american tragedy

Chapter 136 (2)
Chapter 324 (2)
"Yes, sir, I remember thinking sometimes that if all goes well and I can save some more money and she can get a job somewhere else, I can take her out in the open. Later, if She and I are still in love as we used to be, maybe marry her."

"Then you do think about marrying her, don't you?"

"Yes, sir. Of course I have."

"But this was before you met Miss So-and-so?"

"Well, sir, before that."

("Great play!" Mason whispered sarcastically to Redmond, the state senator. "Brilliant play," Redmond replied in a low voice, but meant to be heard.)

"But did you ever say that to her?" Jefferson went on.

"Well, no, sir. I don't remember ever saying that, not that much."

"Either you told her, or you didn't. Did you say it or not?"

"Well, none of that was quite right. I used to tell her that I loved her, that I never wanted her to leave me, and hoped she would never leave me."

"But it didn't say you were going to marry her?"

"No, sir. Never said."

"Well, well, well! So what did she... what did she say?"

"Said she'd never leave me," Clyde replied slowly, a little frightened.Thinking at the same time of Roberta's last call and the eyes that had been fixed on him.He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his sweaty, cold face and hands.

("Brilliant!" Mason sarcastically murmurs. "Smart, smart!" Redmond murmurs.)

"But tell me," continued Jefferson in a cold, soft voice, "if you have such a feeling for Miss Alden, how can it change so quickly at the sight of Miss -- are you really capricious?"

"Until then I was determined, sir."

"Before you met Alden, were you ever in a strong and lasting relationship?"

"No, sir."

"But don't you think you were in love with Miss Alden until you met a Miss So-and-so?"

"Yes, sir, I think so."

"What happens after that?"

"Well, it's completely different from the past after that."

"Are you saying that once you meet Miss So-and-so, you don't love Miss Alden after a little contact?"

"Well, no, sir, it's not quite like that," said Clyde immediately and earnestly. "I still kind of love her, quite a bit. But before I know it myself, I'm totally charmed." Yes, for...for Miss X...for Miss X..."

"Well, Miss So-and-so, we know. You're just crazy, totally irrational, crazy about love, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"and after?"

"Well, later... I really couldn't love Miss Alden that much anymore." When Clyde said this, cold sweat broke out on his forehead and face.

"I get it! I get it!" Jefferson then said loudly, his mind completely on the jury and the audience. "A case like the Arabian Nights, in which there are people who are bewitched and people who are bewitched."

"Yes, sir," Clyde replied innocently.He thought it was just Jefferson trying to show off his eloquence, and he was right.

"However, what I want to know is, since you love Miss Alden as much as you said and have developed a sacred marriage relationship, why do you lack a sense of responsibility for her, or you can say that you lack gratitude? Willing to abandon Miss So-and-so for the sake of her? Tell everyone how? I want to know that. And I'm sure the jurors want to know too. And, where's your gratitude? Where's your sense of responsibility? Where? Don't you have any at all? We'd love to know."

This was real interrogation, an attack on his own witnesses, but Jefferson had every right to do so, and Mason didn't intervene.

"Well..." At this point, Clyde hesitated and hesitated, as if these people hadn't taught him beforehand, as if he really wanted to find someone who could help him explain everything clearly.Because, of course, he had memorized this answer long ago, but he actually encountered this problem in court on the spot, and this problem was an old problem that always made him flustered when he was in Lycurgus. He couldn't remember what to say for a while.Instead, he was just thinking about it in a roundabout way, and then he said:

"Actually I don't think much about these things at all. After I met her, I couldn't think about it anymore. Sometimes I have thought about it with my heart, but I can't. I just want her, I don't think about O Miss Eldon. I know it's not right, not quite right, and I feel sorry for Roberta. But, even so, I don't seem to be able to do anything about it. I only have Miss So-and-so in my heart, and I don't feel sorry for Roberta anymore. I am deeply in love, no matter how cruel I am, it will not help."

