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lavengro-第42部分
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principal meal; I; being the youngest; was left to take care of the
premises; to answer the bell; and so forth; till relieved; which
was seldom before the expiration of an hour and a half; when I
myself went home; this period; however; was anything but
disagreeable to me; for it was then that I did what best pleased
me; and; leaving off copying the documents; I sometimes indulged in
a fit of musing; my chin resting on both my hands; and my elbows
planted on the desk; or; opening the desk aforesaid; I would take
out one of the books contained within it; and the book which I took
out was almost invariably; not Blackstone; but Ab Gwilym。
Ah; that Ab Gwilym! I am much indebted to him; and it were
ungrateful on my part not to devote a few lines to him and his
songs in this my history。 Start not; reader; I am not going to
trouble you with a poetical dissertation; no; no; I know my duty
too well to introduce anything of the kind; but I; who imagine I
know several things; and amongst others the workings of your mind
at this moment; have an idea that you are anxious to learn a
little; a very little; more about Ab Gwilym than I have hitherto
told you; the two or three words that I have dropped having
awakened within you a languid kind of curiosity。 I have no
hesitation in saying that he makes one of the some half…dozen
really great poets whose verses; in whatever language they wrote;
exist at the present day; and are more or less known。 It matters
little how I first became acquainted with the writings of this man;
and how the short thick volume; stuffed full with his immortal
imaginings; first came into my hands。 I was studying Welsh; and I
fell in with Ab Gwilym by no very strange chance。 But; before I
say more about Ab Gwilym; I must be permitted … I really must … to
say a word or two about the language in which he wrote; that same
'Sweet Welsh。' If I remember right; I found the language a
difficult one; in mastering it; however; I derived unexpected
assistance from what of Irish remained in my head; and I soon found
that they were cognate dialects; springing from some old tongue
which itself; perhaps; had sprung from one much older。 And here I
cannot help observing cursorily that I every now and then; whilst
studying this Welsh; generally supposed to be the original tongue
of Britain; encountered words which; according to the
lexicographers; were venerable words highly expressive; showing the
wonderful power and originality of the Welsh; in which; however;
they were no longer used in common discourse; but were relics;
precious relics; of the first speech of Britain; perhaps of the
world; with which words; however; I was already well acquainted;
and which I had picked up; not in learned books; classic books; and
in tongues of old renown; but whilst listening to Mr。 Petulengro
and Tawno Chikno talking over their everyday affairs in the
language of the tents; which circumstance did not fail to give rise
to deep reflection in those moments when; planting my elbows on the
deal desk; I rested my chin upon my hands。 But it is probable that
I should have abandoned the pursuit of the Welsh language; after
obtaining a very superficial acquaintance with it; had it not been
for Ab Gwilym。
A strange songster was that who; pretending to be captivated by
every woman he saw; was; in reality; in love with nature alone …
wild; beautiful; solitary nature … her mountains and cascades; her
forests and streams; her birds; fishes; and wild animals。 Go to;
Ab Gwilym; with thy pseudo…amatory odes; to Morfydd; or this or
that other lady; fair or ugly; little didst thou care for any of
them; Dame Nature was thy love; however thou mayest seek to
disguise the truth。 Yes; yes; send thy love…message to Morfydd;
the fair wanton。 By whom dost thou send it; I would know? by the
salmon forsooth; which haunts the rushing stream! the glorious
salmon which bounds and gambols in the flashing water; and whose
ways and circumstances thou so well describest … see; there he
hurries upwards through the flashing water。 Halloo! what a glimpse
of glory … but where is Morfydd the while? What; another message
to the wife of Bwa Bach? Ay; truly; and by whom? … the wind! the
swift wind; the rider of the world; whose course is not to be
stayed; who gallops o'er the mountain; and; when he comes to
broadest river; asks neither for boat nor ferry; who has described
the wind so well … his speed and power? But where is Morfydd? And
now thou art awaiting Morfydd; the wanton; the wife of the Bwa
Bach; thou art awaiting her beneath the tall trees; amidst the
underwood; but she comes not; no Morfydd is there。 Quite right; Ab
Gwilym; what wantest thou with Morfydd? But another form is nigh at
hand; that of red Reynard; who; seated upon his chine at the mouth
of his cave; looks very composedly at thee; thou startest; bendest
thy bow; thy cross…bow; intending to hit Reynard with the bolt just
about the jaw; but the bow breaks; Reynard barks and disappears
into his cave; which by thine own account reaches hell … and then
thou ravest at the misfortune of thy bow; and the non…appearance of
Morfydd; and abusest Reynard。 Go to; thou carest neither for thy
bow nor for Morfydd; thou merely seekest an opportunity to speak of
Reynard; and who has described him like thee? the brute with the
sharp shrill cry; the black reverse of melody; whose face sometimes
wears a smile like the devil's in the Evangile。 But now thou art
actually with Morfydd; yes; she has stolen from the dwelling of the
Bwa Bach and has met thee beneath those rocks … she is actually
with thee; Ab Gwilym; but she is not long with thee; for a storm
comes on; and thunder shatters the rocks … Morfydd flees! Quite
right; Ab Gwilym; thou hadst no need of her; a better theme for
song is the voice of the Lord … the rock…shatterer … than the frail
wife of the Bwa Bach。 Go to; Ab Gwilym; thou wast a wiser and a
better man than thou wouldst fain have had people believe。
But enough of thee and thy songs! Those times passed rapidly; with
Ab Gwilym in my hand; I was in the midst of enchanted ground; in
which I experienced sensations akin to those I had felt of yore
whilst spelling my way through the wonderful book … the delight of
my childhood。 I say akin; for perhaps only once in our lives do we
experience unmixed wonder and delight; and these I had already
known。
CHAPTER XX
Silver gray … Good word for everybody … A remarkable youth …
Clients … Grades in society … The archdeacon … Reading the Bible。
'I AM afraid that I have not acted very wisely in putting this boy
of ours to the law;' said my father to my mother; as they sat
together one summer evening in their little garden; beneath the
shade of some tall poplars。
Yes; there sat my father in the garden chair which leaned
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