I could see my wife looking at me over his shoulder. She was speechless.

Dropping the luggage, I went up to him.

“Let me explain once more, senor” I began, trying my best to conceal my impatience. “We are married to each other. My wife is wearing her wedding ring. We wish to enter our room & retire for the night. We are very tired. We drove all the way across the desert from the coast today”.

He turned & looked at my wife. She looked at him appealingly. He shrugged his shoulders, & stepped aside, bowing deeply.

“I must apologize for my error,” he said. “Sometimes I do not always understand the customs of the Norteamericanos. Please accept my apologies.”

He bowed backward down the hall (4) until he reached the stairway. I ran into the room, shut the door, & locked it securely before anything further could happen.

We stood at the door listening to his footsteps until we were certain he had gone down to the lobby.

It was not long before we were startled by a sudden knocking on the door. It could not be ignored after that.

“Who is it?” I shouted in the darkness.

“I am the proprietor, senor,” he said. “Please open the door immediately.”

“Don’t do it”, my wife said. “We’ ll never get any sleep tonight if we have to argue with him again”.

“But he may break down the door”, I said.

“Let him break it down,” she said wearily. “It’s his door.”

We were quiet, not making another sound. The renewed knocking the whole building. It continued unceasingly.

“We may as well find out what he wants,” I said. “We can’t sleep with that going on”.

“Don’t let him start another argument, whatever you do,” my wife said. “Tell him it is too late to argue now, but that we will argue with him in the morning after breakfast”.

I turned on the light.

“What do you want, senor?” I asked at last.

“The door must be opened immediately,” he said raising his voice above the knocking. I got up & unlocked the door. The proprietor stood in the doorway. He did not cross the threshold.

“It is impossible !” he said excitedly.

“What is impossible ?”, I asked.

“You may not share the room with the senorita !” he said loudly.

“Oh, my goodness! (5)” my wife cried. “He started that again!”

I could hear doors opening along the hall. Everybody in the hotel had been aroused by the clamour.

“Look here!” I said crossly. “I am not sharing the room with a senorita! This is my wife!”

“It is impossible!” he said, raising his voice above mine.

“Why is it impossible?” I shouted.

“You must occupy a separate room, senor!” he commanded.

“Tomorrow you may become married to the senorita, if she wishes to be married, & then tomorrow night you will not be required to occupy separate rooms. But tonight you must!”

I glanced towards my wife helplessly.

“What are we going to do?” I asked. “Won’t he listen to reason at all?”

I turned round and faced the proprietor, opening my mouth to speak. Before I could utter a sound he had already spoken.

“ It is impossible senor,” he said, pushing himself between me & the room.

I found myself being directed down the hall, past several persons standing sleepily in the doorways of their rooms. He opened a door & tirned on the light.

“Please accept my apologies, senor”, he said, bowing low. “It is to my deep regret. But it was impossible”.

He closed the door, quickly turning the key in the lock on the outside. After he had withdrawn it, I heard him walking briskly down the hall the stairway.

Proper Names.

Caldwell [ ‘ko:ldwel], Mexico [‘meksikou].

Notes on the text.

1. it is an honour to have you come into my hotel - для меня честь, что вы прибыли в мой отель.

2. y Sra = y Senora - с супругой.

3. he asked, unshaken - он спросил твердо. My wife & I walked away, relieved - мы с женой пошли, почувствовав облегчение .(“Unshaken”, “relieved” are Particilpe 2.)

4. he bowed backward down the hall- он пятился по коридору, не переставая кланяться (им).

5. Oh, my goodness! - Боже мой !

2. Answer the following questions.

1. Why were the travellers far from being in a talkative mood? 2. In what way did the proprietor welcome them? 3. What entries did the traveller make in the register & why did he register like that? 4.Why did the proprietor have to read the entries a second time? 5.Why did a broad smile lighten the proprietor’s face? 5. What made the proprietor think that the traveller & his wife wanted to go to the telegraph-office? 6. Why did the ptoprietor offer them two separate rooms? 7.How did the traveller’s wife try to prove to the proprietor that she was a married woman? 8. What made the owner of the hotel think that a third person would soon arrive at his hotel? 9. What made the proprietor give them separate rooms after all?

3. Paraphrase the following using the words & phrases from the list below.

1. After driving through the street for some time we found the hotel. 2. There were few persons in the street so late. 3. Robert smiled back. 4. “No , senor,” he said without a smile. 5. That was to make everything clear. 6. He is right in this case. 7. The proprietor nodded his head with a serious expression on his face. 8. Everyone in the hotel had been awaked by the clamour. 9.You must take a separate room. 10. I found myself being led down the hall , past several persons standing half-asleep in the doorway of their rooms. 11.It is honour to have you at my hotel. 12. The travellers were covered with dust. 13. A broad smile appeared on the proprietor’s face.

(to lighten, plain, gravely, to occupy, to direct, out, for a while, that late, unsmilingly, this time, I’m honoured, in return, to arouse, sleepily, dusty)

4. Replace the following words & word combinations by those from the text .

in such a way, to greet, to put, to ask, attentively, to point at, wide, to envy, to be afraid, to go to bed, to apologize, (not) to be sure, tired, without stopping, to awake, noise, angrily, to be glad, quickly, owner, to be sorry, clear.

5. Give opposites for the following.

To understand correctly, half-awake, to write carelessly, to raise one’s head, to put on glasses, to nod, to straighten up, shaken, loudly, to speak, to be noisy, on the inside, in short.

6. Make up questions on the text using the following phrases.

To be in a bad mood, to inquire, to indicate, in full, to offer one’s apologies, to envy, to go to bed, to be certain, to conceal one’s impatience.

7. Suggest the English for the following from the text.

Вы оказали мне честь, девичья фамилия моей жены, склониться над книгой записей, нас только двое, моя жена и сеньорита - одно и то же лицо, он снял очки и выразительно покачал головой, чтобы все было ясно, в таком случае, получать телеграммы на оба имени, я глубоко сожалею, он с сомнением посмотрел на обручальное кольцо, пройти полпути, Когда вы ожидаете его?, Что же в конце концов , мы будем делать?, сердито, низко кланяясь.

8. Which words from the text answer the following definitions.

A note or record made in a book; fond of talking; an area of land without trees or water; often covered with sand; try to get information by asking; bags, suit-cases, trunks, etc of a traveller; to write quickly & carelessly; a woman’s family name before marriage; words saying that one is sorry one has done wrong or hurt a person’s feelings.