英文短篇小說英語
1. 推薦幾篇英文短篇童話故事
風和太陽(The Wind And The Sun)
One day the wind said to the sun, 「Look at that man walking along the road. I can get his cloak off more quickly than you can.」 (有一天風跟太陽說: 「看看那個沿著路上走的人.我可以比你快讓他把披風脫下來.)「We will see about that,」 said the sun. 「I will let you try first.」 (「我們等著看吧,」太陽說, 「我讓你先試.)So the wind tried to make the man take off his cloak. He blew and blew, but the man only pulled his cloak more closely around himself. (因此風嘗試讓那個人把披風脫下來.他用力地吹,可是那個人把披風拉得更緊.)「I give up,」 said the wind at last. 「I cannot get his cloak off.」 Then the sun tried. He shone as hard as he could. The man soon became hot and took off his cloak. (「我放棄了,」風最後說, 「我無法讓他把披風脫下來.」然後由太陽試試看.他盡可能地曬他.不久,那個人很熱就把披風脫下來了.)
2. Long ago in a small, faraway village, there was a place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he hounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and firendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."
In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."
All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of reflections do you see in the faces of the people you meet?
很久以前的一個很遠的小村莊里，有一個以"千鏡屋"而著名的地方。一個樂觀的小狗聽說了這個地方並決定去參觀。當來到這個地方，他蹦蹦跳歡恰快的上了台階，來到房門口，他高高豎起耳朵，歡快地搖著尾巴，從門口往裡張望，他驚奇地看到有1000隻歡樂的小狗像他一樣快的搖尾巴。他燦爛地微笑著，回報他的是1000張熱情，友好的燦爛笑臉。離開時他心想："這是一個精彩的地主，我一定要經常來參觀。"
在這個村裡還有另一隻想參觀"千鏡屋"的小狗，他不及第一隻小狗樂觀，他慢吞吞地爬上台階，然後耷拉著腦袋往屋子裡看。一看到有1000隻小狗不友好地盯著他，他便開始沖他們狂吠，鏡中的1000隻小狗也沖著他狂吠，把他給嚇壞了，他在離開時心想："這是一個恐怖的地方，我再也不會來了。"
世界上所有的臉都是鏡子，在你所遇見的人的臉上你看到反射出來的是什麼?
3、An old cock and a foxIt is evening.An old cock is sitting in a tree.A fox comes to the tree and looks up at the cock."Hello,Mr Cock,I have good news for you,"says the fox."Oh"says thecock,"What good news for me?""All the animals are friends now."says the fox."Fine!"says the cock."I'm very glad to know that."Then he looks up、
"Look!A dog ia coming this way.""What?A dog?"says the fox."Well....well,I must go now.Goodbye,Mr Cock!""Wait,Mr Fox,Don't you like dogs?"Don't you like playing with the dog?Dogs are our friends now.""But,...but they may not know the news yet."Then he runs away."I see,I see,"says the cock.He smiles and goes to sleep
翻譯：一隻老公雞和一隻狐狸是夜。一隻老公雞呆在樹上。一隻狐狸走向大樹要拜訪公雞。"你好，公雞先生，我有一個關於你的好消息。"狐狸說。"噢，"公雞說，"是什麼關於我的好消息?""所有動物現在都是朋友了。"狐狸說。"好，"公雞說，"我聽到那非常高興!"然後他看到了。
"看，一隻狗正在往這邊來。""什麼?一隻狗?"狐狸問。"好的好的，現在我該走了，再見，公雞先生!""等等，狐狸先生，你難道不喜歡狗嗎?難道你不喜歡和狗玩么?狗現在是我們的朋友。""但是，但是它們現在可能還不知道。"然後他跑走了。"我知道了，我知道了，"公雞說。他微笑著然後去睡覺了。
4、The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
Once there were two mice. They were friends. One mouse lived in the country; the other mouse lived in the city. After many years the Country mouse saw the City mouse; he said, "Do come and see me at my house in the country." So the City mouse went. The City mouse said, "This food is not good, and your house is not good. Why do you live in a hole in the field? You should come and live in the city. You would live in a nice house made of stone. You would have nice food to eat. You must come and see me at my house in the city."
