Now, was I a king of France, cried I what a moment for an orphan to have begg'd his father's portmanteau of me! THE MONK. CALA I S. III. - or I had fcarce utter'd the words, when a monk of the order of St. Francis came into the room to beg fomething for his convent. No man cares to have his virtues the fport of contingencies one man may be generous, as another man is puiffant fed non, quo ad hanc 1) or be it as it may for there is no regular reafoning upon the ebbs and flows of our humours; they may depend upon the fame caufes, for ought I know, which inAuence the tides themselves 2) 'twould oft be no difcredit to us, to fuppofe it was fo: I'm fure at leaft for myself, that in many a cafe I fhould be more highly fatisfied, to have it faid by the world,,,I had had Nervenkraft, das ich jetzt hat. te, föhnte mich mit mir felbft aus. Auf diese Art war Yo-. rick in der besten Stimmung wohlthätig zu feyn. Sogleich erbietet fich eine gute Gelegenheit hierzu und er giebt nichts. Hierüber die Betrach tung zu Anfange des folgenden Capitels. 1) one man may be ge nerous as another is puiffant.,,Mancher Mensch ift vielleicht grofsuüthig, fo wie ein andrer mächtig ist,“ d. h. vielleicht hängt die Grossmuth A 3 had an affair with the moon ),“ in which there was neither fin nor fhame, than have it pafs altogether as my own act and deed, wherein there was fo much of both. But be this as it may. The moment I caft my eyes upon him, I was predetermined not to give him a fingle fous; and accordingly I put my purfe into my pocket 4) button'd it up fet myfelf a little more upon my centre, and advanced up gravely to him: there was fomething, I fear, forbidding in my look: I have his figure this moment before my eyes, and think there was that in it which deferved better. The monk, as I judged from the break in his tonfure ), a few fcatter'd white hairs upon his temples being all that remained of it, might be about fe. venty but from his eyes, and that fort of fire which was in them, which feemed more temper'd by courtesy than years, could be no more than fixty Truth might lie between He was certainly fixtyfive; and the general air of his countenance, notwithstanding fomething feem'd to have been planting wrinkles in it before their time, agreed to the account. mild, pale It was one of thofe heads, which Guido has often painted penetrating, free from all common place ideas of fat contented ignorance looking downwards upon the earth it look'd, as if it 3) I had had an affair with the moon. Ich wünschte dafs der Mond an je. der Handlung, mit der ich nicht zufrieden bin, fchuld feyn möchte, fo hätte ich doch keine Verantwortung davon. 4) I put my purfe into my pocket. Er hatte die f look'd Bürfe vorher herausgenommen und fie zu jedermanns Belie ben hingehalten (f. das vor hergehende Capitel). 5) from the break in his tonfure, aus dem Einzelnstehen der Haare in feiner Tonfur. look'd at fomething beyond this world. How one of his order came by it, heaven above, who let it fall upon a monk's fhoulders, beft knows: but it would have fuited a Bramin, and had I met it upon the plains of Indofan, I had reverenced it. The rest of his outline may be given in a few ftro. kes; one might put it into the hands of any one to defign), for 'twas neither elegant or otherwife, but as character and expreffion made it fo: it was a thin, fpare form, fomething above the common fize, if it loft not the diftinction) by a bend forwards in the figure but it was the attitude of intreaty; and as it now ftands prefented to my imagination, it gain'd more than it loft by it, When he had enter'd the room three paces, he flood ftill; ond laying his left hand upon his breaft, (a flender white ftoff with which he journey'd being in his right) -when I had got clofe up to him, he introduced himfelf with the little ftory of the wants of his convent, and the poverty of his order and did it with fo fimple a grace and fuch an air of deprecation was there in the whole caft of his look and figure bewitch'd not to have been ftruck with it. I was A better reafon was, I had predetermined not to give him a fingle fous. 6) one might put it in to the hands of every one to defign, den Umrifs feines übrigen Körpers zu zeichnen, bedurfte es der Meifterhand des Guido nicht. Den konnte jeder gemeine Mahler auch treffen, weil er nichts Befonderes hatte. Das A 4 THE Originelle lag nur in seinem 7) If it loft not the di ftin&tion, d. i. wenn er nicht dadurch wieder ein Mann von mittler Statur geworden wäre, dafs er bey feiner Länge sehr stark gekrümine ging. CALA I S. IV. 'Tis very true, faid I, replying to a caft up wards with his eyes ), with which he had concluded his addrefs 'tis very true and heaven be their refource who have no other but the charity of the world, the stock of which, I fear, is no way fuf ficient for the many great claims which are hourly made upon it. he As I pronounced the words great claims, gave 2) a flight glance with his eye downwards upon the fleeve of his tunick I felt the full force of the appeal I acknowledge it, faid I a coarfe ha bit, and that but once in three years, with meagre diet are no great matters; and the true point of pi ty is, as they can be earn'd in the world with fo little induftry, that your order fhould wifh to procure them by preffing upon a fund which is the property of the lame, lame, the blind, the aged, and the infirm the ca ptive who lies down counting over and over again the days of his afflictions, languishes alfo for his fhare of it; and had you been of the order of mercy 3), inftead of the order of St. Francis, poor as I am, continued I, pointing at my portmanteau, full chearfully should it have been open'd to you, for the ranfom of the unfortunate The monk made me a bow but of all others, refumed I, the unfortunate of our own coun try, furely, have the firft rights; and I have left thoufands in diftrefs upon our own fhore The monk ga ve a cordial wave with his head as much as to fay: No doubt, there is mifery enough in every corner of the world, as well as within our convent But we distinguish, said I, laying my hand upon the fleeve of his tunick, in return for his appeal -we diftingnifh, my good father! betwixt thofe who wifh only to est the bread of their own labour and those who eat the bread of other people's, and have no other plan in life, but to get through it in floth and ignorance, for the love of God, The poor Francifcan made no reply: a hectic of a moment pafs'd across his cheek; but could not tarry Nature feemed to have had done with her refentments in him); he fhewed none- but letting his ftaff fall within his arm, he prefs'd both his hands with refignation upon his breaft, and retired.. 3) of the order of mer cy. ,, Von dem Orden der Barmherzigen Brüder, die des halb betteln, um ihre nothleidenden Brüder damit los zu kaufen, A S THE 4) Nature feemed to have had done with her refentments in him, d. h. er fchien zu alt zu feyn, um noch empfindlich feyn zu können. |