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BABBITT

by Sinclair Lewis

To Edith Wharton

CHAPTER I

I

The towers of Zenith aspiredabove the morning mist; austeretowers of steel and cement andlimestone, sturdy as cliffs anddelicate as silver rods. They wereneither citadels nor churches, butfrankly and beautifully office-buildings.

The mist took pity on thefretted s tructures of earliergenerations: the Post Office withits shingle-tortured mansard, thered brick minarets of hulking oldhouses, factories with stingy andsooted windows, woodentenements colored like mud. Theci ty was ful l of suchgrotesqueries, but the cleantowers were thrusting them fromthe business center, and on thefarther hills were shining newhouses, homesthey seemedfor laughter and tranquillity.

Over a concrete bridge fleda limousine of long sleek hoodand noiseless engine. Thesepeople in evening clothes werereturning from an al l -nightrehearsal of a Little Theater play,an ar t is t ic adventureconsiderably i l luminated bychampagne. Below the bridgecurved a railroad, a maze ofgreen and crimson lights. TheNew York Flyer boomed past,and twenty lines of polishedsteel leaped into the glare.

In one of the skyscrapers thewires of the Associated Presswere closing down. Thetelegraph operators weari lyraised their celluloid eye-shadesafter a night of talking with Parisand Peking. Through the buil-ding crawled the scrubwomen,yawning, their old shoesslapping. The dawn mist spunaway. Cues of men with lunch-boxes c lumped toward theimmensity of new factories,sheets of glass and hollow tile,g l i t ter ing shops where f ivethousand men worked beneath

Babbitt

by Sinclair Lewis (1922)tr. de Jos Robles PazosNoguer, 1977

Para Edith Wharton

CAPITULO I

1

Las torres de Zenith se alza-ban sobre la niebla matinal; aus-teras torres de acero, cemento ypiedra, caliza, firmes como ro-cas y delicadas como varillas deplata. No eran iglesias ni ciuda-delas, sino pura y simplementeoficinas.

La niebla se apiad de loscaducos edificios de generacio-nes pasadas: la Casa de Correoscon su buhardilla de ripias, vie-jos y ceudos alminares de la-drillo, fbricas con mezquinas yhollinientas ventanas, viviendasde madera color barro. La ciu-dad estaba llena de semejantesmamarrachos, pero las limpiastorres los iban arrojando del____ centro, y en las colinas mslejanas resplandecan casas nue-vas, hogares donde, al parecer, seviva alegre y tranquilamente.

Por un puente de hormign co-rra una lemosina de largo ___ __y silencioso motor. Las personasvestidas de etiqueta que ocupabanel vehculo volvan de ensayar todala noche en un teatro de aficiona-dos, artstica aventura considera-blemente iluminada por elchampaa. Bajo el puente, la cur-va de un ferrocarril, un laberintode luces verdes y rojas. El NewYork Flyer pas retumbando, yveinte lneas de pulido acero sur-gieron a su resplandor.

En uno de los rascacielos,_____ ______ los telegrafistas de laAssociated Press______ se levanta-ban las viseras de celuloide, cansadosde hablar toda la noche con Pars yPekn. La comunicacin quedaba in-terrumpida. Por los pasillos se arras-traban, bostezando, las mujeres quefregaban los suelos, ___ __________ ___. La niebla del amanecerse disip. Filas de obreros, con sualmuerzo en la fiambrera, se diri-gan hacia inmensas fbricas nue-vas, lminas de cristal y ladrilloshuecos, relucientes talleres, dondecinco mil hombres trabajaban bajo

fretted 1 greatly and visibly worried,irritated, annoyed or consumed bygnawing or rubbing. 2 embellished,labrados

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sleek 1 (of hair, fur, or skin, or an animal orperson with such hair etc.) smooth andglossy. 2 looking well-fed andcomfortable. 3 ingratiating. 4 (of athing) smooth and polished. Bruido

v.tr. make sleek, esp. by stroking orpressing down.

slick 1 a (of a person or action) skilful orefficient; dextrous (gave a slick perfor-mance). b superficially or pretentiouslysmooth and dextrous. c glib. 2 a sleek,smooth. b slippery.

1 a smooth patch of oil etc., esp. on thesea. 2 Motor Racing a smooth tyre. 3US a glossy magazine. 4 US sl. a slickperson.

1 make sleek or smart. 2 (usu. foll. bydown) flatten (ones hair etc.).

stingy niggardly, mean. tacao, mezqui-namente

ingratiating 1. Pleasing; agreeable, con-ciliadora, amable (smile): Readingrequires an effort. Print is not asingratiating as television (RobertMacNeil). 2. Calculated to please orwin favor: an unctuous, ingratiatingmanner. zalamero,

ingratiate v. refl. (usu. foll. by with) bringoneself into favour, gain favor withsomebody by deliberate efforts,congraciarse=conseguir la benevolen-cia o el afecto de alguien

stingy niggardly, mean. tacao, mezqui-namente

1 : not generous or liberal : sparing or scantin giving or spending

2 : meanly scanty or smallstingy fam 1 (persona) tacao 2 (por-

cin) mezquino, miserable synonyms STINGY, CLOSE, NIGGARDLY,

PARSIMONIOUS, PENURIOUS,MISERLY mean being unwilling orshowing unwillingness to share withothers. STINGY implies a marked lackof generosity . CLOSE suggests keepinga tight grip on ones money andpossessions . NIGGARDLYimplies giving or spending the verysmallest amount possible . PARSIMONIOUS suggests afrugality so extreme as to lead tostinginess .PENURIOUS implies niggardliness thatgives an appearance of actual poverty. MISERLY suggests a sordidavariciousness and a morbid pleasurein hoarding .

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one roof, pouring out the honestwares that would be sold up theEuphrates and across the veldt.The whist les rol led out ingreeting a chorus cheerful as theApril dawn; the song of labor ina city builtit seemedforgiants.

II

There was nothing of thegiant in the aspect of the man whowas beginning to awaken on thesleeping-porch of a Dutch Colo-nial house in that residentialdistrict of Zenith known as Flo-ral Heights.

His name was George F.Babbitt. He was forty-six yearsold now, in April, 1920, and hemade nothing in par t icular,neither butter nor shoes norpoetry, but he was nimble in thecalling of selling houses formore than people could afford topay.

His large head was pink, hisbrown hair thin and dry. Hisface was babyish in slumber,despite his wrinkles and the redspectacle-dents on the slopesof his nose. He was not fat buthe was exceedingly well fed;his cheeks were pads, and theunroughened hand which layhe lp l e s s upon the khak i -colored blanket was slightlypuffy. He seemed pro s p e r o u s ,e x t r e m e l y m a r r i e d a n du n r o m a n t i c ; and altogetherunroman t i c appea red t h i ssleeping-porch, which lookedon one s izab le e lm, tworespec tab le grass -p lo ts , acement dr iveway, and acorrugated i ron garage. YetBabbitt was again dreaming ofthe fairy child, a dream moreromantic than scarlet pagodas bya silver sea.

For years the fa i ry ch i ldh a d c o m e t o h i m . W h e r eo t h e r s s a w b u t G e o r g i eB a b b i t t , s h e d i s c e r n e dg a l l a n t y o u t h . S h e w a i t e df o r h i m , i n t h e d a r k n e s sbeyond mys te r ious g roves .When a t l a s t he cou ld s l ipa w a y f r o m t h e c r o w d e dhouse he dar ted to her. Hiswife , h i s c lamor ing f r iends ,s o u g h t t o f o l l o w, b u t h ee s c a p e d , t h e g i r l f l e e tb e s i d e h i m , a n d t h e yc r o u c h e d t o g e t h e r o n ashadowy h i l l s ide . She was

el mismo tejado, manufacturandounos cacharros de primera que ha-ban de venderse en el ufrates yen el Transvaal. Las sirenas vibra-ron a coro, alegres como el alba deabril. Era el canto del trabajo en unaciudad construida, al parecer, paragigantes.

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No tena nada de gigante elhombre que empezaba a desper-tarse en la galera de una casa deestilo colonial holands, situadaen aquel elegante barrio deZenith, conocido por FloralHeights.

Se l l amaba George F.Babbitt. Tena cuarenta y seisaos en aquel mes de abril de1920, y no haca nada de parti-cular, ni mantequilla ni zapa-tos ni poesa; pero era un gui-la para vender casas a un pre-cio mayor del que la gente po-da pagar.

Su cabeza era grande y ros-cea, su pelo fino y seco. Tenacara de nio dormido, a pesar delas arrugas y de los rojos surcosde sus lentes a ambos lados de lanariz. No era gordo, pero estabaexcesivamente bien alimentado;sus mejillas parecan rellenas dealgodn, y la tersa mano que ya-ca abandonada sobre la mantacaqui era un tanto gordezuela. Sevea en l al hombre prspero,muy casado y nada romntico.Nada romntico, como la galeradonde dorma al aire libre, unagalera con vistas a un olmo debuen tamao, a dos respetablescuadrados de csped, a un cami-no de cemento y a un garaje demetal acanalado. No obstante,Babbitt soaba otra vez con elhada, un sueo ms romnticoque una pagoda escarlata junto aun mar plateado.

Duran t e aos y aos e lhada haba acudido a visitar-le. Donde los otros no veanms que a Georgie Babbit t ,ella descubra al joven galn.Le esperaba en la oscuridad demisteriosas arboledas. Cuandoal fin logr escabullirse de lacasa atestada de gente, Babbittvol a ella como una flecha.Su mujer, sus bulliciosos ami-gos, trataron de seguirle; perol se escap, la muchacha co-rri a su lado, se acurrucaronjuntos en la umbrosa ladera deuna colina. Era tan esbelta,

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so s l im, so white, so eager!She cried that he was gay andvaliant , that she would waitf o r h i m , t h a t t h e y w o u l dsail

Rumble and bang of themilk-truck.

B a bb i t t moaned ; tu rnedover; struggled back toward hisdream. He could see only herface now, beyond misty waters.The furnace-man slammed thebasement door. A dog barked inthe next yard. As Babbitt sankblissfully into a dim warm tide,the paper-car r ie r went bywhistling, and the rolled-upAdvocate thumped the frontdoor. Babbi t t roused , h i sstomach constricted with alarm.As he relaxed, he was piercedby the familiar and irritatingrattle of some one cranking aFord: snap-ah-ah, snap-ah-ah,snap-ah-ah. Himself a piousmotorist, Babbitt cranked withthe unseen driver, with himwaited through taut hours forthe roar of the starting engine,with him agonized as the roarceased and again began the in-fernal patient snap-ah-aharound, flat sound, a shiveringcold-morning sound, a soundinfuriat ing and inescapable.Not t i l l the r is ing voice ofthe motor told him that theF o r d w a s m o v i n g w a s h er e l e a s e d f r o m t h e p a n t i n gtension. He glanced once athis favori te t ree, elm twigsa g a i n s t t h e g o l d p a t i n a o fsky, and fumbled for sleep asfor a drug. He who had beena boy very credulous of l i few a s n o l o n g e r g r e a t l yinterested in the possible andi m p r o b a b l e a d v e n t u r e s o feach new day.

