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The Read S04E04 The Picture Of Episode 4 Engsub
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00:00Thank you for listening.
00:30The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees
00:36of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume
00:43of the pink flowering thorn.
00:46From the corner of the divan of Persian saddlebags on which he was lying, smoking, as was his custom, innumerable
00:52cigarettes, Lord Henry Wotton could just catch the gleam of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum.
01:02In the centre of the room, clamped to an upright easel, stood the full-length portrait of a young man
01:07of extraordinary personal beauty.
01:10And in front of it, some little distance away, was sitting the artist himself, Basil Hallward.
01:17As the painter looked at the gracious and comely form he had so skilfully mirrored in his art, a smile
01:25of pleasure passed across his face.
01:28It is your best work, Basil.
01:32The best thing you've ever done, said Lord Henry languidly.
01:36You must certainly send it next year to the Grosvenor.
01:40I don't think I shall send it anywhere, he answered.
01:45Lord Henry elevated his eyebrows and looked at him in amazement.
01:48Not send it anywhere?
01:51What odd chaps you painters are.
01:53You do anything in the world to gain a reputation, and as soon as you have one, you seem to
01:57want to throw it away.
01:59It is silly of you, for there is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that's not being
02:05talked about.
02:07I know you will laugh at me, he replied, but I really can't exhibit it.
02:16I have put too much of myself into it.
02:21Too much of yourself in it?
02:24Don't flatter yourself, Basil.
02:26You are not in the least like him.
02:29I want the real reason.
02:33Harry, said Basil Hallward, looking him straight in the face,
02:38every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.
02:46The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the
02:57secret of my own soul.
03:01The wind shook some blossoms from the trees, and the heavy lilac blooms, with their clustering stars, moved to and
03:08fro in the languid air.
03:10Lord Henry felt as if he could hear Basil Hallward's heart beating, and wondered what was coming.
03:18I have always been my own master, had at least always been so, till I met Dorian Gray.
03:27But when I met him, I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was
03:36so fascinating,
03:38that if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art
03:47itself.
03:51Basil, this is extraordinary.
03:54I thought you would never care for anything but your art.
04:00He is all my art to me now, said the painter gravely.
04:07Mr Dorian Gray has arrived, sir, said the butler, coming into the room.
04:10Oh, you must introduce me now, cried Lord Henry, laughing.
04:15The painter looked at Lord Henry.
04:16Dorian Gray is my dearest friend, he said.
04:19He has a simple and a beautiful nature.
04:23Don't try to influence him.
04:24Your influence would be bad.
04:26Oh, what nonsense you talk, said Lord Henry, smiling.
04:31Dorian Gray entered the studio.
04:34Yes.
04:35He was just like his portrait.
04:38Wonderfully handsome, with his finely curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair.
04:48One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world.
04:54This is Lord Henry Watton, Dorian, an old Oxford friend of mine, said Basil.
04:58And now, Dorian, get up on the platform and don't move about too much, or pay any attention to what
05:02Lord Henry says.
05:03He has a very bad influence over all his friends, with the single exception of myself.
05:08Dorian Gray stepped up on the dais with the air of a young Greek martyr.
05:13Dorian Gray made a little moot of discontent to Lord Henry, to whom he had rather taken a fancy.
05:21After a few moments, he said to him,
05:26Have you really a very bad influence, Lord Henry?
05:33There's no such thing as a good influence, Mr. Gray.
05:39All influence is immoral.
05:41Immoral from the scientific point of view.
05:47Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul.
05:53He becomes an echo of someone else's music.
05:57To realize one's nature perfectly.
06:02That is what each of us is here for.
06:05The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.
06:12Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.
06:19You, Mr. Gray, you, yourself, with your rose-red youth and your rose-white boyhood,
06:27You have had passions that have made you afraid,
06:32Thoughts that have filled you with terror,
06:35Daydreams and sleeping dreams,
06:37Whose mere memory might stain your cheek with shame.
06:41Stop, faltered Dorian Gray.
06:44Stop!
06:48You bewilder me.
06:51There is some answer to you,
06:54But I cannot find it.
06:57For nearly ten minutes he stood there,
06:59Motionless,
07:00With parted lips and eyes strangely bright.
07:05He was dimly conscious that entirely fresh influences were at work within him.
07:14Yes, there had been things in his boyhood that he had not understood.
07:20He understood them now.
07:23Well, it seemed to him that he had been walking in fire.
07:28Why had he not known it?
07:31With his subtle smile, Lord Henry watched him.
07:37He knew the precise psychological moment when to say nothing.
07:44He was amazed at the sudden impression that his words had produced.
07:49How fascinating the lad was.
07:55Basil, I am tired of standing, cried Dorian Gray suddenly.
07:58I must go out and sit in the garden.
08:02Lord Henry went out to the garden,
08:03And found Dorian Gray burying his face in the great cool lilac blossoms,
08:10Feverishly drinking in their perfume as if it had been wine.
08:14He came close to him,
08:16And put his hand upon his shoulder.
08:19You are quite right to do that, he murmured.
08:24Nothing can cure the soul but the senses.
08:28Just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.
08:34The lad started and drew back.
08:37There was a look of fear in his eyes,
08:39Such as people have when they are suddenly awakened.
08:45Come and sit in the shade, said Lord Henry.
08:48You really must not allow yourself to become sunburnt.
08:52It would be unbecoming.
08:54What can it matter?
08:56Cried Dorian Gray, laughing,
08:58As he sat down on the seat at the end of the garden.
09:02It should matter everything to you, Mr. Gray.
09:06Because you have the most marvellous youth.
09:13And youth is the only thing worth having.
09:20I don't feel that, Lord Henry.
09:24No, you don't feel it now.
