登陆注册
37346700000015

第15章 Chirp The Second (6)

The packages and parcels for the errand cart, were numerous; and there were many stoppages to take them in and give them out, which were not by any means the worst parts of the journey.Some people were so full of expectation about their parcels, and other people were so full of wonder about their parcels, and other people were so full of inexhaustible directions about their parcels, and John had such a lively interest in all the parcels, that it was as good as a play.Likewise, there were articles to carry, which required to be considered and discussed, and in reference to the adjustment and disposition of which, councils had to be holden by the Carrier and the senders: at which Boxer usually assisted, in short fits of the closest attention, and long fits of tearing round and round the assembled sages and barking himself hoarse.Of all these little incidents, Dot was the amused and open-eyed spectatress from her chair in the cart; and as she sat there, looking on - a charming little portrait framed to admiration by the tilt - there was no lack of nudgings and glancings and whisperings and envyings among the younger men.And this delighted John the Carrier, beyond measure; for he was proud to have his little wife admired, knowing that she didn't mind it - that, if anything, she rather liked it perhaps.

The trip was a little foggy, to be sure, in the January weather;and was raw and cold.But who cared for such trifles? Not Dot, decidedly.Not Tilly Slowboy, for she deemed sitting in a cart, on any terms, to be the highest point of human joys; the crowning circumstance of earthly hopes.Not the Baby, I'll be sworn; for it's not in Baby nature to be warmer or more sound asleep, though its capacity is great in both respects, than that blessed young Peerybingle was, all the way.

You couldn't see very far in the fog, of course; but you could see a great deal! It's astonishing how much you may see, in a thicker fog than that, if you will only take the trouble to look for it.

Why, even to sit watching for the Fairy-rings in the fields, and for the patches of hoar-frost still lingering in the shade, near hedges and by trees, was a pleasant occupation: to make no mention of the unexpected shapes in which the trees themselves came starting out of the mist, and glided into it again.The hedges were tangled and bare, and waved a multitude of blighted garlands in the wind; but there was no discouragement in this.It was agreeable to contemplate; for it made the fireside warmer in possession, and the summer greener in expectancy.The river looked chilly; but it was in motion, and moving at a good pace - which was a great point.The canal was rather slow and torpid; that must be admitted.Never mind.It would freeze the sooner when the frost set fairly in, and then there would be skating, and sliding; and the heavy old barges, frozen up somewhere near a wharf, would smoke their rusty iron chimney pipes all day, and have a lazy time of it.

In one place, there was a great mound of weeds or stubble burning;and they watched the fire, so white in the daytime, flaring through the fog, with only here and there a dash of red in it, until, in consequence, as she observed, of the smoke 'getting up her nose,'

Miss Slowboy choked - she could do anything of that sort, on the smallest provocation - and woke the Baby, who wouldn't go to sleep again.But, Boxer, who was in advance some quarter of a mile or so, had already passed the outposts of the town, and gained the corner of the street where Caleb and his daughter lived; and long before they had reached the door, he and the Blind Girl were on the pavement waiting to receive them.

Boxer, by the way, made certain delicate distinctions of his own, in his communication with Bertha, which persuade me fully that he knew her to be blind.He never sought to attract her attention by looking at her, as he often did with other people, but touched her invariably.What experience he could ever have had of blind people or blind dogs, I don't know.He had never lived with a blind master; nor had Mr.Boxer the elder, nor Mrs.Boxer, nor any of his respectable family on either side, ever been visited with blindness, that I am aware of.He may have found it out for himself, perhaps, but he had got hold of it somehow; and therefore he had hold of Bertha too, by the skirt, and kept bold, until Mrs.

Peerybingle and the Baby, and Miss Slowboy, and the basket, were all got safely within doors.

May Fielding was already come; and so was her mother - a little querulous chip of an old lady with a peevish face, who, in right of having preserved a waist like a bedpost, was supposed to be a most transcendent figure; and who, in consequence of having once been better off, or of labouring under an impression that she might have been, if something had happened which never did happen, and seemed to have never been particularly likely to come to pass - but it's all the same - was very genteel and patronising indeed.Gruff and Tackleton was also there, doing the agreeable, with the evident sensation of being as perfectly at home, and as unquestionably in his own element, as a fresh young salmon on the top of the Great Pyramid.

'May! My dear old friend!' cried Dot, running up to meet her.

'What a happiness to see you.'

Her old friend was, to the full, as hearty and as glad as she; and it really was, if you'll believe me, quite a pleasant sight to see them embrace.Tackleton was a man of taste beyond all question.

May was very pretty.

You know sometimes, when you are used to a pretty face, how, when it comes into contact and comparison with another pretty face, it seems for the moment to be homely and faded, and hardly to deserve the high opinion you have had of it.Now, this was not at all the case, either with Dot or May; for May's face set off Dot's, and Dot's face set off May's, so naturally and agreeably, that, as John Peerybingle was very near saying when he came into the room, they ought to have been born sisters - which was the only improvement you could have suggested.

