It was sharply different from the West where an evening was hurried from phase to phase toward its close in a continually disappointed anticipation or else in sheer nervous dread of the moment itself.

这和西部截然不同，在那里，每逢晚上，人们总是迫不及待地从一个阶段到另一个阶段直到夜晚结束，总是有所期待而又不断地感到失望，要不然就对结束时刻的到来感到十分紧张和恐惧。