He escaped from reality tillthe alarm-clock rang, at seven-twenty.

III

It was the best of nationallyadvertised and quantitativelyproduced alarm-clocks, with allmodern attachments, includingcathedral chime, intermittentalarm, and a phosphorescentd ia l . Babbi t t was p roud ofbeing awakened by such a richdevice. Socially it was almostas credi table as buyingexpensive cord tires.

tan blanca, tan apasionada! Lellamaba ______ _____ valien-te; le deca que esperara porl , que se embarcaran jun-tos...

Fragor y estrpito del caminde la leche.

Babbitt gru, dio una vuelta,trat de reanudar su sueo. Ya slopoda ver su cara, ms all de lasaguas brumosas. El portero cerrde golpe la puerta del stano. Unperro ladr en el patio contiguo.En el preciso momento en queBabbitt iba a empalmar el sueo,el repartidor de peridicos passilbando, y el Advocate son con-tra la puerta de la calle. Babbitt,con el estmago contrado por laalarma, se incorpor. Apenas setranquiliz fue traspasado por el fa-miliar e irritante chirrido de unFord que alguien trataba de poneren marcha: ra-ra-ra-____ _____ra-ra-ra. Devoto automovilista, lmismo, Babbitt daba vueltas a lamanivela con el invisible conduc-tor; con l esperaba impaciente elbramido del arranque; con l ago-nizaba cuando cesaba el bramidoy empezaba de nuevo a fallar elmotor con aquel infernal rarara, sonido ____ seco _____de ma-ana fra, sonido irritante del queno era posible escapar. Slo cuan-do el zumbido acelerado del mo-tor le hizo comprender que el Fordestaba en marcha pudo librarse dela tensin nerviosa que le angus-tiaba. Ech una mirada a su rbolfavorito, el olmo cuyas ramas sedestacaban contra la ptina dora-da del cielo, y trat de reanudar elsueo, con el ansia de quien buscauna droga. l, que de muchachotuvo gran fe en la vida, no se inte-resaba ya por las posibles e impro-bables aventuras de cada nuevoda.

Escap de la realidad hasta queel despertador son, a las siete yveinte.

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Era el mejor y ms anuncia-do de los despertadores fabri-cados en gran escala, un des-pertador con todos los acceso-rios modernos, incluso carilln,timbre de repeticin y esferafosforescente. Babbitt se enor-gulleca de ser despertado portan complicado mecanismo. Envalor social competa con losneumticos caros.

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He sulkily admitted now thatthere was no more escape, but helay and detested the grind of thereal-estate business, and dislikedhis family, and disliked himself fordisliking them. The eveningbefore, he had played poker atVergil Gunchs till midnight, andafter such holidays he was irrita-ble before breakfast. It may havebeen the tremendous home-brewed beer of the prohibition-eraand the cigars to which that beerenticed him; it may have beenresentment of return from thisfine, bold man-world to arestricted region of wives andstenographers, and of suggestionsnot to smoke so much.

From the bedroom besidethe sleeping-porch, his wifesdetestably cheerful Time toget up, Georgie boy, a n d t h ei t c h y s o u n d , t h e b r i s k a n ds c r a t c h y s o u n d , o fc o m b i n g h a i r s o u t o f as t i f f b r u s h .

He grunted; he dragged histhick legs, in faded baby-bluepajamas, from under the khakiblanket; he sat on the edge of thecot, running his fingers throughhis wild hair, while his plumpfeet mechanically felt for hisslippers. He looked regretfully atthe blanketforever asuggestion to him of freedomand heroism. He had bought itfor a camping trip which hadnever come off. It symbolizedgorgeous loaf ing, gorgeouscursing, virile flannel shirts.

He creaked to his feet ,groaning at the waves of painwhich passed behind hiseyeballs. Though he waited fortheir scorching recurrence, helooked blurrily out at the yard.It delighted him, as always; itwas the neat yard of a successfulbusiness man of Zenith, that is,it was perfection, and made himalso perfect. He regarded thecorrugated iron garage. For thethree-hundred-and-sixty-fifthtime in a year he reflected, Noclass to that tin shack. Have tobuild me a frame garage. But bygolly its the only thing on theplace that isnt up-to-date!While he stared he thought of acommunity garage for hisacreage development , GlenOriole. He stopped puffing andjiggling. His arms were akimbo.His petulant, sleep-swollen facewas set in harder l ines . Hesuddenly seemed capable, an

Reconoci__________ ___que no haba escape; pero siguiacostado, pensando con odio enla compraventa de fincas y en sufamilia. Se detestaba a s mismopor detestarla. La noche anteriorhaba jugado al pquer en casade Vergil Gunch hasta las doce,y despus de fiestas semejantesse irritaba fcilmente antes dedesayunar. Quiz fuera la horri-ble cerveza de la era de prohibi-cin y los cigarros que la tal cer-veza peda; quiz fuera el dis-gusto de volver de aquel espln-dido mundo masculino a unamezquina regin de esposas ymecangrafas que le aconse-jan no fumar tanto.

Desde la alcoba contigua a la ga-lera, la voz detestablemente jovialde su mujer, que gritaba ya es horade levantarse, Georgie, y el in-aguantable roce de la mano que lim-piaba de pelos un cepillo duro, unsonido rpido y rechinante queatacaba los nervios.

Gru; sac sus macizaspiernas de debajo de la mantacaqui y se sent en el borde delcatre, pasndose los dedos porla cabeza despeinada, mientrassus pies regordetes buscabanmecnicamente las zapatillas.Mir con pesar la manta, quesiempre le sugera libertad y he-rosmo. La haba comprado parauna excursin que nunca se lle-g a realizar. Aquella mantasimbolizaba la alegre holganza,las alegres palabrotas, las varo-niles camisas de franela.

Se puso en p ie . Losramalazos que senta detrs delos ojos le hacan refunfuar.Con el temor de que se repitie-sen, se asom al patio. Le en-cant, como siempre; era el pa-tio aseado de un prspero nego-ciante de Zenith, es decir, era laperfeccin, y le haca perfecto al tambin. Se fij en el garajede metal acanalado y, como cadauno de los trescientos sesenta ycinco das del ao, reflexion:Esa casucha de hojalata es unafacha. Tengo que hacerme ungaraje de madera. Pero, qudemontre, es la nica cosa queno est a la ltima. Mientraslo miraba pens en un garajepblico para su nueva barria-da, Glen Oriole. Dej de darbufidos y se qued en jarras.Las facciones de su cara petu-lante, hinchada de dormir, seendurecieron sbitamente. Re-apareci el hombre de inicia-

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official, a man to contrive, todirect, to get things done.

On the vigor of his idea hewas carr ied down the hard,dean, unused-looking hall intothe bathroom.

Though the house was notlarge it had, like all houses onFloral Heights, an altogetherroyal bathroom of porcelain andglazed tile and metal sleek assilver. The towel-rack was a rodof clear glass set in nickel. Thetub was long enough for aPrussian Guard, and above the setbowl was a sensational exhibit oftooth-brush holder, shaving-brushholder, soap-dish, sponge-dish,and medicine-cabinet, soglittering and so ingenious thatthey resembled an electricalinstrument-board. But the Babbittwhose god was ModernAppliances was not pleased. Theair of the bathroom was thickwith the smell of a heathentoothpaste. Verona been at itagain! Stead of st icking toLilidol, like Ive re-peat-ed-lyasked her, shes gone and gottensome confounded stinkum stuffthat makes you sick!

The bath-mat was wrinkledand the floor was wet. (Hisdaughter Verona eccentricallytook baths in the morning, nowand then.) He slipped on themat, and slid against the tub. Hesaid Damn! Fur iously hesnatched up his tube of shaving-cream, furiously he lathered,with a belligerent slapping ofthe unctuous brush, furiously heraked his plump cheeks with asafe ty-razor. I t pul led . Theblade was dull. He said, Damn-oh-oh-damn it!

He hunted through the me-dicine-cabinet for a packet ofnew razor-blades (reflecting, asinvariably, Be cheaper to buyone of these dinguses and stropyour own blades,) and when hediscovered the packet, behindthe round box of bicarbonate ofsoda, he thought ill of his wifefor putting it there and very wellof himself for not sayingDamn. But he did say i t ,immediately afterward, whenwith wet and soap-s l ipperyfingers he tried to remove thehorrible l i t t le envelope andcrisp clinging oiled paper fromthe new blade. Then there was theproblem, oft-pondered, neversolved, of what to do with the

tiva capaz de inventar, de diri-gir, de hacer cosas.

Entusiasmado con su idea se di-rigi al cuarto de bao por un pasillotan firme y tan limpio, que parecacompletamente nuevo.

Aunque la casa no era gran-de, tena, como todas las casasde Floral Heights, un bao re-g io de po rce l ana , ba ldo -sas_____ y metal bruido. Eltoallero era una barra de trans-parente cristal, montada en n-quel. En la baera caba unguardia prusiano, y sobre el la-vabo haba una sensacional ex-hibicin de cepillos para dien-tes , b rochas , j aboneras ,esponjeras y frascos, tan relum-brantes y tan ingeniosamente co-locados, que aquello pareca larep isa de un laboratorio. PeroBabbitt, cuyo dios era el Apara-to Moderno, no estaba satisfe-cho. El olor de un dentfrico ende-moniado haca irrespirable la atms-fera del cuarto de bao. Verona havuelto a las andadas!, en vez de se-guir con el lilidol, como re-pe-ti-damen-te le he dicho, se habr agen-ciado alguna de sus malditas porque-ras que le ponen a uno malo.

La esterilla estaba arrugada yel suelo mojado. (Su hija Veronatena de cuando en cuando la ocu-rrencia de tomar baos por la ma-ana.) Resbal en la esterilla y sedio contra la baera. Solt uncarajo y, hecho una furia, cogi eltubo de pasta para afeitarse. Seenjabon, golpendosefuriosamente con la brocha espu-mosa, y no menos furiosamenteempez a pasarse la maquinillapor sus gordos carrillos. Se hacadao. La cuchilla estaba embota-da. Y solt otros dos carajos.

Busc y rebusc en la vitri-na un paquete de cuchillas nue-vas, pensando, como siempre:Ms barato sera comprarse unchisme de esos y afilarse las cu-chillas uno mismo. Cuando lodescubri detrs de la redondacaja de bicarbonato, pens malde su mujer por haberlo puestoall y muy bien de s mismo porno haber dicho carajo. Perolo dijo inmediatamente despus,cuando con los dedos llenos dejabn trat de sacar del horri-ble sobrecito la cuchilla nuevay quitarle el pegajoso papel quela envolva. Luego otro proble-ma, mil veces planteado y nun-ca resuelto. Qu hacer con lacuchilla vieja, que era un peli-

sleek 1 (of hair, fur, or skin, or an animal orperson with such hair etc.) smooth andglossy. 2 looking well-fed andcomfortable. 3 ingratiating. 4 (of a thing)smooth and polished.

v.tr. make sleek, esp. by stroking or pressingdown.

slick 1 a (of a person or action) skilful orefficient; dextrous (gave a slick perfor-mance). b superficially or pretentiouslysmooth and dextrous. c glib. 2 a sleek,smooth. b slippery.

