News from Nowhere; Or, An Epoch of Rest: Being Some Chapters from a Utopian RomanceMorris, William
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News from Nowhere; Or, An Epoch of Rest: Being Some Chapters from a Utopian Romance
Morris, William
Utopias
All this seemed very interesting to me, and I should like to have made
the old man talk more. But Dick got rather restive under so much ancient
history: besides, I suspect he wanted to keep me as fresh as he could for
his great-grandfather. So he burst out laughing at last, and said:
"Excuse me, neighbours, but I can't help it. Fancy people not liking to
work!--it's too ridiculous. Why, even you like to work, old
fellow--sometimes," said he, affectionately patting the old horse with
the whip. "What a queer disease! it may well be called Mulleygrubs!"
And he laughed out again most boisterously; rather too much so, I
thought, for his usual good manners; and I laughed with him for company's
sake, but from the teeth outward only; for _I_ saw nothing funny in
people not liking to work, as you may well imagine.
CHAPTER VII: TRAFALGAR SQUARE
And now again I was busy looking about me, for we were quite clear of
Piccadilly Market, and were in a region of elegantly-built much
ornamented houses, which I should have called villas if they had been
ugly and pretentious, which was very far from being the case. Each house
stood in a garden carefully cultivated, and running over with flowers.
The blackbirds were singing their best amidst the garden-trees, which,
except for a bay here and there, and occasional groups of limes, seemed
to be all fruit-trees: there were a great many cherry-trees, now all
laden with fruit; and several times as we passed by a garden we were
offered baskets of fine fruit by children and young girls. Amidst all
these gardens and houses it was of course impossible to trace the sites
of the old streets: but it seemed to me that the main roadways were the
same as of old.
We came presently into a large open space, sloping somewhat toward the
south, the sunny site of which had been taken advantage of for planting
an orchard, mainly, as I could see, of apricot-trees, in the midst of
which was a pretty gay little structure of wood, painted and gilded, that
looked like a refreshment-stall. From the southern side of the said
orchard ran a long road, chequered over with the shadow of tall old pear
trees, at the end of which showed the high tower of the Parliament House,
or Dung Market.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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