David Copperfield

Chapter 75 A loss (1)
Chapter 30 A Loss(1)
In the evening, I arrived in Yarmouth, and went to the hotel first.Knowing that the room Peggotty had specially prepared for me would soon be occupied if the great guest (to whom all living beings had to give way) were not there, I went first to the inn, Dined there and booked a bed.

In the evening, many shops on the road are closed, so the town becomes very depressed.When I came to Omer-Yoran, I found the shutters closed but the door open.I saw Mr. Omer smoking inside near the door of the living room, so I went up to say hello to him.

"Ah!" said Mr. Omer. "How are you? Sit down.—don't mind if I smoke? Of course I hope you don't."

"Not at all," I said, "I like watching other people smoke."

"Why, don't you smoke yourself, eh?" continued Mr. Omer, laughing, "that's all right. It's a bad habit for young people. Come, sit down. I smoke for breath myself. "

Mr. Omer made room for me and put a chair.Then he sat down again, breathless, and breathed heavily on his pipe, as if it contained something that was vital to his life.

"I am sorry to hear the sad news of Mr. Barkis!" said I.

Mr. Omer looked at me with a calm expression, then shook his head.

"Do you know how he is tonight?" I asked.

"If it hadn't been for taboo, sir," replied Mr. Omer, "I should have raised the matter. It is a defect of our profession. We cannot speak of a relation when he is ill."

I had not thought of this difficulty.Though when I come in, I don't want to hear that old accent.But since it has been brought up, I have given it an acknowledgment, so I followed suit.

"Yes, yes, you understand," said Mr. Omer, nodding his head. "We dare not do that. Well, if Omer-Yoran Company greets you and asks you this morning-or this afternoon —what do you think? This will shock most people irreversibly.”

Mr. Omer nodded to me, and with the aid of his pipe he was back to normal.

"There are some things that prevent people in this business from freely expressing their concerns," Mr. Omer said. "If I knew Bagis for a year and I nodded as he walked by, I would have known him for 40 years." Friendship is nothing more than that. Can't I go and greet him?'"

I felt that this made Mr. Omer very sad, so I told him what I meant.

"I hope I am not more mercenary than others," Mr. Omer said. "My breath may stop at any time. As far as I know, at this time, I probably will not rush for quick success. For a person who knows that he will die at a certain time, at some point he will die." A man who can break (like a bellows cut open), for a grandfather, I probably wouldn't."

"Absolutely not," I said.

"I don't resent the job I do," said Mr. Omer. "No. There is no doubt that each line has its advantages and its disadvantages. May each develop a stronger spirit." .”

Mr. Omer, with a humble and kind expression, silently puffed a few puffs of cigarettes, and then continued the previous topic:

"So we'll just have to listen to Emily about the Bagis situation. She knows us, and she's no more alarmed or suspicious of us than she is of a flock of lambs. The last (she was there several hours at a time, helping her aunt a bit) was to ask him how the evening was. If you would wait a moment, they would bring details. Would you like something to eat? A glass of lemon and water Wine? Well, I myself smoke with limoncello and water," said Mr. Omer, raising his glass, "because it is said to moisten the pathways on which my abominable breath depends. But, my dear ’” Mr. Omer croaked, “it’s not the passage that’s in trouble! I said to my daughter Minnie, ‘Give me enough breath, and I’ll find my way, my dear.’”

In fact, he has no extra breath, watching him smile makes people suspense.When he regained his composure, I declined his suggestion for a snack because I had already used my dinner.At the same time I declared that, as he had kindly kept the money, I would wait for his daughter and son-in-law, and then I asked him how little Em'ly was.

"Well, sir," said Mr. Omer, removing his pipe to rub his chin, "I'll tell you the truth, I won't be excited until after her wedding."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, she's not very settled at the moment," said Mr. Omer. "It doesn't mean she's not as attractive as she was, because she's more attractive—I can assure you, she's more beautiful. It's not that Her job is not as good as before, but she is still as good as before. But, for some reason, she is not in the mood to work." Mr. Omer rubbed his chin again, took a puff of cigarette and said, "I express my meaning coldly with the following sentence 'Pull, pull, mates!' I would say that what Emily lacks--said grimly--is energy."

Mr. Omer's expression was so articulate that I nodded my head sincerely to show that I fully understood what he meant.This seemed to please him, and he went on:

"Well, I think it's mainly because she's in a restless mood, you know, and her uncle and I, her fiancé and I, have talked a lot after things have been done. I'm sure Mostly because of her restlessness. You should think of Emily often," said Mr. Omer, shaking his head slightly. "She was a very sweet little thing. As the saying goes, 'You can't make a bag out of a pig's ear.'" 'Hey, I don't know. I thought it could, if it was started at an early age. She's already made a home out of that old boat, sir, and that's not even bluestone and marble. ah!"

"I absolutely believe she can do it!" I said.

"See how that pretty little thing loves uncle," said Mr. Omer, "and it's amazing to see how she clings to him every day more firmly and more closely. Well, whenever that happens, There must be a struggle going on. Why drag it on for so long?"

I listened intently to the kind old man and sincerely agreed with what he had to say.

"So I put this to them," said Mr. Omer, in a deliberate tone, "and I said, 'Well, don't think at all that Emily is bound by time, it's up to you to arrange it. Her work has already been done. It is more meaningful than imagined; her study is faster than imagined; Omer-Yoran Company can write off the unfulfilled time; she will always be free when you want. If she is willing to make some small arrangements later , doing little things for us around the house, that's fine. If she doesn't like it, it's still fine. We're not losing money anyway.' Because don't you understand," said Mr. Omer, touching me with his pipe, "a A short-breathed person like me, and a grandfather, probably wouldn't treat a little flower with blue eyes like hers too harshly?"

"Certainly not, I can say for sure," I said.

"You're right!" said Mr. Omer. "Well, sir, her cousin—is it a cousin of hers that she's going to marry?"

"Oh, yes," I replied, "I know him very well."

"Of course you know him very well," said Mr. Omer. "Well, sir, her cousin (seems to be very well-off and well-off) for this with a very generous attitude (it should be said that his attitude made me feel very generous. I think highly of him) thanked me and rented a nice little house. The little house is now completely furnished and as neat and tidy as a doll's parlor. If it weren't for Bagis' sickness, I guess , they have now become a couple. In fact, the wedding has been postponed."

"Where's Emily, Mr. Omer?" I asked. "Is she more settled now?"

"Well, you know," he replied, rubbing his double chin again, "of course you can't expect that. Future changes and separations, and things like that, we might say, are both closer to her and farther away from her. Bagis His death wouldn't push their marriage very far, but his immortality might. All in all, you know it's an uneasy situation."

"I understand." I said.

(End of this chapter)