The door of opportunity Summary Part 1 & 2 (Школьные сочинения)

PART I

The story I would like to speak about is written by W. Somerset Maugham and is entitled "The Door Of Opportunity". The story takes place on the train, going to London and the plot runs as follows.

A married couple managed to get a first-class carriage to themselves, and it was their lucky to sit there all alone. You see, they must have left their previous residence forever, and that's why they had a lot of things to remove. There were various trunks and boxes containing scores of old pictures, books, curios and even guns, which Alban had collected

Having bought some newspapers, Alban was told that they almost reached the destination, and in Anne's opinion it was silly of her husband to buy them.

But, to be frank, she was conscious of the fact that it was quite a treat for Alban to read something fresh.

You see, while reading, he felt himself in the middle of things, but not in exile. After a while they noticed 2 persons pass by them, they turned out to be fellow-passengers from Singapore. Pretending facetious and civil to them, they exchanged some words, and to my surprise Ann flushed while talking

Then they returned to the carriage and Anne started thinking about the people on the board of the train. She believed them to be old-fashioned, as their shabby clothes betrayed the provincial tailor and obviously they didn't look presentable. Anne must have been very proud of her husband, wearing a smart greatcoat and a brand-new hat. Frankly speaking, Anne couldn't help admiring him, as he was a handsome demure man, with regular features and prominent Adam's apple

Arriving on the platform, Alban looked out of the window waving his arm for a porter, who helped them to carry the luggage.

roadly speaking, Alban rejoiced in the noise and the bustle of London, but it was incomprehensible to his wife. They took taxi to get to the hotel, where they had engaged the room, and in few minutes they reached it last. While unpacking the things, Alban had a sudden inspiration of going to the club in order to check if where were any mail for him.

Anne had no objection to it, and soon Alban left the room. Just at that moment Anne called for a porter and ordered the things to be left in the hall. Then she closed the door and a few tears slid down Anne's cheeks. I suppose she determined to tell Alban something important and terrific. She had made up her mind to do it long ago, since the beginning of the long journey from Singapore, however she dreaded an argument and even the thought of a scene made her feel slightly sick

All of a sudden she saw herself again in the spacious bungalow, sitting as she had been sitting when the whole thing started. To be frank, she was an excellent housewife, saying nothing of her designer skills. Their guests were always taken aback with her talent to furnish the house perfectly, besides, there were no any knick-knacks in her house. It gave her pleasure to realize that it was a wonderful house for Alban to come back to, and a complacent smile appeared on her face

PART II

Frankly speaking, Anne's friends condoled with her when Alban was appointed district officer at Daktar.

eing the most isolated district, it was connected with the town neither by telegraph nor telephone.

But it didn't occur to her and she enjoyed living there.

Their only neighbors were the manager of a rubber estate, the manager of a timber camp and his assistant. The launch, going up and down twice a month was their only means of communication with the outside world.

But though they were lonely they were not dull. Their days were full Alban spent his days working at his office, and Anne used to do some work about the house. It shocked me to learn, that she took pain to master the local language. You see, it was quite a treat for her to listen to native people, her imagination was inflamed by various romantic tales they told her.

Besides, both Alban and Anne had a considerable library, containing scores of books

However, to tour the district was the most pleasant activity for them.

Being extremely energetic and active people, they couldn't help bathing in the sea, fishing and sleeping under canvas in the nearest forest.

Now and then they went to Port Wallace, but, broadly speaking, Anne didn't like it. You see, this place was crowded with spiteful and narrow-minded people, they were tiresome to deal with. To make things still worse, all of them considered Alban to be conceited and they resented his cordiality. When he tried to be affable they said he was putting on airs

One day they happened to stay at Government House and the Governor's wife, who liked Anne, accused her husband of being too superior and cultivated. Moreover, she suspected him to look down upon her, it was the thing she couldn't bear. It was wise of Anne to support her husband and try to be facetious, because she knew it for sure, that Alban wasn't popular with people at the club.

ut hearing that Alban was called Powder-Puff Percy secretly, dismay appeared on her face and she flushed immediately, in other words she was taken aback

In her opinion this accusation was sufficiently unfaithful, as Alban's capacity was greater than theirs, besides he was better bred than they.

But it didn't occur to anyone, that Anne herself was also superior and aloof, but she managed to conceal it perfectly, pretending demure little woman. Alban didn't see people laugh at him, that was the trouble.

Having talked to the Governor's wife, Anne was afraid it wasn't much good telling Alban about their dialogue. She believed him to be strong and courageous man, who had been successful in every post he had occupied, he had a gift for languages, and he spoke all the local dialects but the most important thing was that Alban had a great number of influential friends. You see, Anne was afraid that if she told Alban of his unpopularity he would become self-conscious, that's why she made up her mind to keep everything inside.