同类推荐
  • 度大庾岭

    度大庾岭

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 防边纪事

    防边纪事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 金刚顶瑜伽降三世成就极深密门一卷

    金刚顶瑜伽降三世成就极深密门一卷

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 大业杂记

    大业杂记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 法句经疏

    法句经疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 大道天攻

    大道天攻

    一个不是东西的小王八蛋,自作聪明地折腾得自己差点被废掉,然后,好玩的故事开始了。
  • 大佬您家夫人又野了

    大佬您家夫人又野了

    顶级豪门权势滔天的帝国总裁墨南川,为人霸道专横,冷血无情,唯独对她宠妻入骨。“老公,今晚去虐渣渣约吗?”“约。”嗯,虐渣怎能让你亲自动手。“老公,我想去飙车,约吗?”“约,你副驾,我来开。”嗯,怕你伤着了。“老公,今晚我陪儿子闺女,你自己一个人睡,约吗?”“不约,你是我的!永远都是!”嗯,只能是他的!苏绵绵扶额:她的老公什么都好,就是对她太黏了。“请问可以退货吗?”墨南川勾唇,声犹天籁,眉眼是迷人的危险:“主人,该问题无法识别,需要亲吻,请说ok。”苏绵绵:……P.S.男强女强,强强联手,女主非善类,典型的笑面虎,温馨齁甜宠无下限,入坑的仙女需谨慎哦。嗯,怕把你们喂胖了。
  • 忘忧以杜康

    忘忧以杜康

    有一个不知名的地方,有一个酒馆,名叫忘忧。何以解忧?唯有杜康。来吧,进来吧!请述说你的故事。我将会将你的故事封在酒中,让他纯香百年。是那甜美如诗的爱情?还是那撕心裂肺的离别?亦或是默默无闻的爱恋。去吧,去吧,你的故事结束了,而我的故事仍在继续,下一个故事将来了。
  • 神奇神气神

    神奇神气神

    晋国时期的田园诗派创始人陶渊明的《桃花源记》如何而来?人生在世,是非对错,孰能定断?无忧城是否真的无忧无愁?有人的地方就有烦恼,有爱的地方亦会有恨。无忧城,这里高山流水、土地肥沃、花香飘溢、万物有灵,在城中居住的人都衣食无忧、欢乐和睦,凡尘俗世似乎都与他们无关!城中崇尚一种气道,一种能够感知万事万物气息流动并收为已用的神奇气功。城中还有一个传统:每百年会去外面的世界寻找条件合适的资质奇才,学习城中气功及解读“万物无忧论”,城中把这种传统称为--入灵。而随着无忧城的日益壮大,城内似乎出现了一丝忧绕......
  • 腹黑邪王:盛宠嚣张妃

    腹黑邪王:盛宠嚣张妃

    她是21世纪的特工,一朝穿越到古代,..........你的出现就像一盏明灯一样,将光芒带给朕,你的坚强倔强让朕感动,遇见你,是上天赐予的一个最大的幸运。皇上,你这样表白......太不像你的风格了..........
  • 穿成男主前任

    穿成男主前任

    (1v1快穿爽文)快穿局女强系统部门的顶梁柱晏离苏被坑入浪子回头玛丽苏女主片场,成为里面一个花瓶女配——初始——沙雕系统:你的任务很简单,只需要穿到男主前任身上,勤勤恳恳当女主的垫脚石,被女主打脸,衬托女主真善美,并且将爷奶爹妈哥哥姐姐弟弟妹妹男友未婚夫房子车子……等等。总之只要是你有的,全部都让给女主,最后惨死街头功成身退即可。晏离苏:……后来——沙雕系统:叫你一声姑奶奶,你敢不敢把踩在男主小飞机上的脚挪开点?晏离苏不情不愿挪开脚:啧最后——放弃治疗的沙雕系统:……不是我说,在座的各位都是辣鸡,关门,放姑奶奶!晏离苏:……作天作地一言不合就开撕的狂犬病渴爱女主VS一言不合就把自己切成n片的精分男主
  • 听说竹马暗恋我

    听说竹马暗恋我

    一场暴雨过后,出门帮妈妈买盐的顾渺渺遇到了躲在花坛中离家出走狼狈不堪的顾易之。她用一颗棒棒糖将人拐回了家。那时的顾易之因为结巴,内心敏感自卑。而顾渺渺热情、开朗、古道热肠,就像清晨的第一缕阳光,温暖了顾易之的整个世界。
  • 遵循科学发展 建设高等教育强国:2009年高等教育国际论坛文集

    遵循科学发展 建设高等教育强国:2009年高等教育国际论坛文集

    在建设高等教育强国的研究中,我们要重点研究如何使我国的高等教育成为培养和造就世界一流科学家、思想家、科技领军人才和一线优秀人才的摇篮,知识创新、推动科技成果向现实生产力转化的重要力量,推动文化大发展大繁荣的坚强阵地。 本书为2009年高等教育国际论坛召开的“遵循科学发展 建设高等教育强国”的论文集。全书分为建设高等教育强国、做强省一级和地方高等教育、做强高等职业教育等四编,选录了来自全国28个省(自治区、直辖市)200余所高校和教育科研机构的专家学者,来自香港、澳门的代表及美国、日本的专家学者等近500人的论文。
  • 邪王追妻:废材四小姐

    邪王追妻:废材四小姐

    轮转千年,她穿越而来…隐藏在千年前的战争,一触即发。是谁,对她紧迫杀害?又是谁,对她暗中相助?隐藏在黑暗中的影子,操纵着什么?到底是阴谋,还是另有其他?相传灭绝了万万年的神族,又为何会再次出现?是假象?还是确实存在?魔族和亡灵,又为何会打开那本被神族封印了万年的结界,出现人世间?
  • 喜欢你就像鱼离不开水一样

    喜欢你就像鱼离不开水一样

    一个简简单单的女孩,有着自己的梦想,想把青春的爱情故事给所以人看,让那些青春逝去的人再一次体会青春爱情的滋味(跟喜欢的人在一起一辈子是很幸福的呢????)