第 3 节
作者:青涩春天      更新:2024-04-09 19:50      字数:9322
  when History fortifies endurance: and past study renders present
  deprivation more bearable。  If our pecuniary resources be exiguous;
  let our resolution; Dick; supply the deficiencies of Fortune。  The
  muffin we desire to…day would little benefit us to…morrow。  Poor
  and hungry as we are; are we less happy; Dick; than yon listless
  voluptuary who banquets on the food which you covet?〃
  And the two lads turned away up Waterloo Place; and past the
  〃Parthenon〃 Club…house; and disappeared to take a meal of cow…heel
  at a neighboring cook's shop。  Their names were Samuel Johnson and
  Richard Savage。
  Meanwhile the conversation at Button's was fast and brilliant。  〃By
  Wood's thirteens; and the divvle go wid 'em;〃 cried the Church
  dignitary in the cassock; 〃is it in blue and goold ye are this
  morning; Sir Richard; when you ought to be in seebles?〃
  〃Who's dead; Dean?〃 said the nobleman; the dean's companion。
  〃Faix; mee Lard Bolingbroke; as sure as mee name's Jonathan Swift
  and I'm not so sure of that neither; for who knows his father's
  name?there's been a mighty cruel murther committed entirely。  A
  child of Dick Steele's has been barbarously slain; dthrawn; and
  quarthered; and it's Joe Addison yondther has done it。  Ye should
  have killed one of your own; Joe; ye thief of the world。〃
  〃I!〃 said the amazed and Right Honorable Joseph Addison; 〃I kill
  Dick's child!  I was godfather to the last。〃
  〃And promised a cup and never sent it;〃 Dick ejaculated。  Joseph
  looked grave。
  〃The child I mean is Sir Roger de Coverley; Knight and Baronet。
  What made ye kill him; ye savage Mohock?  The whole town is in
  tears about the good knight; all the ladies at Church this
  afternoon were in mourning; all the booksellers are wild; and
  Lintot says not a third of the copies of the Spectator are sold
  since the death of the brave old gentleman。〃  And the Dean of St。
  Patrick's pulled out the Spectator newspaper; containing the well…
  known passage regarding Sir Roger's death。  〃I bought it but now in
  'Wellington Street;'〃 he said; 〃the newsboys were howling all down
  the Strand。〃
  〃What a miracle is GeniusGenius; the Divine and Beautiful;〃 said
  a gentleman leaning against the same fireplace with the deformed
  cavalier in iron…gray; and addressing that individual; who was in
  fact Mr。 Alexander Pope。  〃What a marvellous gift is this; and
  royal privilege of Art!  To make the Ideal more credible than the
  Actual: to enchain our hearts; to command our hopes; our regrets;
  our tears; for a mere brain…born Emanation: to invest with life the
  Incorporeal; and to glamour the cloudy into substance;these are
  the lofty privileges of the Poet; if I have read poesy aright; and
  I am as familiar with the sounds that rang from Homer's lyre; as
  with the strains which celebrate the loss of Belinda's lovely
  locks〃(Mr。 Pope blushed and bowed; highly delighted)〃these; I
  say; sir; are the privileges of the Poetthe Poietesthe Maker
  he moves the world; and asks no lever; if he cannot charm death
  into life; as Orpheus feigned to do; he can create Beauty out of
  Nought; and defy Death by rendering Thought Eternal。  Ho! Jemmy;
  another flask of Nantz。〃
  And the boyfor he who addressed the most brilliant company of
  wits in Europe was little moreemptied the contents of the brandy…
  flask into a silver flagon; and quaffed it gayly to the health of
  the company assembled。  'Twas the third he had taken during the
  sitting。  Presently; and with a graceful salute to the Society; he
  quitted the coffee…house; and was seen cantering on a magnificent
  Arab past the National Gallery。
  〃Who is yon spark in blue and silver?  He beats Joe Addison
  himself; in drinking;; and pious Joe is the greatest toper in the
  three kingdoms;〃 Dick Steele said; good…naturedly。
  〃His paper in the Spectator beats thy best; Dick; thou sluggard;〃
  the Right Honorable Mr。 Addison exclaimed。  〃He is the author of
  that famous No。 996; for which you have all been giving me the
  credit。〃
  〃The rascal foiled me at capping verses;〃 Dean Swift said; 〃and won
  a tenpenny piece of me; plague take him!〃
  〃He has suggested an emendation in my 'Homer;' which proves him a
  delicate scholar;〃 Mr。 Pope exclaimed。
  〃He knows more of the French king than any man I have met with; and
  we must have an eye upon him;〃 said Lord Bolingbroke; then
  Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and beckoning a suspicious…