The Country mouse went to the house of the City mouse. It was a very good house. Nice food was set ready for them to eat. But just as they began to eat they heard a great noise. The City mouse cried, " Run! Run! The cat is coming!" They ran away quickly and hid.
After some time they came out. When they came out, the Country mouse said, "I do not like living in the city. I like living in my hole in the field. For it is nicer to be poor and happy, than to be rich and afraid."
【譯文】
城裡老鼠和鄉下老鼠
從前，有兩只老鼠，它們是好朋友。一隻老鼠居住在鄉村，另一隻住在城裡。很多年以後，鄉下老鼠碰到城裡老鼠，它說：「你一定要來我鄉下的家看看。」於是，城裡老鼠就去了。鄉下老鼠領著它到了一塊田地上它自己的家裡。它把所有最精美食物都找出來給城裡老鼠。城裡老鼠說：「這東西不好吃，你的家也不好，你為什麼住在田野的地洞里呢？你應該搬到城裡去住，你能住上用石頭造的漂亮房子，還會吃上美味佳餚，你應該到我城裡的家看看。」
鄉下老鼠就到城裡老鼠的家去。房子十分漂亮，好吃的東西也為他們擺好了。可是正當他們要開始吃的時候，聽見很大的一陣響聲，城裡的老鼠叫喊起來：「快跑！快跑！貓來了！」他們飛快地跑開躲藏起來。
過了一會兒，他們出來了。當他們出來時，鄉下老鼠說：「我不喜歡住在城裡，我喜歡住在田野我的洞里。因為這樣雖然貧窮但是快樂自在，比起雖然富有卻要過著提心吊膽的生活來說，要好些。」
2. 長篇小說，中篇小說，短篇小說用英語怎麼說
字數的多少，是區別長篇、中篇、短篇小說的一個因素，但不是惟一的因素。人們通常把幾千字到兩萬字的小說稱為短篇小說，三萬字到十萬字的小說稱為中篇小說，十萬字以上的稱為長篇小說。這只是就字數而言的，其實，長、中、短篇小說的區別，主要是由作品反映生活的范圍、作品的容量來決定的。長篇小說容量最大，最廣闊，篇幅也比較長，具有比較復雜的結構，它一般是通過比較多的人物和紛繁的事件來表現社會生活的，如《紅樓夢》。中篇小說反映生活的范圍雖不像長篇那樣廣闊，但也能反映出一定廣度的生活面，它的人物的多寡、情節的繁簡介於長篇與短篇之間，如《人到中年》。短篇小說的特點是緊湊、短小精悍，它往往只寫了一個或很少幾個人物，描寫了生活的一個片斷或插曲。短篇小說所反映的生活雖不及長篇、中篇廣闊，但也同樣是完整的，有些還具有深刻、豐富的社會意義。
3. 經典短篇英文小說
經典短篇小說好多呢！用詞比較簡單，但意義深刻！更重要的是每一篇都短小精悍！（符合你的要求哦）
1.《生火》傑克.倫敦 To Build a Fire (Jack LondonP
2.《厄謝爾府的倒塌》 愛倫.坡
The Fall of the House of Usher (Edgar Allan Poe)
3.《項鏈》莫泊桑 The Necklace (Guy de Maupassant)
4.《警察與贊美詩》歐.亨利 The Cop and the Anthem
(O Henry)
5.《麥琪的禮物》歐.亨利 Magi's gift (O Henry)
6.《最後一片藤葉》歐.亨利 The Last Leaf (O Henry)
7.《加利維拉縣有名的跳蛙》馬克.吐溫 The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
（Mark Twain)
8.《人生的五種恩賜》馬克.吐溫
The Five Boons of Life （Mark Twain)
9.《三生客》 托馬斯.哈代 The Three Strangers
(Thomas Hardy)
10.《敞開的落地窗》薩基 The Open Window (Saki)
11.《末代佳人》菲茨傑拉德 The Last of the Belles
(F.S.Fitzgerald)
12.《手》舍伍德.安德森 Hands
13.《伊芙琳》詹姆斯.喬伊斯 Eveline
14.《教長的黑色面紗》納撒尼爾.霍桑
4. 有沒有一些英語短篇小說,純英文的,比較簡單適合初一初二看的那種.
