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The Killers of substanceThe Killers is a short story of Ernest Miller Hemingway. I only spend 15 minutes on reading it. It has no ups and downs of the plot. But the theme is profound. Its distinctive writing style shows Hemingway’s iceberg theory. By using unique narrative style, Hemingway, in his many great books, constructed the harmonious relationship between the works and the readers.In this story did not intense shaking and describe the killers’cruelty. The plot completely depends on the characters’dialogue. Through it to show the character s’ personality characteristics. A total of seven main characters in the story, the existence of any one character is essential to reveal the theme.George, is a little older than Nick. When he in the face of the two killers to kill Ollie Andreessen, more is numb with cold. He admitted the existence of the violence, and tried his best to adapt it. He is a symbol of is step into society. He does not like Sam (nigger) was terrified, and wanted to escape from a distance of violence hurt, stay away. Sam only an ordinary people, he just wanted to protest himself. Ollie Andreessen is a fighter which is the most tragic characters in the story, when known that someone wants to kill him, but did not escape. He is very clam and numb. Because facing the violence, he is also powerless. Mrs. Bell is one of the common people, she had no idea to the killings, which contrasts the unusual terrorist event. She thinks Andreessen is an excellent man, this good man but others killed which makes us think deeply about the society. The two professional killers, Max and Adams, even did not know the man’s appearance that they will kill, reflecting the darkness of society. The author details of their clothes such as appearance reflected their arrogance, numbness, cold.The title of the story is The Killers, but Nick is the hero. He is good, pure, naive view the society. When he known Andreessen will be killed, he did not listen to the advice of Sam, to notice Andreessen. Facing the numbness, clam, helpless of Andreessen, the cold, violence, cruel of killers, the ruthless of Sam and George, his heart was shocked, he decided to leave here. When facing such scenes, anyone will be shocked, but this is life. We can only force us to getused to it. But he did not realize that the town is a microcosm of America society. Such a walk it is no use.Just 10,000 words, but shows such deep theme. As a famous American port Allen, think:” A set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion, such as when the external facts, which must be terminate in sensory experience are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.”So Hemingway’s works are quite different in the global literature fields. His works can stimulate the readers’ reading interest. I like to read his book very much.。
Hemingway , a famous modern American novelist,won the Nobel prize for literature in 1954 because he had a good mastery of the art of modern narration .As a master of language,he formed his own special telegraphic writing style ,which has caused a great influence in the history of American and European literature.Besides,he was the first one to put up the original "Iceberg Theory".One of the classic short story "the killers" is just the style . Those his works truely described the American "lost generation" after the First World War, revealing the social collapse of the bourgrois civilization.The“Killers" used an objective narrative perspective ,the way outside the focus ,to describe the great harm the attempted murder caused to a teenager Nick . According to the story , it can be divided into three different scenes.In the first scene,the two muderers came to Henry restaurant, attempting to kill the boxer Ole Anderson when he was having his meal .One of the muderers trapped Nick and the black chef Sam in the kitchen.But after a long time ,the boxer did not appear and the muderers left depressed and unhappy.Then came the second scene.Nick anxiously ran to the Hirsch’rooming-house. To everyone’s amazement,lying on the bed , the boxer cared about nothing associated with the muder.Considering that he offendedsomeone,he knew well that escape was useless and would rathersit still waiting for the death peacefully than to stuggle forthe police for help or look for a place to hide himself. Whathe behaved astonished Nick compeletely.Every reader may thinkthat Nick will leave city without hesitation.However,he wentback Henry restaurants and told Sam and George the wholethings.What the two men responsed to the muder brought the theclimax of the story and impressed all the readers.Although the title of the novel is the killers,the mainchracter is not the muderer but the teenager Nick.The writertells us the evil background of that society though Nick’seyes and feelings,which is truly the point of the artical. The passage shaped the figures owning vivid chracter.Fromthe passage ,the conversation about Nick is easy to count .Butwe can easily tell that Nick is a kind and pure teenager . For example,‘Hey,bright boy,’Max said to Nick. ‘you go around on the other side of the counter with your boy friend.’