Mauritius

Chapter 16

Except them.Not even a human figure.

"Let's eat," said Clive.

They sat down on the grassy embankment and ate.The water moved almost imperceptibly, and the willows planted along the embankment cast endless shadows on the water.The man who made the whole landscape is nowhere to be seen.After dinner, Clive thought it was time for him to work hard.He spread out his book and fell asleep within 10 minutes.Maurice lay down by the water and smoked.A farmer's cart appeared, and he inquired what county they were in.But he said nothing, and the farmer didn't seem to notice him.When Clive woke up, it was already past three o'clock.He said at the beginning: "We should have tea in a while."

"Okay. Can you fix that damn motorcycle?"

"Of course. Is something broken?" He yawned and walked over to the car. "No, I can't fix it. Maurice, can you?"

"of course not."

The two of them put their cheeks together and laughed heartily.They thought the car wreck was a ridiculous event.Besides, it was a gift from my grandfather!Maurice would come of age in August, and Grandpa gave him this gift.Clive said, "How about we put it down and walk back?"

"Okay. Nobody's going to make trouble, are they? Put the coat and everything in the car. Put Joey's goggles in there, too."

"What about my book?"

"Let's put it down too."

"Can I still use the book after dinner?"

"Well, it's hard to say. Tea is more important than food, and that's just—well, what are you smirking about?—and if we keep walking along the embankment we're bound to come across a tavern."

"They mix river water with beer!"

Maurice punched Clive in the side.They fought among the bushes for 10 minutes, it was so ridiculous that they didn't even bother to talk.They became thoughtful again and stood close together.Then, I hid the motorcycle under the briar bushes and set off.Clive carried the notebook with him, and it ended up being useless because the embankment they were walking along forked in two.

"We'll have to paddle across," said Clive. "We can't go round in circles or we'll lose our way. Look, Maurice—we've got to go straight south."

"understood."

It doesn't matter what one of them suggests that day, the other must agree.Clive took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his trousers.Then he stepped into the brown water and sank.He swam and floated up.

"It's so deep!" he said hurriedly and frantically, crawling out of the water. "Maurice, I didn't think of that at all! Did you think of it?"

"I have to swim properly," Morris yelled, which he did.Clive held his clothes for him, the sun was shining brightly.After a while, they came to a farmhouse.

The old lady was cold and coarse, but afterward they said she was "wonderful".At last she served them tea and allowed Clive to dry his wet clothes by her kitchen fire.She said "as much as you want," and they paid her more, and she just mumbled something.They were still in high spirits, and nothing could restrain them.They make all the difference.

"Goodbye, and thanks for your hospitality," said Clive, "if only one of the local men had found the motorbike--and would have given us some more details about where we put it. Anyway, I'll Leave you your friend's card, and ask them to take the trouble to hitch it to the motorbike and drive it to the nearest railway station. That's about it, I can't tell. The station master will wire us."

The railway station is five miles away.The sun was almost setting when they reached the station.After dinner, they returned to Cambridge.The last part of the day passed perfectly.For some reason, the train was full, and they sat close together, talking in whispers and smiling over the noise.They parted as usual, and neither of them said anything in particular on the spur of the moment.It was an ordinary day, but it was the first time in their lives for both of them, and it would also be the last.

The superintendent suspended Morris from school.

Mr. Cornwallis was not a strict supervisor, and Morris had hitherto been of good character.But he will never condone this violation of law and discipline. "Hall, why didn't you stop when I told you to stop?" Hall didn't answer, and didn't even seem to apologize.His eyes pooled with dissatisfaction.Mr. Cornwallis, troubled as he was, realized that he was dealing with a grown man.Using his dull, cold imagination, he even guessed what was going on.

"Yesterday you didn't go to church, you missed four classes, including the translation class I taught, and you didn't attend the dinner. You have done this in the past, don't add fuel to the fire, put on an arrogant attitude Don't you? Don't you think so? Ah? Don't answer? Suspend you from school, go home and tell your mother how you ended up in this situation. I will inform her too. Unless you write me a letter of repentance Come, or I shall never recommend that you go back to school in October. Take the twelve o'clock train and start."

"Know it."

Mr. Cornwallis gestured him out.

Durham was never punished.He was excused from all courses due to the upcoming honors examinations.Even if he missed class, the supervisor would not make things difficult for him.As the most outstanding classical literature student of this academic year, he received special treatment.It's a good thing he won't have to get distracted for Hall's sake in the future.Mr Cornwallis had always suspected that such a friendship existed between students.It is unnatural for college students with different personalities and hobbies to become close friends.Unlike public school students, college undergraduates are already recognized as possessing self-control.Nevertheless, the proctors were somewhat wary of it, and felt that they should do everything in their power to destroy the relationship.

Clive helped Maurice pack his luggage and saw him off.He said very little, so as not to upset his friend, but his mood was depressed, and Maurice still regarded himself as a hero.It was his last term because his mother would not let him study for four years at Cambridge.This meant that he and Maurice would never meet again in Cambridge.Their love belonged to Cambridge, and especially to their room, so it was hard for him to imagine the two of them meeting anywhere else.It would have been nice, he thought, if Maurice hadn't been so hard on the superintendent, but it was too late now.He also hoped that the motorcycle hadn't been lost.He associates that motorcycle with passion—on the tennis court, where he had suffered, yesterday was filled with joy.The two of them always acted in unison, and seemed closer together in the motorcycle than anywhere else.The motorcycle took on a life of its own, in which they met and achieved the kind of union Plato advocated.The motorcycle was gone, and the train on which Maurice was riding was also speeding away, tearing their hands apart.Clive has a nervous breakdown, returns to his room, and writes a letter full of despair.

The next morning, Maurice received the letter.The letter ended what his family had begun.For the first time, he exploded with anger at the world.

"I'll never write a letter of repentance, mother—I explained last night that I have nothing to apologize for. Why do they suspend me when everybody's truant? It's purely against me, you can ask Anyone. Hey, Ida, get me real coffee, not salt water."

Ada sobbed, "Maurice, how can you be so cruel when you're so distracting to Mama?"

"I bet it wasn't intentional. I don't consider myself cold. I'm going straight to employment like Dad, without the useless degree. I don't see any harm in that."

"Don't get your poor papa involved; he's never done anything unpleasant," said Mrs. Hall. "Oh, Maury, my dear—what we all expected from Cambridge."

"You guys shouldn't be crying like this," said Kitty, eager to be tough. "It just makes Maurice feel important, and he's nothing. As soon as no one asks him to write, he'll give it to the students." supervised."

"I'm not going to write it, it's inappropriate to do so." My brother said firmly.

"I don't see anything out of place."

"There are too many things that the little girl can't see."

"It's hard to say!"

He glanced at her.She said she was much more than the boys who thought they were grown-ups realized they were.She was just bluffing.And so the awe he felt for his sister disappeared.No, he can't apologize, he didn't do anything bad, so he doesn't want to say he did.It was the first time in years that he was being tested for his honesty, which is as precious as blood.Maurice stubbornly believed that he could live his life without compromise.He ignored anyone who refused to make concessions to himself and Clive!Clive's letter drives him insane.There is no doubt that he is a fool.Had he been a reasonable lover, he would have written a letter of repentance and gone back to Cambridge to comfort his friend.But this is the folly of passion, and it is better to have nothing than a little.

Morris' mother and sister continued to nag and cry.He finally stood up and said: "With this accompaniment, I can't eat