1 a smooth patch of oil etc., esp. on the sea.2 Motor Racing a smooth tyre. 3 US aglossy magazine. 4 US sl. a slick person.

1 make sleek or smart. 2 (usu. foll. by down)flatten (ones hair etc.).

dingus something (as a gadget) whosecommon name is unknown or forgotten,chisme

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old blade, which might imperilthe fingers of his young. Asusual, he tossed it on top of themedicine-cabinet, with a mentalnote that some day he mustremove the fifty or sixty otherblades that were a lsotemporarily, piled up there. Hefinished his shaving in a growingtest iness increased by hisspinning headache and by theemptiness in his stomach. Whenhe was done, his round facesmooth and streamy and hiseyes stinging from soapy water,he reached for a towel. Thefamily towels were wet, wetand clammy and vile, all ofthem we t , he found , a s hebl indly snatched themhisown face- towel , his wifes,Veronas, Teds, Tinkas, andthe lone bath-towel with thehuge we l t o f i n i t i a l . ThenGeorge F. Babb i t t d id adismaying thing. He wiped hisface on the guest-towel! It wasa pansy-embro ide red t r i f l ewhich always hung there toindicate that the Babbitts werein the bes t F lo ra l He igh t ssociety. No one had ever usedit. No guest had ever dared to.Gues t s s ec re t ive ly t ook acorner of the nearest regulartowel.

He was raging, By golly, herethey go and use up all the towels,every doggone one of em, andthey use em and get em all wetand sopping, and never put out adry one for meof course, Im thegoat!and then I want one andIm the only person in thedoggone house thats got theslightest doggone bit ofconsideration for other people andthoughtfulness and consider theremay be others that may want touse the doggone bathroom afterme and consider

He was pitching the chillabominations into the bath-tub,pleased by the vindictiveness ofthat desolate flapping sound; andin the midst his wife serenelytrotted in, observed serenely,Why Georgie dear, what areyou doing? Are you going towash out the towels? Why, youneednt wash out the towels. Oh,Georgie, you didnt go and usethe guest-towel, did you?

It is not recorded that he wasable to answer.

F o r t h e f i r s t t i m e i nw e e k s h e w a s s u f f i c i e n t l y

gro para los dedos de su peque-a? Como de costumbre, la pusoencima del botiqun, haciendopropsito de tirar las otras cin-cuenta o sesenta cuchillas queestaban, tambin temporalmen-te, amontonadas all arriba. Si-gui afeitndose con un humorde todos los diablos, aumenta-do por la jaqueca y por el vacode su estmago. Cuando termi-n, su cara, redonda y lisa, cho-rreaba agua de jabn, y los ojosle picaban. Busc una toalla.Las toallas de la familia estabanmojadas, mojadas y pegajosas ysucias, pens, mientras a ciegasiba tentndolas todas una poruna, la suya, la de su mujer, lade Verona, la de Ted, la deTinka, y el solitario toalln delbao con el enorme verdugnde la inicial. Entonces GeorgeF. Babbitt hizo una cosa horri-ble: Se sec la cara con la toa-lla del husped! Una monerabordada de pensamientos, quesiempre estaba all colgada,para indicar que los Babbitt per-tenecan a la mejor sociedad deFloral Heights. Nadie la habausado nunca. Ningn huspedse haba atrevido. Los huspe-des se secaban a hurtadillas conla punta de una toalla cualquie-ra, la ms prxima.

Se puso furioso. Pueta,aqu van y usan las toallas, to-das las toallas, y las usan y lasmojan y las ponen chorreando,y nunca me dejan una seca param! claro, yo soy el ltimomono! y yo necesito una y...Y soy la nica persona en todala puetera casa que tiene supoquito de puetera considera-cin para el prjimo y atencin,y considero que puede haberotros que quieran usar el pue-tero cuarto de bao despus queyo y considero...

Estaba arrojando al bao aque-llas odiosas toallas, por el placer devengarse de algn modo, cuando,en medio de la operacin, le sor-prendi su mujer, que le preguntcon toda la calma del mundo:

Pero, querido, qu estshaciendo? Vas a lavar las toa-llas? No es necesario que laslaves, hombre. Oh, George, su-pongo que no habrs usado latoalla del husped!, verdad?

No se sabe lo que acert a res-ponder.

Por vez primera despus demuchas semanas fue suficiente-

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r o u s e d b y h i s w i f e t ol o o k a t h e r .

IV

Myra BabbittMrs. GeorgeF. Babbi t twas def ini te lymature. She had creases from thecorners of her mouth to thebottom of her chin, and herplump neck bagged. But thething that marked her as havingpassed the line was that she nolonger had reticences before herhusband, and no longer worriedabout not having reticences. Shewas in a petticoat now, andcorsets which bulged, andunaware of being seen in bulgycorsets. She had become so dullyhabituated to married life that inher full matronliness she was assexless as an anemic nun. Shewas a good woman, a kindwoman, a diligent woman, butno one, save perhaps Tinka herten-year-old, was at all interestedin her or entirely aware that shewas alive.

After a rather thoroughdiscussion of all the domestic andsocial aspects of towels sheapologized to Babbitt for hishaving an alcoholic headache; andhe recovered enough to endure thesearch for a B.V.D. undershirt whichhad, he pointed out, malevolentlybeen concealed among his cleanpajamas.

He was fairly amiable in theconference on the brown suit.

What do you think, Myra?He pawed at the clothes hunchedon a chair in their bedroom, whileshe moved about mysteriouslyadjusting and patting her petticoatand, to his jaundiced eye, neverseeming to get on with her dres-sing. How about it? Shall I wearthe brown suit another day?

Well, it looks awfully niceon you.

I know, but gosh, it needspressing.

Thats so. Perhaps it does.

It certainly could standbeing pressed, all right.

Yes, perhaps it wouldnt hurtit to be pressed.

But gee, the coat doesntneed press ing. No sense in

mente despabilado por su mujerpara mirarla cara a cara.

4

Myra Babbitt la seora deBabbitt era un mujer definitiva-mente madura. Las arrugas que te-na a ambos lados de la boca ter-minaban bajo la barbilla, y su cue-llo regordete se abolsaba. Pero loque demostraba que haba pasadola raya era que ya no tena reser-vas con su marido y que ya no leimportaba nada no tenerlas. Ahoraestaba en enaguas y con un corsabombado; pero completamentedespreocupada de que la vieran as.Se haba acostumbrado de unmodo tan estpido a la vida matri-monial, que en su opulenta madu-rez resultaba tan asexual como unamonja anmica. Era una mujer bue-na, una mujer amable, una mujerdiligente; pero nadie, exceptuandoquizs a su hija Tinka, que slo tenadiez aos, mostraba el menor interspor ella. Ni siquiera se daban cuentade que exista.

Despus de una discusinbastante completa sobre todoslos aspectos domsticos y socia-les de las toallas, disculp aBabbitt en atencin a su jaque-ca; y l se repuso lo bastantepara soportar la busca de unacamiseta que haba sido, dijo,malvolamente escondida entresus pijamas limpios.

En la conferencia sobre el trajecastao estuvo bastante amable.

Qu te parece, Myra?Babbitt manoseaba ropas col-

gadas de una silla mientras ella ibay vena misteriosamente por eldormitorio, ajustndose la enagua.A ojos de su marido, pareca que noacababa nunca de vestirse.

En qu quedamos? Me pon-go hoy tambin el traje castao?

T e s i e n t a d i v i n a -m e n t e .

Ya lo s, demontre; pero hayque plancharlo.

Eso s. Quiz tengas razn.

Est pidiendo la plancha, nocabe la menor duda.

S, quiz no le viniera malun planchado.

El caso es que la chaquetano hay que plancharla. Es una bo-

jaundice 1 Med. a condition with yellowingof the skin or whites of the eyes, oftencaused by obstruction of the bile ductor by liver disease. 2 disordered (esp.mental) vision. 3 envy.

1 affect with jaundice. 2 (esp. asjaundiced adj.) 1 affect (a person) withenvy, resentment, or jealousy, resentido.2 bilioso

ictericia Pat. Enfermedad producida porla acumulacin de pigmentos biliares enla sangre y cuya seal exterior msperceptible es la amarillez de la piel y delas conjuntivas

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having the whole darn su i tpressed, when the coat doesntneed it.

Thats so.

But the pants certainly need it,all right. Look at themlook atthose wrinklesthe pants certainlydo need pressing.

Thats so. Oh, Georgie, whycouldnt you wear the browncoat with the blue trousers wewere wondering what wed dowith them?

Good Lord! Did you everin all my life know me to wearthe coat of one suit and thepants of another? What do youth ink I am? A bus tedbookkeeper?

Well, why dont you put onthe dark gray suit to-day, and stopin at the tailor and leave the browntrousers?

Well, they certainly needNow where the devil is that graysuit? Oh, yes, here we are.

He was able to get throughthe other crises of dressing withcomparative resoluteness andcalm.

His first adornment was thes l e e v e l e s s d i m i t y B . V. D .u n d e r s h i r t , i n w h i c h h er e s e m b l e d a s m a l l b o yh u m o r l e s s l y w e a r i n g acheesecloth tabard at a civicp a g e a n t . H e n e v e r p u t o nB.V.D.s without thanking theGod of Progress that he didntwear tight, long, old-fashionedundergarments, like his father-in -l a w a n d p a r t n e r, H e n r yT h o m p s o n . H i s s e c o n dembellishment was combingand slicking back his hair. Itg a v e h i m a t r e m e n d o u sf o r e h e a d , a r c h i n g u p t w oinches beyond the former hair-line. But most wonder-workingof all was the donning of hisspectacles.

There i s charac te r inspectac lesthe pre tent ioustortoiseshell, the meek pince-nez of the school teacher, thetwisted silver-framed glasses ofthe o ld v i l lager. Babbi t t sspectacles had huge, circular,frameless lenses of the very bestglass; the ear-pieces were thinbars of gold. In them he wasthe modern business man; one

bada planchar el condenado trajeentero, cuando la chaqueta no lonecesita.

Tambin es verdad.

Pero los pantalones, vaya silo necesitan. Mralos... mira quarrugas. No, los pantalones hay, in-dudablemente, que plancharlos.

S, s. Oh, George! Porqu no te pones la chaqueta cas-taa con esos pantalones azulesque no sabemos qu hacer conellos?

Santo Dios! Me has vistot alguna vez en mi vida llevar laamericana de un traje con los pan-talones de otro? Qu te crees quesoy yo? Un pobre tenedor de li-bros?