‘What’s your idea ?’Nick asked‘You better go around ,bright boy ,’Al said.Nick went around behind the counter.‘What’s your idea ?’George asked.....‘Tell him to come in ,’‘What’s the idea?’Not familiar with the outside world ,Nick thinks all peopleare good and do not know how to deal with what happened to him.Sohe just asked ‘What’s the idea?’. Besides,it makespreparation for the performance Nick made to all the murder. As for Georage and Sam ,we can get some information from thecoversation .......‘I don’ twant anymore of that, ‘said Sam, the cook, ‘I don’t want any more of that.’Nick stood up. He had never had a towel in his mouth before .‘I don’ t like it,’said the cook, ‘I don’t like any of it at all.’‘You better not have anything to do with it at all,’Sam, the cook, said. ‘You better stay way out of it.’‘Mixing up in this ain’ t going to get you anywhere,’the cook said. ‘You stay out of it .’........From the coversaton ,we can easily come to the conclusionthat Sam is afraid of the evil and try his best to stay awayfrom the underworld .In the world ,the last thing he would dois getting involved in the muder things. When Nick choosed totell Anderson the truth ,Sam turned around right away and leavewithout any hesitation. With comparation,Nick and George’ssense of justice becomes more obvious. Maybe it is caused byhis social stage ,a black chef ,someone owning fewrights.Also ,we can judge that Geroge is a exprienced socialman who had gone though kinds of things and can stay very calmwhen something suddenly happened.For example ,he was the manwho first realized that the two strange men were going to killOle Anderson . But different from Sam ,he choosed to encourageNick to tell Anderson the truth.He behaved more like a wise andbrave man.As for the muderers,we can have a better nderstanding abouttheir chracter though the description below.“He (Al) wore a derby hat and a black overcoat buttoned across the chest. His face was small and white and he had tight lips. He wore a silk muffler and gloves”“He (Max) was about the same size as Al. Their faces were different, but they were dressed like twins. Both wore overcoats too tight for them.From the description about their appearance, killers'image began to form in readers’mind . They wore bowler hats , tautblack coat, and gloves , giving us a domineering , arrogant feeling . people have a ill intent ,scanty ,but vivid impression .‘I'll tell you,’ Max said ‘We' re going to kill a Swede. Do you know a big Swede named Ole Andreson?’‘Yes.’‘He comes here to eat every night, don' t he?’‘Sometimes he comes here.’‘He comes here at six o'clock, don' t he?’‘If he comes.’‘We know all that, bright boy,’Max said. ‘Talk about something else. Ever go to the movies?’‘Once in a while.’‘You ought to go to the movies more. The movies are fine for a bright boy like you.’‘What are you going to kill Ole Andreson for ? What did he ever do to you?’‘He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.’‘And he' s only going to see us once,’Al said from the kitchen.‘What are you going to kill him for, then?’George asked.‘We' re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.’‘Shut up,’said Al from the kitchen. ‘You talk too goddamn much.’‘Well, I got to keep bright boy amused. Don' t I bright boy?’‘You talk too damn much,’ Al said.In the conversation ,when it comes to talking about killing,it seems to ba a very common thing in the killers’eyes . He even persuade George to see more muder movies .From that we can see the background at the time. Murder , violence and even death is just everywhere,telling us how cruel the society is. Killers even can be pround of killing innocent people.As for Anderson,there are some detailed descriptions about him.Ole Andreson looked at the wall and did not say anything.‘I don’ t want to know what they were like.’Ole Andreson said. He looked at the wall.Ole Andreson rolled over toward the wall.‘The only thing is, ‘ he said, talking toward the wall, ‘I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been in here all day.’He looked at the wall.Nick went out. As he shut the door he saw Ole Andreson with all his clothes on, lying on the bed looking at the wall.Though repeated words , actions,we can see that a good manwas compelled to sit still waiting for death with nothing to do ,which is so horrible. Anderson ,the boxer ,is brave and consider his dignity above everything. He would rather to die with his dignity than to struggle with panic.In fact,death is the common theme in many works of Hemingway , such as: the " Snows of Kilimanjaro ", the writer Harry on the high snow-capped mountains in Africa because of the incurable illness waits for the arrival of death ; in " Farewell to arms " , the distraught Henry