09:27Well, some day,
09:30When you are old,
09:32And wrinkled,
09:34And ugly,
09:36You will feel it.
09:38Terribly.
09:41To me,
09:43Beauty
09:44Is the wonder of wonders.
09:47It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances.
09:53Yes, Mr. Gray, the gods have been good to you.
09:56But what the gods give,
09:57They quickly take away.
10:00When your youth goes,
10:02Your beauty will go with it.
10:04You will suffer.
10:07Horribly.
10:11Realise your youth,
10:13While you have it.
10:14Be afraid of nothing.
10:17Live the wonderful life that is in you.
10:21Dorian Gray listened,
10:22Open-eyed and wondering.
10:26Suddenly,
10:27Suddenly, the painter appeared at the door of the studio,
10:28And made staccato signs for them to come in.
10:30It is quite finished,
10:33Cried Basil.
10:34And stooping down,
10:35He wrote his name in long vermilion letters,
10:37On the left-hand corner of the canvas.
10:41The lads stood there,
10:43Motionless and in wonder.
10:47The sense of his own beauty came on him like a revelation.
10:53As he thought of it,
10:56A sharp pang of pain struck through him like a knife.
11:00His eyes deepened into amethyst,
11:04And across them came a mist of tears.
11:10How sad it is,
11:11Murmured Dorian Gray,
11:13With his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait.
11:16How sad it is.
11:20I shall grow old,
11:22And horrible,
11:24And dreadful,
11:27But this picture will remain always young.
11:30It will never be older than this particular day of June.
11:35If it were only the other way,
11:38If it were I who was to be always young,
11:41And the picture that was to grow old,
11:44For that,
11:47For that I would give everything.
11:50Yes,
11:50There is nothing in the whole world I would not give.
11:54I would give my soul for that.
11:58The painter stared in amazement.
12:01It was so unlike Dorian to speak like that.
12:03What had happened?
12:05His face was flushed,
12:06And his cheeks burning.
12:09Yes,
12:09He continued.
12:11How long will you like me?
12:14Till I have my first wrinkle, I suppose?
12:18I know, now,
12:20That when one loses one's good looks,
12:22Whatever they may be,
12:24One loses everything.
12:26Your picture has taught me that.
12:28Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right,
12:30Youth is the only thing worth having.
12:34When I find that I am growing old,
12:36I shall kill myself.
12:37Hallward turned pale and caught his hand.
12:39Dorian!
12:40Dorian!
12:41He cried.
12:42Don't talk like that.
12:44I have never had such a friend as you,
12:48And I shall never have such another.
12:51Why did you paint it, Basil?
12:54It will mock me someday,
12:55Mock me horribly.
12:56The hot tears welled into his eyes.
12:59He tore his hand away,
13:00And flinging himself on the divan,
13:02He buried his face in the cushions.
13:05When he lifted his golden head from the pillow,
13:09He saw the painter by the painting table,
13:11His fingers straying about seeking for something.
13:14Yes, it was for the long pallet knife,
13:16With its thin blade of lithe steel.
13:18He was going to rip up the canvas.
13:19With a stifled sob,
13:20The lad leapt from the couch,
13:22And rushing over to Hallward,
13:23Tore the knife out of his hand,
13:24And flung it to the end of the studio.
13:25Don't, Basil.
13:27Basil, don't, he cried.
13:31It would be murder.
13:36I'm glad you appreciate my work at last, Dorian,
13:41Said the painter coldly,
13:42When he had recovered from his surprise.
13:45Appreciate it.
13:47I'm in love with it, Basil.
13:50It is part of myself.
13:52I feel that.
13:55Well,
13:57As soon as you are dry,
13:59You shall be varnished,
14:01And framed,
14:02And sent home.
14:04Then you can do what you like with yourself.
14:11Very well,
14:13Said Lord Henry.
14:14And he went over,
14:15And laid down his cup on the tray.
14:18It is rather late.
14:20Come, Mr. Grey.
14:22My handsome is outside,
14:24And I can drop you at your own place.
14:26Goodbye, Basil.
14:29It has been
14:31A most interesting afternoon.
14:44A month later,
14:45Dorian Grey was reclining
14:47In a luxurious armchair
14:48In the little library
14:49Of Lord Henry's house in Mayfair.
14:52Lighting a cigarette,
14:53Lord Henry threw himself down on the sofa.
14:56Never marry, Dorian,
14:58He said after a few puffs.
15:01I don't think I am likely to marry, Harry.
15:05I am too much in love.
15:08That is one of your aphorisms.
15:10I am putting it into practice
15:12As I do everything that you say.
15:16Who are you in love with?
15:19Asked Lord Henry.
15:21An actress
15:22Called Sybil Vane.
15:26And where did you come across her?
15:29I will tell you, Harry,
15:31But you mustn't be unsympathetic about it.
15:35The other night,
15:37I passed by an absurd little theatre
15:39With great flaring gas jets
15:42And gaudy playbills.
15:44To the present day,
15:45I can't make out why I went in.
15:47And yet if I hadn't,
15:49My dear Harry,
15:51If I hadn't,
15:52I should have missed
15:54The greatest romance of my life.
15:58I see you are laughing.
16:00It is horrid of you.
16:02Look, the play was
16:04Romeo and Juliet.
16:05And Juliet,
16:07She was the loveliest thing
16:08I had ever seen in my life.
16:11Night after night,
16:12I go to see her play.
16:13One evening,
16:14She is Rosalind.
16:15And the next evening,
16:16She is Imogen.
16:16Harry.
16:18I do love her.
16:20He was walking up and down the room
16:22As he spoke.
16:22Hectic spots of red
16:24Burned on his cheeks.
16:25He was terribly excited.
16:28When did you first speak
16:30To Miss Sybil Vane?