  looking person who was drinking at a side…table; whispered to him
  something。
  Meantime who was he? where was he; this youth who had struck all
  the wits of London with admiration?  His galloping charger had
  returned to the City; his splendid court…suit was doffed for the
  citizen's gabardine and grocer's humble apron。
  George de Barnwell was in Chepein Chepe; at the feet of Martha
  Millwood。
  VOL III。
  THE CONDEMNED CELL。
  〃Quid me mollibus implicas lacertis; my Elinor?  Nay;〃 George
  added; a faint smile illumining his wan but noble features; 〃why
  speak to thee in the accents of the Roman poet; which thou
  comprehendest not?  Bright One; there be other things in Life; in
  Nature; in this Inscrutable Labyrinth; this Heart on which thou
  leanest; which are equally unintelligible to thee!  Yes; my pretty
  one; what is the Unintelligible but the Ideal? what is the Ideal
  but the Beautiful? what the Beautiful but the Eternal?  And the
  Spirit of Man that would commune with these is like Him who wanders
  by the thina poluphloisboio thalasses; and shrinks awe…struck
  before that Azure Mystery。〃
  Emily's eyes filled with fresh…gushing dew。  〃Speak on; speak ever
  thus; my George;〃 she exclaimed。  Barnwell's chains rattled as the
  confiding girl clung to him。  Even Snoggin; the turnkey appointed
  to sit with the Prisoner; was affected by his noble and appropriate
  language; and also burst into tears。
  〃You weep; my Snoggin;〃 the Boy said; 〃and why?  Hath Life been so
  charming to me that I should wish to retain it? hath Pleasure no
  after…Weariness?  Ambition no Deception; Wealth no Care; and Glory
  no Mockery?  Psha!  I am sick of Success; palled of Pleasure; weary
  of Wine and Wit; andnay; start not; my Adelaideand Woman。  I
  fling away all these things as the Toys of Boyhood。  Life is the
  Soul's Nursery。  I am a Man; and pine for the Illimitable!  Mark
  you me!  Has the Morrow any terrors for me; think ye?  Did Socrates
  falter at his poison?  Did Seneca blench in his bath?  Did Brutus
  shirk the sword when his great stake was lost?  Did even weak
  Cleopatra shrink from the Serpent's fatal nip?  And why should I?
  My great Hazard hath been played; and I pay my forfeit。  Lie
  sheathed in my heart; thou flashing Blade!  Welcome to my Bosom;
  thou faithful Serpent; I hug thee; peace…bearing Image of the
  Eternal!  Ha; the hemlock cup!  Fill high; boy; for my soul is
  thirsty for the Infinite!  Get ready the bath; friends; prepare me
  for the feast To…morrowbathe my limbs in odors; and put ointment
  in my hair。〃
  〃Has for a bath;〃 Snoggin interposed; 〃they're not to be 'ad in
  this ward of the prison; but I dussay Hemmy will git you a little
  hoil for your 'air。〃
  The Prisoned One laughed loud and merrily。  〃My guardian understands
  me not; pretty oneand thou? what sayest thou?  From those dear
  lips methinksplura sunt oscula quam sententiaeI kiss away thy
  tears; dove!they will flow apace when I am gone; then they will
  dry; and presently these fair eyes will shine on another; as they
  have beamed on poor George Barnwell。  Yet wilt thou not all forget
  him; sweet one。  He was an honest fellow; and had a kindly heart for
  all the world said〃
  〃That; that he had;〃 cried the gaoler and the girl in voices
  gurgling with emotion。  And you who read! you unconvicted Convict
  you murderer; though haply you have slain no oneyou Felon in
  posse if not in essedeal gently with one who has used the
  Opportunity that has failed theeand believe that the Truthful and
  the Beautiful bloom sometimes in the dock and the convict's tawny
  Gabardine!
  。       。       。       。       。       。       。       。
  In the matter for which he suffered; George could never be brought
  to acknowledge that he was at all in the wrong。  〃It may be an
  error of judgment;〃 he said to the Venerable Chaplain of the gaol;
  〃but it is no crime。  Were it Crime; I should feel Remorse。  Where
  there is no remorse; Crime cannot exist。  I am not sorry:
  therefore; I am innocent。  Is the proposition a fair one?〃
  The excellent Doctor admitted that it was not to be contested。
  〃And wherefore; sir; should I have sorrow;〃 the Boy resumed; 〃for
  ridding the world of a sordid worm;* of a man whose very soul was
  dross; and who never had a feeling for the Truthful and the
  Beautiful?  When I stood before my uncle in the moonlight; in the
  gardens of the ancestral halls of the De Barnwells; I felt that it
  was the Nemesis come to overthrow him。  'Dog