waited beloved wife Catherine 's death ; in the " waiting for the day ", the little boy was misunderstanding but bravely awaiting the arrival of death.The attitude toward death is worth everyone’s deep thinking.In this novel ,there is another small finger ,Mrs.Bell.The reason for her existence is that she is a member of ordinary people . By dialogue of Mrs.Bell and Nick, the readers can understand that Andresen is an excellent person ,who was not the class of people as Al and Max .A good man in the eyes of ordinary people actually becomes the aim of the killers,from which we can realize the world is totally a mess. That is more convincing .After the analyse of content and chracter of fingers,I’dlike to talk about the writing stytle of this novel.(1)卒章显志：Hemingway always uses this in his novel structure. He does not show us the theme of the artical and what he wants to convey directly but tells stories casually. Until the end ,audiences come to realize the truth of the whole things,the feeling just like drama brings .(2)讽刺，Satire :Hemingway is good at using satire to shape the chracter of people. In the passage, ‘Standing a little further along the bar.You move a little to the left,Max,’ He was like a photograther arranging for a group picture’ it was so ridiculous that killing innocent people is just like the photographer arranging for a group picture . The satire highlights how cruel the killers are by the comparation between the happiness of photography and the sadness of killing .(3)隐喻，MetaphorThe novel is titled as the killers but there are few descriptions about the process of killing,no scene of killing people and no scared scene of killed people. As a matter offact,it uses the simple words to inform us that what the killers really killed is the young heart of Nick .In other words,it tells the lost of humannity. In the famous works ‘The Dream of Red Mansion’，“贾不假，白玉为堂金作马。
The Killers by Ernest Hemingway80k药学(英语强化)二班汤玉云13102015《The Killers》is one of the classical short stories of Ernest Hemingway. The story describes a society with Violence and people’s fear of the evil society.Ernest Hemingway’s “iceberg theory” runs through the whole story. It doesn’t like many traditional novels which usually introduce the time, place and background at the beginning. Hemingway omitted this part and directly presents to the readers a picture of real scenes:” The door of Henry's lunchroom opened and two men came in. They sat down at the counter.” The story did not specify the reason why ole Anderson hunted, and we can only know something from George and Nick's dialogue. His “iceberg theory” suggests that the writer include in the text only a small portion of what he knows, leaving about ninety percent of the content a mystery that grows beneath the surface of the writing.Hemingway is very good at writing begins with few words and tell the map of the two killers from their conversation in the restaurant.From the dialogue of George, Nick and Sam,we can also know the different character of the three persons. Nick is an innocent guy. Sam is timid and overcautious and don’t want to be involved in the matter. George is ambivalent that he want to help Anderson but afraid to be involved in it. The character and the past and future of characters are hidden behind in the dialogue, the reader can onlyspeculate the plot of the story by their own imagination. Nick comesto see Anderson,seeing him lying in bed. Anderson always looking at the wall or facing the wall whentalk to Nike. In this part, the word “wall” appears six times totally. The sixwalls form a closed three-dimensional space, which indicates Anderson completely trapped in it and unable to escape the violence of the modern society. The despairing Anderson is anatypical Hemingway hero.The title of this short story is “The killer”, but the hero of the novel is not the two killers. It's Nick, who seems to be a secondary character. In fact, he was the central character in the whole story. On the surface the story is about two murderers who want to kill Anderson. Actually Anderson is also a killer. When Nick tells him the news,Anderson’s performance that waiting to be killed kills Nick’s innocence. He realizesthehorrible evil but unable to do anything about it, let him want to escape from the society, force him also yield to evil eventually.Hemingway through the novel “the killer”with his masterful skills of people’s dialogue and iceberg theory reveals thetragic fate of people under violence. The novel is simple on the surface, but it has profound meaning, giving people unlimited imagination and shock, thus causing deep thinking.。
