第100章

’DoyoumeantosaythatIamascofferandmocker？’

’Idon’twishtosayyouare，’saidBelle；’butsomeofyourwordssoundstrangelylikescoffingandmocking。Ihavenowonethingtobeg，whichis，thatifyouhaveanythingtosayagainstAmerica，youwouldspeakitoutboldly。’

’WhatshouldIhavetosayagainstAmerica？Ineverwasthere。’

’ManypeoplespeakagainstAmericawhoneverwerethere。’

’ManypeoplespeakinpraiseofAmericawhoneverwerethere；butwithrespecttomyself，IhavenotspokenfororagainstAmerica。’

’IfyoulikedAmericayouwouldspeakinitspraise。’

’Bythesamerule，ifIdislikedAmericaIshouldspeakagainstit。’

’Ican’tspeakwithyou，’saidBelle；’butIseeyoudislikethecountry。’

’Thecountry!’

’Well，thepeople-don’tyou？’

’Ido。’

’Whydoyoudislikethem？’

’Why，IhaveheardmyfathersaythattheAmericanmarksmen，ledonbyachapofthenameofWashington，senttheEnglishtotheright-

aboutindouble-quicktime。’

’AndthatisyourreasonfordislikingtheAmericans？’

’Yes，’saidI，’thatismyreasonfordislikingthem。’

’Willyoutakeanothercupoftea？’saidBelle。

Itookanothercup；wewereagainsilent。’Itisratheruncomfortable，’saidI，atlast，’forpeopletosittogetherwithouthavinganythingtosay。’

’Wereyouthinkingofyourcompany？’saidBelle。

’Whatcompany？’saidI。

’Thepresentcompany。’

’Thepresentcompany!oh，ah-IrememberthatIsaidoneonlyfeelsuncomfortableinbeingsilentwithacompanion，whenonehappenstobethinkingofthecompanion。Well，Ihadbeenthinkingofyouthelasttwoorthreeminutes，andhadjustcometotheconclusionthat，topreventusbothfeelingoccasionallyuncomfortablytowardseachother，havingnothingtosay，itwouldbeaswelltohaveastandingsubjectonwhichtoemployourtongues。Belle，IhavedeterminedtogiveyoulessonsinArmenian。’

’WhatisArmenian？’

’DidyoueverhearofArarat？’

’Yes，thatwastheplacewherethearkrested；Ihaveheardthechaplaininthegreathousetalkofit；besides，IhavereadofitintheBible。’

’Well，Armenianisthespeechofpeopleofthatplace，andIshouldliketoteachityou。’

’Toprevent-’

’Ay，ay，topreventouroccasionallyfeelinguncomfortabletogether。Youracquiringitbesidesmightproveofulterioradvantagetousboth；forexample，supposeyouandIwereinpromiscuouscompany，atCourt，forexample，andyouhadsomethingtocommunicatetomewhichyoudidnotwishanyoneelsetobeacquaintedwith，howsafelyyoumightcommunicateittomeinArmenian。’

’Wouldnotthelanguageoftheroadsdoaswell？’saidBelle。

’Insomeplacesitwould，’saidI，’butnotatCourt，owingtoitsresemblancetothieves’slang。ThereisHebrew，again，whichIwasthinkingofteachingyou，tilltheideaofbeingpresentedatCourtmademeabandonit，fromtheprobabilityofourbeingunderstood，