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。
第55章