Ernest Hemingway(1899-1961)欧内斯特·海明威“The Killers”《杀手》Ernest HemingwayHemingway , 1906HemingwayLife, 1961HemingwayLife• 1. Birthplace: Oak Park, Illinois• 2. Family: his father, a highly respected doctor who was fond of hunting, cooking and fishing; his mother, a singer and music teacher• 3. Education: Oak Park High School, did not go to college• 4. Working Experiences: worked as a reporter, ambulance driver during the first World War, a soldier in the Italian infantry in 1918, …left America for Paris as a correspondentLiterary Achievements•1926: The Sun Also Rises《太阳照样升起》•1929: A Farewell to Arms《永别了，武器》•1940: For Whom the Bell Tolls《丧钟为谁而鸣》•1952: The Old Man and the Sea《老人与海》Position and achievements•Generally regarded as the leading spokesman for the Lost Generation by expressing the feelings of a disillusioned, war-wounded people.•one of the most influential American writers of the twentieth century for his idiosyncratic theme (what is manly in a hostile, sinister world marked by violence, war, death), for his style in particular (spare, elliptical, deceptively simple yetintense prose with short sentences and very specific details).•Almost all his stories deal with the theme of courage in face of adversity and tragedy. They reveal man’s impotence and despairing courage to assert himself against overwhelming odds.The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954•"for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"• A man can be destroyed but not defeated.•The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.Code hero, tough guy• a man is defined by will, pride, and endurance: the endurance to accept pain, evenloss-when the loss cannot be avoided; the pride of knowing that one has done one's best, with the courage to act truly according to one's own nature; and the will to face defeat or victory without whining on one hand or boasting on the other.•Grace under pressure: to live with stoic endurance, courage and dignity in a malevolent world.iceberg theory•“I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesn't show. If a writer omits something because he does not know it then there is a hole in the story.”•His sentences only give one small bit of the meaning. The rest is implied. One must go very deep beneath the surface to understand the full meaning of his writing.Certainly, there are moments when the reader feels the suggestion of vast meaning beneath Hemingway's few, spare words.•Colloquial style•influence from Mark Twain and his journalist career•Concrete, specific, common-found words•Simple, short sentences•Direct, clear style, yet highly connotative•The style was described as “iceberg”•The Nobel Prize Committee praised Hemingway had “powerful style forming mastery of the art”.The Killers•Why such a title? How do the two killers look like? What do the two killers suggest about the world or reality?•Who is the protagonist of the story? how is he like? What is the theme of the story? •What symbols can you find in the story?What’s the nature of life?Ole Anderson as the protagonistNick as the protagonistDramatic point of viewstyle。
A Villainous WorldThe Killers, by Hemingway tells us an attempted murder story. This short story is set in 1920s. The main characters are George, Sam and Nick. George is experienced and calm. Sam is indifferent and hopeless. Nick is kind, friendly, helpful and innocent.The theme of the story is people’s illusions are vulnerable and can be easily destroyed by the society in a mass. It is a villainous world.Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the World War late known as “the Lost Generation”. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954.There are 4 scenes in the story:In the first scene, two killers harassed Nick and George and caused some amusement. From the first scene, we can find some significant details that can imply the mission of the gangsters. For example, the killers eat with gloves. And also they keep their eyes on the mirror behind the bar. All these lay a good foundation of scene2. In the second scene, the killers controlled George, Nick and Sam. They arranged the scene of the crime skillfully. However, Anderson didn’t appear. So they left. In the third scene, after the killers leaving, Nick went to Anderson’s home and told him what would happen. It seemed that Anderson had known everything, he didn’t take any action, and on the contrary, he was waiting to die. In the forth scene, Nick went back to the lunchroom and decided to get out of the town.After reading the story, I get some conclusion:First, Anderson feels helpless because he knows that he can’t escape the reality. Second, the killers indicate the chaos of the society. Third, Nick decided to leave because of the loss of life and the fear of the society. It is the epitome of America which filled with violence, death and evil.This story is good and I get something valuable after reading it. I find that reading English novels is interesting and helpful. I will keep doing it.。
“省略”折射出的魅力以语言风格简洁、洗练著称的美国文学大师海明威，在美国文坛上开创了一代新的文风。
在他的许多杰出作品中，《杀手》是一篇能代表海明威文体风格的短篇小说，主要讲述了主人公尼克·亚当斯在目睹罪恶以及人性的冷漠和绝望后，变得更加成熟的过程。
在这部作品中，海明威成功地运用了简单的人物对话、简短的叙述以及重复效应等叙事模式。
值得注意的是，在这些叙事模式中，作者巧妙地把握了“省略”的尺度，在删除一些信息的同时留下必要的线索，让读者有章可循，通过细读文本发现那些隐藏在字里行间的信息。
本文主要通过分析海明威在创作《杀手》时运用的“省略”策略，从三个方面来解读这位文学大师笔下隐含的匠心独运，走进那隐藏在水下“八分之七”的空间。
