As we walked along to a particular part of the temple，“There，’’says the gentleman，pointing with his finger，“that is the‘Poets Corner’：there you see the monuments of Shakespeare，and Milton，and Prior．and Drayton．’’ “Drayton!”I replied，“I never heard of him before；but I have been told of one Pope，is he there?’’ “It is time enough，”replied my guide，“these hundred years；he is not long dead；people have not done hating him yet．’’ “Strange，”cried I，“can any be found to hate a man，whose life was wholly spent in entertaining and instructing his fellow-creatures?”Yes，”says my guide，“they hate him for that very reason．There are a set of men called answerers of books，who take upon them to watch the republic of letters，and distribute reputation by the sheet；they somewhat resemble the eunuchs in a seraglio，who are incapable of giving pleasure themselves，and hinder those that would．These answerers have no other employment but to cry out dunce，and scribbler；to praise the dead，and revile the living；to grant a man of confessed abilities some small share of merit；tO applaud twenty blockheads，in order to gain the reputation of candour；and to revile the moral character of the man whose writings they cannot injure，Such wretches are kept in pay by some mercenary bookseller，or more frequently the bookseller himself takes this dirty work off their hands，as all that is required is to be very abusive and very dull．Every poet of any genius is sure to find such enemies；he feels，though he seems to despise，their malice；they make him miserable here，and in the pursuit of empty fame，at last he gains solid anxiety．”
“Has this been the case with every poet I see here?”cried I．“Yes，with every mother’S son of them，”replied he，“except the happened to be born a mandarine．If he has much money，he may buy reputation from your book-answerers，as well as a monument from the guardians of the temple．’’
“But are there not some men of distinguished taste，as in China，who are willing to patronize men of merit，and soften the rancour of malevolent dullness?’’ “I own there are many，’’replied the man in black， “but，alas，Sir，the book—answerers crowd about them，and call themselves the writers of books；and the patron iS too indolent todistinguish；thus poets are kept at a distance，while their enemies eat upall their rewards at the mandarine’s table．” Leaving this part of the temple，we made up to an iron gate，throughwhich my companion told me we were to pass，in order to see themonuments of the kings．Accordingly I marched up without；furtherceremony，and was going to enter，when a person who held the gate inhis hand told me I must pay first．1 was surprised at such a demand；andasked the man，whether the people of England kept a show?Whetherthe paltry sum he demanded was not a nation reproach?Whether it wasnot more to the honour of the country to let their magnificence or theirantiquities be openly seen．than thus meanly to tax a curiosity whichtended tO their own honour?“As for your questions，’’replied the gate-keeper，“to be sure they may be very fight because I don’t understandthem；but，as for that there three pence，I farm it from one--who rentsit from another--who hires it from a third—whO leases it from the guardians of the temple，and we a11 must live．”I expected，upon paying here，tO see something extraordinary，since what I had seen for nothingfilled me with SO much surprise；but in this 1 was disappointed；there waslittle more within than black coffins，rusty armour，tattered standards，and some few slovenly figures in wax．1 was sorry I had paid，but I comforted myself by considering it would be my last payment．A person attended US，who，without once blushing，old an hundred lies；he talked of a lady who died by pricking her finger；of a king with—a golden head，and twenty such pieces of absurdity．“Look ye there，gentlemen，”says he，pointingto an old oak chair，“there’S a curiosity for ye；in that chair the kings of England were crowned；you see also a stone underneath，and that stoneis Jacob’S pillow．I could see no curiosity either in the oak chair，orthe stone；could I，indeed，behold one of the old kings of England seatedin this，or Jacob’S head laid upon the other，there might be something~osity in the sight；but in the present case there was no more reason formy surprise than if I should pick a stone from their streets，and call it acuriosity，merely because one of the kings happened to tread upon it as hepassed in a procession． Front hence our conductor led US through several dark walks andwinding ways，uttering lies，talking to himself,and flourishing a wand which he held in his hand．He reminded me of the black magicians of kobi．After we had been almost fatigued with a variety of objects，he at last desired me to consider attentively a certain suit of armour，which seemed to show nothing remarkable．“This armour”，said he．“belonged to General Monk．”Very surprising，that a general should wear armour．’’“And pray，”added he，“observe this cap，thisis General Monk’S cap．’’“Very strange indeed，very strange，that a general should have a cap also．Pray，friend，what might this cap have cost originally?’’“That，sir，”said he，“I don’t know；but this cap is all the wages I have for my trouble．”“A very small recompense truly，”said I．“Not SO very small，”replied he，“for every gentleman puts sOme money into it，and I spend the money．”“What，more money!Still more money!’’“Every gentleman gives something．Sir．’’“I’11 give the nothing．”returned I：“the guardians of the temple should pay you wages，friend，and not permit you to squeeze thus from every spectator·When we pay our money at the door to see a show，we never give more as we are going out．Sure，the guardians of the temple can never think they get enough．Show me the gate；if I stay longer，I may probably meet with more of those ecclesiastical beggars．”
Thus leaving the temple precipitately，I returned to my lodgings，in order to ruminate over what was great，and to despise what was mean，in the occurrences of the day．philosopher n．哲学家，哲人transient n．短期居留者
adj．短暂的；瞬间的；一时的；暂住的，路过的conduct n．行为，指导，举动
v．引导，管理，指挥；带领workmanship n．手艺，技巧peevishly adv．易发脾气地，急躁地resolved adj．下定决心的；断然的pursuit n．追踪，追击；继续进行，从事；追求slovenly adj．懒散的；不修边幅的precipitately adv．猛进地
