私には,スコット夫人の家に関連した2つの鮮明な思い出があったが,それらの思い出は両方ともオットリンとは関係のないものであった。その思い出の最初のものは,私が初めてアイスクリームを味わった,子供たちのためのパーティでの出来事であった。私は,それを普通のプディングと思い,大きいスプーン山盛りにとって食べた。(あまりに冷たかったので)ショックが大きく突然大泣きしてしまい,大人たち(年長者たち)は,なにが起こったのかわからず,狼狽した。 もう1つの経験は,最初のものよりももっと不愉快なものであった。スコット夫人の家の玄関先で,馬車から下りる時に舗道の石の上に転落してペニスを傷つけた。この後,私は,1日に2回ずつお風呂に入って座り,注意深くペニスをスポンジでキレイに洗わなければならなかった。それまでいつも,ペニスなどに気をつかわないように教えられていたので,これには当惑した。 フィリップ・モレルが初めてオットリンと婚約した時,ローガンは嫉妬で怒り狂い,彼女を冷酷に嘲弄した。けれども,後に彼女と仲直りした。私は時々,彼女とフィリップに会っていたが,私は彼を高く評価したことは一度もなかった。また,彼女は香水と粉おしろいを過度に使っていると思っていたので,そのことは私の清教徒的偏見を損ねた。クロンプトン・デーヴィスは,初めて,彼女についての私の考えを改めさせた。というのは,彼女は,彼がやっている土地評価団体のために活動していたが,賞賛せざるを得ない働きをしていたからである。 |
* 下写真出典:R. Clark's B. Russell and His World, 1981.
This, however, was not the case. In the Election of January, 1910, while I was still living at Bagley Wood, I decided that I ought to help the Liberals as much as I could, but I did not want to help the Member for the constituency in which I was living, as he had broken some pledges which I considered important. I therefore decided to help the Member for the neighbouring constituency across the river. This Member was Philip Morrell, a man who had been at Oxford with my brother-in-law, Logan, who had been passionately attached to him. Philip Morrell had married Lady Ottoline Cavendish-Bentinck, sister of the Duke of Portland. I had known her slightly since we were both children, as she had an aunt named Mrs Scott (Grandmother of the Queen-Mother, Elizabeth), who lived at Ham Common. I had two vivid memories connected with Mrs Scott's house, but neither of them concern Ottoline. The first of these memories was of a children's party at which I first tasted ice-cream. I thought it was an ordinary pudding, and took a large spoonful. The shock caused me to burst into tears, to the dismay of the elders, who could not make out what had happened. The other experience was even more unpleasant. In getting out of a carriage at her door, I fell on the paving-stones, and hurt my penis. After this I had to sit twice a day in a hot bath and sponge it carefully. As I had always hitherto been taught to ignore it, this puzzled me. When Philip first became engaged to Ottoline, Logan was filled with jealous rage, and made unkind fun of her. Later, however, he became reconciled. I used to see her and Philip occasionally, but I had never had any high opinion of him, and she offended my Puritan prejudices by what I considered an excessive use of scent and powder. Crompton Davies first led me to revise my opinion of her, because she worked for his Land Values Organisation in a way that commanded his admiration. |