The Surgeon's Daughter
Page 21
The politeness of some of the fair ladies would now have brought back the conversation to the forgotten subject of our meeting. "How could you, Mr. Croftangry, collect all these hard words about India?—you were never there?"—"No, madam, I have not had that advantage; but, like the imitative operatives of Paisley, I have composed my shawl by incorporating into the woof a little Thibet wool, which my excellent friend and neighbour, Colonel Mackerris, one of the best fellows who ever trode a Highland moor, or dived into an Indian jungle, had the goodness to supply me with."
My rehearsal, however, though not absolutely and altogether to my taste, has prepared me in some measure for the less tempered and guarded sentence of the world. So a man must learn to encounter a foil before he confronts a sword; and to take up my original simile, a horse must be accustomed to a feu de joie, before you can ride him against a volley of balls. Well, Corporal Nym's philosophy is not the worst that has been preached, "Things must be as they may." If my lucubrations give pleasure, I may again require the attention of the courteous reader; if not, here end the
CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE.
Примечания
1
The Constitution of the Borough.
(<< back)
2
Robert Walker, the colleague and rival of Dr. Hugh Blair, in St. Giles's Church Edinburgh
(<< back)
3
List of criminal indictments, so termed in Scotland.
(<< back)
4
Strollers.
(<< back)
5
Or Kite.
(<< back)
6
Tattling.
(<< back)
7
Marion.
(<< back)
8
Galatian is a name of a person famous in Christmas gambols.
(<< back)
9
The Botanic Garden is so termed by the vulgar of Edinburgh.
(<< back)
10
"Pretty Toy"
(<< back)
11
In order to maintain uninjured the tone of passion throughout this dialogue, it has been judged expedient to discard, in the Language of the Begum, the patois of Madame Munreville.
(<< back)
12
It is scarce necessary to say, that such things could only be acted in the earlier period of our Indian settlements, when the check of the Directors was imperfect, and that of the crown did not exist. My friend Mr. Fairscribe is of opinion, that there is an anachronism in the introduction of Paupiah, the Bramin Dubash of the English governor.—C. C.
(<< back)
13
In every village the Dowrah, or Guide, is an official person, upon the public establishment, and receives a portion of the harvest or other revenue, along with the Smith, the Sweeper, and the Barber. As he gets nothing from the travellers whom it is his office to conduct, he never scruples to shorten his own journey and prolong theirs by taking them to the nearest village, without reference to the most direct line of route, and sometimes deserts them entirely. If the regular Dowrah is sick or absent, no wealth can procure a substitute.
(<< back)
14
Long whips.
(<< back)
FB2 document info
Document ID: bae784d4-82fb-4a0c-8790-bed7fe0fb026
Document version: 1
Document creation date: 27.11.2013
Created using: calibre 1.11.0, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software
Document authors :
Walter Scott
About
This file was generated by Lord KiRon's FB2EPUB converter version 1.1.5.0.
(This book might contain copyrighted material, author of the converter bears no responsibility for it's usage)
Этот файл создан при помощи конвертера FB2EPUB версии 1.1.5.0 написанного Lord KiRon.
(Эта книга может содержать материал который защищен авторским правом, автор конвертера не несет ответственности за его использование)
http://www.fb2epub.net
https://code.google.com/p/fb2epub/