Word List.

Leeward – подветренная сторона.

Blameless – безупречный.

Steam away (from) – отплывать.

Landing stage – причал.

To gaze – пристально смотреть.

Regretfully – с сожалением.

Plaice – камбала.

Buffet – буфетная стойка, буфет.

Hearty – обильный (о еде).

Hearty eater – любитель покушать.

Work off – освободиться, отделаться, срывать плохое настроение.

Green s (pl) – зелень, овощи.

Oily – елейный, льстивый, вкрадчивый.

Prop up – подпирать, поддерживать, помогать

Text 29 The Luncheon

Read and dramatize the text.

I saw her at the play. She beckoned me and during the interval I went over and sat down beside her. I saw her long ago and if somebody had not mentioned her name, I don’t think I should have recognize her. She addressed me brightly.

“Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time flies! We’re not getting younger! Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.”

Did I remember?

It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a little apartment in the Latin Quarter and I was earning hardly enough money to keep body and soul together. She had read the book of mine and have written to me about it. I answered, thanking her, and then received from her another letter saying that she was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me, but she had little time and could be free only in following Tuesday; she was spending the morning at the Luxemburg, so would I give her a little luncheon at Foyot’s afterwards? Foyot’s is a restaurant at which the French senators eat and it was so expensive that I had never even thought of going there. But her letter flatted me the rest of the month and a modest luncheon should not cost more that fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks I could live up to the end of the month.

I answered that I would meet my friend – by correspondence – at Foyot’s on Tuesday at half past twelve. She was not so young and attractive as I expected. She was in fact a woman of forty, and it seemed that she had more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpose. She was talkative, but as she was going to talk about me, I was prepared to be an attentive listener.

I was started when the bill of fare was brought, for the prices were a great deal higher than I had thought. But she reassured me.

“I never eat anything for luncheon, ” she said.

“Oh, don’t say that! ” I answered generously.

“ I never eat more than one thing. I think people eat too much nowadays. A little fish, perhaps. I wonder if they have any salmon.”

Well, it was early in the year for salmon and it was not on the bill of fare, but I asked the waiter if there was any. Yes, a beautiful salmon had just come in, it was the first they had got. I ordered it for my guest. The waiter asked her if she would have something while they were cooking it.

“No, ” she answered, “I never eat more than one thing. Unless you had a little caviare.” My heart sank a little. I knew I couldn’t afford caviare, but I couldn’t tell her that. I told the waiter to bring caviare. For myself I chose the cheapest dish on the menu and it was a mutton chop.

“I think it’s unwise to eat meat, ” she said. “I don’t know how you can work after eating heavy things like chops. One shouldn’t overload one’s stomach.”

Then came the question of drink.

“I never drink anything for luncheon, ” she said.

“Neither do I, ” I answered quickly.

“Except white wine, ” she went on as if she had not heard me. “These French white wines are so light. They are wonderful for the digestion.”

“What would you like? ” I asked still hospitable.

She gave me a bright flash of her white teeth.

“My doctor doesn’t let me drink anything but champagne.”

I think I turned a little pale. I ordered half of bottle, I mentioned that my doctor had forbidden me to drink champagne.

“What are you going to drink then? ”

“Waiter.”

She ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. She talked gaily of art and literature and music. But I wondered what the bill would be. When my mutton chop arrived she began again:

“I see you’re in the habit of eating a heavy luncheon. I’m sure it’s mistake. Why don’t you follow my example and eat just one thing? I’m sure you’d feel much better for it.”

“I’m going to eat one thing, ” I said, as the waiter came again with the bill of fare.

She waved him aside.

“No, no, I never eat anything for luncheon. Just a bite, I never want more than that, and even that I eat rather as an excuse for conversation. I couldn’t eat anything more – unless they had some of those giant asparagus. I should be sorry to leave Paris without having some of them.”

My heart sank. I had seen them in the shops and I knew that they were horribly expensive. My mouth had often watered at the sight of them.

“Madam wants to know if you have any of those giant asparagus, ” I asked the waiter.