标签：海明威杀手省略在英美文学史中，不同创作风格的作家有着不同的创作方法，文学大师厄内斯特·海明威（Ernest Hemingway，1899-1961）也不例外。
他追求语言的简明蕴藉，往往在有限的文字中暗含无限丰富的内容[1]。
在欣赏海明威小说的过程中，细心的读者会发现不管读上多少遍，总能在文本的字里行间发现新的信息。
这便是“省略”所折射出来的巨大艺术魅力。
众所周知，对于任何一部文学作品的创作来说，省略只是一种手段，而绝不是目的。
文学作品的真正目的还是在于艺术表现[2]（p81）。
因此，“省略”的尺度就成为了小说创作中无法回避的一个重要问题。
那么，对于一位一流作家来说，在创作过程中应该怎样做出取舍，“省略”哪些内容而又保留哪些内容呢？海明威的“冰山原则”完美地诠释了这一问题：即露出水面的“八分之一”和隐藏在水下的“八分之七”[2]（p81）。
那么，海明威又是怎样合理而巧妙地把握住“省略”的尺度，既让读者们有章可循又不至于暴露太多文本隐含信息呢？本文以短篇小说《杀手》（The Killers，1927）为例，从三个方面来分析作者所省略掉的“弦外之音”。
一、简单的人物对话《杀手》这部作品一共有2962字，其中人物对话内容就有1688字，占了全文多于一半的篇幅。
TheKillers读后感A Villainous WorldThe Killers, by Hemingway tells us an attempted murder story. This short story is set in 1920s. The main characters are George, Sam and Nick. George is experienced and calm. Sam is indifferent and hopeless. Nick is kind, friendly, helpful and innocent.The theme of the story is people’s illusions are vulnerable and can be easily destroyed by the society in a mass. It is a villainous world.Hemingway was an American writer and journalist. He was part of the 1920s expatriate community in Paris, and one of the World War late known as “the Lost Generation”. He received the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954.There are 4 scenes in the story:In the first scene, two killers harassed Nick and George and caused some amusement. From the first scene, we can find some significant details that can imply the mission of the gangsters. For example, the killers eat with gloves. And also they keep their eyes on the mirror behind the bar. All these lay a good foundation of scene2. In the second scene, the killers controlled George, Nick and Sam. They arranged the scene of the crime skillfully. However, Anderson didn’t appear. So they left. In the third scene, after the killers leaving, Nick went to Anderson’s home and told him what would happen. It seemed that Anderson had known everything, he didn’t take any action, and on the contrary, he was waiting to die. In the forth scene, Nick went back to the lunchroom and decided to get out of the town.After reading the story, I get some conclusion:First, Anderson feels helpless because he knows that he can’t escape the reality. Second, the killers indicate the chaos of the society. Third, Nick decided to leave because of the loss of life and the fear of the society. It is the epitome of America which filled with violence, death and evil.This story is good and I get something valuable after reading it. I find that reading English novels is interesting and helpful. I will keep doing it.。
海明威为何要自杀Ernest Hemingway may have been driven to kill himself because of his surveillance by the FBI, his close friend and collaborator has said.AE Hotchner said he believed the FBI's monitoring of the Nobel Prize-winning author, over suspicions of his links to Cuba, "substantially contributed to his anguish and his suicide" 50 years ago.Hotchner wrote in The New York Times that he had "regretfully misjudged" his friend's fears of federal investigators, which were dismissed as paranoid delusions for years after his death.In 1983 the FBI released a 127-page file it had kept on Hemingway since the 1940s, confirming he was watched by agents working for J. Edgar Hoover, who took a personal interest in his case.Hotchner described being met off a train by Hemingway in Ketchum, Idaho, in November 1960, for a pheasant shoot with their friend Duke MacMullen.Hemingway, struggling to complete his last work, complained "the feds" had "tailed us all the way" and that agents were poring over his accounts in a local bank that they passed on their journey."It's the worst hell," Hemingway said. "The goddamnedest hell. They've bugged everything. That's why we're using Duke's car. Mine's bugged. Everything's bugged. Can't use the phone. Mail intercepted."Later that month he was committed for psychiatric care at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where he received electric shock treatment. He attempted suicide several times before being released.A few days after returning home to Ketchum, he shot himself in the head with his favourite shotgun aged 61."In the years since, I have tried to reconcile Ernest's fear of the FBI, which I regretfully misjudged, with the reality of the FBI file," wrote Hotchner, the author of 'Papa Hemingway'."I now believe he truly sensed the surveillance, and that it substantially contributed to his anguish and his suicide," he said.。