Bueno, por qu no te po-nes el traje gris oscuro hoy y dejasen la sastrera los pantalones cas-taos?

S, indudablemente necesi-tan... Bueno, dnde demoniosest el traje gris? Oh, aqu est!

P o r f i n p u d o v e s t i r s ec o n r e l a t i v a r e s o l u c i n yca lma .

Pr imero se puso una ca-mise ta de co ton a s in man-g a s , m a r c a B . V. D . , c o n l acua l parec a uno de esos n i - o s q u e e n l a s c a b a l g a t a smunic ipa les sa len ves t idoscon un tabardo de es top i l la .Nunca se pon a t a l p rendas in dar g rac ias a l Dios de lP rog re so po r no t ene r quel levar pe le les ce idos , l a r-g o s , a n t i c u a d o s , c o m o s us u e g r o y c o n s o c i o , H e n r yThompson . Su segundo em-bel lecimiento fue peinarse ya l i sa r se e l pe lo hac ia a t rs .C o n e s t o d e s c u b r i c i n c ocen t met ros ms de f ren te .Pero la verdadera marav i l l ase oper a l ca larse los an-t eo jos .

Dan carcter los anteojos, laspretenciosas gafas de concha, loshumildes quevedos del maestrode escuela, los lentes de plata delviejo pueblerino. Los anteojos deBabbitt, enormes, circulares, notenan borde, y eran del mejorcristal; se los sujetaba a las ore-jas con dos finas varillas de oro.Con ellos era el hombre de nego-cios moderno, que daba rdenes

don 1 : to put on (an article of clothing) 2 : towrap oneself in one

Ponerse, ataviarse con, calarse

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who gave orders to clerks andd r o v e a c a r a n d p l a y e do c c a s i o n a l g o l f a n d w a ss c h o l a r l y i n r e g a r d t oS a l e s m a n s h i p . H i s h e a dsuddenly appeared not babyishbut weighty, and you noted hisheavy, blunt nose, his straightmouth and thick, long upperl ip, his chin overfleshy buts t r o n g ; w i t h r e s p e c t y o ubeheld him put on the rest ofhis uniform as a Solid Citizen.

The gray suit was well cut,wel l made, and completelyundistinguished. It was a stan-dard suit. White piping on the Vof the vest added a flavor of lawand learning. His shoes were blacklaced boots, good boots, honestboots, standard boots, extraordinarilyuninteresting boot s . T h e o n l yf r i v o l i t y w a s i n h i s p u r p l eknitted scarf . With considerablecomment on the mat te r to Mrs .B a b b i t t ( w h o , a c r o b a t i c a l l yf a s t e n i n g t h e b a c k o f h e rb l o u s e t o h e r s k i r t w i t h as a f e t y - p i n , d i d n o t h e a r aw o r d h e s a i d ) , h e c h o s ebetween the purple scarf anda t a p e s t r y e f f e c t w i t hs t r i n g l e s s b r o w n h a r p sa m o n g b l o w n p a l m s , a n dinto i t he thrust a snake-headpin with opal eyes.

A sensational event waschanging from the brown suit to thegray the contents of his pockets. Hewas earnest about these objects.They were of eternal importance,like baseball or the RepublicanParty. They included a fountain penand a silver pencil (always lackinga supply of new leads) whichbelonged in the righthand uppervest pocket. Without them hewould have felt naked. On hiswatch-chain were a gold penknife,silver cigar-cutter, seven keys (theuse of two of which he hadforgotten), and incidentally a goodwatch. Depending from the chainwas a large, yellowish elks-tooth-proclamation of his membership inthe Brotherly and Protective Orderof Elks. Most significant of all washis loose-leaf pocket note-book,that modern and efficient note-book which contained theaddresses of people whom he hadforgotten, prudent memoranda ofpostal money-orders which hadreached their destinations monthsago, stamps which had lost theirmucilage, clippings of verses by T.Cholmondeley Frink and of thenewspaper editorials from whichBabbitt got his opinions and his

a sus empleados, que guiaba unauto, que jugaba al golf de cuan-do en cuando y que era casi unsabio en cuestiones comericales.Su cara infantil tom repentina-mente un aire de importancia,destacndose entonces su narizroma, su boca recta y gruesa, subarbilla excesivamente carnosa,pero enrgica. Quien le viera consu uniforme puesto le tomararespetuosamente, como personi-ficacin del Ciudadano Fuerte.

El traje gris, bien cortado, bienhecho, careca de distincin. Eraun traje como los hay a millares.Una tirilla blanca en la V del cha-leco daba a su dueo aspecto deabogado. Iba calzado con botas decordones, botas buenas, botas fuer-tes, botas modelo, botas extraordi-nariamente desprovistas de inters.Su nica frivolidad era la corbata depunto morada. Despus deinnmeras observaciones sobre lacuestin dirigidas a su esposa (que,haciendo acrobticos esfuerzospara sujetarse por detrs la fal-da a la blusa con un imperdible,no oy palabra de lo que le dijo),se decidi a llevar la corbatamorada en vez de la otra, que os-tentaba un complicado dibujo dearpas entre palmeras, y clav enella un alfiler, una cabeza de ser-piente con ojos de palo.

Fue un acontecimiento sensa-cional cambiar del traje castao algris el contenido de los bolsillos.Estos objetos los tomaba l muyen serio. Eran de capital importan-cia, como el bisbol o el partidorepublicano. Entre ellos figurabauna estilogrfica y un lapicero deplata (siempre sin minas de repues-to), que pertenecan al bolsillo su-perior derecho del chaleco. Sin supluma y su lpiz se hubiera senti-do desnudo. En la cadena de sureloj llevaba siete llaves (dos de lascuales no recordaba de dndeeran), un cortaplumas de oro, uncortacigarros de plata e,incidentalmente, un buen reloj. Dela misma cadena penda un largo yamarillento diente de alce, que leproclamaba socio de la Benvola yProtectora Orden de los Alces. Loms significativo de todo era su agen-da de bolsillo, aquella moderna yprctica agenda, que contena las se-as de personas a quienes haba ol-vidado, resguardos de giros posta-les llegados a su destino haca me-ses, sellos que haban perdido lagoma, recortes de versos por T.Cholmondeley Frink y de artcu-los de fondo, de los cuales sacabaBabbitt sus opiniones y sus pala-

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polysyllables, notes to be sure anddo things which he did not intendto do, and one curiousinscriptionD.S.S. D.M.Y.P.D.F.

But he had no cigarette-case.No one had ever happened togive him one, so he hadnt thehabit, and people who carriedcigarette-cases he regarded aseffeminate.

Last, he stuck in his lapel theBoosters Club button. With theconciseness of great art the buttondisplayed two words: Boosters-Pep! It made Babbitt feel loyal andimportant. It associated him withGood Fellows, with men who werenice and human, and important inbusiness circles. It was his V.C., hisLegion of Honor ribbon, his PhiBeta Kappa key.

W i t h t h e s u b t l e t i e so f d r e s s i n g r a n o t h e rc o m p l e x w o r r i e s . I f e e l k i n d o f p u n k t h i sm o r n i n g , h e s a i d . It h i n k I h a d t o o m u c hd i n n e r l a s t e v e n i n g . Yo uo u g h t n t t o s e r v e t h o s eh e a v y b a n a n a f r i t t e r s .

But you asked me to havesome.

I know, butI tell you,when a fellow gets past fortyh e h a s t o l o o k a f t e r h i sd iges t ion . There s a lo t o ffellows that dont take propercare of themselves. I tell youat forty a mans a fool or hisdoctorI mean, his own doc-tor. Folks dont give enougha t t en t ion to t h i s ma t t e r o fdieting. Now I thinkCoursea man ought to have a goodmeal after the days work, butit would be a good thing forboth of us if we took lighterlunches.

But Georgie, here at homeI always do have a light lunch.

Mean to imply I make ahog of myself, eating down-town? Yes, sure! Youd havea swell time if you had to eatthe t ruck tha t new s tewardhands out to us at the AthleticClub! But I certainly do feel outof sorts, this morning. Funny,got a pain down here on the leftsidebut no, that wouldnt beappendicitis, would it? Lastnight, when I was driving overto Verg Gunchs, I felt a pain inmy stomach, too. Right here it

bras largas, notas para estar segu-ro de hacer cosas que no pensabahacer, y esta curiosa inscripcin:D. S. S. D. M. Y. P. D. F.

Pero no tena pitillera. A na-die se le haba ocurrido regalar-le una, de modo que no estabahabituado a ella, y los hombresque gastaban pitillera le parecanafeminados.

Por ltimo, se puso en lasolapa el botn del BoostersClub . Con l _____ ___________ se senta Babbitt leale importante. Le asociaba conlos Good Fel lows, hombressimpticos y humanos, hombresimportantes en el crculo de losnegocios. Era su Cruz Victoria,su cinta de la Legin de Ho-nor________.

C o n l a s c o m p l i c a c i o n e sd e l v e s t i r s e v i n i e r o n a s u -m a r s e o t r a s i n q u i e t u d e s .

Me siento un tanto ma-lucho esta maana dijo.Creo que cen demasiado ano-che. No debas haberme dadoesas frituras de pltano, queson tan pesadas.

P e r o s i t m e l a sp e d i s t e !

Ya s; pero... Te digo quecuando uno pasa de los cuarentatiene que mirar por su digestin.Hay la mar de individuos que nose cuidan lo que se debieran cui-dar. Te digo que a los cuarenta unhombre o es tonto o es su doctor...;quiero decir doctor de s mismo,su propio mdico. La gente nopresta la debida atencin a esto dela dieta. A m me parece... Natu-ralmente, un hombre debe comerbien despus de trabajar todo elda; pero no sera malo que, tantot como yo, hicisemos un almuer-zo ms ligero.

Pero, Georgie, aqu, en casa,siempre almorzamos ligeramente.

Quieres decir que yo meatraco como un cerdo cuandocomo en el centro? S, claro! Di-vertida estabas si te tuvieras quecomer el bodrio que el nuevo ma-yordomo nos sirve en el AthleticClub! Bueno, la verdad es que estamaana me siento no s cmo.Tengo un dolor aqu abajo, en ellado izquierdo...; no serapendicitis, verdad? Anoche,cuando iba a casa de Verg Gunch,sent un dolor en el estmago tam-bin. Aqu mismo fue... Un dolor

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waskind of a sharp shootingpain. IWhered that dime goto? Why dont you serve moreprunes at breakfast? Of courseI e a t a n a p p l e e v e r ye v e n i n g a n a p p l e a d a ykeeps the doctor awaybutstill , you ought to have morep r u n e s , a n d n o t a l l t h e s efancy doodads.

The last time I had prunesyou didnt eat them.

Well , I didnt feel l ikeeating em, I suppose. Matterof fact, I think I did eat someof em. AnywayI tell you itsmighty important toI wassaying to Verg Gunch, just lastevening, most people donttake sufficient care of theirdiges

Shall we have the Gunchesfor our dinner, next week?

