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lavengro-第128部分
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very well; side by side; and I hope will do so till the Almighty
calls all men to their long account。' 'They jog on very well now;'
said the woman; 'but I have heard my husband say that it was not
always so; and that the Welsh; in old times; were a violent and
ferocious people; for that once they hanged the mayor of Chester。'
'Ha; ha!' said the preacher; and his eyes flashed in the moonlight;
'he told you that; did he?' 'Yes;' said Mary; 'once; when the
mayor of Chester; with some of his people; was present at one of
the fairs over the border; a quarrel arose between the Welsh and
the English; and the Welsh beat the English; and hanged the mayor。'
'Your husband is a clever man;' said Peter; 'and knows a great
deal; did he tell you the name of the leader of the Welsh? No!
then I will: the leader of the Welsh on that occasion was …。 He
was a powerful chieftain; and there was an old feud between him and
the men of Chester。 Afterwards; when two hundred of the men of
Chester invaded his country to take revenge for their mayor; he
enticed them into a tower; set fire to it; and burnt them all。
That … was a very fine; noble … God forgive me; what was I about to
say … a very bad; violent man; but; Mary; this is very carnal and
unprofitable conversation; and in holding it we set a very bad
example to the young man here … let us change the subject。'
They then began to talk on religious matters。 At length Mary
departed to her abode; and the preacher and his wife retired to
their tilted cart。
'Poor fellow; he seems to be almost brutally ignorant;' said Peter;
addressing his wife in their native language; after they had bidden
me farewell for the night。
'I am afraid he is;' said Winifred; 'yet my heart warms to the poor
lad; he seems so forlorn。'
CHAPTER LXXIII
Morning hymn … Much alone … John Bunyan … Beholden to nobody …
Sixty…five … Sober greeting … Early Sabbaths … Finny brood … The
porch … No fortune…telling … The master's niece … Doing good … Two
or three things … Groans and voices … Pechod Ysprydd Glan。
I SLEPT soundly during that night; partly owing to the influence of
the opiate。 Early in the morning I was awakened by the voices of
Peter and his wife; who were singing a morning hymn in their own
language。 Both subsequently prayed long and fervently。 I lay
still till their devotions were completed; and then left my tent。
'Good morning;' said Peter; 'how dost thou feel?' 'Much better;'
said I; 'than I could have expected。' 'I am glad of it;' said
Peter。 'Art thou hungry? yonder comes our breakfast;' pointing to
the same young woman I had seen the preceding night; who was again
descending the hill bearing the tray upon her head。
'What dust thou intend to do; young man; this day?' said Peter;
when we had about half finished breakfast。 'Do;' said I; 'as I do
other days; what I can。' 'And dost thou pass this day as thou dost
other days?' said Peter。 'Why not?' said I; 'what is there in this
day different from the rest? it seems to be of the same colour as
yesterday。' 'Art thou aware;' said the wife; interposing; 'what
day it is? that it is Sabbath? that it is Sunday?' 'No;' said I;
'I did not know that it was Sunday。' 'And how did that happen?'
said Winifred; with a sigh。 'To tell you the truth;' said I; 'I
live very much alone; and pay very little heed to the passing of
time。' 'And yet of what infinite importance is time;' said
Winifred。 'Art thou not aware that every year brings thee nearer
to thy end?' 'I do not think;' said I; 'that I am so near my end
as I was yesterday。' 'Yes; thou art;' said the woman; 'thou wast
not doomed to die yesterday; an invisible hand was watching over
thee yesterday; but thy day will come; therefore improve the time;
be grateful that thou wast saved yesterday; and; oh! reflect on one
thing; if thou hadst died yesterday; where wouldst thou have been
now?' 'Cast into the earth; perhaps;' said I。 'I have heard Mr。
Petulengro say that to be cast into the earth is the natural end of
man。' 'Who is Mr。 Petulengro?' said Peter; interrupting his wife;
as she was about to speak。 'Master of the horse…shoe;' said I;
'and; according to his own account; king of Egypt。' 'I
understand;' said Peter; 'head of some family of wandering
Egyptians … they are a race utterly godless。 Art thou of them? …
but no; thou art not; thou hast not their yellow blood。 I suppose
thou belongest to the family of wandering artisans called …。 I do
not like you the worse for belonging to them。 A mighty speaker of
old sprang up from amidst that family。' 'Who was he?' said I。
'John Bunyan;' replied Peter; reverently; 'and the mention of his
name reminds me that I have to preach this day; wilt thou go and
hear? the distance is not great; only half a mile。' 'No;' said I;
'I will not go and hear。' 'Wherefore?' said Peter。 'I belong to
the church;' said I; 'and not to the congregations。' 'Oh! the
pride of that church;' said Peter; addressing his wife in their own
tongue; 'exemplified even in the lowest and most ignorant of its
members。 Then thou; doubtless; meanest to go to church;' said
Peter; again addressing me; 'there is a church on the other side of
that wooded hill。' 'No;' said I; 'I do not mean to go to church。'
'May I ask thee wherefore?' said Peter。 'Because;' said I; 'I
prefer remaining beneath the shade of these trees; listening to the
sound of the leaves and the tinkling of the waters。'
'Then thou intendest to remain here?' said Peter; looking fixedly
at me。 'If I do not intrude;' said I; 'but if I do; I will wander
away; I wish to be beholden to nobody … perhaps you wish me to go?'
'On the contrary;' said Peter; 'I wish you to stay。 I begin to see
something in thee which has much interest for me; but we must now
bid thee farewell for the rest of the day; the time is drawing nigh
for us to repair to the place of preaching; before we leave thee
alone; however; I should wish to ask thee a question … Didst thou
seek thy own destruction yesterday; and didst thou wilfully take
that poison?' 'No;' said I; 'had I known there had been poison in
the cake I certainly should not have taken it。' 'And who gave it
thee?' said Peter。 'An enemy of mine;' I replied。 'Who is thy
enemy?' 'An Egyptian sorceress and poison…monger。' 'Thy enemy is
a female。 I fear thou hadst given her cause to hate thee … of what
did she complain?' 'That I had stolen the tongue out of her head。'
'I do not understand thee … is she young?' 'About sixty…five。'
Here Winifred interposed。 'Thou didst call her just now by hard
names; young man;' said she; 'I trust thou dost bear no malice
against her。' 'No;' said I; 'I bear no malice against her。' 'Thou
art not wishing to deliver her into the hand of what is called
justice?' 'By no means;' said I; 'I have lived long
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