Lavengro : $b The Scholar; The Gypsy; The Priest, Vol. 2 (of 2)Borrow, George
General
Lavengro : $b The Scholar; The Gypsy; The Priest, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Borrow, George
England -- Fiction; Romanies -- Fiction
more glibly than their masters, and appeared to have much better taste.
At any rate, they seldom approved of what their masters did. I remember
being once with one in the gallery of the play-house, when something of
Shakespeare's was being performed: some one in the first tier of boxes
was applauding very loudly. 'That's my fool of a governor,' said he; 'he
is weak enough to like Shakespeare--I don't;--he's so confoundedly low,
but he won't last long--going down. Shakespeare culminated--I think that
was the word--culminated some time ago.'
"And then the professor of elocution, of whom my governors used to take
lessons, and of which lessons I had my share, by listening behind the
door; but for that professor of elocution I should not be able to round
my periods--an expression of his--in the manner I do.
"After I had been three years at this place, my mistress died. Her
death, however, made no great alteration in my way of living, the family
spending their winters in London, and their summers at their old seat in
S--- as before. At last, the young ladies, who had not yet got husbands,
which was strange enough, seeing, as I told you before, they were very
amiable, proposed to our governor a travelling expedition abroad. The
old baronet consented, though young master was much against it, saying
they would all be much better at home. As the girls persisted, however,
he at last withdrew his opposition, and even promised to follow them as
soon as his parliamentary duties would permit; for he was just got into
Parliament, and, like most other young members, thought that nothing
could be done in the House without him. So the old gentleman and the two
young ladies set off, taking me with them, and a couple of ladies' maids
to wait upon them. First of all, we went to Paris, where we continued
three months, the old baronet and the ladies going to see the various
sights of the city and the neighbourhood, and I attending them. They
soon got tired of sightseeing, and of Paris too; and so did I. However,
they still continued there, in order, I believe, that the young ladies
might lay in a store of French finery. I should have passed my idle time
at Paris, of which I had plenty after the sight-seeing was over, very
unpleasantly, but for Black Jack. Eh! did you never hear of Black Jack?
Ah! if you had ever been an English servant in Paris, you would have
known Black Jack; not an English gentleman's servant who has been at
Paris for this last ten years but knows Black Jack and his ordinary. A
strange fellow he was--of what country no one could exactly say--for as
for judging from speech, that was impossible, Jack speaking all languages
equally ill. Some said he came direct from Satan's kitchen, and that
when he gives up keeping ordinary, he will return there again, though the
generally-received opinion at Paris was, that he was at one time butler
to King Pharaoh; and that, after lying asleep for four thousand years in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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