《森林王子》http://proct.dangdang.com/main/proct.aspx?proct_id=20673293
或者初一初二的話比較簡單的童話應該還行
還有就是名著的縮寫 市面上有賣的
5. 10篇英語小短文帶翻譯
10篇英語小短文帶翻譯，稍微網路一番就有很多的範文出現。但是這些範文中，寫的對不對好不好也無所得知。怎麼樣才能寫好一篇英語短文，大家可以了解一下阿卡索這家英語課程，歐美外教一對一教學，課價不夠20元，這是他們家的免費試聽課程，大家可以領取體驗：【免費領取，外教一對一精品課程】
阿卡索外教均有tesol證書，保證教學質量，25分鍾一節課，每天1節課，高頻次學習方式，保證學習效果，課程內容都是量身制定，可以全方位提升英語聽力、閱讀、寫作等綜合能力，上課內容可以錄制，課後還可以進行復習鞏固，性價比很高。
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6. 介紹幾部經典英文短篇小說
（少年維特的煩惱)，我正在看，可能不算短篇吧。但是它的英文我覺得還比較容易好理解。
7. 有哪些好看的短篇英文小說
世界三大短篇小說之王
莫泊桑、契訶夫和歐~亨利
莫泊桑（Maupassant1850～1893）19世紀後半期法國優秀的批判現實主義作家。年僅43年生命歷程竟創作了6部長篇小說和356多篇中短篇小說，莫泊桑短篇小說布局結構精巧合理。典型細節選用真實可信、敘事抒情的手法如行雲流水，充分體現了這種的文學傳統。莫泊桑的最出色的短篇代表作是《羊脂球》。《項鏈》、《我的叔叔於勒》；其作品在我國影響很大，近幾年來，一直被作為中學生必課的文學作品.
歐~亨利（1862～1910）善於描寫美國社會尤其是紐約百姓的生活。他的作品構思新穎，語言詼諧，結局常常出人意外；歐~亨利一生創作了270多個短篇小說和一部長篇小說，還有數量很少的詩歌他頗善情節設計，處處留下玄機，結局常常以出人意料出外而收場。讀後使人不禁使人豁然開朗，拍案叫絕,被稱為"歐~亨利式結尾".又因描寫了眾多的人物，富於生活情趣，被譽為「美國生活的幽默網路全書」.黑色幽默,「含淚水的微笑」。代表作有《愛的犧牲》、《警察與贊美詩》、《帶傢具出租的房間》、《麥琪的禮物》、《最後一片葉子》等.
