第34章

Therewasacontinualflowofnaturalemotion，gushingforthamid

abstractedreverie，whichenabledthefamilytounderstandthis

youngman’ssentiments，thoughsoforeignfromtheirown。Withquick

sensibilityoftheludicrous，heblushedattheardorintowhichhe

hadbeenbetrayed。

“Youlaughatme。”saidhe，takingtheeldestdaughter’shand，

andlaughinghimself。“YouthinkmyambitionasnonsensicalasifI

weretofreezemyselftodeathonthetopofMountWashington，only

thatpeoplemightspyatmefromthecountryroundabout。And，

truly，thatwouldbeanoblepedestalforaman’sstatue！”

“Itisbettertositherebythisfire。”answeredthegirl，

blushing，“andbecomfortableandcontented，thoughnobodythinks

aboutus。”

“Isuppose。”saidherfather，afterafitofmusing，“thereis

somethingnaturalinwhattheyoungmansays；andifmymindhad

beenturnedthatway，Imighthavefeltjustthesame。Itis

strange，wife，howhistalkhassetmyheadrunningonthingsthatare

prettycertainnevertocometopass。”

“Perhapstheymay。”observedthewife。“Isthemanthinkingwhathe

willdowhenheisawidower？”

“No，no！”criedhe，repellingtheideawithreproachfulkindness。

“WhenIthinkofyourdeath，Esther，Ithinkofmine，too。ButIwas

wishingwehadagoodfarminBartlett，orBethlehem，orLittleton，or

someothertownshiproundtheWhiteMountains；butnotwherethey

couldtumbleonourheads。Ishouldwanttostandwellwithmy

neighborsandbecalledSquire，andsenttoGeneralCourtforaterm

ortwo；foraplain，honestmanmaydoasmuchgoodthereasalawyer。

AndwhenIshouldbegrownquiteanoldman，andyouanoldwoman，

soasnottobelongapart，Imightdiehappyenoughinmybed，and

leaveyouallcryingaroundme。Aslategravestonewouldsuitmeas

wellasamarbleone-withjustmynameandage，andaverseofa

hymn，andsomethingtoletpeopleknowthatIlivedanhonestman

anddiedaChristian。”

“Therenow！”exclaimedthestranger；“itisournaturetodesire

amonument，beitslateormarble，orapillarofgranite，ora

gloriousmemoryintheuniversalheartofman。”

“We’reinastrangeway，tonight。”saidthewife，withtearsinher

eyes。“Theysayit’sasignofsomething，whenfolks’mindsgo

a-wanderingso。Harktothechildren！”

Theylistenedaccordingly。Theyoungerchildrenhadbeenputtobed

inanotherroom，butwithanopendoorbetween，sothattheycould

beheardtalkingbusilyamongthemselves。Oneandallseemedtohave

caughttheinfectionfromthefiresidecircle，andwereoutvying

eachotherinwildwishes，andchildishprojects，ofwhattheywould

dowhentheycametobemenandwomen。Atlengthalittleboy，instead

ofaddressinghisbrothersandsisters，calledouttohismother。

“I’lltellyouwhatIwish，mother。”criedhe。“Iwantyouand

fatherandgrandma’m，andallofus，andthestrangertoo，tostart

rightaway，andgoandtakeadrinkoutofthebasinoftheFlume！”

Nobodycouldhelplaughingatthechild’snotionofleavinga

warmbed，anddraggingthemfromacheerfulfire，tovisitthebasin

oftheFlume-abrook，whichtumblesovertheprecipice，deepwithin

theNotch。Theboyhadhardlyspokenwhenawagonrattledalongthe

road，andstoppedamomentbeforethedoor。Itappearedtocontaintwo

orthreemen，whowerecheeringtheirheartswiththeroughchorus

ofasong，whichresounded，inbrokennotes，betweenthecliffs，while

thesingershesitatedwhethertocontinuetheirjourneyorputuphere