16:33Asked Lord Henry.
16:35The third night.
16:36She'd been playing Rosalind.
16:38I could not help going round.
16:41Oh, she was so shy
16:45And so gentle.
16:46She said quite simply to me,
16:49You look like a prince.
16:51I must call you Prince Charming.
16:57Upon my word, Dorian,
16:59Miss Sybil knows how to pay compliments.
17:02Oh, Harry.
17:04If you could see her,
17:05You would understand.
17:06I want you and Basil to come with me some night
17:09And see her act.
17:10She plays Juliet tomorrow.
17:14Lord Henry watched him
17:15With a subtle sense of pleasure.
17:19How different he was now
17:21From the shy, frightened boy
17:23He had met in Basil Hallward's studio.
17:28His nature had developed like a flower
17:31Had borne blossoms of scarlet flame.
17:35When Lord Henry returned home later that evening,
17:37He saw a telegram lying on the hall table
17:40From Dorian.
17:41He was engaged to be married to Sybil Vane.
17:47Sybil Vane,
17:48Strolling down dreary Euston Road
17:50With her brother James
17:51In the flickering, wind-blown sunlight
17:53Was thinking about her Prince Charming.
17:58That she might think of him all the more,
18:00She did not talk of him.
18:01But prattled on about the ship
18:03In which her brother Jim was going to sail,
18:05About the gold he was certain to find,
18:08About the wonderful life he was to have in Australia,
18:11James Vane listened sulkily to her
18:15And made no answer.
18:17He was heart-sick at leaving home.
18:20Yet it was not this alone
18:22That made him gloomy and morose.
18:28Inexperienced though he was,
18:30He had still a strong sense
18:32Of the danger of Sybil's position.
18:37This young dandy who was making love to her
18:41Could mean her no good.
18:46The theatre was crowded.
18:48Amidst an extraordinary turmoil of applause,
18:51Sybil Vane stepped onto the stage.
18:55Basil Hallward leaped to his feet
18:57And began to applaud.
18:58Motionless,
19:00And, as one in a dream,
19:03Sat Dorian Gray.
19:05Gazing at her.
19:08Lord Henry peered through his glasses,
19:10Murmuring,
19:12Charming.
19:14Charming.
19:16Yet Sybil Vane was
19:20Curiously listless.
19:23She showed no sign of joy
19:25When her eyes rested on Romeo.
19:29Dorian Gray grew pale as he watched her.
19:33He was puzzled and anxious.
19:38Neither of his friends dared to say anything to him.
19:43They were horribly disappointed.
19:47When the second act was over,
19:49There came a storm of hisses,
19:51And Lord Henry got up from his chair
19:53And put on his coat.
19:54She is quite beautiful, Dorian,
19:56He said,
19:57But she can't act.
19:58Let us go.
19:59I'm going to see the play through,
20:01Answered the lad,
20:02In a hard, bitter voice.
20:05I'm awfully sorry that I made you waste your evening, Harry.
20:09I apologised to you both.
20:12A few moments afterwards,
20:14The footlights flared up,
20:15And the curtain rose on the third act.
20:18Dorian Gray went back to his seat.
20:20He looked pale,
20:22And proud,
20:23And indifferent.
20:25The play dragged on,
20:29And seemed interminable.
20:32The whole thing was a fiasco.
20:35As soon as it was over,
20:38Dorian Gray rushed behind the scenes into the green room.
20:41The girl was standing there,
20:43Alone,
20:45With a look of triumph on her face.
20:50How badly I acted tonight, Dorian,
20:54She cried.
20:56Horribly,
20:57He answered,
20:59Gazing at her in amazement.
21:01Horribly.
21:02It was dreadful.
21:05Are you ill?
21:07You've no idea what I suffered.
21:10The girl smiled.
21:13Dorian,
21:14You should have understood.
21:16But you understand now, don't you?
21:19Understand what?
21:21He asked angrily.
21:22Why I was so bad tonight.
21:25Why I shall never act well again.
21:28He shrugged his shoulders.
21:29Dorian,
21:31Dorian,
21:31She cried.
21:33Before I knew you,
21:35Acting,
21:37Was the one reality of my life.
21:40I knew nothing but shadows,
21:42And thought them real.
21:44You came,
21:45Oh, my beautiful love,
21:47And you freed my soul from prison.
21:51You taught me what reality really is.
21:54Tonight, for the first time,
21:57I became conscious that the Romeo was hideous and old and painted and that the moonlight in the orchard was
22:05false and that the words I had to speak were not what I wanted to say.
22:13You had brought me something higher, something of which all art is but a reflection.
22:20You had made me understand what love really is.
22:28Dorian flung himself down on the sofa and turned away his face.
22:32You've killed my love,
22:33You've killed my love, he muttered.
22:35She looked at him in wonder and laughed.
22:38He made no answer.
22:41Then he leapt up and went to the door.
22:44Yes, he cried.
22:48You've killed my love.
22:50You were shallow and stupid.
22:54You're nothing to me now.
22:56I will never see you again.
22:58How little you can know of love if you say it mars your art.
23:03Without your art, you were nothing.
23:06I would have made you famous, splendid, magnificent.
23:11What are you now?
23:14A third-rate actress with a pretty face.
23:18The girl grew white and trembled.
23:24You're not serious, Dorian, she murmured.
23:30You are acting.
23:34Acting.
23:36I'll leave that to you.
23:38You do it so well, he answered bitterly.
23:42She wept silently and made no answer, but crept nearer.
23:48Her little hands stretched blindly out and appeared to be seeking for him.
23:55He turned on his heel and left the room.
23:58Where he went to, he hardly knew.
24:01He remembered wandering through dimly lit streets, past gaunt, black-shadowed archways and evil-looking houses.
