three men on the bummel-第16章
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woman by any means。
Myself; I am of opinion that had she brought the action she
threatened; she would have had no case; but our chief was a man who
had had experience of the law; and his principle was always to
avoid it。 I have heard him say:
〃If a man stopped me in the street and demanded of me my watch; I
should refuse to give it to him。 If he threatened to take it by
force; I feel I should; though not a fighting man; do my best to
protect it。 If; on the other hand; he should assert his intention
of trying to obtain it by means of an action in any court of law; I
should take it out of my pocket and hand it to him; and think I had
got off cheaply。〃
He squared the matter with the florid…faced lady for a five…pound
note; which must have represented a month's profits on the paper;
and she departed; taking her damaged offspring with her。 After she
was gone; our chief spoke kindly to me。 He said:
〃Don't think I am blaming you in the least; it is not your fault;
it is Fate。 Keep to moral advice and criticismthere you are
distinctly good; but don't try your hand any more on 'Useful
Information。' As I have said; it is not your fault。 Your
information is correct enoughthere is nothing to be said against
that; it simply is that you are not lucky with it。〃
I would that I had followed his advice always; I would have saved
myself and other people much disaster。 I see no reason why it
should be; but so it is。 If I instruct a man as to the best route
between London and Rome; he loses his luggage in Switzerland; or is
nearly shipwrecked off Dover。 If I counsel him in the purchase of
a camera; he gets run in by the German police for photographing
fortresses。 I once took a deal of trouble to explain to a man how
to marry his deceased wife's sister at Stockholm。 I found out for
him the time the boat left Hull and the best hotels to stop at。
There was not a single mistake from beginning to end in the
information with which I supplied him; no hitch occurred anywhere;
yet now he never speaks to me。
Therefore it is that I have come to restrain my passion for the
giving of information; therefore it is that nothing in the nature
of practical instruction will be found; if I can help it; within
these pages。
There will be no description of towns; no historical reminiscences;
no architecture; no morals。
I once asked an intelligent foreigner what he thought of London。
He said: 〃It is a very big town。〃
I said: 〃What struck you most about it?〃
He replied: 〃The people。〃
I said: 〃Compared with other townsParis; Rome; Berlin;what did
you think of it?〃
He shrugged his shoulders。 〃It is bigger;〃 he said; 〃what more can
one say?〃
One anthill is very much like another。 So many avenues; wide or
narrow; where the little creatures swarm in strange confusion;
these bustling by; important; these halting to pow…wow with one
another。 These struggling with big burdens; those but basking in
the sun。 So many granaries stored with food; so many cells where
the little things sleep; and eat; and love; the corner where lie
their little white bones。 This hive is larger; the next smaller。
This nest lies on the sand; and another under the stones。 This was
built but yesterday; while that was fashioned ages ago; some say
even before the swallows came; who knows?
Nor will there be found herein folk…lore or story。
Every valley where lie homesteads has its song。 I will tell you
the plot; you can turn it into verse and set it to music of your
own。
There lived a lass; and there came a lad; who loved and rode away。
It is a monotonous song; written in many languages; for the young
man seems to have been a mighty traveller。 Here in sentimental
Germany they remember him well。 So also the dwellers of the Blue
Alsatian Mountains remember his coming among them; while; if my
memory serves me truly; he likewise visited the Banks of Allan
Water。 A veritable Wandering Jew is he; for still the foolish
girls listen; so they say; to the dying away of his hoof…beats。
In this land of many ruins; that long while ago were voice…filled
homes; linger many legends; and here again; giving you the
essentials; I leave you to cook the dish for yourself。 Take a
human heart or two; assorted; a bundle of human passionsthere are
not many of them; half a dozen at the most; season with a mixture
of good and evil; flavour the whole with the sauce of death; and
serve up where and when you will。 〃The Saint's Cell;〃 〃The Haunted
Keep;〃 〃The Dungeon Grave;〃 〃The Lover's Leap〃call it what you
will; the stew's the same。
Lastly; in this book there will be no scenery。 This is not
laziness on my part; it is self…control。 Nothing is easier to
write than scenery; nothing more difficult and unnecessary to read。
When Gibbon had to trust to travellers' tales for a description of
the Hellespont; and the Rhine was chiefly familiar to English
students through the medium of Caesar's Commentaries; it behoved
every globe…trotter; for whatever distance; to describe to the best
of his ability the things that he had seen。 Dr。 Johnson; familiar
with little else than the view down Fleet Street; could read the
description of a Yorkshire moor with pleasure and with profit。 To
a cockney who had never seen higher ground than the Hog's Back in
Surrey; an account of Snowdon must have appeared exciting。 But we;
or rather the steam…engine and the camera for us; have changed all
that。 The man who plays tennis every year at the foot of the
Matterhorn; and billiards on the summit of the Rigi; does not thank
you for an elaborate and painstaking description of the Grampian
Hills。 To the average man; who has seen a dozen oil paintings; a
hundred photographs; a thousand pictures in the illustrated
journals; and a couple of panoramas of Niagara; the word…painting
of a waterfall is tedious。
An American friend of mine; a cultured gentleman; who loved poetry
well enough for its own sake; told me that he had obtained a more
correct and more satisfying idea of the Lake district from an
eighteenpenny book of photographic views than from all the works of
Coleridge; Southey; and Wordsworth put together。 I also remember
his saying concerning this subject of scenery in literature; that
he would thank an author as much for writing an eloquent
description of what he had just had for dinner。 But this was in
reference to another argument; namely; the proper province of each
art。 My friend maintained that just as canvas and colour were the
wrong mediums for story telling; so word…painting was; at its best;
but a clumsy method of conveying impressions that could much better
be received through the eye。
As regards the question; there also lingers in my memory very
distinctly a hot school afternoon。 The class was for English
literature; and the proceedings commenced with the reading of a
certain lengthy; but otherwise unobjectionable; poem。 The author's
name; I am ashamed to say; I have forgotten; together with the
title of the poem。 The reading finished; we closed our books; and
the Professor; a kindly; white…haired old gentleman; suggested our
giving in our own words an account of what we had just read。
〃Tell me;〃 said the Professor; encouragingly; 〃what it is all
about。〃
〃Please; sir;〃 said the first boyhe spoke with bowed head and
evident reluctance; as though the subject were one which; left to
himself; he would never have mentioned;〃it is about a maiden。〃
〃Yes;〃 agreed the Professor; 〃but I want you to tell me in your own
words。 We do not speak of a maiden; you know; we say a girl。 Yes;
it is about a girl。 Go on。〃
〃A girl;〃 repeated the top boy; the substitution apparently
increasing his embarrassment; 〃who lived in a wood。〃
〃What sort of a wood?〃 asked the Professor。
The first boy examined his inkpot carefully; and then looked at the
ceiling。
〃Come;〃 urged the Professor; growing impatient; 〃you have been
reading about this wood for the last ten minutes。 Surely you can
tell me something concerning it。〃
〃The gnarly trees; their twisted branches〃recommenced the top
boy。
〃No; no;〃 interrupted the Professor; 〃I do not want you to repeat
the