首页 >出版文学> Lavengro>第55章

第55章

  Theothermadenoanswer,andturningawayImadeforthedoor;allofasuddenIstarted,andturninground,’Dearme,’saidI,’ithasjustcomeintomyhead,thatifthebookwaslostbymynegligence,asitmusthavebeen,Ihaveclearlyarighttomakeitgood。’
  Noanswer。
  ’Yes,’Irepeated,’Ihaveclearlyarighttomakeitgood;howgladIam!seetheeffectofalittlereflection。IwillpurchaseaBibleinstantly,thatis,ifIhavenotlost-’andwithconsiderableagitationIfeltinmypocket。
  Theprim-lookingmansmiled:’Isuppose,’saidhe,’thathehaslosthismoneyaswellasbook。’
  ’No,’saidI,’Ihavenot’;andpullingoutmyhandIdisplayednolessasumthanthreehalf-crowns。
  ’Oh,noblegoddessoftheMint!’asDameCharlottaNordenflycht,theSwede,saidahundredandfiftyyearsago,’greatisthypower;
  howenergeticallythepossessionoftheespeaksinfavourofman’scharacter!’
  ’Onlyhalf-a-crownforthisBible?’saidI,puttingdownthemoney,’itisworththree’;andbowingtothemanofthenoblefeatures,I
  departedwithmypurchase。
  ’Queercustomer,’saidtheprim-lookingman,asIwasabouttoclosethedoor-’don’tlikehim。’
  ’Why,astothat,Iscarcelyknowwhattosay,’saidheofthecountenanceofalion。
  CHAPTERXLVI
  Thepickpocket-Strangerencounter-Draghimalong-Agreatservice-Thingsofimportance-Philologicalmatters-Motheroflanguages-Zhats!
  AFEWdaysaftertheoccurrenceofwhatisrecordedinthelastchapter,asIwaswanderingintheCity,chancedirectedmyfootstepstoanalleyleadingfromonenarrowstreettoanotherintheneighbourhoodofCheapside。JustbeforeIreachedthemouthofthealley,amaninagreatcoat,closelyfollowedbyanother,passedit;and,atthemomentinwhichtheywerepassing,I
  observedthemanbehindsnatchsomethingfromthepocketoftheother;whereupon,dartingintothestreet,Iseizedthehindermostmanbythecollar,cryingatthesametimetotheother,’Mygoodfriend,thispersonhasjustpickedyourpocket。’
  TheindividualwhomIaddressed,turningroundwithastart,glancedatme,andthenatthepersonwhomIheld。Londonistheplaceforstrangerencounters。ItappearedtomethatIrecognisedbothindividuals-themanwhosepockethadbeenpickedandtheother;thelatternowbegantostruggleviolently;’Ihavepickednoone’spocket,’saidhe。’Rascal,’saidtheother,’youhavegotmypocket-bookinyourbosom。’’No,Ihavenot,’saidtheother;
  and,strugglingmoreviolentlythanbefore,thepocket-bookdroppedfromhisbosomupontheground。
  Theotherwasnowabouttolayhandsuponthefellow,whowasstillstruggling。’Youhadbettertakeupyourbook,’saidI;’Icanholdhim。’Hefollowedmyadvice;and,takinguphispocket-book,surveyedmyprisonerwithaferociouslook,occasionallyglaringatme。Yes,Ihadseenhimbefore-itwasthestrangerwhomIhadobservedonLondonBridge,bythestalloftheoldapple-woman,withthecapandcloak;but,insteadofthese,henowworeahatandgreatcoat。’Well,’saidI,atlast,’whatamItodowiththisgentlemanofours?’noddingtotheprisoner,whohadnowleftoffstruggling。’ShallIlethimgo?’
  ’Go!’saidtheother;’go!Theknave-therascal;lethimgo,indeed!Notso,heshallgobeforetheLordMayor。Bringhimalong。’
  ’Oh,letmego,’saidtheother:’letmego;thisisthefirstoffence,Iassureye-thefirsttimeIeverthoughttodoanythingwrong。’
  ’Holdyourtongue,’saidI,’orIshallbeangrywithyou。IfIamnotverymuchmistaken,youonceattemptedtocheatme。’
  ’Ineversawyoubeforeinallmylife,’saidthefellow,thoughhiscountenanceseemedtobeliehiswords。
  ’Thatisnottrue,’saidI;’youarethemanwhoattemptedtocheatmeofone-and-ninepenceinthecoach-yard,onthefirstmorningofmyarrivalinLondon。’
  ’Idon’tdoubtit,’saidtheother;’aconfirmedthief’;andherehistonesbecamepeculiarlysharp;’Iwouldfainseehimhanged-
  crucified。Draghimalong。’
  ’Iamnoconstable,’saidI;’youhavegotyourpocket-book,-I
  wouldratheryouwouldbidmelethimgo。’
  ’Bidyoulethimgo!’saidtheotheralmostfuriously,’Icommand-
  stay,whatwasIgoingtosay?Iwasforgettingmyself,’heobservedmoregently;’buthestolemypocket-book;-ifyoudidbutknowwhatitcontained。’
  ’Well,’saidI,’ifitcontainsanythingvaluable,bethemorethankfulthatyouhaverecoveredit;asfortheman,Iwillhelpyoutotakehimwhereyouplease;butIwishyouwouldlethimgo。’
