Cookies помогают нам предоставлять наши услуги. Используя наши услуги, вы соглашаетесь с использованием наших cookies. Подробнее
Понятно
Понятно
Для того чтобы воспользоваться закладками, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Отмена
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Отмена
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
Отмена

The night is gentle

1
On
the
pleasant
shore
of
the
French
Riviera
,
about
half
way
between
Marseilles
and
the
Italian
border
,
stands
a
large
,
proud
,
rose
-
colored
hotel
.
Deferential
palms
cool
its
flushed
façade
,
and
before
it
stretches
a
short
dazzling
beach
.
Lately
it
has
become
a
summer
resort
of
notable
and
fashionable
people
;
a
decade
ago
it
was
almost
deserted
after
its
English
clientele
went
north
in
April
.
Now
,
many
bungalows
cluster
near
it
,
but
when
this
story
begins
only
the
cupolas
of
a
dozen
old
villas
rotted
like
water
lilies
among
the
massed
pines
between
Gausse
s
Hôtel
des
Étrangers
and
Cannes
,
five
miles
away
.
2
The
hotel
and
its
bright
tan
prayer
rug
of
a
beach
were
one
.
In
the
early
morning
the
distant
image
of
Cannes
,
the
pink
and
cream
of
old
fortifications
,
the
purple
Alp
that
bounded
Italy
,
were
cast
across
the
water
and
lay
quavering
in
the
ripples
and
rings
sent
up
by
sea
-
plants
through
the
clear
shallows
.
Before
eight
a
man
came
down
to
the
beach
in
a
blue
bathrobe
and
with
much
preliminary
application
to
his
person
of
the
chilly
water
,
and
much
grunting
and
loud
breathing
,
floundered
a
minute
in
the
sea
.
When
he
had
gone
,
beach
and
bay
were
quiet
for
an
hour
.
Merchantmen
crawled
westward
on
the
horizon
;
bus
boys
shouted
in
the
hotel
court
;
the
dew
dried
upon
the
pines
.
In
another
hour
the
horns
of
motors
began
to
blow
down
from
the
winding
road
along
the
low
range
of
the
Maures
,
which
separates
the
littoral
from
true
Provençal
France
.
3
A
mile
from
the
sea
,
where
pines
give
way
to
dusty
poplars
,
is
an
isolated
railroad
stop
,
whence
one
June
morning
in
1925
a
victoria
brought
a
woman
and
her
daughter
down
to
Gausse
s
Hotel
.
The
mother
s
face
was
of
a
fading
prettiness
that
would
soon
be
patted
with
broken
veins
;
her
expression
was
both
tranquil
and
aware
in
a
pleasant
way
.
However
,
one
s
eye
moved
on
quickly
to
her
daughter
,
who
had
magic
in
her
pink
palms
and
her
cheeks
lit
to
a
lovely
flame
,
like
the
thrilling
flush
of
children
after
their
cold
baths
in
the
evening
.
Отключить рекламу
4
Her
fine
forehead
sloped
gently
up
to
where
her
hair
,
bordering
it
like
an
armorial
shield
,
burst
into
lovelocks
and
waves
and
curlicues
of
ash
blonde
and
gold
.
Her
eyes
were
bright
,
big
,
clear
,
wet
,
and
shining
,
the
color
of
her
cheeks
was
real
,
breaking
close
to
the
surface
from
the
strong
young
pump
of
her
heart
.
Her
body
hovered
delicately
on
the
last
edge
of
childhood
she
was
almost
eighteen
,
nearly
complete
,
but
the
dew
was
still
on
her
.
5
As
sea
and
sky
appeared
below
them
in
a
thin
,
hot
line
the
mother
said
:
6
"
Something
tells
me
we
re
not
going
to
like
this
place
.
"
7
"
I
want
to
go
home
anyhow
,
"
the
girl
answered
.
Отключить рекламу
8
They
both
spoke
cheerfully
but
were
obviously
without
direction
and
bored
by
the
fact
moreover
,
just
any
direction
would
not
do
.
They
wanted
high
excitement
,
not
from
the
necessity
of
stimulating
jaded
nerves
but
with
the
avidity
of
prize
-
winning
schoolchildren
who
deserved
their
vacations
.
9
"
We
ll
stay
three
days
and
then
go
home
.
I
ll
wire
right
away
for
steamer
tickets
.
"
10
At
the
hotel
the
girl
made
the
reservation
in
idiomatic
but
rather
flat
French
,
like
something
remembered
.
When
they
were
installed
on
the
ground
floor
she
walked
into
the
glare
of
the
French
windows
and
out
a
few
steps
onto
the
stone
veranda
that
ran
the
length
of
the
hotel
.
When
she
walked
she
carried
herself
like
a
ballet
-
dancer
,
not
slumped
down
on
her
hips
but
held
up
in
the
small
of
her
back
.
Out
there
the
hot
light
clipped
close
her
shadow
and
she
retreated
it
was
too
bright
to
see
.
Fifty
yards
away
the
Mediterranean
yielded
up
its
pigments
,
moment
by
moment
,
to
the
brutal
sunshine
;
below
the
balustrade
a
faded
Buick
cooked
on
the
hotel
drive
.