Lavengro by George Borrow (read me a book txt) 📕

“Anything else?”

“Yes, a little Welsh, and a little Haik.”

“What is Haik?”

“Armenian.”

“I am glad to see you in my house,” said the old man, shaking me by the hand; “how singular that one coming as you did should know Armenian.”

“Not more singular,” said I, “than that one living in such a place as this should know Chinese. How came you to acquire it?”

The old man looked at me, and sighed. “I beg pardon,” said I, “for asking what is, perhaps, an impertinent question; I have not imitated your own delicacy; you have never asked me a question without first desiring permission, and here I have been days and nights in your house an intruder on your hospitality, and you have never so much as asked me who I am.”

“In forbearing to do that,” said the old man, “I merely obeyed the Chinese precept: ‘Ask no questions of a guest’; it is written on both sides of the teapot out of which you have had your tea.”

“I wish I knew Chinese,” said I. “Is it a difficult language to acquire?”

“I have reason to think so,” said the old man. “I have been occupied upon it five-and-thirty years, and I am still very imperfectly acquainted with it; at least, I frequently find upon my crockery sentences the meaning of which to me is very dark, though it is true these sentences are mostly verses, which are, of course, more difficult to understand than mere prose.”

“Are your Chinese studies,” said I, “confined to crockery literature?”

“Entirely,” said the old man; “I read nothing else.”

“I have heard,” said I, “that the Chinese have no letters, but that for every word they have a separate character⁠—is it so?”

“For every word they have a particular character,” said the old man; “though, to prevent confusion, they have arranged their words under two hundred and fourteen what we should call radicals, but which they call keys. As we arrange all our words in a dictionary under twenty-four letters, so do they arrange all their words, or characters, under two hundred and fourteen radical signs; the simplest radicals being the first, and the more complex the last.”

“Does the Chinese resemble any of the European languages in words?” said I.

“I am scarcely competent to inform you,” said the old man; “but I believe not.”

“What does that character represent?” said I, pointing to one on the vase.

“A knife,” said the old man; “that character is one of the simplest radicals or keys.”

“And what is the sound of it?” said I.

“Tau,” said the old man.

“Tau,” said I; “tau!”

“A strange word for a knife! is it not?” said the old man.

“Tawse!” said I; “tawse!”

“What is tawse?” said the old man.

“You were never at school at Edinburgh, I suppose?”

“Never,” said the old man.

“That accounts for your not knowing the meaning of tawse,” said I; “had you received the rudiments of a classical education at the High School, you would have known the meaning of tawse full well. It is a leathern thong, with which refractory urchins are recalled to a sense of their duty by the dominie. Tau⁠—tawse⁠—how singular!”

“I cannot see what the two words have in common, except a slight agreement in sound.”

“You will see the connection,” said I, “when I inform you that the thong, from the middle to the bottom, is cut or slit into two or three parts, from which slits or cuts, unless I am very much mistaken, it derives its name⁠—tawse, a thong with slits or cuts, used for chastising disorderly urchins at the High School, from the French tailler, to cut; evidently connected with the Chinese tau, a knife⁠—how very extraordinary!”

Two days⁠—three days passed away, and I still remained at the house of my hospitable entertainer, my bruised limb rapidly recovering the power of performing its functions. I passed my time agreeably enough, sometimes in my chamber, communing with my own thoughts; sometimes in the stable, attending to, and not unfrequently conversing with, my horse; and at mealtime⁠—for I seldom saw him at any other⁠—discoursing with the old gentleman, sometimes on the Chinese vocabulary, sometimes on Chinese syntax, and once or twice on English horseflesh, though on this latter subject, notwithstanding his descent from a race of horse-traders, he did not enter with much alacrity. As a small requital for his kindness, I gave him one day, after dinner, unasked, a brief account of my history and pursuits. He listened with attention, and when it was concluded, thanked me for the confidence which I had reposed in him. “Such conduct,” said he, “deserves a return. I will tell you my own history; it is brief, but may perhaps not prove uninteresting to you⁠—though the relation of it will give me some pain.” “Pray, then, do not recite it,” said I. “Yes,” said the old man, “I will tell you, for I wish you to know it.” He was about to begin, when he was interrupted by the arrival of the surgeon. The surgeon examined into the state of my bruised limb, and told me, what indeed I already well knew, that it was rapidly improving. “You will not even require a sling,” said he, “to ride to Horncastle. When do you propose going?” he demanded. “When do you think I may venture?” I replied. “I think, if you are a tolerably good horseman, you may mount the day after tomorrow,” answered the medical man. “By the by, are you acquainted with anybody at Horncastle?” “With no living soul,” I answered. “Then you would scarcely find stable-room for your horse. But I am happy to be able to assist you. I have a friend there who keeps a small inn, and who, during the time of the fair, keeps a stall vacant for any quadruped I may bring, until he knows whether I am coming or not. I will give you a letter to him, and he will see after the accommodation of your horse. Tomorrow I