THE AMERICAN
Henry James
jan. de 1921 · YouHui Culture Publishing Company
E-book
667
Páginas
reportAs notas e avaliações não são verificadas Saiba mais
Sobre este e-book
The American
by Henry James
CHAPTER I
On a brilliant day in May, in the year 1868, a gentleman was reclining
at his ease on the great circular divan which at that period occupied
the centre of the Salon Carre, in the Museum of the Louvre.
This commodious ottoman has since been removed, to the extreme regret
of all weak-kneed lovers of the fine arts, but the gentleman in question
had taken serene possession of its softest spot, and, with his head
thrown back and his legs outstretched, was staring at Murillo's
beautiful moon-borne Madonna in profound enjoyment of his posture.
He had removed his hat, and flung down beside him a little red guide-book
and an opera-glass. The day was warm; he was heated with walking,
and he repeatedly passed his handkerchief over his forehead,
with a somewhat wearied gesture. And yet he was evidently not
a man to whom fatigue was familiar; long, lean, and muscular,
he suggested the sort of vigor that is commonly known as "toughness."
But his exertions on this particular day had been of an unwonted sort,
and he had performed great physical feats which left him less jaded
than his tranquil stroll through the Louvre. He had looked out all
the pictures to which an asterisk was affixed in those formidable
pages of fine print in his Badeker; his attention had been strained
and his eyes dazzled, and he had sat down with an aesthetic headache.
He had looked, moreover, not only at all the pictures, but at all
the copies that were going forward around them, in the hands of those
innumerable young women in irreproachable toilets who devote themselves,
in France, to the propagation of masterpieces, and if the truth must
be told, he had often admired the copy much more than the original.
His physiognomy would have sufficiently indicated that he was a shrewd
and capable fellow, and in truth he had often sat up all night over
a bristling bundle of accounts, and heard the cock crow without a yawn.
But Raphael and Titian and Rubens were a new kind of arithmetic,
and they inspired our friend, for the first time in his life,
with a vague self-mistrust.
Avaliar este e-book
Diga o que você achou
Informações de leitura
Smartphones e tablets
Instale o app Google Play Livros para Android e iPad/iPhone. Ele sincroniza automaticamente com sua conta e permite ler on-line ou off-line, o que você preferir.
Laptops e computadores
Você pode ouvir audiolivros comprados no Google Play usando o navegador da Web do seu computador.
eReaders e outros dispositivos
Para ler em dispositivos de e-ink como os e-readers Kobo, é necessário fazer o download e transferir um arquivo para o aparelho. Siga as instruções detalhadas da Central de Ajuda se quiser transferir arquivos para os e-readers compatíveis.