24:12Women with hoarse voices and harsh laughter had called after him.
24:19As the dawn was breaking, Dorian entered the house, and his eye fell upon the portrait Basil Hallward had painted
24:27of him.
24:30He started back, as if in surprise, he went over to the picture, and examined it.
24:44In the dim, arrested light that struggled through the cream-coloured silk blinds, the face appeared to him to be
24:53a little changed.
24:55The expression looked different.
24:57One would have said that there was a touch of cruelty in the mouth.
25:02Suddenly, there flashed across his mind what he had said in Basil Hallward's studio the day the picture had been
25:07finished.
25:08He had uttered a mad wish that he himself might remain young and the portrait grow old,
25:13that his own beauty might be untarnished, that the face on the canvas bear the burden of his passions and
25:18his sins.
25:21Surely, his wish had not been fulfilled.
25:26Such things were impossible.
25:28It seemed monstrous even to think of them.
25:31And yet, there was the picture before him, with the touch of cruelty in the mouth.
25:42Cruelty.
25:45Had he been cruel?
25:49It was the girl's fault, not his.
25:52He had dreamed of her as a great artist, had given his love to her because he had thought her
25:58great.
25:59She had been shallow and unworthy.
26:04And yet, a feeling of infinite regret came over him as he thought of her.
26:15He would go back to Sibyl.
26:18Make amends.
26:20Marry her.
26:21Try to love her again.
26:23Yes.
26:24It was his duty to do so.
26:27They would be happy together.
26:29His life with her would be beautiful and pure.
26:35It was long past noon when he awoke to a knock on the door.
26:39He heard Lord Henry's voice outside.
26:42My dear boy, I must see you.
26:45Let me in at once.
26:46He made no answer at first.
26:49But remained quite still.
26:53Yes.
26:54It was better to let Lord Henry in and to explain to him the new life he was going to
26:59lead.
27:00To quarrel with him if it became necessary to quarrel.
27:04To part if parting was inevitable.
27:09He jumped up, drew a drape hastily across the picture, and unlocked the door.
27:16I'm so sorry for it all, Dorian, said Lord Henry as he entered.
27:20But you must not think too much about it.
27:23Do you mean about Sibyl Vane?
27:26Asked the lad.
27:27Well, yes, of course, answered Lord Henry, sinking into a chair and slowly pulling off his yellow gloves.
27:34It is dreadful.
27:37From one point of view.
27:40But it was not your fault.
27:42Tell me, did you go behind and see her after the play was over?
27:48Yes.
27:49Hmm, I felt sure you had.
27:51Did you make a scene with her?
27:53I was brutal, Harry.
27:58Perfectly brutal.
28:00But it is all right now.
28:01Well, I'm not sorry for anything that has happened.
28:04It has taught me to know myself better.
28:07Oh, Dorian.
28:09I'm so glad you take it in that way.
28:11I was afraid I would find you plunged in remorse and tearing that nice curly hair of yours.
28:19I've got through all that, said Dorian, shaking his head and smiling.
28:24I'm perfectly happy now.
28:26I know what conscience is, to begin with.
28:29It is not what you told me it was.
28:31It is the divinest thing in us.
28:34Don't sneer at it, Harry, anymore.
28:38At least not before me.
28:40I want to be good.
28:43But I can't bear the idea of my soul being hideous.
28:48Oh, a very charming artistic basis for ethics, Dorian.
28:55I congratulate you on it.
28:58But how are you going to begin?
29:02By marrying Sibyl Vane.
29:06Marrying Sibyl Vane, cried Lord Henry, standing up and looking at him in perplexed amazement.
29:16But, my dear Dorian, you know nothing, then?
29:23What do you mean?
29:26Old Henry walked across the room and, sitting down by Dorian Gray, took both his hands in his own and
29:32held them tightly.
29:34Dorian, he said.
29:38Dorian, he said.
29:38Don't be frightened.
29:41Sibyl Vane is dead.
29:55Dorian did not answer for a few moments.
29:59He was dazed with horror.
30:02Finally, he stammered, in a stifled voice.
30:07Dead.
30:10Sibyl dead.
30:12It is not true.
30:15What did you mean by that?
30:18Did Sibyl...
30:21Oh, Harry, I can't bear it.
30:25Tell me everything at once.
30:28It is in all the morning papers.
30:31There will have to be an inquest, of course, and you must not get mixed up in it.
30:35I have no doubt it was not an accident, Dorian.
30:39It must be put in that way, to the public.
30:42They found her lying, dead on the floor of her dressing room.
30:46She had swallowed something by mistake.
30:48Some dreadful thing they use at theatres.
30:53Harry.
30:54Harry.
30:57It is terrible, cried the lad.
31:00Yes, it is very tragic, of course.
31:02But you must not get yourself mixed up in it.
31:05I see by the standard that she was seventeen.
31:08Dorian, you mustn't let this thing get on your nerves.
31:12You must come and dine with me, and afterwards we will look in at the opera.
31:20Harry, cried Dorian Gray, coming over and sitting down beside him.
31:28Why is it that I cannot feel this tragedy as much as I want to?
31:37I don't think I am heartless, do you?
31:42It is an interesting question, said Lord Henry, who found an exquisite pleasure in playing on the lad's unconscious egotism.
31:50Sometimes, a tragedy that possesses artistic elements appeals to our sense of dramatic effect.
32:02She will never come to life again now, muttered the lad, burying his face in his hands.
32:07No, she has played her last part.
32:11But don't waste your tears over Sybil Vane.
32:14She was less real than the part she played.
32:18As soon as Lord Henry had left, Dorian rushed to the drape and drew it back.
32:23No, there was no further change in the picture.
32:26It had received the news of Sybil Vane's death before he had known of it himself.
32:31He felt that the time had really come for making his choice.
