Wild Wales

第44章

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

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