  Thestrangerhesitated,andtherewasanextraordinaryplayofemotioninhisfeatures:helookedferociouslyatthepickpocket,and,morethanonce,somewhatsuspiciouslyatmyself;atlasthiscountenancecleared,and,withagoodgrace,hesaid,’Well,youhavedonemeagreatservice,andyouhavemyconsenttolethimgo;buttherascalshallnotescapewithimpunity,’heexclaimedsuddenly,asIletthemango,andstartingforward,beforethefellowcouldescape,hestruckhimaviolentblowontheface。Themanstaggered,andhadnearlyfallen;recoveringhimself,however,hesaid,’Itellyouwhat,myfellow;ifIevermeetyouinthisstreetinadarknight,andIhaveaknifeaboutme,itshallbetheworseforyou;asforyou,youngman,’saidhetome;but,observingthattheotherwasmakingtowardshim,heleftwhateverhewasabouttosayunfinished,and,takingtohisheels,wasoutofsightinamoment。
  ThestrangerandmyselfwalkedinthedirectionofCheapside,thewayinwhichhehadbeenoriginallyproceeding;hewassilentforafewmoments,atlengthhesaid,’Youhavereallydonemeagreatservice,andIshouldbeungratefulnottoacknowledgeit。Iamamerchant;andamerchant’spocket-book,asyouperhapsknow,containsmanythingsofimportance;but,youngman,’heexclaimed,’IthinkIhaveseenyoubefore;Ithoughtsoatfirst,butwhereI
  cannotexactlysay:wherewasit?’ImentionedLondonBridgeandtheoldapple-woman。’Oh,’saidhe,andsmiled,andtherewassomethingpeculiarinhissmile,’Iremembernow。DoyoufrequentlysitonLondonBridge?’’Occasionally,’saidI;’thatoldwomanisanoldfriendofmine。’’Friend?’saidthestranger,’Iamgladofit,forIshallknowwheretofindyou。AtpresentI
  amgoingto’Change;time,youknow,isprecioustoamerchant。’
  WewerebythistimeclosetoCheapside。’Farewell,’saidhe,’I
  shallnotforgetthisservice。Itrustweshallsoonmeetagain。’
  Hethenshookmebythehandandwenthisway。
  Thenextday,asIwasseatedbesidetheoldwomaninthebooth,thestrangeragainmadehisappearance,and,afterawordortwo,satdownbesideme;theoldwomanwassometimesreadingtheBible,whichshehadalreadyhadtwoorthreedaysinherpossession,andsometimesdiscoursingwithme。Ourdiscourserolledchieflyonphilologicalmatters。
  ’Whatdoyoucallbreadinyourlanguage?’saidI。
  ’Youmeanthelanguageofthosewhobringmethingstobuy,orwhodid;for,asItoldyoubefore,Ishan’tbuyanymore;it’snolanguageofmine,dear-theycallbreadpannamintheirlanguage。’
  ’Pannam!’saidI,’pannam!evidentlyconnectedwith,ifnotderivedfrom,theLatinpanis;evenasthewordtanner,whichsignifiethasixpence,isconnectedwith,ifnotderivedfrom,theLatintener,whichisitselfconnectedwith,ifnotderivedfrom,tawnoortawner,which,inthelanguageofMr。Petulengro,signifiethasuckingchild。Letmesee,whatisthetermforbreadinthelanguageofMr。Petulengro?Morro,ormanro,asIhavesometimeshearditcalled;istherenotsomeconnectionbetweenthesewordsandpanis?Yes,Ithinkthereis;andIshouldnotwonderifmorro,manro,andpaniswereconnected,perhapsderivedfrom,thesameroot;butwhatisthatroot?Idon’tknow-IwishIdid;
  though,perhaps,Ishouldnotbethehappier。Morro-manro!I
  ratherthinkmorroistheoldestform;itiseasiertosaymorrothanmanro。Morro!Irish,aran;Welsh,bara;English,bread。I
  canseearesemblancebetweenallthewords,andpannamtoo;andI
  ratherthinkthatthePetulengrianwordistheelder。HowodditwouldbeifthelanguageofMr。Petulengroshouldeventuallyturnouttobethemotherofallthelanguagesintheworld;yetitiscertainthattherearesomelanguagesinwhichthetermsforbreadhavenoconnectionwiththewordusedbyMr。Petulengro,notwithstandingthatthoselanguages,inmanyotherpoints,exhibitacloseaffinitytothelanguageofthehorse-shoemaster:forexample,bread,inHebrew,isLaham,whichassuredlyexhibitslittlesimilitudetothewordusedbytheaforesaidPetulengro。InArmenianitis-’
  ’Zhats!’saidthestranger,startingup。’BythePatriarchandtheThreeHolyChurches,thisiswonderful!HowcameyoutoknowaughtofArmenian?’
  CHAPTERXLVII
  Newacquaintance-Wiredcases-Breadandwine-Armeniancolonies-Learningwithoutmoney-Whatalanguage-Thetide-Yourfoible-LearningoftheHaiks-Oldproverb-Pressinginvitation。
  JUSTasIwasabouttoreplytotheinterrogationofmynew-formedacquaintance,amanwithaduskycountenance,probablyoneoftheLascars,orMulattos,ofwhomtheoldwomanhadspoken,cameupandwhisperedtohim,andwiththismanhepresentlydeparted,nothoweverbeforehehadtoldmetheplaceofhisabode,andrequestedmetovisithim。