契訶夫（1860-1904）他常以十九世界俄國社會中所常見的凡人小事為素材，用語言簡練、諷刺尖刻筆觸描寫小人物和知識分子兩類人的命運。代表作有《小職員之死》《變色龍》。《套中人》等。契河夫是19世紀末俄國偉大的劇作家和短篇小說家，俄國現實主義文學流派的傑出代表
其他的有:
茨威格短篇小說集
馬克.吐溫短篇小說集
竊賊(阿·康帕尼爾)
情書(岩井俊二)
永遠佔有(格雷厄姆·格林)
化石街(島田莊司)
棋逢對手(西瑞爾·哈爾)
首領(卡拉維洛夫)
熱愛生命(傑克·倫敦)
螞蟻 (博里斯·維昂)
蠢豬 (馬萊巴)
品酒 (羅·達爾)
打不碎的雞蛋 (馬萊巴)
勞駕，快點！(圖戈依)
品酒 (羅·達爾)
8. 有哪些好看的短篇英文小說
《了不起的蓋茨比》
作者簡介：弗·司各特·菲茨傑拉德，美國小說家，年輕時試寫過劇本。1920年出版了長篇小說《人間天堂》，從此出了名，小說出版後他與澤爾達結婚。1925年《了不起的蓋茨比》問世，奠定了他在現代美國文學史上的地位，成了20年代「爵士時代」的發言人和「迷惘的一代」的代表作家之一。
內容簡介：20世紀20年代的美國，空氣里彌漫著歡歌與縱飲的氣息。一個偶然的機會，窮職員尼克闖人了揮金如土的大富翁蓋茨比隱秘的世界，驚訝地發現，他內心惟一的牽絆竟是河對岸那盞小小的綠燈——-燈影婆娑中，住著他心愛的黛西。然而，冰冷的現實容不下飄渺的夢，到頭來，蓋茨比心中的女神只不過是凡塵俗世的物質女郎。當一切真相大白，蓋茨比的悲劇人生亦如煙花般，璀璨只是一瞬，幻滅才是永恆。
推薦理由：一闋華麗的「爵士時代」的輓歌，在菲茨傑拉德筆下，如詩如夢，在美國當代文學史上留下了墨色濃重的印痕。20世紀末，美國學術界權威在百年英語文學長河中選出一百部最優秀的小說，《了不起的蓋茨比》高居第二位，傲然躋身當代經典行列。
9. 求1000字以內英語短篇小說！
《蒙娜麗莎》風波
On Tuesday August 11th, 1911, a young artist, Louis Beraud, arrived at the Louvre（盧浮宮） in Paris to complete a painting of the Salon Carre（卡雷沙龍，盧浮宮的畫廊名）. This was the room where the world 's most famous painting, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci（列奧那多·達·芬奇）, was on display. To his surprise there was an empty space where the painting should have been. At 11 o'clock the museum authorities realized that the painting had been stolen. The next day headlines all over the world announced the theft.
這一天是1911年8月11日，星期二，一位年輕的藝術家路易斯·貝勞德來到了巴黎盧浮宮的卡雷沙龍畫廊完成一幅油畫，在這條畫廊里陳列著世界上最著名的油畫——列奧納多·達·芬奇創作的《蒙娜麗莎》。令路易斯感到吃驚的是，本該掛著油畫的地方卻是空空盪盪的。中午11時博物館館方意識到這幅名畫已經被盜了。第二天全球各大報刊的頭條新聞都報道了《蒙娜麗莎》被盜的消息。
Actually the Leonardo had been gone for more than twenty-four hours before anyone noticed it was missing. The museum was always closed on Mondays for maintenance（維修）. Just before closing time on Sunday three men had entered the museum, where they had hidden themselves in a storeroom. The actual theft was quick and simple. Early the next morning Perrugia removed the painting from the wall while the others kept watch. Then they went out a back exit.
實際上，直到達·芬奇的這幅畫被盜24小時後才有人發現此事。每逢星期一盧浮宮都要閉館例行保養文物。就在星期天，有三個人進入了博物館並藏在貯藏室里。他們的盜竊行動迅速而簡單，第二天一大早，三個盜賊之一佩魯吉亞從牆上取下《蒙娜麗莎》，其餘兩個為他望風，然後他們從後門溜走逃得無影無蹤了。
Nothing was seen or heard of the painting for two years when Perrugia tried to sell it to a dealer for half a million lire（里拉）. Perrugia was arrested on December 13th. Perrugia claimed he had stolen it as an act of patriotism（愛國主義）, because, he said, the painting had been looted from the Italian nation by Napoleon（拿破崙）. Perrugia was imprisoned for seven months. It seemed that the crime of the century had been solved.
