第 7 节
作者:片片      更新:2021-02-27 00:51      字数:9322
  k that this wildfire chase of romantic situation and adventure may lead thee into some mischief; and then what would become of Alan Fairford?  They might make whom they pleased Lord Advocate or Solicitor…General; I should never have the heart to strive for it。  All my exertions are intended to Vindicate myself one day in your eyes; and I think I should not care a farthing for the embroidered silk gown; more than for an old woman's apron; unless I had hopes that thou shouldst be walking the boards to admire; and perhaps to envy me。
  That this may be the case; I pritheebeware!  See not a Dulcinea; in every slipshod girl; who; with blue eyes; fair hair; a tattered plaid; and a willow…wand in her grip; drives out the village cows to the loaning。  Do not think you will meet a gallant Valentine in every English rider; or an Orson in every Highland drover。  View things as they are; and not as they may be magnified through thy teeming fancy。  I have seen thee look at an old gravel pit; till thou madest out capes; and bays; and inlets; crags and precipices; and the whole stupendous scenery of the Isle of Feroe; in what was; to all ordinary eyes; a mere horse… pond。  Besides; did I not once find thee gazing with respect at a lizard; in the attitude of one who looks upon a crocodile?  Now this is; doubtless; so far a harmless exercise of your imagination; for the puddle cannot drown you; nor the Lilliputian alligator eat you up。  But it is different in society; where you cannot mistake the character of those you converse with; or suffer your fancy to exaggerate their qualities; good or bad; without exposing yourself not only to ridicule; but to great and serious inconveniences。  Keep guard; therefore; on your imagination; my dear Darsie; and let your old friend assure you; it is the point of your character most pregnant with peril to its good and generous owner。  Adieu!  let not the franks of the worthy peer remain unemployed; above all; SIS MEMOR MEI。   A。 F。
  LETTER III
  DARSIE LATIMER TO ALAN FAIRFORD
  SHEPHERD'S BUSH。
  I have received thine absurd and most conceited epistle。  It is well for thee that; Lovelace and Belford…like; we came under a convention to pardon every species of liberty which we may take with each other; since; upon my word; there are some reflections in your last which would otherwise have obliged me to return forthwith to Edinburgh; merely to show you I was not what you took me for。
  Why; what a pair of prigs hast thou made of us!  I plunging into scrapes; without having courage to get out of themthy sagacious self; afraid to put one foot before the other; lest it should run away from its companion; and so standing still like a post; out of mere faintness and coldness of heart; while all the world were driving full speed past thee。  Thou a portrait…painter!  I tell thee; Alan; I have seen a better seated on the fourth round of a ladder; and painting a bare…breeched Highlander; holding a pint… stoup as big as himself; and a booted Lowlander; in a bobwig; supporting a glass of like dimensions; the whole being designed to represent the sign of the Salutation。
  How hadst thou the heart to represent thine own individual self; with all thy motions; like those of a great Dutch doll; depending on the pressure of certain springs; as duty; reflection; and the like; without the impulse of which; thou wouldst doubtless have me believe thou wouldst not budge an inch!  But have I not seen Gravity out of his bed at midnight?  and must I; in plain terms; remind thee of certain mad pranks?  Thou hadst ever; with the gravest sentiments in thy mouth and the most starched reserve in thy manner; a kind of lumbering proclivity towards mischief; although with more inclination to set it a…going than address to carry it through; and I cannot but chuckle internally; when I think of having seen my most venerable monitor; the future president of some high Scottish court; puffing; blowing; and floundering; like a clumsy cart…horse in a bog where his efforts to extricate himself only plunged him deeper at every awkward struggle; till some oneI myself; for exampletook compassion on the moaning monster; and dragged him out by mane and tail。
