第 30 节
作者:生在秋天      更新:2023-05-17 13:24      字数:9322
  sorrow;   mingled   with   alarm。        Next;   George   turned   his   gaze   on   me。       I
  endeavoured; so far as lay with me; to copy Harris's expression; adding to
  it on my own account a touch of reproof。
  〃Will you have a cab?〃 I said as kindly as I could to George。 〃I'll run
  and get one。〃
  〃What   the   devil   do   I   want   with   a   cab?〃   he   answered;   ungraciously。
  〃Can't you fellows understand a joke?               It's like being out with a couple of
  confounded old   women;〃   saying   which;  he   started   off   across   the   bridge;
  leaving us to follow。
  〃I   am   so   glad   that   was   only   a   joke   of   yours;〃   said   Harris;   on   our
  overtaking him。        〃I knew a case of softening of the brain that began〃
  〃Oh;   you're   a   silly   ass!〃   said   George;   cutting   him   short;   〃you   know
  everything。〃
  He was really most unpleasant in his manner。
  We took him round by the riverside of the theatre。                 We told him it was
  the   shortest   way;   and;   as   a   matter   of   fact;   it   was。 In   the   open   space
  behind the theatre stood the second of these wooden apparitions。                      George
  looked at it; and again stood still。
  〃What's the matter?〃 said Harris; kindly。              〃You are not ill; are you?〃
  〃I don't believe this is the shortest way;〃 said George。
  〃I assure you it is;〃 persisted Harris。
  〃Well; I'm going the other;〃 said George; and he turned and went; we;
  as before; following him。
  Along the Ferdinand Strasse Harris and I talked about private lunatic
  asylums; which; Harris said; were not well managed in England。                        He said
  a friend of his; a patient in a lunatic asylum …
  George   said;   interrupting:       〃You   appear   to   have   a   large   number   of
  friends in lunatic asylums。〃
  He   said   it   in   a   most   insulting   tone;   as   though   to   imply   that   that   is
  where one would look for the majority of Harris's friends。                   But Harris did
  not get angry; he merely replied; quite mildly:
  〃Well; it   really  is   extraordinary;   when   one comes   to think of   it;  how
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  many   of   them   have   gone   that   way   sooner   or   later。   I   get   quite   nervous
  sometimes; now。〃
  At the corner of the Wenzelsplatz; Harris; who was a few steps ahead
  of us; paused。
  〃It's a fine street; isn't it?〃 he said; sticking his hands in his pockets;
  and gazing up at it admiringly。
  George and I followed suit。           Two hundred yards away from us; in its
  very centre; was the third of these ghostly statues。              I think it was the best
  of the threethe most like; the most deceptive。                It stood boldly outlined
  against     the  wild   sky:    the    horse   on   its  hind   legs;  with    its  curiously
  attenuated tail; the man bareheaded; pointing with his plumed hat to   the
  now entirely visible moon。
  〃I   think;   if   you   don't   mind;〃   said   Georgehe   spoke   with   almost   a
  pathetic ring in his voice; his aggressiveness had completely fallen from
  him;〃that I will have that cab; if there's one handy。〃
  〃I   thought   you   were   looking   queer;〃   said   Harris;   kindly。     〃It's   your
  head; isn't it?〃
  〃Perhaps it is;〃 answered George。
  〃I   have   noticed   it   coining   on;〃   said   Harris;   〃but   I   didn't   like   to   say
  anything to you。        You fancy you see things; don't you?〃
  〃No; no; it isn't that;〃 replied George; rather quickly。               〃I don't know
  what it is。〃
  〃I do;〃 said Harris; solemnly; 〃and I'll tell you。            It's this German beer
  that you are drinking。        I have known a case where a man〃
  〃Don't tell me about him just now;〃 said George。                〃I dare say it's true;
  but somehow I don't feel I want to hear about him。〃
  〃You are not used to it;〃 said Harris。
  〃I shall give it up from to…night;〃 said George。              〃I think you must be
  right; it doesn't seem to agree with me。〃
  We   took   him   home;   and   saw   him   to   bed。    He   was   very   gentle   and