"You mean you have no conscience troubled by it?"

"No, sir, I'm in pain," Clyde replied, "I know I'm wrong, and I'm worried about her and myself because of it, but there's nothing I can do better anyway." (This is repeating Jefferson had written the words for him beforehand, though they seemed true to him when he first saw them. He was a little distressed.)

"and after?"

"Well, then she started complaining because I didn't see her as much as I used to."

"In other words, you're starting to snub her."

"Yes, sir, a little, but not entirely ignoring her, no, sir."

"Well, what did you do when you found yourself in love with Miss So-and-so? Did you go to Miss Alden and tell her that you didn't love her any more, that you loved someone else?"

"No, I didn't. Not then."

"Why not then? Do you think it's decent and respectable to show love to two girls at the same time?"

"No, sir, but that's not always the case. You know, I was just getting to know Miss So-and-so, and I didn't say anything to her. She wouldn't let me do it. But anyway, I know I could no longer love Miss Alden at that time."

"But what of Miss Alden's claim to you? Don't you think that's enough of a reason to turn your back on you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then why are you still pursuing her?"

"I can't resist her charm."

"You mean Miss So-and-so?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you keep courting her until you get her love?"

"No, sir, that's not the case at all."

"Then what is the situation?"

"I just met her everywhere and became obsessed with her."

"I see, but you still didn't go to Miss Alden and tell her you couldn't love her any more?"

"Not looking for her, sir, not then."

"why?"

"Because I'm afraid she will be sad."

"Ah, I see. You don't have that kind of moral or spiritual courage?"

"I know nothing of moral or spiritual courage," Clyde replied.Saying that about him kind of hurt him and disgusted him. "But, anyway, I'm sorry for her. She's crying all the time, and I can't bear to tell the whole thing."

"I see. Well, let's stop here. But you answer me another thing, how is the relationship between the two of you, you know you can't love her, can this relationship continue?"

"Well, no, sir, not long after all," replied Clyde, looking very coy and ashamed.He thought about these people in front of him at this moment, and his mother, and Sandra, and all the people in America, who would see and know because of it.He had asked Jefferson how the questions were helpful when they were first presented to him a few weeks earlier.Jefferson replied: "For education, if you can quickly and violently shock them with real examples, then it will be easier for you to make people think about your problems reasonably. However, Now you don’t have to worry about it, when the time comes, you only need to answer this way, and leave the rest to us, and we are naturally confident.” So Clyde went on to say:

"You know, after I met Miss So-and-so, I couldn't love her so much anymore, so I didn't go to her so often. But, anyway, not long after that, she had a problem, so ……Ok……"

"I see. About when is this?" "Late January last year."

"What happened after this happened? Do you feel it is your duty to marry her under the circumstances?"

"Well, no, in the circumstances, no, I mean, if I could manage to get her out of this trouble."

"Why not? What do you mean in the circumstances?"

"Well, you know, I don't love her any more, as I just said. Since I didn't promise to marry her, and she knew it, I thought that if I could get her out of trouble, then It's only fair to tell her I don't love her the way I used to."

"But can you help her out?"

"No, sir, I tried."

"Did you just go to the grocer who testified here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Anyone else?"

"Yes, sir, and I've searched for seven others before I found anything."

"But what you found didn't work?"

"It doesn't work, sir."

"Have you gone to the ex-hatter who testifies here that you have gone to him?"

"I have, sir."

"Did he ever tell you the doctor's name?"

"Well, I did, but I don't want to say who."

"Well, you don't have to, but did you send Miss Alden to the doctor?"

"Send it, sir."

"Did she go alone, or did you accompany her?"

"I went with her, I mean, to walk her to the door."

"Why only delivered to the door?"

"Well, we discussed it, and she thought the same as me, and thought it was better. I was short of money at the time, and I thought that if she went alone, she would save a lot of money."

