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the professor at the breakfast table-第17部分
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memorable journey。 So he took down his Virgil; it was the smooth…
leafed; open…lettered quarto of Baskerville;and began reading the
loves and mishaps of Dido。 It would n't do。 A lady who had not
learned discretion by experience; and came to an evil end。 He shook
his head; as he sadly repeated;
〃…misera ante diem; subitoque accensa furore;〃
but when he came to the lines;
〃Ergo Iris croceis per coelum roscida pennis
Mille trahens varios adverso Sole colores;〃
he jumped up with a great exclamation; which the particular recording
angel who heard it pretended not to understand; or it might have gone
hard with the Latin tutor some time or other。
〃Iris shall be her name!〃he said。 So her name was Iris。
The natural end of a tutor is to perish by starvation。 It is only
a question of time; just as with the burning of college libraries。
These all burn up sooner or later; provided they are not housed in
brick or stone and iron。 I don't mean that you will see in the
registry of deaths that this or that particular tutor died of well…
marked; uncomplicated starvation。 They may; even; in extreme cases;
be carried off by a thin; watery kind of apoplexy; which sounds very
well in the returns; but means little to those who know that it is
only debility settling on the head。 Generally; however; they fade
and waste away under various pretexts;calling it dyspepsia;
consumption; and so on; to put a decent appearance upon the case and
keep up the credit of the family and the institution where they have
passed through the successive stages of inanition。
In some cases it takes a great many years to kill a tutor by the
process in question。 You see they do get food and clothes and fuel;
in appreciable quantities; such as they are。 You will even notice
rows of books in their rooms; and a picture or two;things that look
as if they had surplus money; but these superfluities are the water
of crystallization to scholars; and you can never get them away till
the poor fellows effloresce into dust。 Do not be deceived。 The
tutor breakfasts on coffee made of beans; edulcorated with milk
watered to the verge of transparency; his mutton is tough and
elastic; up to the moment when it becomes tired out and tasteless;
his coal is a sullen; sulphurous anthracite; which rusts into ashes;
rather than burns; in the shallow grate; his flimsy broadcloth is too
thin for winter and too thick for summer。 The greedy lungs of fifty
hot…blooded boys suck the oxygen from the air he breathes in his
recitation…room。 In short; he undergoes a process of gentle and
gradual starvation。
The mother of little Iris was not called Electra; like hers of the
old story; neither was her grandfather Oceanus。 Her blood…name;
which she gave away with her heart to the Latin tutor; was a plain
old English one; and her water…name was Hannah; beautiful as
recalling the mother of Samuel; and admirable as reading equally well
from the initial letter forwards and from the terminal letter
backwards。 The poor lady; seated with her companion at the
chessboard of matrimony; had but just pushed forward her one little
white pawn upon an empty square; when the Black Knight; that cares
nothing for castles or kings or queens; swooped down upon her and
swept her from the larger board of life。
The old Latin tutor put a modest blue stone at the head of his late
companion; with her name and age and Eheu! upon it;a smaller one
at her feet; with initials; and left her by herself; to be rained and
snowed on;which is a hard thing to do for those whom we have
cherished tenderly。
About the time that the lichens; falling on the stone; like drops of
water; had spread into fair; round rosettes; the tutor had starved
into a slight cough。 Then he began to draw the buckle of his black
trousers a little tighter; and took in another reef in his never…
ample waistcoat。 His temples got a little hollow; and the contrasts
of color in his cheeks more vivid than of old。 After a while his
walks fatigued him; and he was tired; and breathed hard after going
up a flight or two of stairs。 Then came on other marks of inward
trouble and general waste; which he spoke of to his physician as
peculiar; and doubtless owing to accidental causes; to all which the
doctor listened with deference; as if it had not been the old story
that one in five or six of mankind in temperate climates tells; or
has told for him; as if it were something new。 As the doctor went
out; he said to himself;〃On the rail at last。 Accommodation train。
A good many stops; but will get to the station by and by。〃 So the
doctor wrote a recipe with the astrological sign of Jupiter before
it; (just as your own physician does; inestimable reader; as you will
see; if you look at his next prescription;) and departed; saying he
would look in occasionally。 After this; the Latin tutor began the
usual course of 〃getting better;〃 until he got so much better that
his face was very sharp; and when he smiled; three crescent lines
showed at each side of his lips; and when he spoke; it was in a
muffled whisper; and the white of his eye glistened as pearly as the
purest porcelain;so much better; that he hopedby springhe
might be abletoattendto his class again。 But he was
recommended not to expose himself; and so kept his chamber; and
occasionally; not having anything to do; his bed。 The unmarried
sister with whom he lived took care of him; and the child; now old
enough to be manageable and even useful in trifling offices; sat in
the chamber; or played; about。
Things could not go on so forever; of course。 One morning his face
was sunken and his hands were very; very cold。 He was 〃better;〃 he
whispered; but sadly and faintly。 After a while he grew restless and
seemed a little wandering。 His mind ran on his classics; and fell
back on the Latin grammar。
〃Iris! 〃 he said;〃;filiola mea!〃The child knew this meant my
dear little daughter as well as if it had been English。 〃Rainbow!
〃for he would translate her name at times;〃come to me;veni〃and
his lips went on automatically; and murmured;〃 vel venito!〃 The
child came and sat by his bedside and took his hand; which she could
not warm; but which shot its rays of cold all through her slender
frame。 But there she sat; looking steadily at him。 Presently he
opened his lips feebly; and whispered; 〃Moribundus。〃 She did not
know what that meant; but she saw that there was something new and
sad。 So she began to cry; but presently remembering an old book that
seemed to comfort him at times; got up and brought a Bible in the
Latin version; called the Vulgate。 〃Open it;〃 he said;〃I will
read; segnius irritant;don't put the light out;ah! hoeret
lateri;I am going;vale; vale; vale; goodbye; good…bye;the Lord
take care of my child! Domine; audi vel audito!〃 His face whitened
suddenly; and he lay still; with open eyes and mouth。 He had taken
his last degree
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