下载辰思小说免费APP
Isaidnothing,butIthoughttomyself:—"IwonderhowlongacuplikethiswouldhavebeensafeinacrazychestinacountrychurchinEngland。"
Ikissedthesacredrelicofoldtimeswithreverence,andreturnedittotheoldsexton。
"WhatbecameofthehornsofHuGadarn’sbull?"saidI,afterhehadlockedthecupagaininitsdilapidatedcoffer。
"Theydiddwindleaway,sir,tilltheycametonothing。"
"Didyoueverseeanypartofthem?"saidI。
"Ohno,sir;Ididneverseeanypartofthem,butoneveryoldmanwhoisburiedheredidtellmeshortlybeforehediedthathehadseenoneveryoldmanwhohadseenofdemonelittletip。"
"Whowastheoldmanwhosaidthattoyou?"saidI。
"Iwillshowyouhismonument,sir,"thentakingmeintoaduskypewhepointedtoasmallrudetabletagainstthechurchwallandsaid:—"Thatishismonument,sir。"
Thetabletborethefollowinginscription,andbelowitarudeenglynondeathnotworthtranscribing:—
CoffadwriaethamTHOMASJONES
Diweddaro’rDrawsLlwynynyPlwyfhwn:
BufarwChwefror6fed1830
Yn92oed。
TothememoryofTHOMASJONES
OfTrawsLlwyn(acrosstheGrove)inthisparishwhodiedFebruarythesixth,1830。
Aged92。
AftercopyingtheinscriptionIpresentedtheoldmanwithatrifleandwentmyway。
CHAPTERXCV
Lampeter—TheMonkAustin—TheThreePublicans—TheTombstone—
SuddenChange—Trampers—ACatholic—TheBridgeofTwrch。
THEcountrybetweenLlanDdewiandLampeterpresentednothingremarkable,andImetontheroadnothingworthyofbeingrecorded。
OnarrivingatLampeterItookaslightrefreshmentattheinn,andthenwenttoseethecollegewhichstandsalittlewaytothenorthofthetown。ItwasfoundedbyBishopBurgessintheyear1820,fortheeducationofyouthsintendedfortheministryoftheChurchofEngland。Itisaneatquadrateedificewithacourtyardinwhichstandsalargestonebasin。Fromthecourtyardyouenteraspaciousdining—hall,overthedoorofwhichhangsawell—executedportraitofthegoodbishop。Fromthehallyouascendbyahandsomestaircasetothelibrary,alargeandlightsomeroom,wellstoredwithbooksinvariouslanguages。ThegrandcuriosityisamanuscriptCodexcontainingaLatinsynopsisofScripturewhichoncebelongedtothemonksofBangorIsCoed。ItbearsmarksofbloodwithwhichitwassprinkledwhenthemonksweremassacredbytheheathenSaxons,attheinstigationofAustinthePope’smissionaryinBritain。Thenumberofstudentsseldomexceedsforty。
Itmightbeabouthalf—pasttwointheafternoonwhenIleftLampeter。Ipassedoverabridge,takingtheroadtoLlandoverywhich,however,Ihadnointentionofattemptingtoreachthatnight,asitwasconsiderablyupwardsoftwentymilesdistant。Theroadlay,seemingly,dueeast。AfterwalkingverybrisklyforaboutanhourIcametoaverysmallhamletconsistingofnotmorethansixorsevenhouses;ofthesethreeseemedtobepublic—
houses,astheyborelargeflamingsigns。Seeingthreerathershabby—lookingfellowsstandingchattingwiththeirhandsintheirpockets,IstoppedandinquiredinEnglishthenameoftheplace。
"Pen—something,"saidoneofthem,whohadaredfaceandalargecarbuncleonhisnose,whichservedtodistinguishhimfromhiscompanions,whothoughtheyhadbothveryrubicundfaceshadnocarbuncles。
"Itseemsratherasmallplacetomaintainthreepublic—houses,"
saidI;"howdothepublicansmanagetolive?"
"Oh,tolerablywell,sir;wegetbreadandcheeseandhaveagroatinourpockets。Nogreatreasontocomplain;havewe,neighbours?"
"No!nogreatreasontocomplain,"saidtheothertwo。
"Dearme!"saidI;"areyouthepublicans?"
"Weare,sir,"saidthemanwiththecarbuncleonhisnose,"andshallbeeachofusgladtotreatyoutoapintinhisownhouseinordertowelcomeyoutoShireCar—shan’twe,neighbours?"
