①I was at that time recently returned from my travels. ②It was quite natural that no one had told me about Marguerite's death, for it was hardly one of those momentous news-items which friends always rush to tell anybody who has just got back to the capital city of News.③Marguerite had been pretty, but the greater the commotion that attends the sensational lives of these women, the smaller the stir once they are dead. ④They are like those dull suns which set as they have risen: they are unremarkable. ⑤News of their death, when they die young, reaches all their lovers at the same instant, for in Paris the lovers of any celebrated courtesan see each other every day. ⑥A few reminiscences are exchanged about her, and the lives of all and sundry continue as before without so much as a tear.

⑦For a young man of twenty-five nowadays, tears have become so rare a thing that they are not to be wasted on the first girl who comes along. ⑧The most that may be expected is that the parents and relatives who pay for the privilege of being wept for are indeed mourned to the extent of their investment.

commotion [k??m???n] n．混亂，喧鬧

reminiscence [?rem??n?sns] n．舊事，回憶

unremarkable [??nr??mɑ:k?bl] a．尋常的，平凡的

privilege [?pr?v?l?d?] n．特權