The pleasant family

When in an hour they crowded into a cab to go home， I strolled idly to my club. I was perhaps a little lonely， and it was with a touch of envy that I thought of the pleasant family life of which I had had a glimpse. They seemed devoted to one another. They had little private jokes of their own which， unintelligible to the outsider， amused them enormously. Perhaps Charles Strickland was dull judged by a standard that demanded above all things verbal scintillation； but his intelligence was adequate to his surroundings， and that is a passport， not only to reasonable success， but still more to happiness. Mrs. Strickland was a charming woman， and she loved him. I pictured their lives， troubled by no untoward adventure， honest， decent， and， by reason of those two upstanding， pleasant children， so obviously destined to carry on the normal traditions of their race and station， not without significance. They would grow old insensibly； they would see their son and daughter come to years of reason， marry in due course —— the one a pretty girl， future mother of healthy children； the other a handsome， manly fellow， obviously a soldier； and at last， prosperous in their dignified retirement， beloved by their descendants， after a happy， not unuseful life， in the fullness of their age they would sink into the grave.

——Excerpt from the Moon and Sixpennce by W. Somerset Maugham

一個鐘頭以后，這一家擠上一輛馬車回家去了，我也一個人懶散地往俱樂部踱去。我也許感到有一點寂寞，回想我剛才瞥見的這種幸福家庭生活，心里不無艷羨之感。這一家人感情似乎非常融洽。他們說一些外人無從理解的小笑話，笑得要命。如果純粹從善于辭令這一角度衡量一個人的智慧，也許查理斯。思特里克蘭德算不得聰明，但是在他自己的那個環境里，他的智慧還是綽綽有余的，這不僅是事業成功的敲門磚，而且是生活幸福的保障。思特里克蘭德太太是一個招人喜愛的女人，她很愛她的丈夫。我想象著這一對夫妻的生活，不受任何災殃禍變的干擾，誠實、體面，兩個孩子更是規矩可愛，肯定會繼承和發揚這一家人的地位和傳統。在不知不覺間，他們倆的年紀越來越老，兒女卻逐漸長大成人，到了一定的年齡，就會結婚成家——一個已經出息成美麗的姑娘，將來還會生育活潑健康的孩子；另一個則是儀表堂堂的男子漢，顯然會成為一名軍人。最后這一對夫妻告老引退，受到子孫敬愛，過著富足、體面的晚年。他們幸福的一生并未虛度，直到年壽已經很高，才告別了人世。

——摘自《月亮與六便士》威廉??薩默塞特??毛姆