Athelny told Philip that he could easily get him something to do in the large firm of linendrapers in which himself worked. Several of the assistants had gone to the war, and Lynn and Sedley with patriotic zeal had promised to keep their places open for them.
They put the work of the heroes on those who remained, and since they did not increase the wages of these were able at once to exhibit public spirit and effect an economy; but the war continued and trade was less depressed ; the holidays were coming, when numbers of the staff went away for a fortnight at a time: they were bound to engage more assistants.
Philip’s experience had made him doubtful whether even then they would engage him; but Athelny, representing himself as a person of consequence in the firm, insisted that the manager could refuse him nothing. Philip, with his training in Paris, would be very useful; it was only a matter of waiting a little and he was bound to get a well-paid job to design costumes and draw posters.
Philip made a poster for the summer sale and Athelny took it away. Two days later he brought it back, saying that the manager admired it very much and regretted with all his heart that there was no vacancy just then in that department. Philip asked whether there was nothing else he could do.
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5
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"不见得就没有了。"
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5
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‘I’m afraid not.’
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6
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"你有把握吗?"
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6
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‘Are you quite sure?’
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7
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"嗯,明天公司要招聘一位顾客招待员,"阿特尔涅说话的当儿,两道怀疑的目光透过镜片盯住菲利普。
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7
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‘Well, the fact is they’re advertising for a shop-walker tomorrow,’ said Athelny, looking at him doubtfully through his glasses.
Athelny was a little confused; he had led Philip to expect something much more splendid; on the other hand he was too poor to go on providing him indefinitely with board and lodging .
Notwithstanding the war there was evidently much difficulty in finding work, for when Philip went to the shop many men were waiting already. He recognised some whom he had seen in his own searching, and there was one whom he had noticed lying about the park in the afternoon. To Philip now that suggested that he was as homeless as himself and passed the night out of doors. The men were of all sorts, old and young, tall and short; but every one had tried to make himself smart for the interview with the manager: they had carefully brushed hair and scrupulously clean hands.
They waited in a passage which Philip learnt afterwards led up to the dining-hall and the work rooms; it was broken every few yards by five or six steps. Though there was electric light in the shop here was only gas, with wire cages over it for protection, and it flared noisily. Philip arrived punctually, but it was nearly ten o’clock when he was admitted into the office.
It was three-cornered, like a cut of cheese lying on its side: on the walls were pictures of women in corsets, and two poster-proofs, one of a man in pyjamas , green and white in large stripes, and the other of a ship in full sail ploughing an azure sea: on the sail was printed in large letters ‘great white sale.’ The widest side of the office was the back of one of the shop-windows, which was being dressed at the time, and an assistant went to and fro during the interview.
The manager was reading a letter. He was a florid man, with sandy hair and a large sandy moustache; from the middle of his watch-chain hung a bunch of football medals. He sat in his shirt sleeves at a large desk with a telephone by his side; before him were the day’s advertisements, Athelny’s work, and cuttings from newspapers pasted on a card.
He gave Philip a glance but did not speak to him; he dictated a letter to the typist, a girl who sat at a small table in one corner; then he asked Philip his name, age, and what experience he had had. He spoke with a cockneytwang in a high, metallic voice which he seemed not able always to control; Philip noticed that his upper teeth were large and protruding ; they gave you the impression that they were loose and would come out if you gave them a sharp tug .
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18
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"我想阿特尔涅先生已经对您说起过我,"菲利普说道。
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18
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‘I think Mr. Athelny has spoken to you about me,’ said Philip.
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19
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"喔,你就是那位画广告的年轻人吗?"
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19
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‘Oh, you are the young feller who did that poster?’
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20
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"是的,先生。"
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20
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‘Yes, sir.’
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21
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"对我们没有一点用处,要晓得,一丁点儿用场都没有。"
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21
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‘No good to us, you know, not a bit of good.’
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22
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他上下打量着菲利普,似乎注意到从某些方面来说,菲利普不同于前面进来的几位应招人员。
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22
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He looked Philip up and down. He seemed to notice that Philip was in some way different from the men who had preceded him.
‘I like to give young fellers a chance. Many’s the one I’ve given their chance to and they’re managers of departments now. And they’re grateful to me, I’ll say that for them. They know what I done for them. Start at the bottom of the ladder, that’s the only way to learn the business, and then if you stick to it there’s no knowing what it can lead to. If you suit, one of these days you may find yourself in a position like what mine is. Bear that in mind, young feller.’
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28
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"先生,我非常愿意尽我最大的努力把工作做好,"菲利普说。
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28
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‘I’m very anxious to do my best, sir,’ said Philip.
He knew that he must put in the sir whenever he could, but it sounded odd to him, and he was afraid of overdoing it. The manager liked talking. It gave him a happy consciousness of his own importance, and he did not give Philip his decision till he had used a great many words.
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30
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"唔,我相信你会那样去做的,"最后他态度傲慢地说,"不管怎么说,我不反对给你一个尝试的机会。"
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30
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‘Well, I daresay you’ll do,’ he said at last, in a pompous way. ‘Anyhow I don’t mind giving you a trial.’
‘You can start at once. I’ll give you six shillings a week and your keep. Everything found, you know; the six shillings is only pocket money, to do what you like with, paid monthly. Start on Monday. I suppose you’ve got no cause of complaint with that.’
‘Harrington Street, d’you know where that is, Shaftesbury Avenue. That’s where you sleep. Number ten, it is. You can sleep there on Sunday night, if you like; that’s just as you please, or you can send your box there on Monday.’ The manager nodded: ‘Good-morning.’