An International Episode

Two men visiting the United States from London meet a pair of attractive women who will return to London next year. This short but humorous novel is filled with romantic intrigues, cultural misunderstandings, and lies.


By : Henry James (1843 - 1916)

Four years ago, in 1874, two young British men had the opportunity to visit the United States. They crossed the sea in the middle of summer and arrived in New York on the first day of August, feeling the effects of the city's heat wave. When they got off the dock, they boarded one of the giant skytrains that carried passengers to the hotel and passed Broadway with a lot of twists. The midsummer side of New York may not be the most advantageous. But it's not without its picturesque side. An endlessly illogical boulevard, a typical English street, where two tourists stroll, with views from both sides of relaxing bustle pavement, colorful and elegant ant architecture, and a huge white marble façade. There is no such thing. Shining with strong hard light, gold letters, pouches, lots of flags and carp streamers, unusual quantities, carriages and other democratic vehicles, cooler sellers, police straw in white trousers and big hats, stumbling blocks of fashionable young people Decorated with the charm of the sidewalk, general charm, novelty, youth, people and things. Young people rarely exchange observations. But as he passed in front of Union Square, in front of the Washington Monument, precisely in the shadow covered by the image of the Father of the Nation, one said to himself: "It looks like a scary place."...

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