"Yes,intruthweshall,"saidtheothertwo。
"ByShireCar,"saidI,"IsupposeyoumeanShireCardigan?"
"ShireCardigan!"saidtheman;"noindeed;byShireCarismeantCarmarthenshire。YourhonourhasleftbeggarlyCardigansomewaybehindyou。Come,yourhonour,comeandhaveapint;thisismyhouse,"saidhe,pointingtooneofthebuildings。
"But,"saidI,"IsupposeifIdrinkatyourexpenseyouexpecttodrinkatmine?"
"Why,wecan’tsaythatweshallhaveanyobjection,yourhonour;I
thinkwewillarrangethematterinthisway;wewillgointomyhouse,wherewewilleachofustreatyourhonourwithapint,andforeachpintwetreatyourhonourwithyourhonourshalltreatuswithone。"
"Doyoumeaneach?"saidI。
"Why,yes!yourhonour,forapintamongstthreewouldberatherashortallowance。"
"Thenitwouldcometothis,"saidI,"Ishouldreceivethreepintsfromyouthree,andyouthreewouldreceiveninefromme。"
"Justso,yourhonour,Iseeyourhonourisareadyreckoner。"
"Iknowhowmuchthreetimesthreemake,"saidI。"Well,thankyou,kindly,butImustdeclineyouroffer;Iamboundonajourney。"
"Whereareyouboundto,master?"
"ToLlandovery,butifIcanfindaninnafewmilesfartheronI
shallstopthereforthenight。"
"Thenyouwillputupatthe’PumpSaint,’master;well,youcanhaveyourthreepintshereandyourthreepipestoo,andyetgeteasilytherebyseven。Comein,master,comein!Ifyoutakemyadviceyouwillthinkofyourpintandyourpipeandletalltherestgotothedevil。"
"Thankyou,"saidI,"butIcan’tacceptyourinvitation,Imustbeoff;"andinspiteofyetmorepressingsolicitationsIwenton。
IhadnotgonefarwhenIcametoapointwheretheroadpartedintotwo;justatthepointwereahouseandpremisesbelongingapparentlytoastonemason,asagreatmanypiecesofhalf—cutgranitewerestandingabout,andnotafewtombstones。Istoppedandlookedatoneofthelatter。Itwastothememoryofsomebodywhodiedattheageofsixty—six,andatthebottomborethefollowingbitofpoetry:—
"Tiddaearoddaearystyriamewnbraw,Maidaeariddaearynfuanaddaw;
AddaearmewnddaearraidarosbobdarnNesdaearoddaeargyfrodirifarn。"
"ThouearthfromearthreflectwithanxiousmindThatearthtoearthmustquicklybeconsigned,AndearthinearthmustlieentrancedenthralledTillearthfromearthtojudgmentshallbecalled。"
"Whatconflictingopinionsthereareinthisworld,"saidI,afterIhadcopiedthequatrainandtranslatedit。"Thepublicanyondertellsmetothinkofmypintandpipeandleteverythingelsegotothedevil,andthetombstoneheretellsmetoreflectwithdread—
amuchfinerexpressionby—the—byethanreflectwithanxiousmind,asIhavegotit—thatinaverylittletimeImustdie,andlieinthegroundtillIamcalledtojudgment。Now,whichismostright,thetombstoneorthepublican?Why,Ishouldsaythetombstonedecidedly。Thepublicanistoosweepingwhenhetellsyoutothinkofyourpintandpipeandnothingelse。Apintandpipearegoodthings。Idon’tsmokemyself,butIdaresayapipeisagoodthingforthemwholikeit,buttherearecertainlythingsworthbeingthoughtofinthisworldbesidesapintandpipe—hillsanddales,woodsandrivers,forexample—deathandjudgmenttooareworthynowandthenofveryseriousthought。Soitwon’tdotogowiththepublicanthewholehog。Butwithrespecttothetombstone,itisquitesafeandrighttogowithititswholelength。Ittellsyoutothinkofdeathandjudgment—
andassuredlyweoughttoofthem。Itdoesnot,however,tellyoutothinkofnothingbutdeathandjudgmentandtoescheweveryinnocentpleasurewithinyourreach。Ifitdiditwouldbeatombstonequiteassweepinginwhatitsaysasthepublican,whotellsyoutothinkofyourpintandpipeandleteverythingelsegotothedevil。Thewisestcourseevidentlyistoblendthewholeofthephilosophyofthetombstonewithaportionofthephilosophyofthepublicanandsomethingmore,toenjoyone’spintandpipeandotherinnocentpleasures,andtothinkeverynowandthenofdeathandjudgmen