32:36Or had his choice already been made?
32:39Eternal youth, infinite passion, pleasures, subtle and secret, wild joys and wilder sins.
32:49He was to have all these things.
32:52The portrait was to bear the burden of his shame.
32:56That was all.
32:59As he was sitting at breakfast next morning, Basil Hallward was shown into the room.
33:03I am so glad I have found you, Dorian, he said gravely.
33:07I called last night.
33:09Where were you?
33:11Did you go down and see the girl's mother?
33:14Poor woman.
33:15What did she say about it all?
33:18My dear Basil, how do I know?
33:21murmured Dorian Gray, sipping some pale yellow wine from a delicate gold-beaded bubble of Venetian glass.
33:30And looking dreadfully bored.
33:33I was at the opera.
33:37You went to the opera, said Hallward, speaking very slowly and with a strained touch of pain in his voice.
33:44You went to the opera while Sybil Vane was lying dead in some sordid lodging.
33:50Stop, Basil.
33:52I won't hear it, cried Dorian Gray, leaping to his feet.
33:55You must not tell me about horrible things.
33:58What is done is done.
33:59What is past is past.
34:02You call yesterday the past?
34:04What has the actual lapse of time got to do with it?
34:07It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion.
34:11I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions.
34:14I want to use them.
34:16To enjoy them.
34:17And to dominate them.
34:19Dorian, this is horrible.
34:22Something has changed you completely.
34:25I don't know what you mean, Basil.
34:27He exclaimed, turning round.
34:30I don't know what you want.
34:33What do you want?
34:38I want the Dorian Gray I used to paint, said the artist sadly.
34:44Basil, said the lad, going over to him and putting his hand on his shoulder.
34:48You have come too late.
34:51The painter stared at him.
34:53My dear boy, what nonsense, he cried.
34:56Anyway, where is the portrait?
34:58Why have you pulled the drape in front of it?
35:01Let me look at it.
35:02A cry of terror broke from Dorian Gray's lips and he rushed between the painter and the screen.
35:06Basil, he said, looking very pale.
35:09You must not look at it.
35:12I don't wish you to.
35:13Not look at my own work.
35:15You're not serious.
35:16Why shouldn't I look at it?
35:18exclaimed Hallward, laughing.
35:19If you try to look at it, Basil.
35:22On my word of honour, I will never speak to you again as long as I live.
35:28I'm quite serious.
35:30I don't offer any explanation and you are not to ask for any.
35:34But remember, if you touch this screen, everything is over between us.
35:41Hallward was thunderstruck.
35:44He looked at Dorian Gray in absolute amazement.
35:46You'd never seen him like this before.
35:48The lad was actually pallid with rage.
35:50But what is the matter?
35:54Of course, I won't look at it if you don't want me to.
35:57Basil said rather coldly.
35:59If you wish me never to look at your picture again, I am content.
36:05If you wish the best work I have ever done to be hidden from the world,
36:10I am satisfied.
36:13Your friendship is dearer to me than any fame or reputation.
36:18Dorian Gray drew a long breath.
36:20The colour came back to his cheeks.
36:23The peril was over.
36:25When Basil left, Dorian acquired the key for the old schoolroom at the top of the house from the housekeeper
36:31and had the portrait moved there.
36:33There was no other place in the house so secure from prying eyes as this.
36:37He had the key and no one else could enter it.
36:42No eye but his would ever see his shame.
36:46Summer followed summer.
36:47And the yellow jonquils bloomed and died many times
36:53and knights of horror repeated the story of their shame.
36:57But he was unchanged.
37:01For 18 years, Dorian Gray could not free himself from the influence of Lord Henry.
37:08Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he never sought to free himself from it.
37:14Often, on returning home from one of those mysterious and prolonged absences
37:19that gave rise to such strange conjecture among those who were his friends,
37:23he would creep upstairs to the locked room,
37:26open the door with the key that never left him now,
37:29and stand with a mirror in front of the portrait that Basil Hallward had painted of him,
37:37looking now at the evil and ageing face on the canvas,
37:42and now at the fair young face that laughed back at him from the polished glass.
37:48He grew more and more enamoured of his own beauty,
37:53more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul.
37:58And yet he was afraid.
38:01What if it should be stolen?
38:04The mere thought made him cold with horror.
38:07Surely the world would know his secret then.
38:12Perhaps the world already suspected it.
38:23It was on the 9th of November,
38:26the eve of his own 38th birthday, as he often remembered afterwards.
38:31He was walking home about 11 o'clock from Lord Henry's, where he'd been dining,
38:35and was wrapped in heavy furs as the night was cold and foggy.
38:39A man passed him in the mist, walking very fast,
38:42and with the collar of his grey ulster turned up.
38:45Dorian recognised him and felt a strange terror.
38:49It was Basil Hallward.
38:51Dorian!
38:52What an extraordinary piece of luck!
38:55I've been waiting for you in your library ever since 9 o'clock.
38:59I am off to Paris by the midnight train,
39:01and I particularly wanted to see you before I left.
39:05I thought it was you, or rather your fur coat, as you passed me,
39:09but I wasn't quite sure.
39:11Didn't you recognise me?
39:13In this fog, my dear Basil.
39:15Why, I can't even recognise Grosvenor Square.
39:17They entered Dorian's house.
39:19There was a bright wood fire blazing in the large open hearth.
39:24And now, my dear fellow, said the painter, taking his cap and coat off,
39:29I want to speak to you seriously.
39:33What is it all about?
39:35cried Dorian in his petulant way, flinging himself down on the sofa.
39:39I hope it is not about myself.
39:41I'm tired of myself tonight.
39:45It is about yourself, answered Hallward in his grave, deep voice.