The Killers by Ernest HemingwayShort Story ClassicsErnest Hemingway1899-1961The Killersby Ernest HemingwayThe door of Henry‟s lunchroom opened and two men came in. They sat down at the counter.“What‟s yours?” George asked them.“I don‟t know,” one of the men said. “What do you want to eat, Al?”“I don‟t know,” said Al. “I don‟t know what I want to eat.”Outside it was getting dark. The streetlight came on outside the window. The two men at the counter read the menu. From the other end of the counter Nick Adams watched them. He had been talking to George when they came in.“I‟ll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes,”the first man said.“It isn‟t ready yet.”“What the hell do you put it on the card for?”“That‟s the dinner,” George explained. “You can get that at six o‟clock.”George looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter.“It‟s five o‟clock.”“The clock says twenty minutes past five,” the second man said.“It‟s twenty minutes fast.”“Oh, to hell with the clock,”the first man said. “What have you got to eat?”“I can give you any kind of sandwiches,” George said. “You can have ham and eggs, bacon and eggs, liver and bacon, or a steak.”“Give me chicken croquettes with green peas and cream sauce and mashed potatoes.”“That‟s the dinner.”“Everything we want‟s the dinner, eh? That‟s the way you work it.”“I can give you ham and eggs, bacon and eggs, liver—”“I‟ll take ham and eggs,” the man called Al said. He wore a derby hat and a black overcoat buttoned across the chest. His face was small and white and he had tight lips. He wore a silk muffler and gloves.“Give me bacon and eggs,” said the other man. He was about the same size as Al. Their faces were different, but they were dressed like twins. Both wore overcoats too tight for them. They sat leaning forward, their elbows on the counter.“Got anything to drink?” Al asked.“Silver beer, bevo, ginger-ale,” George said.“I mean you got anything to drink?”“Just those I said.”“This is a hot town,” said the other. “What do they call it?”“Summit.”“Ever hear of it?” Al asked his friend.“No,” said the friend.“What do they do here nights?” Al asked.“They eat the dinner,” his friend said. “They all come here and eat the big dinner.”“That‟s right,” George said.“So you think that‟s right?” Al asked George.“Sure.”“You‟re a pretty bright boy, aren‟t you?”“Sure,” said George.“Well, you‟re not,” said the other little man. “Is he, Al?”“He‟s dumb,” said Al. He turned to Nick. “What‟s your name?”“Adams.”“Another bright boy,” Al said. “Ain‟t he a bright boy, Max?”“The town‟s full of bright boys,” Max said.George put the two platters, one of ham and eggs, the other of bacon and eggs, on the counter. He set down two side dishes of fried potatoes and closed the wicket into the kitchen.“Which is yours?” he asked Al.“Don‟t you remember?”“Ham and eggs.”“Just a bright boy,” Max said. He leaned forward and took the ham and eggs. Both men ate with their gloves on. George watched them eat. “What are you looking at?” Max looked at George.“Nothing.”“The hell you were. You were looking at me.”“Maybe the boy meant it for a joke, Max,” Al said.George laughed.“You don‟t have to laugh,” Max said to him. “You don‟t have to laugh at all, see?‟“All right,” said George.“So he thinks it‟s all right.” Max turned to Al. “He thinks it‟s all right. That‟s a good one.”“Oh, he‟s a thinker,” Al said. They went on eating.“What‟s the bright boy‟s name down the counter?” Al asked Max.“Hey, bright boy,” Max said to Nick. “You go around on th e other side of the counter with your boy friend.”“What‟s the idea?” Nick asked.“There isn‟t any idea.”“You better go around, bright boy,” Al said. Nick went around behind the counter.“What‟s the idea?” George asked.“None of your damned business,” Al said. “Who‟s out in the kitchen?”“The nigger.”“What do you mean the nigger?”“The nigger that cooks.”“Tell him to come in.”“What‟s the idea?”“Tell him to come in.”“Where do you think you are?”“We know damn well where we are,” the man called Max said. “Do we look silly?”“You talk silly,” A1 said to him. “What the hell do you argue with this kid for? Listen,” he said to George, “tell the nigger to come out here.”“What are you going to do to him?”“Nothing. Use your head, bright boy. What would we do to a nigger?”George opened the slit that Opened back into the kitchen. “Sam,” he called.“Come in here a minute.”The door to the kitchen opened and the nigger came in. “What was it?” he asked. The two men at the counter took a look at him.“All right, nigger. You stand right there,” Al said.Sam, the nigger, standing in his apron, looked at the two men sitting at the counter. “Yes, sir,” he said. Al got down from his stool.“I‟m going back to the kitchen with the nigger and bright boy,” he said. “Go on ba ck to the kitchen, nigger. You go with him, bright boy.” The little man walked after Nick and Sam, the cook, back into the kitchen. The door shut after them. The man called Max sat at the counter opposite George. He didn‟t look at George but looked in the mirror that ran along back of the counter. Henry‟s had been made over from a saloon into a lunch- counter. “Well, bright boy,” Max said, looking into the mirror, “why don‟t you say something?”“What‟s it all about?”“Hey, Al,” Max called, “bright boy wants to know what it‟s all about.”“Why don‟t you tell him?” Al‟s voice came from the kitchen.“What do you think it‟s all about?”“I don‟t know.”“What do you think?”Max looked into the mirror all the time he was talking.“I wouldn‟t say.”