Seets i' Paris: Sammywell Grimes's trip with his old chum Billy Baccus, his opinion o' th' French, and th' French opinion o' th' exhibition he made ov hissenHartley, John
General
Seets i' Paris: Sammywell Grimes's trip with his old chum Billy Baccus, his opinion o' th' French, and th' French opinion o' th' exhibition he made ov hissen
Hartley, John
British -- France -- Paris -- Fiction; Dialect literature, English -- England -- Yorkshire; Paris (France) -- Fiction
Th' place had getten soa full o' fowk wol we thowfc it wor time to be
movin', an' nivver had aw seen sich a change as had takken place wol
we'd been in. We gate into a ricketty cab an' telled him to drive to
Champs Elysees, net'at we'd owt particular to goa for but aw knew if we
wor set daan thear'at aw should be able to find mi way hooam an' have
a chonce to see ha one pairt o' th? city spent Sundy. Th' streets wor
fairly filled wi' fowk, the cawseys wor ommost blocked an' moor cabs
an' carriages wor ith' streets nor we'd ivver seen. It wor hardly to
be wondered at on sich a afternoon'at fowk should be tempted aght for
a ride or walk; an' it made up a seet moor gay nor owt we'd witnessed
befoor. Th' Cafes an' shops wor oppen, (net all th' shops but mooast
on'em,) an' it seemed to bi far th' busiest day ith' wick. Ther wor
noa church bells ringin' nah, th' fowk had getten throo ther religious
nomony for th' day, an' them'at hadn't had time to: goa back hooam an'
leeave ther prayer-books had'em stickin' aght o' ther pockets as they
sat ith' front o' th' drinkin' shops playin' cards an' laffin' an'
smok'in' Awm net able to argefy as to whether it's reight or wrang, but
it isn't my noation o' "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy."
Old England has a lot to answer for i' that respect, maybe a deeal moor
nor we're apt to admit, still Payris licks all places aw ivver did
see for th' amaant o' religion it can booast an' for th' want o'
Christianity'at characterizes it.
We'd had noa dinner soa we went into a place an' ordered Cafe au lait,
bifteck, Champignons, pain an' beurre, an' if yo cannot tell what that
is awd advise yo to get to know befoor yo goa, for yol find it's nooan
a bad pooltice for a empty stummack. Aw noaticed'at other fowk sittin'
raand rayther stared when th' chap browt it, but they stared far moor
when he tuk th' empty plates away in abaat ten minutes at after. When
we'd squared up we went aghtside agean, an' pickin' aght a little
table'at wor as far removed as onny throo th' craad'at wor sittin'
ith' front, an' one'at wor grandly shaded wi' a young sycamore tree, we
ordered brandy an' watter an' cigars, an' sat daan intendin to enjoy th'
richness an' th' beauties ov an evenin' sich as it mud be a long time
befoor we should have th' chonce ov enjoyin' agean. Sittin' under a tree
has it's advantages, but ther's allusa drawback to all pleasures i'
this life. Th' French fowk as a nation are varry perlite, but they
dooant seem to have eddi-cated th' burds up to th' same pitch, an' aw
suppooas burds will be burds whether they're i' Payris or i' Pudsey;
at onyrate, when aw pickt up mi brandy an' watter aw saw ther'd been an
addition to it sin th' waiter put it daan,'at caused me to teem it daan
th' gutter asteead o' daan mi throit. Billy tuk warnin' bi my mishap an'
he made sewer o' his. It wor noa serious loss for aw railly didn't want
it, but yo cannot sit at sich places withaat havin' to spend summat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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