("Damn, he stole most of my words." Mason thought to himself at this moment, "I deliberately tried to fix some of his affairs, but he stole most of them." He sat up straight, feeling very depressed Burleigh, Redmond, and Earl Newcomb all now clearly see Jefferson's intentions.)

"I see. Could it be that you were afraid that your uncle, or Miss -- might know about it?"

"Ah, yeah, I... I mean, we've both thought about it and talked about it. She knows about me over there."

"But you don't know anything about Miss So-and-so?"

"right"

"why?"

"Well, because I didn't think I needed to tell her at the time. It would be too upsetting for her, and I wish I could wait until she's better."

"Then tell her and leave her. Is that what you mean?"

"Well, yes. If I can't change my mind then, yes, sir."

"However, if she was in a difficult situation at the time, wouldn't that be the case?"

"Well, yes, not if she's in trouble, but you know, I thought I could get her out of it."

"I see. But has her physical condition affected your attitude towards her in such a way that you were willing to give up Miss --- and marry Miss Alden, and thus settle the whole matter?"

"Well, no, sir, it wasn't quite like that then, I mean it wasn't like that then."

"What do you mean 'not then'?"

"Well, I told you, I did have the idea later, but not then, that was later, after we had set out for Atrondas."

"Why not then?"

"I've already said it. I'm too infatuated with Miss So-and-so, and I have a soft spot for her."

"Even at that moment, you still can't change your mind?"

"No, sir. I'm sorry, but I can't."

"I see. But let's leave it alone for now, and I'll come to it later. Now, if you can, I want you to explain to the jury how this Miss ------ compares with Miss Alden. so that you find her more desirable in your mind. Tell me about her manners, her looks, her mind, her status, or what makes you so attracted to her. Do you understand?"

Both Belknap and Jefferson had raised this question with Clyde in various ways in the past, for various psychological, legal, and personal reasons, each time with different results.At first he didn't talk about her at all, and he didn't want to talk about her, for fear that whatever he said would be caught, brought up in the case, published in the papers and possibly named.But later, because the newspapers everywhere concealed her real name and surname, it was clear that she would not be played up by the newspapers, so he was willing to talk about her more casually, but now he seemed restless and silent again.

"Well, you know it's easy to say. I think she's beautiful, much more than Roberta, but it's more than that. She's different from any girl I've ever met, more independent, and doesn't care What she does and says, everyone pays great attention to her. She seems to have a wider circle of friends than anyone I know. Besides, she is well dressed, rich, and well-known in the social scene. Her name is often in the newspapers, photos Also often in the newspapers. Any day, even if I haven’t seen her, she always seems to be in front of me. Moreover, she is bolder, not as innocent and trusting as Miss Alden. At first I found it hard to believe that she would be fascinated Got me, got me out of my mind, and I don't want Roberta anymore."

"Well, I think you may be in love, or you may be possessed," Jefferson suggested when he had finished, glancing at the jury out of the corner of his right eye, "if that's not insanity. , then even if I really saw the insanity with my own eyes, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to tell the difference." But he could see that the attitude of the audience and the jury was as cold and stone-like as before.

But then the so-called conspiracy came, and all these things were closely led to this one thing.

"Well, then, Clyde, what happened after that? Tell us now, tell all you remember, don't hold back, and don't make yourself better or worse than you really are. She died , perhaps you will die in the end, too, if the twelve gentlemen here make the final decision." (Here, the whole court seems to tremble, as does Clyde.) "However, for the peace of your own soul, the most important What is true is true." When Jefferson said this, he thought of Mason, and let's see how he refuted.

"Yes, sir," Clyde replied.

"Well, well, she's in trouble, and you can't help it, so what happened? What did you do? How? . . . And wait, what was your salary then?"

"Twenty-five dollars a week," Clyde said matter-of-factly.

"No other source?"

"I didn't hear very well."

"Did you have other ways to improve your life at that time?"

"No, sir."

"What about your rent?"

"Seven dollars a week."

"Where's the food?"

"Ah, five or six dollars."

"Any other expenses?"

(End of this chapter)