W h y s u r e ; y o u b e t .

Now see here, George: Iwant you to put on your nicedinner-jacket that evening.

Rats! The rest of em wontwant to dress.

Of course they will. Youremember when you didnt dressfor the Littlefields supper-party,and all the rest did, and howembarrassed you were.

Embarrassed, hell! I wasntembarrassed. Everybody knowsI can put on as expensive a Tux.as anybody else, and I shouldworry if I dont happen to haveit on sometimes. All a darnnuisance, anyway. All right fora woman, that stays around thehouse all the time, but when afellows worked like the dickensall day, he doesnt want to goand hustle his head off gettinginto the soup-and-fish for a lotof folks that hes seen in justreglar ordinary clothes thatsame day.

You know you enjoy beingseen in one. The other eveningyou admitted you were glad Idinsisted on your dressing. Yousaid you felt a lot better for it.And oh, Georgie, I do wish youwouldnt say Tux. Its dinner-jacket.

Rats, whats the odds?

Well, its what all the nice

agudo, una punzada. Yo... Dn-de habrn ido a parar esos diezcentavos? Por qu no sirves msciruelas para el desayuno? Claroque yo me como una manzana to-das las noches (si tomas a diariouna manzana, nunca vers al m-dico en tu casa); pero debas dar-nos ciruelas ms a menudo, en vezde todas esas filigranas.

La ltima vez que puse ci-ruelas, t no las probaste.

Bueno, no me apeteceran,supongo. En realidad, creo queme com algunas. De todos mo-dos..., te digo que es de capitalimportancia el... Precisamenteanoche le deca yo a Verg Gunchque la mayora de las personasno se preocupan lo bastante desu diges...

I n v i t a r e m o s a l o sGunch la semana que viene?

Hombre, claro; no faltaba ms!

P u e s m i r a , G e o r g e :q u i e r o q u e t e p o n g a s t ue s m o q u i n e s a n o c h e .

Recontra! Los dems no sevestirn.

Cuenta con que s. Acurda-te de cuando no te vestiste para lacena de los Littlefield, y todos losdems fueron de etiqueta. Quazarado estabas!

Azarado yo? Qu va! Yono me azar. Todo el mundo sabeque yo me puedo poner un traje decamarero tan caro como cualquie-ra, y que no tengo que preocupar-me de si lo llevo o no lo llevo tal ocual vez. Y, adems, es un latazo.Bien est para una mujer que andasiempre por la casa; pero cuandoun hombre ha estado trabajandocomo una fiera todo el santo da,no le hace gracia empaquetarse lacamisa planchada, quieras o noquieras, por unos cuantos fulanosque ha visto con sus trajes de dia-rio ese mismo da.

No digas; a ti te gusta quete vean de etiqueta. La otra no-che confesaste que te alegrabasde que yo hubiera insistido enhacerte vestir. Dijiste que te en-contrabas mucho ms a gusto. Yotra cosa, George: no quiero quedigas traje de camarero.

Qu ms da!

L a g e n t e b i e n j a m s

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folks say. Suppose Luci leMcKelvey heard you calling it aTux.

Well, thats all right now!Lucile McKelvey cant pullanything on me! Her folks arecommon as mud, even if herhusband and her dad aremillionaires! I suppose youretrying to rub in your exalted so-cial position! Well, let me tellyou that your revered paternalancestor, Henry T., doesnt evencall it a Tux.! He calls it abobtail jacket for a ringtailmonkey, and you couldnt gethim into one unless youchloroformed him!

Now dont be horr id ,George.

Well, I dont want to behor r id , bu t Lord ! you reget t ing as fussy as Verona.Eve r s ince she go t ou t o fco l l ege she s been toorambunctious to live withd o e s n t k n o w w h a t s h ewantswell, I know what shewants!all she wants is tomarry a millionaire, and livei n E u r o p e , a n d h o l d s o m ep r e a c h e r s h a n d , a n dsimul taneously a t the sametime stay right here in Zenithand be some blooming kind ofa soc ia l i s t ag i ta tor or bosscharity-worker or some damnthing! Lord, and Ted is just asbad! He wants to go to college,and he doesnt want to go toc o l l e g e . O n l y o n e o f t h et h r e e t h a t k n o w s h e r o w nmind is Tinka. Simply cantu n d e r s t a n d h o w I e v e rc a m e t o h a v e a p a i r o fshilly-shallying children likeRone and Ted. I may not be anyR o c k e f e l l e r o r J a m e s J .Shakespeare, but I certainly doknow my own mind, and I dokeep right on plugging alongin the o f f i ce andDo y o uknow the latest? Far as I canfigure out, Teds new bee ished like to be a movie actorandAnd here Ive told hima hundred times, if hell goto college and law-school andmake good, Il l set him up inb u s i n e s s a n d Ve r o n a j u s texactly as bad. Doesnt knowwhat she wants. Well , well ,come on! Arent you readyyet? The g i r l rang the be l lthree minutes ago.

l o d i c e . F i g r a t e q u eL u c i l e M c K e l v e y t e o y e -r a .

Bueno est eso! LucileMcKelvey no me la da a m. Suparentela es de lo ms ordina-rio que hay, aunque su maridoy su pap seanmillonarios.Ests tratando, su-pongo, de refregarme tu altaposicin social. Pues mira, per-mteme que te diga que tu re-verenciado progenitor, HenryT., ni siquiera le llama traje decamarero. Le llama chaqurabn para monos con rabo, yno logrars que se ponga unocomo no le cloroformices!

Por favor, George, no tepongas as!

Yo no quiero ponermede n inguna manera ; pero . . . D i o s , t e e s t s v o l v i e n d om s e x i g e n t e q u e Ve r o n a !Desde que sa l i del colegioest insoportable... No sabe loque quiere. . . Bueno, yo s slo que quiere.. . Quiere casar-se con un millonario, y vivire n E u r o p a , y e s t r e c h a r l amano de algn i lustre predi-cado r y, a l mi smo t i empo ,quedarse aqu , en Zenith, yse r una de e sas ag i t adorassoc ia l i s t as o p res iden ta dealguna junta de car idad, oq u s y o q u d e m o n i o s ! D i o s , y Te d , o t r o q u e t a lbaila! Quiere ir a la univer-sidad y no quiere ir a la uni-versidad. La nica de los tresque t iene la cabeza en su si-tio es Tinka. Sencillamente,no puedo comprender cmo heten ido un pa r de h i jo s t ant a r a m b a n a s c o m o R o n a yTe d . Yo n o s e r n i n g nRockefeller ni ningn James J.Shakespeare; pero s dndetengo la cabeza, y sigo daleque te dale trabajando en mioficina, y... No sabes lo lti-mo? Por lo que me figuro, aTed le ha dado ahora la ven-tolera de ser actor de cine y...Y le he dicho cien veces quesi va a la universidad y estu-dia Derecho y se porta bien,le meter en los negociosy... Verona es tan calamidadcomo l. No sabe lo que quie-re . Bueno , bueno ; vamos!No ests lista an? La mu-chacha ha tocado la campani-lla hace tres minutos.

rambunctious outrageously flamboyant,wild, uncontrollably exuberant, unruly

rambunctious adj. US colloq.uncontrollably exuberant, boisterous,unruly noisy and lacking in restraintor discipline; a boisterous crowd; asocial gathering that becamerambunctious and out of hand; arobustious group of teenagers;beneath the rumbustious surface ofhis paintings is sympathy for thevulnerability of or

shily-shally ir a tira y afloja, proceder conun ten con ten, o alternar el rigor con lasuavidad.

dont shilly-shally dgalo usted enseguida, no vacile, pusilanimidad,apocamiento, cobarda, irresolucin,

tarambana persona alocada, de poco jui-cio.

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V

B e f o r e h e f o l l o w e d h i sw i f e , B a b b i t t s t o o d a t t h ewesternmost window of theirr o o m . T h i s r e s i d e n t i a lse t t l ement , F lora l Heigh ts ,was on a rise; and though thecenter of the city was three mi-les awayZenith had betweent h r e e a n d f o u r h u n d r e dthousand inhabitants nowhec o u l d s e e t h e t o p o f t h eSecond National Tower, an In-diana l imestone building ofthirty-five stories.

Its shining walls rose againstApril sky to a simple cornice likea streak of white fire. Integritywas in the tower, and decision.It bore its strength lightly as atall soldier. As Babbitt stared,the nervousness was soothedfrom his face, his slack chinl i f ted in reverence. All heart iculated was Thats onelove ly s igh t ! bu t he wasinspired by the rhythm of thecity; his love of it renewed. Hebeheld the tower as a temple-spire of the religion of business,a faith passionate, exalted ,surpassing common men; and ashe clumped down to breakfast hewhistled the ballad Oh, by gee,by gosh, by jingo as though itwere a hymn melancholy andnoble.

CHAPTER II

RELIEVED of Babbittsbumbling and the soft grunts withwhich his wife expressed thesympathy she was tooexperienced to feel and much tooexperienced not to show, theirbedroom settled instantly intoimpersonality.

I t gave on the s leeping-porch. It served both of themas dressing-room, and on theco ldes t n igh t s Babb i t tluxuriously gave up the duty ofbeing manly and retreated tothe bed inside, to curl his toesin the warmth and laugh at theJanuary gale.

The room d i sp l ayed amodest and p leasant color-scheme, after one of the bests t anda rd des igns o f t hedecora to r who d id thein t e r io r s fo r mos t o f t hespeculative-builders houses in

5

Antes de seguir a su mu-jer, Babbitt se qued un mo-mento mirando por la ventanade su cuarto. Aquel barrio re-sidencial, Floral Heights, es-taba en un alto, y aunque elcentro de la c iudad dis tabatres millas Zenith tena aho-ra entre trescientos y cuatro-cientos mil habitantes, po-da ver desde all el remate dela Second National Tower, unedificio de piedra caliza contreinta y cinco pisos.

Sus brillantes muros se elevaban con-tra el cielo abrileo rematando en una sim-ple cornisa, que era una lnea de fuego blan-co. Haba en la torre entereza y decisin.Llevaba su fuerza airosamente, comoun soldado alto. Babbitt la contem-plaba, y sus nervios se calmaron,su expresin se suaviz, su fofabarbilla se alz con reverencia.Apenas articul Qu hermosavista!; pero se sinti inspiradopor el ritmo de la ciudad; rena-ci su amor por ella. Aquella to-rre era el templo de la religinde los negocios, una fe apas io -nada , exa l tada , que e s t abapor enc ima de l hombre vul-gar, y baj a desayunar si l-bando la balada Oh, by gee,by gosh, by jingo, como s ifue ra un h imno melanc l i -co y nob le .

CAPITULO II

Libre del moscardoneo deBabbitt y de los dulces gruidoscon que su mujer, demasiado ex-perimentada, expresaba la com-pasin que por experiencia no sen-ta, el dormitorio qued instan-tneamente sumido en una comple-ta impersonalidad.