39:50I think it right that you should know
39:53that the most dreadful things are being said against you in London.
39:58I don't wish to know anything about them.
40:00But they must interest you, Dorian.
40:05Every gentleman is interested in his good name.
40:09You don't want people to talk of you as something vile
40:12and degraded.
40:17Why is it, Dorian, that a man like the Duke of Berwick
40:21leaves the room of a club when you enter it?
40:24Why is your friendship so fatal to young men?
40:28There was that wretched boy in the guards who committed suicide.
40:32Stop! Basil, you are talking about things of which you know nothing,
40:38said Dorian Gray, biting his lip and with a note of infinite contempt in his voice.
40:44Dorian, cried Hallward, one has a right to judge of a man
40:49by the effect he has over his friends.
40:52Yours seem to lose all sense of honour, of goodness, of purity.
40:58Take care, Basil.
41:00You go too far.
41:03I must speak and you must listen.
41:06There are other stories, stories that you have been seen creeping at dawn
41:10out of dreadful houses.
41:12Are they true?
41:14When I first heard them, I laughed.
41:16I hear them now and they make me shudder.
41:20I wonder, do I know you?
41:23Before I can answer that, I should have to see your soul.
41:28To see my soul, muttered Dorian Gray,
41:34starting up from the sofa and turning almost white from fear.
41:39Yes, answered Hallward gravely and with deep-toned sorrow in his voice.
41:44Yes, to see your soul.
41:47But only God can do that.
41:51A bitter laugh of mockery broke from the lips of the younger man.
41:56You shall see it yourself.
41:58Tonight, he cried, seizing a lamp from the table.
42:01Come, it is your own handiwork.
42:04When they reached the top landing,
42:06Dorian took out the key, turning it in the lock.
42:10You insist on knowing, Basil.
42:12Basil, he asked in a low voice.
42:16Yes.
42:17You think that it is only God who sees the soul, Basil,
42:22said the young man,
42:23and he tore the curtain from the painting.
42:25An exclamation of horror broke from the painter's lips
42:28as he saw in the dim light
42:30the hideous face on the canvas grinning at him.
42:35Good heavens.
42:36He seized the lighted candle and held it to the picture.
42:39In the left-hand corner was his own name,
42:41traced in long letters of bright vermilion.
42:44His own picture?
42:47What did it mean?
42:49Why had it altered?
42:51He turned and looked at Dorian Gray with the eyes of a sick man.
42:55His mouth twitched and his parched tongue seemed unable to articulate.
43:02What does this mean?
43:04Cried Hallward at last.
43:06His own voice sounded shrill and curious in his ears.
43:11Years ago, when I was a boy, said Dorian Gray,
43:16you introduced me to a friend of yours
43:18who explained to me the wonder of youth,
43:20and you finished a portrait of me that revealed to me
43:24the wonder of beauty.
43:27In a mad moment that even now I don't know whether I regret or not,
43:31I made a wish.
43:33Perhaps you'd call it a prayer.
43:35Basil's hand shook,
43:37and the candle fell from its socket on the floor
43:39and lay there, sputtering.
43:42Pray, Dorian.
43:44Pray, he murmured.
43:47What is it that one was taught to say in one's boyhood?
43:50Lead us not into temptation.
43:52Forgive us our sins.
43:54Let us say that together.
43:56Dorian Gray turned slowly around
43:58and looked at him with tear-dimmed eyes.
44:00It is too late, Basil, he faltered.
44:05Hush!
44:06Don't say that.
44:07You have done enough evil in your life.
44:11My God, don't you see that accursed thing leering at us?
44:14Dorian Gray glanced at the picture,
44:16and suddenly an uncontrollable feeling of hatred
44:20for Basil Hallward came over him,
44:22as though it had been suggested to him
44:23by the image and the canvas,
44:25whispered into his ears by those grinning lips.
44:27He glanced wildly around.
44:29Something glimmered on the top of the painted chest
44:31that faced him.
44:32He knew what it was.
44:33He moved slowly towards it,
44:35passing Hallward as he did so.
44:36As soon as he got behind him,
44:38he seized the knife
44:38and dug it into the great vein that is behind the ear,
44:42crushing the man's head down on the table
44:44and stabbing again and again.
44:47Then he threw the knife on the table
44:51and listened.
44:55He could hear nothing
44:57but the drip, drip
44:58on the threadbare carpet.
45:02He looked up
45:03at the fatal canvas
45:06and was about to rush forward to hide it
45:08when he drew back
45:10with a shudder.
45:13What was that loathsome red dew
45:16that gleamed wet and glistening
45:19on one of the hands
45:20as though the canvas had sweated blood?
45:24How horrible it was.
45:27More horrible, it seemed to him for the moment,
45:30than the silent thing that he knew
45:32was stretched across the table.
45:34The thing whose grotesque,
45:36misshapen shadow on the spotted carpet
45:38showed him that it had not stirred.
45:41but was still there.
45:45He heaved a deep breath
45:46and with half-closed eyes
45:49and averted head
45:50flung the golden purple
45:51hanging over the picture.
45:52He opened the door
45:53and went out onto the landing.
45:57The house was absolutely quiet.
46:00When he reached the library,
46:01he sat down
46:02and began to think.
46:05Every year,
46:06every month almost,
46:08men were strangled in England
46:09for what he had done.
46:11And yet,
46:12what evidence was there against him?
46:15Basil Hallward had left the house at eleven.
46:18No one had seen him come in again.
46:24As two in the morning
46:25struck its bronze blows
46:27upon the dusky air,
46:29Dorian Gray
46:29crept quietly out of his house.
46:33Lying back in a handsome,
46:35Dorian watched with listless eyes
46:37the sordid shame
46:39of the great city.
