“Ye-es，butwhat’stheuseofshowingit？It’sonlyalotofscratchesAllthesame，wemighthave’emreproducedinthebookonthefrontpage。”
“I’llattendtothosedetailsShowmewhatyourmenwrote。”
Hepulledoutofhispocketasheetofnote-paper，withasinglelineofscratchesuponit，andIputthiscarefullyaway。
“WhatisitsupposedtomeaninEnglish？”Isaid。
“Oh，Idon’tknowPerhapsitmeans’I’mbeastlytired。’It’sgreatnonsence。”herepeated，“butallthosemenintheshipseemasrealpeopletomeDodosomethingtothenotionsoon；Ishouldliketoseeitwrittenandprinted。”
“Butallyou’vetoldmewouldmakealongbook。”
“MakeitthenYou’veonlytositdownandwriteitout。”
“GivemealittletimeHaveyouanymorenotions？”
“NotjustnowI’mreadingallthebooksI’veboughtThey’resplendid。”
WhenhehadleftIlookedatthesheetofnote-paperwiththeinscriptionuponitThenItookmyheadtenderlybetweenbothhands，tomakecertainthatitwasnotcomingofforturninground。
ThenbutthereseemedtobenointervalbetweenquittingmyroomsandfindingmyselfarguingwithapolicemanoutsideadoormarkedPrivateinacorridoroftheBritishMuseumAllI
demanded，aspolitelyaspossible，was“theGreekantiquityman。”
ThepolicemanknewnothingexcepttherulesoftheMuseum，anditbecamenecessarytoforagethroughallthehousesandofficesinsidethegatesAnelderlygentlemancalledawayfromhislunchputanendtomysearchbyholdingthenote-paperbetweenfingerandthumbandsniffingatitscornfully。
“Whatdoesthismean？H’mm。”saidhe“SofarasIcanascertainitisanattempttowriteextremelycorruptGreekonthepart“-hereheglaredatmewithintention-“ofanextremelyilliterate-ah-
person。”Hereadslowlyfromthepaper，“Pollock，Erckman，Tauchnitz，Henniker“-fournamesfamiliartome。
“Canyoutellmewhatthecorruptionissupposedtomean-thegistofthething？”Iasked。
“Ihavebeen-manytimes-overcomewithwearinessinthisparticularemploymentThatisthemeaning。”Hereturnedmethepaper，andIfledwithoutawordofthanks，explanation，orapology。
ImighthavebeenexcusedforforgettingmuchTomeofallmenhadbeengiventhechancetowritethemostmarveloustaleintheworld，nothinglessthanthestoryofaGreekgalley-slave，astoldbyhimselfSmallwonderthathisdreaminghadseemedrealtoCharlieTheFatesthataresocarefultoshutthedoorsofeachsuccessivelifebehindushad，inthiscase，beenneglectful，andCharliewaslooking，thoughthathedidnotknow，wherenevermanhadbeenpermittedtolookwithfullknowledgesinceTimebeganAboveallhewasabsolutelyignorantoftheknowledgesoldtomeforfivepounds；andhewouldretainthatignorance，forbank-clerksdonotunderstandmetempsychosis，andasoundcommercialeducationdoesnotincludeGreekHewouldsupplym~hereIcaperedamongthedumbgodsofEgyptandlaughedintheirbatteredfaces-withmaterialtomakemytalesur~sosurethattheworldwouldhailitasanimpudentandvampedfict~onAndI-Ialonewouldknowthatitwasabsolutelyandliterallytrue1，-I
aloneheldthisjeweltomyhandforthecuttingandpolishing。
ThereforeIdancedagainamongthegodstillapolicemansawmeandtookstepsinmydirection。
ItremainednowonlytoencourageCharlietotalk，andheretherewasnodifficultyButIhadforgottenthoseaccursedbooksofpoetryHecametometimeaftertime，asuselessasasurchargedphonograph-drunkonByron，Shelley，orKeatsKnowingnowwhattheboyhadbeeninhispastlives，anddesperatelyanxiousnottoloseonewordofhisbabble，IcouldnothidefromhimmyrespectandinterestHemisconstruedbothintorespectforthepresentsoulofCharlieMears，towhomlifewasasnewasitwastoAdam，andinterestinhisreadings；andstretchedmypatiencetobreakingpointbyrecitingpoetry-nothisownnow，butthatofothersIwishedeveryEnglishpoetblottedoutofthememoryofmankindIblasphemedthemightiestnamesofsongbecausetheyhaddrawnCharliefromthepathofdirectnarrative，andwould，later，spurhimtoimitatethem；butIchokeddownmyimpatienceuntilthefirstfloodofenthusiasmshouldhave...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：