第 34 节
作者:青词      更新:2021-08-14 15:19      字数:9322
  Surely this was the Spirit of the Age in its purest expression; the more
  strikingly so that he seemed to feel pride rather than anything else in his
  ingenious combination。
  He liked the city he had built in well enough now; but nothing proved
  to him that he would like it later。 He and his wife had lived in twenty cities
  since they began their brave fight with Fortune; far away in a little Eastern
  town。 They had since changed their abode with each ascending rung of the
  ladder    of  success;   and   beyond     a  faded   daguerreotype     or  two   of  their
  children and a few modest pieces of jewelry; stored away in cotton; it is
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  doubtful if they owned a single object belonging to their early life。
  Another case occurs to me。 Near the village where I pass my summers;
  there   lived   an   elderly;   childless   couple   on   a   splendid   estate   combining
  everything a  fastidious taste  could demand。  One fine   morning this  place
  was sold; the important library divided between the village and their native
  city;   the   furniture   sold   or   given   away;   …   everything   went;   at   the   end   the
  things no one wanted were made into a bon…fire and burned。
  A neighbor asking why all this was being done was told by the lady;
  〃We were tired of it all and have decided to be 'Bohemians' for the rest of
  our lives。〃 This couple are now wandering about Europe and half a dozen
  trunks contain their belongings。
  These are; of course; extreme cases and must be taken for what they
  are   worth;   nevertheless   they   are   straws   showing   which   way   the         wind
  blows; signs of the times that he who runs may read。 I do not run; but I
  often saunter up our principal avenue; and always find myself wondering
  what     will   be   the   future   of   the  splendid     residences     that  grace    that
  thoroughfare   as   it   nears   the   Park;   the   ascending   tide   of   trade   is   already
  circling   round   them   and   each   year   sees   one   or   more   crumble   away   and
  disappear。
  The finer buildings may remain; turned into clubs or restaurants; but
  the greater part of the newer ones are so ill…adapted to any other use than
  that for which they are built that their future seems obscure。
  That fashion will flit away from its present haunts there can be little
  doubt; the city below the Park is sure to be given up to business; and even
  the fine frontage on that green space will sooner or later be occupied by
  hotels; if not stores; and he who builds with any belief in the permanency
  of his surroundings must indeed be of a hopeful disposition。
  A   good    lady   occupying      a  delightful    corner   on   this  same    avenue;
  opposite a one…story florist's shop; said:
  〃I shall remain here until they build across the way; then I suppose I
  shall have to move。〃
  So   after   all   the   man   who   is   contented   to   live   in   a   future   apartment
  house; may not be so very far wrong。
  A case of the opposite kind is that of a great millionaire; who; dying;
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  left his house and its collections to his eldest son and his grandson after
  him; on the condition that they should continue to live in it。
  Here was an attempt to keep together a home with its memories and
  associations。   What   has   been   the   result?   The   street   that   was   a   charming
  centre     for   residences     twenty     years    ago    has   become       a  〃slum;〃     the
  unfortunate   heirs   find   themselves   with   a   house   on   their   hands   that   they
  cannot live in and are forbidden to rent or sell。 As a final result the will
  must in all probability be broken and the matter ended。
  Of course the reason for a great deal of this is the phenomenal growth
  of our larger cities。 Hundreds of families who would gladly remain in their
  old homes are fairly pushed out of them by the growth of business。
  Everything has   its limits and   a  time   must   come   when   our  cities   will
  cease   to   expand   or   when   centres   will   be   formed   as   in   London   or   Paris;
  where generations may succeed each other in the same homes。 So far; I see
  no indications of any such crystallization in this our big city; we seem to
  be    condemned        like  the   〃Wandering       Jew〃    or   poor    little  〃Joe〃   to   be
  perpetually 〃moving on。〃
  At   a   dinner  of   young   people   not   long   ago   a   Frenchman   visiting   our
  country;      expressed      his   surprise     on    hearing     a   girl   speak    of   〃not
  remembering the house she was born in。〃 Piqued by his manner the young
  lady answered:
  〃We are twenty…four at this table。 I do not believe there is one person
  here living in the house in which he or she was born。〃 This assertion raised
  a murmur of dissent around the table; on a census being taken it proved;
  however; to be true。
  How can one expect; under circumstances like these; to find any great
  respect   among   young   people   for   home   life   or   the   conservative   side   of
  existence? They are born as it were on the wing; and on the wing will they
  live。
  The conditions of life in this country; although contributing largely to
  such   a   state   of   affairs;   must   not   be   held;   however;   entirely   responsible。
  Underlying   our  civilization   and   culture;  there   is   still strong   in   us   a   wild
  nomadic       strain   inherited     from    a  thousand      generations      of  wandering
  ancestors;   which   breaks   out   so   soon   as   man   is   freed   from   the   restraint
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  incumbent on bread…winning for his family。 The moment there is wealth or
  even a modest income insured; comes the inclination to cut loose from the
  dull routine of business and duty; returning instinctively to the migratory
  habits of primitive man。
  We are not the only nation that has given itself up to globe… trotting; it
  is strong in the English; in spite of their conservative education; and it is
  surprising     to   see   the  number      of  formerly     stay…at…home      French     and
  Germans one meets wandering in foreign lands。
  In   1855;   a   Londoner  advertised   the  plan   he  had   conceived   of   taking
  some people over to visit the International Exhibition in Paris。 For a fixed
  sum paid in advance he offered to provide everything and act as courier to
  the party; and succeeded with the greatest difficulty in getting together ten
  people。 From this modest beginning has grown the vast undertaking that
  to…day covers the globe with tourists; from the frozen seas where they 〃do〃
  the midnight sun; to the deserts three thousand miles up the Nile。
  As    I  was    returning     a  couple     of  years    ago    VIA    Vienna     from
  Constantinople;       the   train  was    filled  with   a  party   of   our  compatriots
  conducted by an agency of this kind … simple people of small means who;
  twenty years ago; would as soon have thought of leaving their homes for a
  trip in the East as they would of starting off in balloons en route for the
  inter…stellar spaces。
  I doubted at the time as to the amount of information and appreciation
  they brought to bear on their travels; so I took occasion to draw one of the
  thin; unsmiling women into conversation; asking her where they intended
  stopping next。
  〃At Buda…Pesth;〃 she answered。 I said in some amusement:
  〃But that was Buda…Pesth we visited so carefully yesterday。〃
  〃Oh; was   it;〃 she   replied;  without   any  visible change on her   face;  〃I
  thought we had not got there yet。〃 Apparently it was enough for her to be
  travelling; the rest was of little importance。 Later in the day; when asked if
  she   had   visited   a   certain   old   city   in   Germany;   she   told   me   she   had   but
  would never go there again: 〃They gave us such poor coffee at the hotel。〃
  Again later in speaking to her husband; who seemed a trifle vague as to
  whether he had seen Nuremberg or not; she said:
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  〃Why; you remember it very well; it was there you bought those nice
  overshoes!〃
  All of which left me with some doubts in my mind as to the cultivating
  influences of foreign travel on their minds。
  You cannot change a leopard's spots; neither can you alter the natu