I tried all my might to make him say no. A happy smile spread over his broad face and he assured me that the had some so large, so splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel.

“I’m not hungry, ” my guest sighed, “but if you insist I don’t mind having some asparagus.”

I ordered them.

“ Aren’t you going to have any? ”

“No, I never eat asparagus.”

“I know there are people who don’t like them.”

We waited for the asparagus. Panics seize me. Now it was not a question how much money I should have for the rest of the month, but weather I had enough to pay the bill. It would be mortifying to be ten franks short and be obliged to borrow from my guest. I couldn’t do that. I knew exactly how much money do I had, and if the bill exceeded it, I would put my hand in my pocket and with a dramatic cry stand up and say that it had been stolen.

Of course it would be awkward if she had not enough money either. Then the only thing would be to leave my watch and say I would come back and pay later.

The asparagus appeared. They were big and appetizing. The smell of the melted butter tickled my nostrils. I watched the woman thrust them down her throat and in my polite way I discoursed on the condition of the drama in the Balkans. At last she finished.

“Coffee? ” I said.

“Yes, just an ice – cream and coffee, ” she answered.

I didn’t care any more now so I ordered coffee for myself and an ice – cream and coffee for her.

“You know, there’s one thing I absolutely believe in, ” she said, as she ate the ice – cream. “One should always get up from a meal feeling one could eat a little more.”

“Are you still hungry? ” I asked faintly.

“Oh, no, I’m not hungry; you see, I don’t eat luncheon. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and then dinner, but I never eat more than one thing for luncheon. I was speaking for you.”

“Oh, I see! ”

Then a terrible thing happened. While we were waiting for the coffee, the head waiter came up to us with a large basket full of huge peaches. They had the blush of an innocent girl, they had the rich tone of an Italian landscape. But surely peaches were not in season then? Lord knew what they cost. I knew too – a little later, for my guest, going on with her conversation, absent – mindedly took one.

“You see, you’ve filled your stomach with a lot of meat and you can’t eat any more. But I’ve just had a snack and I shall enjoy a peach.”

The bill came and when I paid it I found that I had only enough for a poor tip. Her eyes rested for an instant on the three franks that I left the waiter and I knew that she thought me mean. But when I walked out of the restaurant I had the whole month before me and not a penny in my pocket.

“ Follow my example, ” she said as we shook hands, “and never eat more than one thing for luncheon.”

“I’ll do better than that, ” I answered. “I’ll eat nothing for dinner tonight.”

“Humourist! ” she cried gaily, jumping into a cab. “You are quite a humorists! ”

But I have had my revenge at last. Today she weighs twenty-one stone.

Word List:

luncheon [‘lλ nt∫ ∂ n] – ланч

beckon [‘bek∂ n] – кивать, приветствовать (рукой)

keep body and soul together – еле сводить концы с концами

flatter – льстить

last [la: st] – хватать (быть в достаточном количестве)

startle [‘sta: tl] – напугать, поразить

bill of fare [fe∂ ] – меню

reassure [, ri: ‘∂ ∫ u∂ ] – успокаивать

digestion – отравление

bite [bait] – легкая закуска

excuse [iks’kju: s] – повод

asparagus – спаржа

water – течь (про слюну)

might [mait] – энергия

marvel [‘ma: v∂ l] - чудо

mortifying – униженный

be short – не хватать

exceed [ik’si: d] – превышать

melted butter [‘meltid] – топленое масло

tickle [‘tikl] – щекотать

nostril [‘nostril] – ноздря

thrust – засунуть

discourse – рассчитывать

faintly [‘feintli] – еле-еле

blush – румянец

stone – стоун (мера веса = 14 англ. фунтам = 6, 34кг)

Text 31 Eating in a Restaurant

Eating out in restaurants makes life easier and more fun. To have a good experience in a restaurant, you must feel at ease. There are a wide variety of restaurants offering many kinds of food. So read the text and learn the useful information. Here are some tips to help you:

· Pick the type of restaurant you want.

· Dine in different kinds of restaurants.