Comunicaba con la galeradonde Babbitt dorma a la intem-perie. En l se arreglaban los dos,y en las noches ms fras el mari-do renunciaba al deber de ser va-liente y se meta en la cama de den-tro, donde, bien calentito, encogalos dedos de los pies y se rea delos temporales de enero.

El cuarto, modesto y alegre,estaba pintado segn uno de losmejores diseos del decoradorque haca los interiores parala mayora de los que construancasas en Zeni th con f inesespeculadores. Las paredes eran

streak 1 raya streak of lightning, rayo 2 fig(de locura, etc) vena fig (de suerte) ra-cha 3 (en el pelo) reflejo, mechn 4pequea parte: theres a streak ofFrench blood in her, tiene su pizca desangre francesa %. Vena, veta, ramala-zo

1 rayar [with, con] 2 (el pelo) poner me-chas a

1 to streak past, pasar como un rayo 2familiar correr desnudo,-a streak

1 an unbroken series of events; had astreak of bad luck; Nicklaus had a runof birdies

2 a distinctive characteristic; he has astubborn streak; a streak ofwildness

3 a marking of a different color or texturefrom the background

4 a sudden flash (as of lightning) 1 move quickly in a straight line; The plane

streaked across the sky 2 run naked in a public place 3 mark with spots or blotches of different

color or shades of color as if stained

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Zenith. The walls were gray,the woodwork white, the rug aserene blue; and very much likemahogany was the furniturethe bureau with its great clearmirror, Mrs. Babbitts dres-sing-table with toilet-articlesof almost solid silver, the plaintwin beds , be tween them asmall table holding a standardelectric bedside lamp, a glassfo r wa te r, and a s t anda rdbeds ide book wi th co lo redillustrationswhat particularbook i t was canno t beascertained, since no one hadever opened it. The mattresseswere f i rm bu t no t ha rd ,triumphant modern mattresseswhich had cost a great deal ofmoney; the hot-water radiatorwas o f exac t ly t he p rope rscientific surface for the cubiccon ten t s o f t he room. Thewindows were large and easilyopened, with the best catchesand cords, and Holland roller-shades guaranteed not to crack.It was a masterpiece amongbedrooms, right out of CheerfulModern Houses for MediumIncomes. Only it had nothingto do with the Babbitts, norwith any one else. If people hadever lived and loved here, readthrillers at midnight and lain inbeau t i fu l i ndo lence on aSunday morning, there were nosigns of it. It had the air ofbeing a very good room in avery good hotel. One expectedthe chambermaid to come inand make it ready for peoplewho would stay but one night,go without looking back, andnever think of it again.

Every second house in FloralHeights had a bedroom preciselylike this.

The Babbitts house wasfive years old. It was all ascompetent and glossy as thisbedroom. It had the best oftaste, the best of inexpensiverugs, a simple and laudablearchi tec ture , and the la tes tconven iences . Throughou t ,electricity took the place ofcandles and slatternly hearth-f i r e s . A long the bedroombaseboard were three plugs forelectric lamps, concealed bylittle brass doors. In the hallswere p lugs for the vacuumcleaner, and in the living-roomplugs for the piano lamp, forthe e l ec t r i c f an . The t r imdining-room (with its admira-ble oak buffet, its leaded-glass

grises, las molduras blancas, laalfombra de un azul sereno; ymuy semejante a caoba era elmobiliario: la cmoda, con sugrande y claro espejo, el tocadorde la seora de Babbitt, con ob-jetos de plata casi maciza, lasdos camas sencillas e iguales,entre las cuales haba una mesi-lla con una lmpara elctrica demarca, un vaso para agua, y unlibro, tambin de marca, conilustraciones en color. Qu librofuera no puede saberse, porquenadie lo haba abierto nunca. Loscolchones eran firmes, pero noduros, esplndidos colchonesmodernos que haban costadouna barbaridad de dinero; el ra-diador tena exacta y cientfica-mente la superficie que corres-ponda a la capacidad del cuar-to. Las enormes ventanas de gui-llotina se abran fcilmente, y te-nan pestillos y cuerdas de lamejor calidad y cortinillas ga-rantizadas. Era el, dormitoriouna obra maestra, recin salidade Casas Modernas y Alegrespara Rentas medianas. Slo queno tena nada que ver con losBabbitt ni con nadie. Si alguienhaba vivido y amado alguna vezall, si haba ledo novelas espe-luznantes a media noche, si sehaba quedado indolentementeen la cama un domingo por lamaana, no se vean trazas deello. Tena el aspecto de ser uncuarto muy bueno en un hotelmuy bueno. Esperaba uno que ladoncella entrara a arreglarlo parapersonas que pasaran slo unanoche, que se iran sin miraratrs y que no volveran a pen-sar en l nunca.

En Floral Heights una casas y otra no tena un dormitorioigual.

La casa de los Babbitt se ha-ba construido cinco aos antes.Toda ella era tan adecuada y tanlustrosa como aquel dormitorio.Modelo de buen gusto, tena lasmejores alfombras baratas, unaarquitectura sencilla y recomen-dable y los ltimos adelantos. Portodas partes, la electricidad sus-titua a las velas y a las sucias chi-meneas. En el rodapi de la alco-ba haba tres enchufes para lm-paras elctricas ocultos por unaschapitas de latn. En los pasilloshaba enchufes para el aspirador, yen el gabinete, enchufes para lalmpara del piano, para el ventila-dor. El pulcro comedor (con su ad-mirable aparador de roble, su chi-nero con vidrieras emplomadas,

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cupboard, its creamy plasterwalls, its modest scene of asalmon expiring upon a pile ofoys t e r s ) had p lugs wh ichsupplied the electric percolatorand the electric toaster.

In fact there was but one thingwrong with the Babbitt house: Itwas not a home.

II

Often of a morning Babbittcame bouncing and jesting in tobreakfast . But things weremysteriously awry to-day. As hepontifically tread the upper hallhe looked into Veronas bedroomand protested, Whats the use ofgiving the family a high-classhouse when they dont appreciateit and tend to business and getdown to brass tacks?

H e m a r c h e d u p o nt h e m : Ve r o n a , a dumpybrown-haired girl of twenty-two, just out of Bryn Mawr,given to solici-tudes about dutyand sex and God and theunconquerable bagginess of thegray sports-suit she was nowwear ing . TedTheodoreRooseve l t Babb i t tadecorative boy of seventeen.TinkaKatherinestill a babyat ten, with radiant red hairand a thin skin which hintedof too much candy and toomany ice cream sodas. Babbittd i d n o t s h o w h i s v a g ueirritation as he tramped in. Hereally disliked being a familytyrant, and his nagging was asmeaningless as it was frequent.He shouted at Tinka, Well,kittiedoolie! It was the onlypet name in his vocabulary,except the dear and hon.with which he recognized hiswife, and he flung it at Tinkaevery morning.

He gulped a cup of coffee in thehope of pacifying his stomach and hissoul. His stomach ceased to feel asthough it did not belong to him, butVerona began to be conscientious andannoying, and abruptly there returnedto B a b b i t t t h e d o u b t sregard ing l i fe and fami l iesa n d b u s i n e s s w h i c h h a dc l a w e d a t h i m w h e n h i sdream-life and the slim fairygirl had fled.

Verona had for six monthsbeen f i l ing-clerk a t theGruensberg Leather Company

sus paredes de estuco color cremay su conmovedora escena de sal-mn expirando sobre un montn.de ostras) tena enchufes para la ca-fetera elctrica y para la tostadoraelctrica.

En realidad, la casa de Babbitttena un solo defecto: no era unhogar.

2

Muchas maanas, Babbitt baja-ba brincando y bromeando a desa-yunar. Pero aquel da, por algn mis-terioso motivo, todo andaba de tra-vs. Al pasar por el corredor del pisosuperior mir la alcoba de Verona yexclam en son de protesta:

Para qu tener una casa deprimera cuando la familia no laaprecia, y atender a los negocios ymeterse en asuntos?

Se dirigi hacia ellos: Verona, unamuchacha de veintids aos, regordeta,pelicastaa, que recin salida deBryn Mawr, estaba pendiente desu deber y de su sexo, de Diosy de los rebeldes pliegues deltraje sport que a la sazn ves-ta; Ted Theodore RooseveltBabbitt, un decorativo joven-zuelo de d iec is ie te aos ; yKatherine, todava una nia,con pelo rojo brillante y unapiel fina, que se haca sospecho-sa de comer demasiados bombo-nes y demasiados helados.Babbitt no manifest su vaga irri-tacin al entrar pisando fuerte.Realmente, no le gustaba ser ti-rano con su familia, y sus arre-batos eran tan absurdos como fre-cuentes. Grit a Tinka:

Qu hay, chipilina?Era la nica palabra afectuo-

sa de su vocabulario, exceptuan-do los adjetivos querida yvidita con que distingua a sumujer, y se la espetaba a Tinkatodas las maanas.

Apur una taza de caf con laesperanza de apaciguar su estma-go y su alma. Su estmago se que-d como si no le perteneciera,pero Verona empez a ponersepesada y molesta _______, con locual Babbitt se sinti nueva-mente asaltado por las dudasacerca de la vida, la familia y losnegocios, que se haban apode-rado de l al desaparecer el hadade sus sueos.

Verona llevaba seis mesestrabajando en las oficinas del a G r u e n s b e rg L e a t h e r

X

dumpy adj. short and stout, achaparrado

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off ices , wi th a prospect ofbecoming secretary to Mr.Gruensberg and thus, as Babbittdefined it, getting some goodout of your expensive collegeeducation till youre ready tomarry and settle down.

But now said Verona:Father! I was ta lking to aclassmate of mine thats workingfor the Associated Charitiesoh, Dad, theres the sweetestlittle babies that come to themilk-station there!and I feel asthough I ought to be doingsomething worth while l ikethat.

What do you mean worthwhile? I f you get to beGruensbergs secretaryandmaybe you would, if you kept upyour shorthand and didnt gosneaking off to concerts andtalkfests every eveningI guessyoull find thirty-five or fortybones a week worth while!

I know, butoh, I wanttocontributeI wish I wereworking in a settlement-house.I wonder if I could get one of thedepartment-stores to let me putin a welfare-department with anice rest-room and chintzes andwicker chairs and so on and soforth. Or I could

Now you look here! The firstthing you got to understand isthat all this uplift and flipflop andsettlement-work and recreation isnothing in Gods world but theentering wedge for socialism.The sooner a man learns he isntgoing to be coddled, and heneednt expect a lot of free gruband, uh, all these free classes andflipflop and doodads for his kidsunless he earns em, why, thesooner hell get on the job andproduceproduceproduce!Thats what the country needs,and not all this fancy stuff thatjust enfeebles the will-power ofthe working man and gives hiskids a lot of notions above theirclass. And youif youd tend tobusiness instead of fooling andfussingAll the time! When Iwas a young man I made up mymind what I wanted to do, andstuck to it through thick and thin,and thats why Im where I am to-day, andMyra! What do you letthe girl chop the toast up intothese dinky little chunks for?Cant get your fist onto em. Halfcold, anyway!