46:40And now and then,
46:41he repeated to himself
46:42the words that Lord Henry
46:43had said to him
46:44on the first day they had met.
46:46To cure the soul
46:47by means of the senses
46:49and the senses
46:50by means of the soul.
46:53There were opium dens
46:55where one could buy oblivion.
46:58Dens of horror
47:00where the memory of old sins
47:02could be destroyed
47:03by the madness
47:04of sins that were new.
47:07The door Dorian sought
47:08opened quietly
47:09and he went in
47:11without saying a word.
47:12He entered a long, low room
47:15which looked as if it had once
47:16been a third-rate dancing saloon.
47:19In one corner,
47:20a sailor sprawled over a table
47:22and by the tawdrelly painted bars
47:24stood two haggard women.
47:27A hideous laugh
47:28broke from the painted lips
47:29of one of the women.
47:31There goes the devil's bargain,
47:33she hiccuped in a hoarse voice.
47:35Curse you, he answered.
47:37Don't call me that.
47:38She snapped her fingers.
47:40Prince Charming,
47:41that's what you like to be called,
47:42ain't it?
47:43She yelled at him
47:44as he fled the den.
47:47The drowsy sailor
47:48leapt to his feet
47:49as she spoke
47:50and looked wildly around.
47:53The sound of the shutting
47:54of the hall door
47:55fell on his ear.
47:56He rushed out
47:57as if in pursuit.
47:58Dorian Gray hurried along the quay
48:00through the drizzling rain.
48:01As he darted aside
48:03into a dim archway,
48:04he felt himself
48:04suddenly seized from behind
48:06and before he had time
48:07to defend himself,
48:08he was thrust back
48:09against the wall.
48:09He struggled madly for life.
48:11In a second,
48:12he heard the click
48:13of a revolver
48:14and saw the gleam
48:15of a polished barrel
48:16pointing straight
48:17at his head
48:17and the dusky form
48:19of a short,
48:19thick-set man
48:20facing him.
48:22It was the sailor
48:23from the opium den.
48:25What do you want?
48:26He gasped.
48:29You wrecked the life
48:30of Sybil Vane,
48:32was the answer.
48:33And Sybil Vane
48:34was my sister.
48:37She killed herself.
48:39I swore I would kill you
48:40in return.
48:42For years I've sought you.
48:43I knew nothing of you
48:45but the pet name
48:46she used to call you.
48:47I heard it tonight
48:48by chance.
48:49Dorian Gray grew sick
48:50with fear.
48:51I never knew her,
48:52he stammered.
48:53I never heard of her.
48:55You're mad.
48:56You'd better confess your sin.
48:57For as sure as I'm James Vane,
49:00you're going to die.
49:02Suddenly a wild hope
49:03flashed across Dorian's brain.
49:05Stop, he cried.
49:07How long ago is it
49:08since your sister died?
49:10Quick, tell me.
49:1218 years, said the man.
49:14Why do you ask me?
49:15What do years matter?
49:1718 years, laughed Dorian Gray
49:20with a touch of triumph
49:21in his voice.
49:22Set me under the lamp
49:23and look at my face.
49:26James Vane hesitated
49:27for a moment,
49:28not understanding
49:28what was meant.
49:29Then he seized Dorian Gray
49:30and dragged him
49:31from the archway.
49:32Dim and wavering
49:34as was the wind-blown light,
49:35yet it served to show him
49:37the hideous error
49:38as it seemed
49:39into which he had fallen,
49:40for the face of the man
49:41he had sought to kill
49:42had all the bloom of boyhood,
49:44all the unstained purity of youth.
49:48He loosened his hold
49:49and reeled back.
49:50My God!
49:51My God!
49:52He cried.
49:53I would have murdered you!
50:07It was not till the third day
50:08that he ventured to go out.
50:11There was something
50:13in the clear,
50:15pine-scented air
50:16of that winter morning
50:17that seemed to bring him back,
50:19his joyousness
50:20and his ardour for life.
50:24There is no use
50:25your telling me
50:26that you are going
50:27to be good,
50:29cried Lord Henry,
50:30dipping his white fingers
50:32into a red copper bowl
50:33filled with rose water,
50:35which he kept in his study.
50:36You are quite perfect.
50:39Pray don't change.
50:42Dorian Gray shook his head.
50:43No, Harry.
50:45I have done
50:46too many dreadful things
50:48in my life.
50:50I'm not going
50:51to do any more.
50:53I want to be better.
50:55I'm going to be better.
50:57But tell me
50:58something about yourself.
50:58What is going on in town?
51:00I've not been
51:00to the club for days.
51:02Well, the people
51:03are still discussing
51:04poor Basil's disappearance.
51:08I was very fond
51:11of Basil,
51:12said Dorian
51:13with a note of sadness
51:14in his voice.
51:16But
51:18don't people say
51:20that he was
51:21murdered?
51:22Oh, some of the papers do.
51:24It does not seem
51:26to me to be
51:27at all probable.
51:28By the way,
51:30what has become
51:31of that wonderful portrait
51:32he did of you?
51:34Oh, I forget,
51:36said Dorian.
51:37But
51:37I never reliked it.
51:39I'm sorry I sat for it.
51:41Why do you talk of it?
51:43It used to remind me
51:44of those curious lines
51:46in some play
51:46of Hamlet, I think.
51:48How do they run?
51:51Like the painting
51:52of a sorrow,
51:54a face without a heart.
51:56Yes,
51:57that is what it was like.
51:59Lord Henry laughed.
52:01If a man treats life
52:03artistically,
52:06his brain is
52:07his heart,
52:08he answered,
52:11sinking into
52:11an armchair.
52:12Dorian Gray
52:13shook his head
52:14and struck
52:15some soft chords
52:16on the piano.
