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lavengro-第94部分

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'Bonnet;' said I; musingly; 'bonnet; it is metaphorical。'



'Is it?' said the man。



'Yes;' said I; 'like the cant words … '



'Bonnet is cant;' said the man; 'we of the thimble; as well as all 

cly…fakers and the like; understand cant; as; of course; must every 

bonnet; so; if you are employed by me; you had better learn it as 

soon as you can; that we may discourse together without being 

understood by every one。  Besides covering his principal; a bonnet 

must have his eyes about him; for the trade of the pea; though a 

strictly honest one; is not altogether lawful; so it is the duty of 

the bonnet; if he sees the constable coming; to say; The gorgio's 

welling。'



'That is not cant;' said I; 'that is the language of the Rommany 

Chals。'



'Do you know those people?' said the man。



'Perfectly;' said I; 'and their language too。'



'I wish I did;' said the man; 'I would give ten pounds and more to 

know the language of the Rommany Chals。  There's some of it in the 

language of the pea and thimble; how it came there I don't know; 

but so it is。  I wish I knew it; but it is difficult。  You'll make 

a capital bonnet; shall we close?'



'What would the wages be?' I demanded。



'Why; to a first…rate bonnet; as I think you would prove; I could 

afford to give from forty to fifty shillings a week。'



'Is it possible?' said I。



'Good wages; ain't they?' said the man。



'First…rate;' said I; 'bonneting is more profitable than 

reviewing。'



'Anan?' said the man。



'Or translating; I don't think the Armenian would have paid me at 

that rate for translating his Esop。'



'Who is he?' said the man。



'Esop?'



'No; I know what that is; Esop's cant for a hunchback; but 

t'other?'



'You should know;' said I。



'Never saw the man in all my life。'



'Yes; you have;' said I; 'and felt him too; don't you remember the 

individual from whom you took the pocket…book?'



'Oh; that was he; well; the less said about that matter the better; 

I have left off that trade; and taken to this; which is a much 

better。  Between ourselves; I am not sorry that I did not carry off 

that pocket…book; if I had; it might have encouraged me in the 

trade; in which had I remained; I might have been lagged; sent 

abroad; as I had been already imprisoned; so I determined to leave 

it off at all hazards; though I was hard up; not having a penny in 

the world。'



'And wisely resolved;' said I; 'it was a bad and dangerous trade; I 

wonder you should ever have embraced it。'



'It is all very well talking;' said the man; 'but there is a reason 

for everything; I am the son of a Jewess; by a military officer' … 

and then the man told me his story。  I shall not repeat the man's 

story; it was a poor one; a vile one; at last he observed; 'So that 

affair which you know of determined me to leave the filching trade; 

and take up with a more honest and safe one; so at last I thought 

of the pea and thimble; but I wanted funds; especially to pay for 

lessons at the hands of a master; for I knew little about it。'



'Well;' said I; 'how did you get over that difficulty?'



'Why;' said the man; 'I thought I should never have got over it。  

What funds could I raise?  I had nothing to sell; the few clothes I 

had I wanted; for we of the thimble must always appear decent; or 

nobody would come near us。  I was at my wits' ends; at last I got 

over my difficulty in the strangest way in the world。'



'What was that?'



'By an old thing which I had picked up some time before … a book。'



'A book?' said I。



'Yes; which I had taken out of your lordship's pocket one day as 

you were walking the streets in a great hurry。  I thought it was a 

pocket…book at first; full of bank…notes; perhaps;' continued he; 

laughing。  'It was well for me; however; that it was not; for I 

should have soon spent the notes; as it was; I had flung the old 

thing down with an oath; as soon as I brought it home。  When I was 

so hard up; however; after the affair with that friend of yours; I 

took it up one day; and thought I might make something by it to 

support myself a day with。  Chance or something else led me into a 

grand shop; there was a man there who seemed to be the master; 

talking to a jolly; portly old gentleman; who seemed to be a 

country squire。  Well; I went up to the first; and offered it for 

sale; he took the book; opened it at the title…page; and then all 

of a sudden his eyes glistened; and he showed it to the fat; jolly 

gentleman; and his eyes glistened too; and I heard him say 〃How 

singular!〃 and then the two talked together in a speech I didn't 

understand … I rather thought it was French; at any rate it wasn't 

cant; and presently the first asked me what I would take for the 

book。  Now I am not altogether a fool; nor am I blind; and I had 

narrowly marked all that passed; and it came into my head that now 

was the time for making a man of myself; at any rate I could lose 

nothing by a little confidence; so I looked the man boldly in the 

face; and said; 〃I will have five guineas for that book; there 

ain't such another in the whole world。〃  〃Nonsense;〃 said the first 

man; 〃there are plenty of them; there have been nearly fifty 

editions; to my knowledge; I will give you five shillings。〃  〃No;〃 

said I; 〃I'll not take it; for I don't like to be cheated; so give 

me my book again〃; and I attempted to take it away from the fat 

gentleman's hand。  〃Stop;〃 said the younger man; 〃are you sure that 

you won't take less?〃  〃Not a farthing;〃 said I; which was not 

altogether true; but I said so。  〃Well;〃 said the fat gentleman; 〃I 

will give you what you ask〃; and sure enough he presently gave me 

the money; so I made a bow; and was leaving the shop; when it came 

into my head that there was something odd in all this; and; as I 

had the money in my pocket; I turned back; and; making another bow; 

said; 〃May I be so bold as to ask why you gave me all this money 

for that 'ere dirty book?  When I came into the shop; I should have 

been glad to get a shilling for it; but I saw you wanted it; and 

asked five guineas。〃  Then they looked at one another; and smiled; 

and shrugged up their shoulders。  Then the first man; looking at 

me; said; 〃Friend; you have been a little too sharp for us; 

however; we can afford to forgive you; as my friend here has long 

been in quest of this particular book; there are plenty of 

editions; as I told you; and a common copy is not worth five 

shillings; but this is a first edition; and a copy of the first 

edition is worth its weight in gold。〃'



'So; after all; they outwitted you;' I observed。



'Clearly;' said the man; 'I might have got double the price; had I 

known the value; but I don't care; much good may it do them; it has 

done me plenty。  By means of it I have got into an honest; 

respectable trade; in which there's little danger and plenty of 

prof
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