“Hey, Al, bright boy says he wouldn‟t say what he thinks it‟s all about.”“I can hear you, all right,” Al said from the kitchen. He had propped open the slit that dishes passed through into the kitchen with a catsup bottle. “Listen, bright boy,” he said from the kitchen to George. “Stand a little further along the bar. You move a little to the left, Max.” He was like a photographer arranging for a group picture.“Talk to me, bright boy,” Max said. “What do you think‟s going to happen?”George did not say anything.“I‟ll tell you,” Max said. “We‟re going to kill a Swede. Do you know a big Swede named Ole Anderson?”“Yes.”“He comes here to eat every night, don‟t he?”“Sometimes he comes here.”“He comes here at six o‟clock, don‟t he?”“If he comes.”“We know all that, bright boy,” Max said. “Talk about something else. Ever go to the movies?”“Once in a while.”“You ought to go to the movies more. The movies are fine for a bright boy like you.”“What are you going to kill Ole Anderson for? What did he ever do to you?”“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”And he‟s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen:“What are you going to kill him for, then?” George asked.“We‟re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”“Shut up,” said Al from the kitchen. “You talk too goddamn much.”“Well, I got to keep bright boy amused. Don‟t I, bright boy?”“You talk too damn much,” Al said. “The nigger and my bright boy are amused by themselves. I got them tied up like a couple of girl friends in the convent.”“I suppose you were in a convent.”“You never know.”“You were in a kosher convent. That‟s where you were.”George looked up at the clock.“If anybody comes in you tell them the cook is off, and if they keep after it, you tell them you‟ll go back and cook yourself. Do you get that, bright boy?”“All right,” George said. “What you going to do with us afterward?”“That‟ll depend,” Max said. “That‟s one of those things you never know at the time.”George looked up at the dock. It was a quarter past six. The door from the street opened. A streetcar motorman came in.“Hello, George,” he said. “Can I get supper?”“Sam‟s gone out,” George said. “He‟ll be back in about half an hour.”“I‟d better go up the street,” the motorman said. George l ooked at the clock. It was twenty minutes, past six.“That was nice, bright boy,” Max said. “You‟re a regular little gentleman.”“He knew I‟d blow his head off,” Al said from the kitchen.“No,” said Max. “It ain‟t that. Bright boy is nice. He‟s a nice boy. I like him.”At six-fifty-five George said: “He‟s not coming.”Two other people had been in the lunchroom. Once George had gone out to the kitchen and made a ham-and-egg sandwich “to go” that a man wantedto take with him. Inside the kitchen he saw Al, his derby hat tipped back, sitting on a stool beside the wicket with the muzzle of a sawed-off shotgun resting on the ledge. Nick and the cook were back to back in the corner, a towel tied in each of their mouths. George had cooked the sandwich, wrapped it up in oiled paper, put it in a bag, brought it in, and the man had paid for it and gone out.“Bright boy can do everything,” Max said. “He can cook and everything. You‟d make some girl a nice wife, bright boy.”“Yes?” George said, “Your friend, Ole Anderson, isn‟t going to come.”“We‟ll give him ten minutes,” Max said.Max watched the mirror and the clock. The hands of the clock marked seven o‟clock, and then five minutes past seven.“Come on, Al,” said Max. “We better go. He‟s not coming.”“Better give him five minutes,” Al said from the kitchen.In the five minutes a man came in, and George explained that the cook was sick.“Why the hell don‟t you get another cook?” the man asked. “Aren‟t you running a lunch-counter?” He went out.“Come on, Al,” Max said.“What about the two bright boys and the nigger?”“They‟re all right.”“You think so?”“Sure. We‟re through with it.”“I don‟t like it,” said Al. “It‟s sloppy. You talk too much.”“Oh, what the hell,” said Max. “We got to keep amused, haven‟t we?”“You talk too much, all the same,” Al said. He came out from the kitchen. The cut-off barrels of the shotgun made a slight bulge under the waist of his too tight-fitting overcoat. He straightened his coat with his gloved hands.“So long, bright boy,” he said to George. “You got a lot of luck.”“That‟s the truth,” Max said. “You ought to play the races, bright boy.”The two of them went out the door. George watched them, through the window, pass under the arc-light and across the street. In their tight overcoats and derby hats they looked like a vaudeville team. George went back through the swinging door into the kitchen and untied Nick and the cook.“I don‟t want any more of that,” said Sam, the cook. “I don‟t want any more of that.”Nick stood up. He had never had a towel in his mouth before.“Say,” he said. “What the hell?” He was trying to swagger it off.“They were going to kill Ole Anderson,” George said. “They were going to shoot him when he came in to eat.”