David Copperfield

Chapter 54
Chapter 22 Old Things New People (1)
Steerforth and I were in that part of the country for a fortnight.Of course we are always together, but sometimes we also do things alone.He wasn't seasick at all, but I was.So when he sailed with Mr. Peggotty (which was his favorite activity), I always stayed ashore.I live in Peggotty's special house, which is a bondage which he does not have.As I knew how Peggotty served Mr. Baggis without complaint, I was reluctant to stay out much in the evening; but Steerforth, who was staying at the hotel, did as he pleased.I have often heard, therefore, that he used to entertain fishermen at the tavern Mr. Peggotty frequented, after I had gone to bed.It was also heard how he wore their costumes and floated on the sea all moonlit nights, and did not return until high tide.But I knew then that he had an indolent and adventurous spirit, fond of hard work and violent weather, as much as he was fond of finding thrills in new and exciting things, so that all his actions It didn't surprise me.

As for me, for Brandstone, I am certainly interested in revisiting the old places I was familiar with in my childhood, and Steerforth doesn't want to go to these places once he has been there, which is one of the reasons for our occasional separation. one.So some days we each went our separate ways after an early breakfast and met at dinner.In the meantime, I don't quite know how he spent his time, but he had already become famous locally, and had many ways to enjoy himself that no one else could think of, but he could.

I revisit the old places, on my solitary patrol: walk along the road, remember every yard of the old road I walked, cling to the old places I never tire of.I have spent as much time in these places as I did in my childhood when I was away from them and often wandered there.Hour after hour I lingered near the grave under the tree where my parents were buried--with what amazing sympathy I visited when my father was alone; when my mother and her baby were buried How sadly I have stood beside it when I was in the cemetery - because of Peggotty's care, the vicinity of the tomb has always been kept tidy and made into a large garden; the tomb is not far from the cemetery path, in a secluded corner.When I wandered on the road, I could clearly see the writing on the tombstone.Then the church bell startled me, for it seemed long gone.These memories of mine are connected with how I became famous all my life.The echo of my footsteps always catches the tune, as if I came home to tell my ideals beside my living mother.

The old house has changed a lot.The scattered and broken nests abandoned by the crows were gone; the trees were not what I remembered them to be;There was only a poor madman living in the house with his attendants.He always sat in front of my little window, looking at the cemetery from a distance. I used to look out of the same window on rose-colored mornings, and saw the sheep grazing peacefully in the rays of the rising sun; I wonder if his messy thoughts are close to my previous fantasies.

Mr. and Mrs. Graybo, our old neighbors, have both moved to South America, and the rain seeps in through the roof of their empty house, soaking the outside walls and mottled them.Mr. Qillpool married a tall, thin, high-nosed wife, and gave birth to a thin child with a big head that couldn't be lifted, and eyes with weak eyesight that were always staring, as if wondering why he should be kept. born.

When I wandered in my hometown, I often had a subtle feeling of sadness and joy: I lingered there, and I didn't set foot on my way back until the winter sunset told me that it was time to go back.It was a joy to think of having been there when we left, especially when Steerforth and I sat happily at dinner by the roaring fire.When I came back to my clean room in the evening, I turned the pages of the crocodile book that was always on the little table, and I remembered that there was a friend like Steerforth, there was a friend like Peggotty, and there was a friend like my great-aunt. How blessed am I to have a generous and loving family member!

The last way of my long walk back to Yarmouth was by ferry.After crossing the ferry, I came to the sandy beach between the town and the sea, and I could walk across the sandy beach without detours.Mr. Peggotty's house was right on the beach, not far from my path, so I always looked around as I passed.Steerforth was always there waiting for me, and we walked together through the freezing air and growing mist to the place where the lights flickered.

