The little girl looked longer and with more interest，probably becauseshe was in her own house，while he was a traveler and accustomed tos~ange sights．And，besides，there was no galette in the case with her． All the time of supper there was nothing spoken of but my younglord．The two parents were both absurdly fond of their child．Monsieurkept insisting on his sagacity；how he knew all the children at schoolby name，and when this utterly failed on trial，how he was cautious andexact to a strange degree，and if asked anything，he would sit and thinkand think，and if he did not know it，“my fmth，he wouldn’t tell youat all—ma foi．ilne VOUS le dira pas．”Which is certainly a very high degree of caution．At intervals，Mr．Hector would appeal tO his wife withhis mouth full of beefsteak，as to the little fellow’S age at such or such a time when he had said or done something memorable；and I noticedthat Madame usually pooh-poohed these inquiries．She herself was not boastful in her vein；but she never had her fill of caressing the child；and she seemed to take a gentle pleasure in recalling all that was fortunate in his little existence．No schoolboy could have talked more of the holidays which were just beginning and less of the black school time which mustinevitably follow after．She showed，with a pride perhaps partly mercantilein origin，his pockets preposterously swollen with tops，and whistles，and string．~llen she called at a house in the way of business，it appeared he kept her company；and，whenever a sale was made，received a SOU out of the profit．Indeed，they spoiled him vastly，these two good people．But they had an eye to his manners，for all that，and reproved him for some little faults in breeding which occurred from time to time during supper．
On the whole．1 was not much hurt at being taken for a peddler．I might think that I ate with greater delicacy，or that my mistakes in French belonged to a different order；but it was plain that these distinctions Would be thrown away upon the landlady and the two laborers．In all essential things we and the Gilliards cut very much the same figure in the alehouse kitchen．Mr．Hector was more at home，indeed，and took a higher tone with the world；but that was explicable on the ground of his driving a donkey cart，while we poor bodies tramped by foot．I dare、say the rest of the company thought US dying with envy，though in no ill sense，to be as far up in the profession as the new arrival．
And of one thing I am sure；that every one thawed and became more humanized and conversable as soon as these innocent people appeared upon the scene．1 would not very readily trust the traveling merchant with any extravagant sum of money，but I am sure his heart was in the right place．In this mixed world，if you can find one or two sensible places in a man；above all，if you should find a whole family living together on such pleasant terms，you may surely be satisfied，and take the rest for granted；or，what is a great deal better，boldly make up your mind that you can do perfectly well without the rest，and that ten thousand bad traits cannot make a single good one any the less good．
It was getting late．Mr．Hector lit a stable lantern and went off to his cart for some arrangements，and my young gentleman proceeded to divest himself of the better part of his raiment and play gymnastics on his mother’S lap，and thence on to the floor，with accompaniment of laughter．
“Are you going to sleep alone?”asked the servant lass．
“There’S little fear of that，”says Master Gilliard．
“You sleep alone at school，”objected his mother．“Come，come，you must be a man．”
But he protested that school was a different matter from the holidays；that there were dormitories at school，and silenced the discussion with kisses，his mother smiling，no one better pleased than she． There certainly was，as he phrased it，very little fear that he shouldsleep alone，for there was but one bed for the trio．We，on our part，hadfirmly protested against one man’s accommodation for two；and we hada double—bedded pen in the loft of the house，furnished，beside the beds，with exactly three hat pegs and one table．There was not SO much as aglass of water．But the window would open，by good fortune．
Some time before I fell asleep the 10ft was full of the sound ofmighty snoring；the Gilliards，and the laborers，and the people of the inn，all at it，I suppose，with one consent．The young moon outside shone veryclearly over Pont-sur—Sambre，and down upon the alehouse where all wepeddlers were abed．omnibus n．公共汽车，公共马车
adj．综合性的，总括的intolerable adi．无法忍受的；难耐的induce v．劝诱；导致；促使accentuate v．强调，以重音念，重读amiable adj．亲切的；和蔼可亲的cynicism n．犬儒主义；冷嘲热讽；玩世不恭donkey n．驴子；顽固者；笨蛋idyllic adj．田园诗的，悠闲的，牧歌的etiquette n．礼仪，成规，礼节poignant adj．浓烈的；强烈的；辛辣的，酸辣的；深刻的preposterously adv．不合理地；荒谬地peddler n．小贩；传播者；兜售者内陆旅行记
【英】罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森
桑布尔运河上：前往瓜特
大约下午3点钟，我们和巨鹿旅馆的全体员工结伴来到河边，目光憔悴的马车夫也在那里。可怜的笼中鸟!我怎么也忘不掉自己当初也曾徘徊在火车站，眼睁睁地看着一列列火车载着自由的人们驶入夜色中，而我却只能眼巴巴地看着时刻表上那些遥远地方的名字。
雨来临之前我们就已经看不清那些碉堡了，逆风猛烈刮着。大自然并不比老天爷仁慈——我们正走过一片荒凉之地，这里只有几丛灌木稀稀落落地生长着，工厂的烟囱使这里大有改观。我们在一片脏乎乎的草地上停留，四周都是些截去了树梢的树。在天气稍好的间隙里我们抽了支烟，风刮得如此猛烈，除了吸烟我们也干不了别的。除了几个破旧的小工厂，周围再没有其他的自然景观了。一群孩子在一个高个女孩的带领下，站在稍远的地方一直注视着我们，直到我们离开。我内心极想知道他们是怎么看待我们的。
在奥蒙特，船几乎不能通过，靠岸的地方高而陡，而登陆的码头也在远处。十几个满身污垢的工人帮了我们。他们拒绝接受任何报酬，而且更可贵的是，他们拒绝时的态度极为得体，没让我们有一丝的难堪。 “这是我们乡下人行事的方式。”他们说。在苏格兰，人们也会无偿地帮助别人，热心肠的人们拒绝接受你的钱，因为如果他们接受了，他们就觉得你是在企图贿赂他们，人们不厌其烦地做善事，并一直做下去。以便将这种高尚的风格普及到所有的人当中。但是在我们勇敢的萨克逊乡村，在泥土里苦干了七十余年的我们，从出生到死亡，风一直在耳边呼号，无论做好事还是坏事我们都用一种傲慢的态度，甚至有些唐突无礼，因此我们的好。意也常会被误解为反对错误的一种证明和行为。
离开奥特蒙，太阳又出来了，风也平息了。只划行了一小会儿，我们便经过了钢铁厂和一片令人赏心悦目的土地。河水在低矮的山间缓缓流淌，因此太阳时而在我们的后面，时而又到了我们的正前方，我们面前的河水则闪耀着大片光芒。草地和果园分布在河岸两边；水边则长满芦苇和水中花。果园篱笆都很高，它们用灌木树篱和榆树干编织成。田野面积都很小，看上去就像是沿河排列的一些树荫下的阴凉地。这里看不到远处的景物，有时候会有一个满布树木的山头仿佛在俯视着最近的树篱，正好将天地间的距离平均分开，但那也只是仅有的景色了，天空没有一丝云彩，雨后的天空显得分外纯净。河水在小山丘之间突然来一个急转弯，好像是一长条闪闪发光的镜面玻璃，每划一下船桨，水花在岸边就摇曳不停。
黑色和白色的牛群漫步在草地上，它们身上的标记都稀奇古怪。有一头牛，长着白脑袋、黑身体。它去岸边饮水，见我走过去便站住不动，庄严地牵动双耳，有点像某些娱乐时的可笑的牧师。不一会儿，我听到很响的落水声，回头一看，这位“牧师先生”正挣扎着往岸上爬，原来河岸在它的踩踏下塌了。
