按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
xs
PART Ⅰ…2
＊＝
do you know the road i live in—ellesmere road； west bletchley？ even if you don’t； you know fifty others exactly like it。
you know how these streets fester all over the inner…outer suburbs。 always the same。 long； long rows of little semi…detached houses— the numbers in ellesmere road run to 212 and ours is 191—as much alike as council houses and generally uglier。 the stucco front； the creosoted gate； the privet hedge； the green front door。 the laurels； the myrtles； the hawthorns； mon abri； mon repos； belle vue。 at perhaps one house in fifty some anti…social type who’ll probably end in the workhouse has painted his front door blue instead of green。
that sticky feeling round my neck had put me into a demoralized kind of mood。 it’s curious how it gets you down to have a sticky neck。 it seems to take all the bounce out of you； like when you suddenly discover in a public place that the sole of one of your shoes is ing off。 i had no illusions about myself that morning。 it was almost as if i could stand at a distance and watch myself ing down the road； with my fat； red face and my false teeth and my vulgar clothes。 a chap like me is incapable of looking like a gentleman。 even if you saw me at two hundred yards’ distance you’d know immediately—not； perhaps； that i was in the insurance business； but that i was some kind of tout or salesman。 the clothes i was wearing were practically the uniform of the tribe。 grey herring…bone suit； a bit the worse for wear； blue overcoat costing fifty shillings； bowler hat； and no gloves。 and i’ve got the look that’s peculiar to people who sell things on mission； a kind of coarse； brazen look。 at my best moments； when i’ve got a new suit or when i’m smoking a cigar； i might pass for a bookie or a publican； and when things are very bad i might be touting vacuum cleaners； but at ordinary times you’d place me correctly。 ‘five to ten quid a week’； you’d say as soon as you saw me。 economically and socially i’m about at the average level of ellesmere road。
i had the street pretty much to myself。 the men had bunked to catch the 8。21 and the women were fiddling with the gas…stoves。 when you’ve time to look about you； and when you happen to be in the right mood； it’s a thing that makes you laugh inside to walk down these streets in the inner…outer suburbs and to think of the lives that go on there。 because； after all； what is a road like ellesmere road？ just a prison with the cells all in a row。 a line of semidetached torture…chambers where the poor little five…to…ten… pound…a…weekers quake and shiver； every one of them with the boss twisting his tail and his wife riding him like the nightmare and the kids sucking his blood like leeches。 there’s a lot of rot talked about the sufferings of the working class。 i’m not so sorry for the proles myself。 did you ever know a navvy who lay awake thinking about the sack？ the prole suffers physically； but he’s a free man when he isn’t working。 but in every one of those little stucco boxes there’s some poor bastard who’s never free except when he’s fast asleep and dreaming that he’s got the boss down the bottom of a well and is bunging lumps of coal at him。
of course； the basic trouble with people like us； i said to myself； is that we all imagine we’ve got something to lose。 to begin with； nine…tenths of the people in ellesmere road are under the impression that they own their houses。 ellesmere road； and the whole quarter surrounding it； until you get to the high street； is part of a huge racket called the hesperides estate； the property of the cheerful credit building society。 building societies are probably the cleverest racket of modern times。 my own line； insurance； is a swindle； i admit； but it’s an open swindle with the cards on the table。 but the beauty of the building society swindles is that your victims think you’re doing them a kindness。 you wallop them； and they lick your hand。 i sometimes think i’d like to have the hesperides estate surmounted by an enormous statue to the god of building societies。 it would be a queer sort of god。 among other things it would be bisexual。 the top half would be a managing director and the bottom half would be a wife in the family way。 in one hand it would carry an enormous key—the key of the workhouse； of course—and in the other—what do they call those things like french horns with presents ing out of them？—a cornucopia； out of which would be pouring portable radios； life… insurance policies； false teeth； aspirins； french letters； and concrete garden rollers。
as a matter of fact； in ellesmere road we don’t own our houses； even when we’ve finished paying for them。 they’re not freehold； only leasehold。 they’re priced at five…fifty； payable over a period of sixteen years； and they’re a class of house； which； if you bought them for cash down； would cost round about three…eighty。 that represents a profit of a hundred and seventy for the cheerful credit； but needless to say that cheerful credit makes a lot more out of it than that。 three…eighty includes the builder’s profit； but the cheerful credit； under the name of wilson & bloom； builds the houses itself and scoops the builder’s profit。 all it has to pay for is the materials。 but it also scoops the profit on the materials； because under the name of brookes & scatterby it sells itself the bricks； tiles； doors； window…frames； sand； cement； and； i think； glass。 and it wouldn’t altogether surprise me to learn that under yet another alias it sells itself the timber to make the doors and window…frames。 also—and this was something which we really might have foreseen； though it gave us all a knock when we discovered it—the cheerful credit doesn’t always keep to its end of the bargain。 when ellesmere road was built it gave on some open fields—nothing very wonderful； but good for the kids to play in— known as platt’s meadows。 there was nothing in black and white； but it had always been understood that platt’s meadows weren’t to be built on。 however； west bletchley was a growing suburb； rothwell’s jam factory had opened in ‘28 and the anglo…american all…steel bicycle factory started in ‘33； and