52:17Like the painting
52:19of a sorrow,
52:20he repeated,
52:22a face
52:23without a heart.
52:25The elder man
52:27lay back
52:27and looked at him
52:28with half-closed eyes.
52:31By the way,
52:32Dorian,
52:33he said
52:34after a pause,
52:35what does it
52:36profit a man
52:37if he gain
52:38the whole world
52:40and lose
52:41how does
52:43the quotation run?
52:44His own soul.
52:47The music jarred
52:49and Dorian Gray
52:50started
52:51and stared
52:51at his friend.
52:54Why do you ask
52:55me that,
52:57Harry?
52:58My dear fellow,
53:01said Lord Henry,
53:02elevating his eyebrows
53:03in surprise.
53:04I asked you
53:05because I thought
53:05you might be able
53:06to give me an answer.
53:07That is all.
53:10Don't,
53:11Harry.
53:13The soul
53:14is a terrible reality.
53:17It can be bought
53:18and sold
53:20and bartered away.
53:21It can be poisoned
53:22or made perfect.
53:24There is a soul
53:25in each one of us.
53:27I know it.
53:29Hmm.
53:30Do you feel
53:31quite sure
53:32of that,
53:32Dorian?
53:34Quite sure.
53:36Ah.
53:37Then it must
53:38be an illusion.
53:39The things
53:40one feels
53:41absolutely certain
53:42about
53:43are never true.
53:45Dorian rose up
53:46from the piano
53:47and passed his hand
53:48through his hair.
53:49Yes.
53:51Life has been
53:52exquisite,
53:52he murmured.
53:54But I'm not going
53:55to have the same life,
53:56Harry.
53:57I'm tired tonight.
53:59Good night.
54:00As he reached the door,
54:01he hesitated for a moment,
54:03as if he had
54:04something more to say.
54:06Then he sighed
54:07and went out.
54:09It was a lovely night,
54:10so warm
54:12that he threw
54:12his coat over his arm
54:13and did not even
54:14put his silk scarf
54:15round his throat.
54:17When he reached home,
54:19he threw himself
54:20down on the sofa
54:21in the library
54:21and began to think
54:22over some of the things
54:23that Lord Henry
54:24had said to him.
54:28A new life.
54:31That was what he wanted.
54:33He began to wonder
54:34if the portrait
54:35in the locked room
54:36had changed.
54:39Surely it would not
54:40still be so horrible
54:42as it had been.
54:42Perhaps if his life
54:44became pure,
54:45he would be able
54:46to expel
54:47every sign of evil
54:48passion from the face.
54:50Perhaps the signs of evil
54:51had already gone away.
54:52He would go and look.
54:54He took the lamp
54:55from the table
54:56and crept upstairs.
54:58As he unbarred the door,
54:59a smile of joy
55:00flitted across his
55:02strangely young-looking face
55:04and lingered for a moment
55:06and lingered for a moment
55:06and lingered for a moment
55:06about his lips.
55:08Yes,
55:09he would be good
55:11and the hideous thing
55:13that he had hidden away
55:14would no longer be a terror
55:16to him.
55:17He felt as if the load
55:18had been lifted from him already.
55:21He went in quietly,
55:23locking the door behind him,
55:25as was his custom,
55:27and dragged the purple
55:28hanging from the portrait.
55:31A cry of pain
55:33and indignation
55:34broke from him.
55:36He could see no change,
55:39save that in the eyes
55:41there was a look of cunning
55:43and in the mouth
55:45the curved wrinkle
55:46of the hypocrite.
55:49The thing was still loathsome,
55:51more loathsome if possible
55:53than before,
55:54and the scarlet dew
55:55that spotted the hand
55:56seemed brighter
55:57and more like blood newly spilled.
56:02This murder,
56:03was it to dog him all his life?
56:06Was he always to be burdened
56:08by his past?
56:09Was he really to confess?
56:11Never.
56:13There was only one bit
56:14of evidence left against him.
56:16The picture itself,
56:17that was evidence.
56:20He would destroy it.
56:22Why had he kept it so long?
56:24Once it had given him pleasure
56:26to watch it changing
56:27and growing old.
56:28Of late he had felt
56:29no such pleasure.
56:31It had been like
56:32conscience to him.
56:34Yes,
56:35it had been conscience.
56:38He would destroy it.
56:41He looked around
56:42and saw the knife
56:43that had stabbed
56:43Basil Hallward.
56:44As it had killed the painter,
56:46so it would kill
56:47the painter's work
56:47and all that that meant.
56:48He seized the thing
56:49and stabbed the picture with it.
56:52There was a cry heard
56:54and a crash.
56:56The cry was so horrible
56:59in its agony
57:02but the frightened servants
57:04woke up and crept out of their rooms.
57:07They knocked
57:08but there was no reply.
57:11They called out.
57:13Everything was still.
57:16Finally,
57:17after vainly trying to force the door,
57:21they got on the roof
57:22and dropped down onto the balcony.
57:25The windows yielded easily.
57:26Their bolts were old.
57:28When they entered,
57:29they found,
57:31hanging upon the wall,
57:34a splendid portrait of their master
57:37as they had last seen him
57:39in all the wonder
57:41of his exquisite youth
57:43and beauty.
57:47Lying on the floor
57:48was a dead man
57:50in evening dress
57:51with a knife in his heart.
57:53He was withered,
57:56wrinkled
57:57and loathsome of visage.
58:02It was not till they had examined
58:04the rings on his fingers
58:06that they recognised
58:07who it was.
58:24The whole washing
58:28of the pillows
58:28can be shed
58:29and the foot
58:29at the middle
58:29once and and and still
58:38down
58:39which moon
58:41can be
58:41a shot
58:41and the
58:41of the
58:44helmet
58:44will upload
58:44in another
58:44In the
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