“Ole Anderson?”“Sure.”The cook felt the corners of his mouth with his thumbs.“They all gone?” he asked.“Yeah,” said George. “They‟re gone now.”“I don‟t like it,” said the cook. “I don‟t like any of it at all”“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Anderson.”“All right.”“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said.“You better stay way out of it.”“Don‟t go if you don‟t want to,” George said.“Mixing up in this ain‟t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”“I‟ll go see him,” Nick said to George. “Where does he live?”The cook turned away.“Little boys always know what they want to do,” he said.“He lives up at Hirsch‟s rooming-house,” George said to Nick.“I‟ll go up there.”Outside the arc-light shone through the bare branches of a tree. Nick walked up the street beside the car-tracks and turned at the next arc-light down a side-street. Three houses up the street was Hirsch‟s roominghouse. Nick walked up the two steps and pushed the bell. A woman cameto the door.“Is Ole Anderson here?”“Do you want to see him?”“Yes, if he‟s in.”Nick followed the woman up a flight of stairs and back to the end of a corridor. She knocked on the door.“Who is it?”“It‟s somebody to see you, Mr. Anderson,” the woman said.“It‟s Nick Adams.”“Come in.”Nick opened the door and went into the room. Ole Anderson was lying on the bed with all his clothes on. He had been a heavyweight prizefighter and he was too long for the bed. He lay with his head on two pillows. He did not look at Nick.“What was it?” he as ked.“I was up at Henry‟s,” Nick said, “and two fellows came in and tied up me and the cook, and they said they were going to kill you.”It sounded silly when he said it. Ole Anderson said nothing.“They put us out in the kitchen,” Nick went on. “They were going to shoot you when you came in to supper.”Ole Anderson looked at the wall and did not say anything.“George thought I better come and tell you about it.”“There isn‟t anything I can do about it,” Ole Anderson said.“I‟ll tell you what they were like.”“I don‟t want to know what they were like,” Ole Anderson said. He looked at the wall. “Thanks for coming to tell me about it.”“That‟s all right.”Nick looked at the big man lying on the bed.“Don‟t you want me to go and see the police?”“No,” Ole Anderson said. “That wouldn‟t do any good.”“Isn‟t there something I could do?”“No. There ain‟t anything to do.”“Maybe it was just a bluff.”“No. It ain‟t just a bluff.”Ole Anderson rolled over toward the wall.“The only thing is,” he said, talking toward the wall, “I just can‟t make up my mind to go out. I been here all day.”“Couldn‟t you get out of town?”“No,” Ole Anderson said. “I‟m through with all that running around.”He looked at the wall.“There ain‟t anything to do now.”“Couldn‟t you fix it up some way?”“No. I got in wrong.” He talked in the same flat voice. “There ain‟t anything to do. After a while I‟ll make up my mind to go out.”“I better go back and see George,” Nick said.“So long,” said Ole Anderson. He did not look toward Nick. “Thanks fo r coming around.”Nick went out. As he shut the door he saw Ole Anderson with all his clothes on, lying on the bed looking at the wall.“He‟s been in his room all day,” the landlady said downstairs. “I guess he don‟t feel well. I said to him: …Mr. Anderson, you ought to go out and take a walk on a nice fall day like this,‟ but he didn‟t feel like it.”“He doesn‟t want to go out.”“I‟m sorry he don‟t feel well,” the woman said. “He‟s an awfully nice man. He was in the ring, you know.”“I know it.”“You‟d never know it except from the way his face is,” the woman said. They stood talking just inside the street door. “He‟s just as gentle.”“Well, good night, Mrs. Hirsch,‟ Nick said.“I‟m not Mrs. Hirsch,” the woman said. “She owns the place. I just look after i t for her. I‟m Mrs. Bell.”“Well, good night, Mrs. Bell,” Nick said.“Good night,” the woman said.Nick walked up the dark street to the corner under the arc-light, and then along the car-tracks to Henry‟s eating-house. George was inside, back of the counter.“Did you see Ole?”“Yes,” said Nick. “He‟s in his room and he won‟t go out.”The cook opened the door from the kitchen when he heard Nick‟s voice.“I don‟t even listen to it,” he said and shut the door.“Did you tell him about it?” George asked.“Sure.I told him but he knows what it‟s all about.”“What‟s he going to do?”“Nothing.”“They‟ll kill him.”“I guess they will.”“He must have got mixed up in something in Chicago.”“I guess so,” said Nick.“It‟s a hell of a thing!”“It‟s an awful thing,” Nick said.They did not say anything. George reached down for a towel and wiped the counter.“I wonder what he did?” Nick said.“Double-crossed somebody. That‟s what they kill them for.”“I‟m going to get out of this town,” Nick said.“Yes,” said George. “That‟s a good thing to do.”“I can‟t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he‟s going to get it. It‟s too damned awful.”“Well,” said George, “you better not think about it.”。