Company, con la perspectivade llegar a secretaria de Mr.Gruensberg, y as, como decaBabbitt, sacar algn provechode su costosa educacin hastaque estuviera en disposicinde casarse.

Pero ahora Verona deca: P a p , h e e s t a d o h a -

b l a n d o c o n u n a c o m p a e r am a q u e t r a b a j a e n l a J u n t ad e B e n e f i c e n c i a . . . S i v i e -r a s q u b e b s m s m o n o sv a n a l l , p a p . . . ! P i e n s oq u e y o t a m b i n d e b e r a h a -c e r a l g o a s q u e v a l i e r a l ap e n a .

Que valiera la pena? Qudices? Si te hacen secretaria deGruensberg (que no sera imposi-ble si siguieras con la taquigrafay no anduvieras cada noche deconciertos y tertulias), te encon-trars con treinta y cinco o cua-renta machacantes por semana,que bien valen la pena.

Ya lo s; pero... Oh, yoquisiera... contribuir... ! Me gus-tara trabajar en un grupo esco-lar. Tal vez pudiera conseguir queuno de los grandes almacenes medejara instalar un departamentobenfico con una buena sala deespera y tapices y sillones de pajay dems. O podra...

Bueno, mira. Lo prime-ro que tienes que entender esque todas esas zarandajas debeneficencias y recreos infan-tiles no son ms que cuas dels o c i a l i s m o . C u a n t o a n t e saprenda un hombre que no vaa sacar para sus peques la co-mida gratis, y todas esas cla-s e s g r a t u i t a s y d e m szarandajas si no suelta lo quevalen, pues tanto ms pronto sepone manos a la obra y a pro-ducir... a producir! Eso es loque necesita el pas y no todasesas fantasas que debilitan lavoluntad del obrero y dan a sushijos una porcin de ideas im-propias de su clase. Y t, siatendieras al negocio en vez deandar haciendo el tonto de acpara all... Siempre! Cuandoyo era joven me resolv a ha-cer una cosa y la hice a pesarde los pesares y por eso es-toy ahora donde estoy, y...

Myra! Por qu le, dejas ala nia picar las tostadas de esamanera? No puede uno echarlesmano. Adems, no te das cuen-ca que estn medio fras!

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Ted Babbit t , junior in theg r e a t E a s t S i d e H i g hS c h o o l , h a d b e e n m a k i n gh iccup- l ike sounds o finterruption. He blurted now,Say, Rone, you going to

Verona whirled. Ted! Willyou kindly not interrupt us whenwere ta lking about ser iousmatters!

Aw punk, said Ted judicially.Ever since somebody slipped upand let you out of college,Ammonia, you been pulling thesenut conversations about what-notsand so-on-and-so-forths. Are yougoing toI want to use the cartonight.

B a b b i t t s n o r t e d , O h ,y o u d o ! M a y w a n t i tmyse l f ! Ve rona p ro t e s t ed , O h , y o u d o , M r . S m a r t y !I m g o i n g t o t a k e i tm y s e l f ! T i n k a w a i l e d , O h , p a p a , y o u s a i d m a y b ey o u d d r i v e u s d o w n t oR o s e d a l e ! a n d M r s .B a b b i t t , C a r e f u l , T i n k a ,your sleeve is in the butter.T h e y g l a r e d , a n d Ve r o n ahurled, Ted, youre a perfectpig about the car!

Course youre not ! Nota - t a l l ! Te d c o u l d b em a d d e n i n g l y b l a n d . Yo ujust want to grab i t off , r ightaf te r d inner, and leave i t inf ront of some ski r t s housea l l e v e n i n g w h i l e y o u s i tand gas about l i te a ture andthe h ighbrows youre goingt o m a r r y i f t h e y o n l ypropose!

Well, Dad oughtnt to EVERlet you have it! You and thosebeastly Jones boys drive likemaniacs. The idea of your taking theturn on Chautauqua Place at fortymiles an hour!

Aw, where do you get thatstuff! Youre so darn scared of thecar that you drive up-hill with theemergency brake on!

I d o n o t ! A n d y o u A l w a y s t a l k i n g a b o u t h o wmuch you know about motors,and Eunice Littlefield told meyou said the battery fed thegenerator!

Youwhy, my goodwoman, you dont know agenerator from a differential.Not unreasonably was Ted lofty

Ted Babbitt, estudiante de se-gundo en la gran East Side HighSchool, que haba estado interrum-piendo la conversacin con hipidos,rompi a hablar abruptamente:

Oye, Rona, t vas a...

Verona se volvi rpida.Ted! Me hars el favor de

no interrumpirnos cuando habla-mos de cosas serias?

Anda, sta! dijo Teden tono judicial. Desde quese cometi la equivocacin desacar te del cole , Ammonia ,siempre ests soltando tonterassobre esto, lo otro y lo de msall. Vas.. .? Yo necesito elauto esta noche.

Ah, s? Pues a lo mejor lonecesito yo! buf Babbitt.

Y Verona dijo en son de protesta:Conque el seorito quiere

el coche, eh?Oh, pap, t nos dijiste que nos

ibas a llevar a Rosedale! solloz Tinka.Cuidado, Tinka dijo la se-

ora Babbitt; ests metiendo lamanga en la mantequilla.

Todos echaban llamas por losojos: Verona grit:

Ted, eres un perfecto co-chino!

Y t no! De ningnmodo! dijo Ted con su deses-perante suavidad. T quieresllevrtelo en cuanto acabemos decenar y dejarlo parado toda lanoche frente a la puerta de algu-na de tus amigas mientras gas-tas saliva hablando de literaturay de los nios postineros con quepuedes casarte... Caso que sedeclaren!

Bueno, pap no debade j r t e lo nunca! T y esosbrutos de los Jones corriscomo locos. Hay que ver cmotomis la curva de ChautauquaPlace a sesenta por hora!

De dnde sacas eso?T t ienes ta l canguelo quecuando subes una cuesta me-tes el f reno.

No es verdad! Y t. . .Siempre hablando de lo muchoque sabes de motores, y EuniceLittlefield me cont que una vezdijiste que la batera alimentabaal generador.

Pues t . . . T , quer idama , no d is t ingues un gene-rador de un d i ferencia l .

No sin raznle hablaba Ted con

beastly 1 colloq. objectionable,unpleasant, horroroso, 2 like abeast; brutal, asqueroso.

adv. colloq. very, extremely.

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with her. He was a natura lmechanic, a maker and tinkererof machines; he l i s p e d i nblueprints for the blueprintscame.

Thatll do now! Babbittflung in mechanically, as helighted the gloriously satisfyingfirst cigar of the day and tastedthe exhilarating drug of theAdvocate-Times headlines.

Ted negot ia ted: Gee,honest, Rone, I dont want totake the old boat, but I promisedcouple o girls in my class Iddrive em down to the rehearsalof the school chorus, and, gee, Idont want to, but a gentlemansgot to keep his socialengagements.

Well, upon my word! Youand your social engagements! Inhigh school!

Oh, aint we select since wewent to that hen college! Let metell you there isnt a privateschool in the state thats got asswell a bunch as we got inGamma Digamma this year.Theres two fellows that theirdads are millionaires. Say, gee,I ought to have a car of my own,like lots of the fellows. Babbittalmost rose. A car of your own!Dont you want a yacht, and ahouse and lot? That pretty nearlytakes the cake! A boy that cantpass his Latin examinations, likeany other boy ought to, and heexpects me to give him a motor-car, and I suppose a chauffeur,and an areoplane maybe, as areward for the hard work he putsin going to the movies withEunice Littlefield! Well, whenyou see me giving you

Somewhat later, afterdiplomacies, Ted persuadedVerona to admit that she wasmerely going to the Armory, thatevening, to see the dog and catshow. She was then, Ted planned,to park the car in front of thecandy-store across from theArmory and he would pick it up.There were masterly arrangementsregarding leaving the key, andhaving the gasoline tank filled;and passionately, devotees of theGreat God Motor, they hymnedthe patch on the spare inner-tube,and the lost jack-handle.

The i r t ruce d i s so lv ing ,Te d o b s e r v e d t h a t h e rf r iends were a scream of a

altanera porque Ted tena naturaldisposicin para la mecnica __ ___ _______ __________ y s a b am o n t a r y c o m p o n e r u nm o t o r .

Bueno, basta ya! dijoBabbitt maquinalmente, respirandosatisfaccin al encender el primer ci-garro del da mientras echaba un vis-tazo a los titulares del Advocate Ti-mes estimulantes como una droga.

Ted opt por la diplomacia.De veras, Rona, yo no

quiero sacar el cacharro, perohe prometido a dos chicas demi clase llevarlas al ensayo delcoro y, qu diablo!, no tengomaldita la gana, pero un caba-llero debe cumplir sus compro-misos sociales.

Con eso sa les ahora!Compromisos sociales, t! Enel instituto!

Vaya pisto que nos da-mos desde que fuimos a ese co-legio de gallinitas! Permtemeque te diga que en todo el Esta-do no existe colegio particulardonde se junte una pandillacomo la nuestra. Hay dos chi-cos que sus padres son millona-rios. Y yo deba tener un cochemo, como tantos otros.

Babbitt casi se levant.Un coche, t? No quie-

res tambin un yate y una casacon jardn? No me hagas rer.Un chico que no puede aprobarel latn, que cualquier otro loaprueba, y espera que yo le re-gale un auto, con chfer supon-go, y hasta puede que un aero-plano, en premio al trabajo quese toma en ir al cine con EuniceLittlefield! Bueno, cuando veasque te compro un...

Poco despus, con mucha di-plomacia, Ted logr hacer confe-sar a Verona que aquella nocheiba simplemente a ver una expo-sicin de perros y gatos en el Ar-senal. Verona, propuso Ted, de-jara el auto delante de una con-fitera frente al Arsenal y l iraall a buscarlo. Se arregl magis-tralmente el conflicto de dejar lallave y de llenar el depsito degasolina; y apasionados devotosdel Gran Dios Motor loaron elparche del neumtico de repues-to y lamentaron la prdida delmango del gato.

Terminada la tregua, Tedobserv que los amigos dee l la e ran una pandi l la de

The novel ends, as did Main Street, with a chastenedrebel, but Babbitt remains at last a morepathetic figure than Carol Kennicott, for unlikeher he is never able to formulate coherentlythe dream which he is finally forced to deny.Still, Babbitts son Ted, Theodore RooseveltBabbitt, whose name resonates with hisfathers not quite forgotten aspirations towardprogressive action and the manly westernvirtues, emerges at the end as an intimationof the hopeful future. Ted, the rebellious would-be inventor, a natural mechanic, a maker andtinkerer of machines, who lisped inblueprints, is the potential new technocrat whomay rise out of Babbitts ashes.

intimations hints, insinuaciones, indicios

intimacin exigencia, requerimientointimar. 1. tr. Requerir, exigir el cumplimien-

to de algo, especialmente con autori-dad o fuerza para obligar a hacerlo. 2.intr. Introducirse en el afecto o nimode alguien, estrechar la amistad con l.Intim con mi hermano. 3. prnl. Dichode un cuerpo u otra cosa material:Introducirse por los poros o espacioshuecos de algo.