One evening, when it was very dark, and I came back a little late--for I was going to say good-bye to Brandstone that day--I saw Steerforth alone at Peggotty's, sitting thoughtfully by the fire .He didn't even notice my approach.Even if he wasn't, it probably was, because the footsteps were almost silent on the sand.But when I approached to call him, I didn't wake him up. I stood there watching him, and he was still frowning, lost in his meditation.

I tapped him on the shoulder, he was very surprised, and I was also taken aback.

"You approach me like a ghost." He was almost annoyed.

"Anyway, I must let you know that I am coming," I replied, "Did I call you back from heaven?"

"No," he replied.

"Where did that call you back?" I said, sitting down beside him.

"I'm looking at a picture of Mars," he answered me.

"Let's watch together," I said.For he was stirring the fire with a burning block, and a string of red-hot sparks flew up the chimney and whirred into the air.

"You won't see," he answered me. "I hate this midnight hour, when it's neither day nor night; where have you been when you came back so late?"

"I'm going to say goodbye to the place where I walk every day," I said.

"I'm just sitting here thinking," said Steerforth, looking around the room, "of all that we've just arrived, and how those cheerful people--from the present desolate scene--scattered, or died, or met me. Unexpected disaster. Dave, I am so devastated that I have not had a strict father in 20 years!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"I do regret not being disciplined better," he cried, "I do regret not being disciplined better!"

I was amazed by the overwhelming sadness in his voice.He was more gaffe than I thought.

"I'd rather be twenty times richer and twenty times wiser now than Peggotty, or his rude nephew, than spend the last half hour looking for trouble on this damn ship!" said the hearth.

Seeing his mood become so depressed, I was stunned for a while, not knowing what to say; while he sat there, resting his head on his hand, staring depressedly at the fire.At last I sincerely begged him to tell what it was that bothered him, and if he didn't want me to console him, he had to let me know him, and before I had finished my sentence he laughed--somewhat at first Annoyed, but soon cheered up.

"Oh, nothing, Daisy! nothing!" he replied, "in the hotel in London, I told you, I sometimes trouble myself, and it was all a dream—really, really A nightmare. In times of great boredom, I often think of fairy tales, but most people don't understand the meaning of these stories. I believe-I have swallowed myself and that "accidentally" by lions-I think, than Better to be devoured by dogs—bad boys mixed up, and the horror the old women say has run through me from head to toe, and I'm afraid of myself."

"I'm sure you're not afraid of anything else," I said.

"Perhaps, but perhaps there are still many things that frighten me," he replied. benefit."

His face was perpetually expressive, but when he said this, staring at the fire, he had a kind of earnest depression I had never seen before.

"Forget it, stop here!" He waved his hand, as if throwing something weightless into the air.

"'Ha, for it's gone, and I'm still a man!' Like Macbeth. Let's go to dinner! Didn't expect me just now, like Macbeth, to interrupt the feast with a terrible commotion."

"Where did they go?" I said.

"I don't know," said Steerforth, "I went to the ferry just now to look for you, and when you didn't come, I came here, and there was no one. The situation got me thinking, and you saw me here. think."

The presence of Mrs. Gummidge with her basket explained why the house happened to be deserted.It turned out that Mr. Peggotty came back before high tide, and she went shopping; Ham and little Emily came back early, and she left the door open, fearing she would not be there when they came back.Steerforth refreshed Mrs. Gummidge with cheery wishes and witty embraces, and he took my arm and dragged me away.

"So," he said lightly, "we're going to end this life at sea tomorrow, aren't we?"

"Didn't we agree earlier," I replied, "You know that even the seat of the bicycle is reserved!"

"Yes, that can't be changed," said he, "and I've almost forgotten anything in the world except being adrift at sea, and I hope there's nothing else."

"As long as it doesn't lose that fresh taste." I said with a smile.

"That's all right," he answered me, "but there's undue sarcasm in that from a friend as young as you. Well, David, I know I'm a different kind of fellow, and I know I Well, I can beat hard when the iron is hot; and if I were a helmsman at sea, I dare say I could pass a fairly rigorous examination."