  As for me; my portrait is; if possible; even more scandalously caricatured; I fail or quail in spirit at the upcome!  Where canst thou show me the least symptom of the recreant temper; with which thou hast invested me (as I trust) merely to set off the solid and impassible dignity of thine own stupid indifference? If you ever saw me tremble; be assured that my flesh; like that of the old Spanish general; only quaked at the dangers into which my spirit was about to lead it。  Seriously; Alan; this imputed poverty of spirit is a shabby charge to bring against your friend。  I have examined myself as closely as I can; being; in very truth; a little hurt at your having such hard thoughts of me; and on my life I can see no reason for them。  I allow you have; perhaps; some advantage of me in the steadiness and indifference of your temper; but I should despise myself; if I were conscious of the deficiency in courage which you seem willing enough to impute to me。  However; I suppose; this ungracious hint proceeds from sincere anxiety for my safety; and so viewing it; I swallow it as I would do medicine from a friendly doctor; although I believed in my heart he had mistaken my complaint。
  This offensive insinuation disposed of; I thank thee; Alan; for the rest of thy epistle。  I thought I heard your good father pronouncing the word Noble House; with a mixture of contempt and displeasure; as if the very name of the poor little hamlet were odious to him; or as if you had selected; out of all Scotland; the very place at which you had no call to dine。  But if he had had any particular aversion to that blameless village and very sorry inn; is it not his own fault that I did not accept the invitation of the Laird of Glengallacher; to shoot a buck in what he emphatically calls 'his country'?  Truth is; I had a strong desire to have complied with his lairdship's invitation。  To shoot a buck!  Think how magnificent an idea to one who never shot anything but hedge…sparrows; and that with a horse…pistol purchased at a broker's stand in the Cowgate!  You; who stand upon your courage; may remember that I took the risk of firing the said pistol for the first time; while you stood at twenty yards' distance; and that; when you were persuaded it would go off without bursting; forgetting all law but that of the biggest and strongest; you possessed yourself of it exclusively for the rest of the holidays。  Such a day's sport was no complete introduction to the noble art of deer…stalking; as it is practised in the Highlands; but I should not have scrupled to accept honest Glengallacher's invitation; at the risk of firing a rifle for the first time; had it not been for the outcry which your father made at my proposal; in the full ardour of his zeal for King George; the Hanover succession; and the Presbyterian faith。  I wish I had stood out; since I have gained so little upon his good opinion by submission。  All his impressions concerning the Highlanders are taken from the recollections of the Forty…five; when he retreated from the West Port with his brother volunteers; each to the fortalice of his own separate dwelling; so soon as they heard the Adventurer was arrived with his clans as near them as Kirkliston。 The flight of Falkirk PARMA NON BENE SELECTAin which I think your sire had his share with the undaunted western regiment; does not seem to have improved his taste for the company of the Highlanders; (quaere; Alan; dost thou derive the courage thou makest such boast of from an hereditary source?)  and stories of Rob Roy Macgregor; and Sergeant Alan Mhor Cameron; have served to paint them in still more sable colours to his imagination。  'Of Rob Roy we have had more than enough。  Alan Cameron; commonly called Sergeant Mhor; a freebooter of the same period; was equally remarkable for strength; courage; and generosity。'
  Now; from all I can understand; these ideas; as applied to the present state of the country; are absolutely chimerical。  The Pretender is no more remembered in the Highlands than if the poor gentleman were gathered to his hundred and eight fathers; whose portraits adorn the ancient walls of Holyrood; the broadswords have passed into other hands; the targets are used to cover the butter churns; and the race has sunk; or is fast sinking; from ruffling bullies into tame cheaters。  Indeed; it was partly my conviction that there is little to be seen in the north; which; arriving at your father's conclusions; though from different premisses; inclined my course in this direction; where perhaps I shall see as little。
  One thing; however; I HAVE seen; and it was with pleasure the more indescribable; that I was debarred from treading the land which my eyes were permitted to gaze upon; like those of the dying prophet from top of Mount Pisgah;I have seen; in a word; the fruitful shores of merry England; merry England!  of which I boast myself a native; and on which I gaze; even while raging floods and unstable quicksands divide us; with the filial affection of a dutiful son。
  Thou canst not have forgotten; Alanfor w