I Wanted To
Stay, Yet Was Doubtful Whether It Would Not Appear Improper, Being
An Utter Stranger.
Knowing, however, that I was visiting the least
ceremonious people in the world, I bluntly informed him of the
pleasure I had enjoyed, and with the desire I had of staying a few
days with him.
"Thee art as welcome as if I was thy father; thee art
no stranger; thy desire of knowledge, thy being a foreigner besides,
entitleth thee to consider my house as thine own, as long as thee
pleaseth: use thy time with the most perfect freedom; I too shall do
so myself." I thankfully accepted the kind invitation.
We went to view his favourite bank; he showed me the principles and
method on which it was erected; and we walked over the grounds which
had been already drained. The whole store of nature's kind
luxuriance seemed to have been exhausted on these beautiful meadows;
he made me count the amazing number of cattle and horses now feeding
on solid bottoms, which but a few years before had been covered with
water. Thence we rambled through his fields, where the right-angular
fences, the heaps of pitched stones, the flourishing clover,
announced the best husbandry, as well as the most assiduous
attention. His cows were then returning home, deep bellied, short
legged, having udders ready to burst; seeking with seeming toil to
be delivered from the great exuberance they contained: he next
showed me his orchard, formerly planted on a barren sandy soil, but
long since converted into one of the richest spots in that vicinage.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 239 of 291
Words from 65068 to 65334
of 79752