《蒙娜麗莎》在被盜後的兩年間一直杳無音迅，直到有一天佩魯吉亞想以50萬里拉賣給一個文物販子時，人們才重新見到它。佩魯吉亞於1913年12月13日被捕，他宣稱偷《蒙娜麗莎》之舉完全是出於愛國心。他說，盧浮宮的這幅畫是被拿破崙從義大利搶劫來的。佩魯吉亞為此被判了7個月的監禁，看來這個世紀奇案好像是解決了。
But had it? Perrugia was keen to claim all responsibility for the theft, and it was twenty years before the whole story came out. In fact Perrugia had been working for two master criminals, Valfierno and Chaudron, who went unpunished for their crime. They would offer to steal a famous painting from a gallery for a crooked（不誠實的） dealer or an unscrupulous（肆無忌憚的） private collector. They would then make a of the picture and, with the help of bribed gallery attendants（服務員）, would then tape the to the back of the original（原始的） painting. The dealer would then be taken to the gallery and would be invited to make a secret mark on the back of the painting. Of course the dealer would actually be marking the . Valfierno would later proce forged（偽造） newspaper cuttings announcing the theft of the original, and then proce the , complete with secret marking. If the dealer were to see the painting still in the gallery, he would be persuaded that it was a , and that he possessed the genuine（真正的） one.
果真如此嗎?佩魯吉亞試圖把這次盜竊案的全部責任都攬到自己身上。直到二十年後，整個事件的真相才大白於天下。事實上，佩魯吉亞一直在為兩個犯罪頭目瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍工作。在這個案件中，另兩個傢伙一直逍遙法外。瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍經常從陳列館偷竊名畫提供給奸詐的商人或肆無忌憚的私人收藏家。他們先製作名畫的贗品，然後向博物館的工作人員行賄，以便在博物館工作人員的協助下將偽造品粘在原作的背後，爾後他們再將文物販子帶到陳列室，並要他在要買的那幅畫的背面做上秘密的記號。當然，事實上文物販子只是在贗品的背面作記號。在此之後，瓦爾菲爾諾就偽造一些剪報宣稱原作被盜，然後拿出帶有秘密記號的贗品。如果買畫的販子看見畫仍然在展出，偷盜者將說服他相信展出的畫是贗品，而賣給他的才是真正的原作。
Chaudron then painted not one, but six copies of the Mona Lisa, using 400-year-old wood panels from antique Italian furniture. The forgeries（贗品） were carefully aged, so that the varnish（光澤） was cracked and dirty. Valfierno commissioned Perrugia to steal the original, and told him to hide it until Valfierno contacted him. Perrugia waited in vain in a tiny room in Paris with the painting, but heard nothing from his partners in crime. They had gone to New York, where the six copies were already in store. They had sent them there before the original was stolen. At that time it was quite common for artists to old masters, which would be sold quite honestly（合法的） as imitations（仿造品）, so there had been no problems with US Customs. Valfierno went on to sell all six copies for '300,OOO each. Valfierno told the story to a journalist in 1914, on condition that it would not be published until his death.
肖德龍不僅偽造了一幅，而是六幅《蒙娜麗莎》。他用400年前古義大利老傢具做油畫板，所有贗品均經過了細心的老化處理，以使油畫表面產生裂縫顯得不幹凈。瓦爾菲爾諾指派佩魯吉亞盜走《蒙娜麗莎》的真品並叫他躲藏起來直到與他取得聯系。佩魯吉亞一直帶者那幅畫首在巴黎的一間小屋裡，可是他卻一直未見同夥們的蹤跡。原來瓦爾菲爾諾和肖德龍早已跑到了紐約，那裡儲存著六幅《蒙娜麗莎》的贗品。他們在原作被盜前就已將贗品運到了美國。在那個時代，藝術家們復制已故大師的作品是司空見慣的事情，而且復製品還能夠合法地在市場上進行交易，因此復製品可以毫不費力地通過美國海關。在美國瓦爾菲爾諾以每幅300，000美元的價格陸續將這六幅《蒙娜麗莎》贗品出售。1914年瓦爾菲爾諾將事件真相透露給了一位記者，條件是只有等到他死後才能將此事公之於眾。
Does the story end there? Collectors have claimed that Perrugia returned a . It is also possible that Leonardo may have painted several versions of the Mona Lisa, or they might be copies made by Leonardo's pupils. There has been a lot of controversy and argument about a 450-year-old painting, but after all, maybe that's what she's smiling about.
