll figure out a definite plan tomorrow, and hereafter youâll be on a regular amount or percentage, with your own checking account.â
âOh, that is decent of you!â She turned toward him, trying to be affectionate. But his eyes were pink and unlovely in the flare of the match with which he lighted his dead and malodorous cigar. His head drooped, and a ridge of flesh scattered with pale small bristles bulged out under his chin.
She sat in abeyance till he croaked:
âNo. âTisnât especially decent. Itâs just fair. And God knows I want to be fair. But I expect others to be fair, too. And youâre so high and mighty about people. Take Sam Clark; best soul that ever lived, honest and loyal and a damn good fellowâ ââ
(âYes, and a good shot at ducks, donât forget that!â)
â(Well, and he is a good shot, too!) Sam drops around in the evening to sit and visit, and by golly just because he takes a dry smoke and rolls his cigar around
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