"Mr Peggotty calls you a genius," I said.

"A navigator?" he said, laughing.

"Yes, you understand that his words are true, because he understands how persistent you are in pursuit of one thing, and how relaxed and free you are. This also surprised me-how can you be satisfied just like this, using your talents intermittently?"

"Satisfied?" He said with a grin. "I've never been satisfied, except for you, my young daisy, my dear friend. As for intermittent, I have never learned a skill to tie myself to Ixion." On a spinning wheel, spinning on it. Somehow, skills I didn't learn before, I don't care about now—you heard I bought a boat?"

"You're a queer fellow, Steerforth," I cried, stopping to hear it for the first time. "Perhaps you'll never come here again."

"Not necessarily," he went on, "the place is quite to my liking, anyhow," he led me briskly onwards, "I bought a boat that was for sale—Mr Peggotty said that It's a clipper ship -- he's the captain when I'm not around."

"Oh, Steerforth, I see," I said cheerfully, "you're pretending to buy it for yourself, and you're giving it to him as a present. I knew what you were, as I should have known from the beginning. My dear How can I, Steerforth, show my gratitude for your generosity?"

"Shut up," he said, blushing, "the less you say, the better."

"I said earlier," cried I, "that you will not be indifferent to the joys and sorrows of these sincere hearts."

"Yes," he replied, "you said so, let's stop here!"

He didn't think much of it himself, and I was afraid I'd offend him by saying it, but I couldn't help thinking about it as we walked faster than before.

"The boat has to be fitted out," said Steerforth, "and I'm leaving Richtimo to take care of it. Did I tell you he's here?"

"No."

"Oh, it came this morning, with a letter from my mother."

When our eyes met, although his eyes were steady, even his lips turned white.I wondered if he had had some quarrel with his mother which had caused him to sit brooding by Mr. Peggotty's fire.I reminded it.

"Oh, no!" He smiled and shook his head. "That's irrelevant. My hands are down."

"Same as before?" I said.

"Yes," said he, "as far away as the North Pole, and as serene. I want him to give the ship a new name. It is now called Petrel. Mr. Peggotty does not care for Petrel. I want a different name."

"What's it called?" I asked.

"Little Emily."

He looked at me as intently as before, and I took him to be insinuating that he didn't like my undue praise of his generosity.I couldn't help expressing my love for the name, but I didn't say anything.So he seemed to be relieved and returned to normal.

"Look," he said, looking ahead of us, "here comes the real little Emily! Aren't they two right? He's really like a warrior, to be honest, and never leaves her."

Ham was then a shipwright, and he had shown his talent in this field, and became a journeyman.In his work clothes, he looked rough and strong, a suitable protector for the lithe and beautiful girl beside him.There was a frankness in his face, and an expression of satisfaction with her and his love for her, which I thought was the most beautiful face.When they get closer, I think they're a good couple even in that regard.

As we approached, she timidly pulled her hand out of his and shook ours.We talked for a while, and they went on, and she was no longer on his arm, just walking unnaturally by herself.It seemed to me, and Steerforth seemed to think so, as we watched them from behind disappear into the light of the crescent moon.

At this moment a young woman walked past us - apparently chasing them.We didn't get a good look at her face, but I thought I saw her as she walked by.She wore very little and looked brave, tough, and poor.She seemed to have given it all up to the wind that was blowing, and had no other thought but to chase the two of them.When their shadows merged with the dark wasteland and disappeared between the sea and the sky, the shadows chasing them also disappeared, and they were still no closer to them than before.

"It was a dark shadow, following the girl," said Steerforth, stopping.

he said in a low voice that almost surprised me.

"I think she must be asking for something from them," I said.

"A beggar is nothing, of course," he said, "but the way she acts is strange."

"why?"

"Actually," he said after a pause, "I thought of something like that as that shadow passed us, and I don't know where it came from."

(End of this chapter)