事情就此了解了嗎?收藏專家們宣稱佩魯吉亞還回的《蒙娜麗莎》或許是贗品。或許當初達·芬奇創作了幾個不同版本的《蒙娜麗莎》；或許這些《蒙娜麗莎》皆為達·芬奇的學生們製作的復製品。因此迄今為止人們對於這幅有著450年左右歷史的名畫，仍有著諸多的爭議。也許，這就是蒙娜麗莎微笑的原因吧！
10. 推薦一些英文短篇小說
相信你會喜歡這篇短小的小說的。
Appointment With Love －－By Sulamith Ish-Kishor
Six minutes to six, said the great round clock over the information booth in Grand Central Station. The tall young Army lieutenant who had just come from the direction of the tracks lifted his sunburned face, and his eyes narrowed to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat that shocked him because he could not control it. In six minutes, he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 13 months, the woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had been with him and sustained him unfailingly.
He placed himself as close as he could to the information booth, just beyond the ring of people besieging the clerks...
Lieutenant Blandford remembered one night in particular, the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of Zeros. He had seen the grinning face of one of the enemy pilots.
In one of his letters, he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer: "Of course you fear...all brave men do. Didn't King David know fear? That's why he wrote the 23rd Psalm. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me.'" And he had remembered; he had heard her imagined voice, and it had renewed his strength and skill.
Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six. His face grew sharp.
Under the immense, starred roof, people were walking fast, like threads of color being woven into a gray web. A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford started. She was wearing a red flower in her suit lapel, but it was a crimson sweet pea, not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was too young, about 18, whereas Hollis Meynell had frankly told him she was 30. "Well, what of it?" he had answered. "I'm 32." He was 29.
His mind went back to that book - the book the Lord Himself must have put into his hands out of the hundreds of Army library books sent to the Florida training camp. Of Human Bondage, it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's writing. He had always hated that writing-in habit, but these remarks were different. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the bookplate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written, she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.
For 13 months, she had faithfully replied, and more than replied. When his letters did not arrive she wrote anyway, and now he believed he loved her, and she loved him.
But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. That seemed rather bad, of course. But she had explained: "If your feeling for me has any reality, any honest basis, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I'm beautiful. I'd always be haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I'm plain (and you must admit that this is more likely). Then I'd always fear that you were going on writing to me only because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision. Remember, both of us are free to stop or to go on after that - whichever we choose..."
One minute to six - Lieutenant Blandford's heart leaped higher than his plane had ever done.
A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears. Her eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale green suit, she was like springtime come alive.
He started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.
"Going my way, soldier?" she murmured.
Uncontrollably, he made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.
She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick-ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose in the rumpled lapel of her brown coat.
The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.
Blandford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; he could see that now. Her gray eyes had a warm, kindly twinkle.
Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the small worn, blue leather of Of Human Bondage, which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even rarer than love - a friendship for which he had been and must ever be grateful.
He squared his broad shoulders, saluted and held the book out toward the woman, although even while he spoke he felt shocked by the bitterness of his disappointment.
"I'm Lieutenant John Blandford, and you - you are Miss Meynell. I'm so glad you could meet me. May...may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened in a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is all about, son," she answered. "That young lady in the green suit - the one who just went by - begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you asked me to go out with you, I should tell you that she's waiting for you in that big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of a test. I've got two boys with Uncle Sam myself, so I didn't mind to oblige you."