  quite grateful。
  One   evening   later   on;   after   a   long   day's   ride;   followed   by   a   most
  satisfactory  dinner;   we   started   him   on   a   big   cigar;   and;   removing   things
  from   his    reach;   told   him   of  this   stratagem   that    for  his  good    we   had
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  planned。
  〃How many copies of that statue did you say we saw?〃 asked George;
  after we had finished。
  〃Three;〃 replied Harris。
  〃Only three?〃 said George。         〃Are you sure?〃
  〃Positive;〃 replied Harris。       〃Why?〃
  〃Oh; nothing!〃 answered George。
  But I don't think he quite believed Harris。
  From   Prague   we   travelled   to   Nuremberg;   through   Carlsbad。         Good
  Germans; when they die; go; they say; to Carlsbad; as good Americans to
  Paris。    This I doubt; seeing that it is a small place with no convenience
  for   a  crowd。     In   Carlsbad;    you   rise  at  five;  the  fashionable    hour   for
  promenade; when the band plays under the Colonnade; and the Sprudel is
  filled with a packed throng over a mile long; being from six to eight in the
  morning。      Here you may hear more languages spoken than the Tower of
  Babel   could     have   echoed。     Polish   Jews    and   Russian    princes;   Chinese
  mandarins and Turkish pashas; Norwegians looking as if they had stepped
  out of Ibsen's plays; women from the Boulevards; Spanish grandees and
  English countesses; mountaineers from Montenegro and millionaires from
  Chicago;   you   will   find   every   dozen   yards。    Every   luxury   in   the   world
  Carlsbad provides for its visitors; with the one exception of pepper。                That
  you cannot get within five miles of the town for money; what you can get
  there for love is not worth taking away。 Pepper; to the liver brigade that
  forms four…fifths of Carlsbad's customers; is poison; and; prevention being
  better than cure; it is carefully kept out of the neighbourhood。                 〃Pepper
  parties〃   are   formed   in   Carlsbad   to   journey   to   some   place   without   the
  boundary; and there indulge in pepper orgies。
  Nuremberg;        if  one    expects    a   town     of  mediaeval      appearance;
  disappoints。      Quaint   corners;   picturesque   glimpses;   there   are   in   plenty;
  but everywhere they are surrounded and intruded upon by the modern; and
  even what is ancient is not nearly so ancient as one thought it was。                After
  all; a town; like a woman; is only as old as it looks; and Nuremberg is still
  a comfortable…looking dame; its age somewhat difficult to conceive under
  its   fresh   paint   and   stucco   in   the   blaze   of   the   gas   and   the   electric   light。
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  Still; looking closely; you may see its wrinkled walls and grey towers。
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  CHAPTER IX
  Harris breaks the lawThe helpful man:              The dangers that beset him…
  …George      sets  forth  upon    a  career   of  crimeThose      to  whom      Germany
  would      come     as   a  boon     and   a   blessingThe      English    Sinner:     His
  disappointmentsThe          German      Sinner:     His    exceptional     advantages
  What you may not do with your bedAn inexpensive vice… …The German
  dog:     His   simple   goodnessThe   misbehaviour   of   the   beetleA   people
  that go the way  they ought  to goThe   German small   boy:                His love   of
  legalityHow   to   go   astray   with   a   perambulator   The   German   student:
  His chastened wilfulness。
  All    three   of  us;   by  some     means     or  another;    managed;      between
  Nuremberg and the Black Forest; to get into trouble。
  Harris    led  off  at  Stuttgart   by   insulting   an   official。   Stuttgart    is  a
  charming town; clean and bright; a smaller Dresden。                 It has the additional
  attraction of containing little that one need to go out of one's way to see:
  a medium…sized picture gallery; a small museum of antiquities; and half a
  palace; and you are through with the entire thing and can enjoy yourself。
  Harris did not know it was an official he was i