Oscar Wilde. The Nightingale and the Rose (in English, part 4)
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- last burst of music — последнюю трель
- winding blue silk on a reel — наматывая на катушку шелковую нить
- It is not half as useful as Logic — логика приносит вдвое больше пользы
Then she gave one last burst of music. The white Moon heard it, and she forgot the dawn, and lingered on in the sky. The red rose heard it, and it trembled all over with ecstasy, and opened its petals to the cold morning air. Echo bore it to her purple cavern in the hills, and woke the sleeping shepherds from their dreams. It floated through the reeds of the river, and they carried its message to the sea.
«Look, look!» cried the Tree, «the rose is finished now»; but the Nightingale made no answer, for she was lying dead in the long grass, with the thorn in her heart.
And at noon the Student opened his window and looked out.
«Why, what a wonderful piece of luck!» he cried; «here is a red rose! I have never seen any rose like it in all my life. It is so beautiful that I am sure it has a long Latin name»; and he leaned down and plucked it.
Then he put on his hat, and ran up to the Professor’s house with the rose in his hand.
The daughter of the Professor was sitting in the doorway winding blue silk on a reel, and her little dog was lying at her feet.
«You said that you would dance with me if I brought you a red rose,» cried the Student. «Here is the reddest rose in all the world. You will wear it to-night next your heart, and as we dance together it will tell you how I love you.»
But the girl frowned.
«I am afraid it will not go with my dress,» she answered; «and, besides, the Chamberlain’s nephew has sent me some real jewels, and everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers.»
«Well, upon my word, you are very ungrateful,» said the Student angrily; and he threw the rose into the street, where it fell into the gutter, and a cart-wheel went over it.
«Ungrateful!» said the girl. «I tell you what, you are very rude; and, after all, who are you? Only a Student. Why, I don’t believe you have even got silver buckles to your shoes as the Chamberlain’s nephew has»; and she got up from her chair and went into the house.
«What I a silly thing Love is,» said the Student as he walked away. «It is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove anything, and it is always telling one of things that are not going to happen, and making one believe things that are not true. In fact, it is quite unpractical, and, as in this age to be practical is everything, I shall go back to Philosophy and study Metaphysics.»
So he returned to his room and pulled out a great dusty book, and began to read.
The End