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bunch-stuck-up gabby four-f lushers . His f r iends, sheindicated, were disgust ingimitation sports, and horrid littleshr ieking ignorant gir ls .Further: Its disgusting of youto smoke cigarettes, and so onand so forth, and those clothesyouve got on this morning,theyre too utterly ridiculoushonestly, simply disgusting.

Ted balanced over to the lowbeveled mirror in the buffet,regarded his charms, andsmirked . His suit, the latestthing in Old Eli Togs, was skin-tight, with skimpy trousers to thetops of his glaring tan boots, achorus-man waistline, pattern of anagitated check, and across the backa belt which belted nothing. Hisscarf was an enormous black silkwad. His flaxen hair was ice-smooth, pasted back withoutparting. When he went to schoolhe would add a cap with a longvizor l ike a shovel-blade.Proudest of a l l was hiswaistcoat, saved for, begged for,plotted for; a real Fancy Vest offawn with polka dots of adecayed red, the pointsastoundingly long. On the loweredge of it he wore a high-schoolbutton, a class button, and afraternity pin.

And none of it mattered. Hewas s u p p l e a n d s w i f t a n dflushed; his eyes (which hebelieved to be cynical) werecandidly eager. But he wasno t ove r-gen t l e . He wavedh i s h a n d a t p o o r d u m p yVe r o n a a n d d r a w l e d :Yes , I guess we re p re t tyridiculous and disgusticulus,and I ra ther guess our newnecktie is some smear!

Babbitt barked: It is! Andwhi l e you re admi r ingyoursel f , le t me te l l you i tmight add to your manly beautyif you wiped some of that eggoff your mouth!

Verona giggled, momentaryvictor in the greatest of GreatWars, which is the family war.Ted looked at her hopelessly,then shrieked at Tinka: Forthe love o Pete, quit pouringthe whole sugar bowl on yourcorn flakes!

W h e n Ve r o n a a n d Te dw e r e g o n e a n d T i n k au p s t a i r s , B a b b i t tg r o a n e d t o h i s w i f e :

g o m o s o s c h a r l a t a n e s ypostineros. Los amigos de l,apunt Verona, eran unos de-portistas ful y sus amiguitasunas chiquillas horribles, ig-norantes y escandalosas.

Es un asco que fumes ciga-rrillos aadi, y ese traje quete has puesto esta maana es com-pletamente ridculo... Te est ho-rrible, de veras.

Ted se agach para mirarseen el _____ espejo del aparadory, encontrndose encantador,se sonri con petulancia. Su tra-je de l t ima moda eraceidsimo, con unos pantalo-nes raquticos que apenas lellegaban a las botas, un talle decoris ta y en la espalda unatrabilla perfectamente intil. Suchalina era un enorme lazo de seda ne-gra. Llevaba el pelo, que era rubio yliso, planchado hacia atrs y sin raya.Cuando iba a la escuela se lo cubracon una gorra de visera mayor queuna pala. Lo ms extraordinarioera el chaleco, conseguido a fuer-za de ahorros, de ruegos y de ma-quinaciones: un verdadero chale-co de fantasa, c o n m o t a s d ero jo march i to y pun ta s a som-brosamente largas. En el bordeinferior l levaba el botn del co-legio, el botn de su clase y elalfiler de la cofrada.

Y nada de esto importaba.Ted era flexible, vivo, robus-to; sus ojos (que l crea cni-cos) tenan una vehemenciacndida . Pero no pecaba demodosito. Y haciendo un ade-mn ________ ____ a Verona, ledijo arrastrando las palabras:

S, creo que somos un tantoridculos y repugnantculos, y meparece que nuestra corbata es bas-tante chillona.

S , seor ! ladrBabbitt. Y mientras te rego-deas mirndote, te dir que tuviril belleza ganara mucho si telimpiaras la boca, que la tienesmanchada de huevo.

Verona se ech a rer, momen-tneamente victoriosa en la peor delas guerras, que es la guerra fami-liar. Ted la mir desesperado, lue-go grit a Tinka:

Por amor de Dios, mujer, novuelques todo el azucarero en loscorn flakes!

C u a n d o Ve r o n a y Te d s ef u e r o n a l a c a l l e y Ti n k a a lp i s o d e a r r i b a , B a b b i t t s ep u s o a r e f u n f u a r.

giggle laugh in an affected or si l lymanner

smirk an affected, conceited, or silly smile.v.intr. put on or wear a smirk.

Xdumpy adj. short and stout

flaxen 1 of flax. 2 (of hair) coloured likedressed flax; pale yellow.

skimpy meagre; not ample or sufficient,insignificante, insuficiente

bevel: make sloping, biselar, achaflanar,bisel. Corte oblicuo en el borde o en la ex-

tremidad de una lmina o plancha,como en el filo de una herramienta, enel contorno de un cristal labrado, etc.

X

candid franco, sincero, honesto, abierto,justo, imparcial: shes been very candidabout the difficulties, ha sido muy ho-nesta al exponer las dificultades

candid camera cmara indiscreta

polka dot a round dot as one ofmany forming a regular patternon a textile fabric etc.

polka dot=design consisting of apattern of regularly spaced cir-cular spots pattern 2 design,figure a decorative or artisticwork; the coach had a designon the doors artefact,ornament, figure,

topo Dibujo con forma de lunar enuna tela o papel.

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N i c e f a m i l y , I m u s ts a y ! I d o n t p r e t e n d t ob e a n y b a a - l a m b , a n dm a y b e I m a l i t t l e c r o s s -g r a i n e d a t breakfastsometimes, but the way they goon jab-jab-jabbering, I simplycant stand it. I swear, I feel likegoing off some place where I canget a little peace. I do think aftera mans spent his lifetime tryingto give his kids a chance and adecent education, its prettydiscouraging to hear them all thetime scrapping like a bunch ofhyenas and neverand neverCurious; here in the paper itsaysNever s i lent for onemomSeen the morning paperyet?

N o , d e a r . I nt w e n t y - t h r e e y e a r s o fm a r r i e d l i f e , M r s .B a b b i t t h a d s e e n t h ep a p e r b e f o r e h e r h u s b a n dj u s t s i x t y - s e v e n t i m e s .

Lots of news. Terrible bigtornado in the South. Hard luck,all right. But this, say, this iscorking! Beginning of the endfor those fellows! New YorkAssembly has passed some billsthat ought to completely outlawthe socialists! And theres anelevator-runners strike in NewYork and a lot of college boysare taking their places. Thatsthe stuff! And a mass-meetingin Birminghams demanded thatthis Mick agitator, this fellowDe Valera, be deported. Deadr igh t , by go l ly! Al l theseagitators paid with German goldanyway. And we got no businessinterfering with the Irish or anyothe r fo re ign gove rnmen t .Keep our hands strictly off .And the re s ano the r we l l -au then t i ca t ed rumor f romRuss ia tha t Len in i s dead .Thats fine. Its beyond me whywe dont just step in there andkick those Bolshevik cussesout.

Thats so, said Mrs. Babbitt. A n d i t s a y s h e r e a

f e l l o w w a s i n a u g u r a t e dm a y o r i n o v e r a l l s ap r e a c h e r , t o o ! W h a t d oy o u t h i n k o f t h a t !

Humph! Well!

He searched for an attitude,but neither as a Republican, aPresbyterian, an Elk, nor a real-estate broker did he have anydoctrine about preacher-mayorslaid down for him, so he grunted

Qu encanto de familia! dijo a su mujer. Yo reconozcoque no soy ningn corderito y hastaque me pongo a veces insoporta-ble d u r a n t e e l d e s a y u n o ;pero cuando empiezan que sipatatn que si patatn, no los pue-do resistir. _________ __________ ___ ___ _________ __ __ ____ ___ __ ____ _____. Creo quecuando un hombre se ha pasa-do la vida tratando de dar a sushijos una educacin decente, esdescorazonante verlos todo elsanto da pelendose como hie-nas y nunca..:, y nunca... Tie-ne gracia! Dice aqu el peridi-co: ...nunca un momento desilen.... Has visto ya el peridi-co?

Todava no, querido.En los veintitrs aos que lle-

vaba de casada, la seora deBabbitt haba ledo el peridicoantes que su marido sesenta y sie-te veces solamente.

La mar de noticias. Un tor-nado horroroso en el Sur. Malasuerte. Pero esto, oye, esto es des-cacharrante! El principio del finpara esos sinvergenzas. La Asam-blea de Nueva York ha aprobadoun proyecto de ley que proscribi-ra completamente a los socialis-tas. Y en Nueva York los estudian-tes estn manejando los ascenso-res desde que los empleados se handeclarado en huelga. Ah le due-le! Y en Birmingham se pidi enun mitin que Mick, el agitador ese,y De Valera, sean deportados.Bien hecho, qu diablo! Todosesos agitadores son pagados conoro alemn, ya se sabe. Y nosotrosno tenemos nada que ver con elgobierno irlands ni con ningnotro gobierno extranjero. No que-remos meter baza en el asunto. Ycorre el rumor, muy probable, deque en Rusia ha muerto Lenin.Magnfico! No alcanzo a com-prender por qu no vamos noso-tros all y echamos a patadas a esostunantes de bolcheviques.

Es verdad.Y dice aqu que un sujeto fue

nombrado alcalde, y tom posesinvestido con un mono de mecni-co... y; adems, era predicador!Qu te parece?

Muy bonito!

Babbitt busc una actitud, peroni como republicano ni como pres-biteriano, ni como Alce, ni comonegociante de casas, pudo encon-trar una opinin establecida de an-temano sobre los alcaldes predica-

jabber intr. chatter volubly and incoherently.tr. utter (words) fast and indistinctly. Hablaratropelladamente. Farfullar= Hablar muy deprisa y atropelladamente

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and went on. She lookedsympathetic and did not hear aword. Later she would read theheadlines, the society columns,and the department-storeadvertisements.

What do you know aboutthis! Charley McKelvey stilldoing the sassiety stunt as heavyas ever. Heres what that gushywoman reporter says about lastnight:

Never is Society with thebig, big S more flattered thanwhen they are bidden to partakeof good cheer a t thedistinguished and hospitableresidence of Mr. and Mrs. Char-les L. McKelvey as they werelast night. Set in its spaciouslawns and landscaping, one ofthe notable sights crowningRoyal Ridge, but merry andhomelike despite i ts mightystone walls and its vast roomsfamed for their decoration, theirhome was thrown open last nightfor a dance in honor of Mrs.McKelveys notable guest, MissJ. Sneeth of Washington