第23章 SARATOGA BY DAYLIGHT(2)

I mewsed on how they held the white forms clost to their black breasts at birth, and in the hour of death -- the black lips pressed to the white cheeks and lips, in both cases.And all the way between life and death they mingle clost as they can, some in some cases like the hill of knowledge.Then the contact is too clost, when they sot out to climb up by 'em.Truly there are deep conundrums and strange ones, all along through life; though the white man may be, and is, cleer up out of his way, on the sunshiny brow of the hill, and the black man at the foot, way down amongst the shadows and darkness of the low grounds.They don't come very nigh each other.But the arms that have felt the clasp and the lips that have felt the kisses of that very same black climber all through life, moves 'em and shouts 'em to "go down," to "go back,""The contact is getting too clost, danger is ahead." Curious, haint it? Jest as if any danger is so dangerous as ignorance and brutality.Curious, haint it? But I am a eppisodin', and to resoom.

Wall, right after the babies we'd meet a Catholic priest with a calm and fur away look on his face, a lookin' at the crowd as if he wuz in it, but not of it.And then a burgler, mebby, anyway a mean lookin' creeter, ragged and humble.And then 2 or 3 men foreign lookin', jabberin' in a tongue I know nothin' of, nor Josiah either.And then some more childern, and wimmen, and dogs, and parasols, and men, and babies, and Injuns, and Frenchmen, and old young wimmen, and young old ones, and handsome ones, and hombly ones, and parasols, and some sweet young girls ag'in, and some black men, and some white men, and some more wimmen, and parasols, and silk, and velvet, and lace, and puckers, and raffles, and gethers, and gores, and flowers, and feathers, and fringes, and frizzles, and then some men, some Southerners from the South, some Westerners from the West, some Easterners from the East, and some Cubebs from Cuba, and some Chinamen from China.

Oh! what a seen! What a seen! back and forth, passin' and repassin', to and fro, parasols, and dogs, and wimmen, and men, and babies, and parasols, to and fro, to and fro.Why, if I stood there long so crazed would I have become at the seen, that Ishould have felt that Josiah wuz a To and I wuz a Fro, or I wuz a parasol and he wuz a dog.

And to prevent that fearful catastrophe, I sez, "If we ever get beyond this side of the village that seems all run together, if we ever do get beyond it, which seems doubtful, le's go and sit down, in some quiet spot, and try to collect our scattered minds." Sez I, "I feel curius, Josiah Allen!" and sez I, "How do you feel?"His answer I will not translate; it was neither Biblical nor even moral.And I sez agin, "Hain't it strange that they have the village all run together with no streets turnin' off of it." Sez I, "It makes me feel queer, Josiah Allen, and I am a goin' to enquire into it." So we wended our way some further on amongst the dense crowd I have spoken of, only more crowded and more denser, and anon, if not oftener, Josiah's head would be scooped in by passin' parasols, and then in low, deep tones, Josiah would use words that I wouldn't repeat for a dollar bill, till at last Iasked a by bystander a standin' by, and sez I, "Is this village all built together -- don't you have no streets a turnin' off of it?""Yes," sez he, "you'll find a street jest as soon as you get by this hotel."I stopped right in my tracts; I wuz dumbfoundered.Sez I, "Do you mean to say that this hull side of the street that we have been a traversin' anon, or long before anon, -- do you say that this is all one buildin'?""Yes mom," sez he.

Sez I, in faint axents, "When shall we get to the end on it?"Sez he, "You have come jest about half way."Josiah gin a deep groan and turned him round in his tracts and sez, "Le's go back this minute."I too thought of the quiet haven from whence we had set out, with a deep longin', but sech is the force and strength of my mind that I grasped holt of the situation and held it there tight.If we wuz half way across it wouldn't be no further to go on than it would to go back.Such wuz my intellect that I see it to once, but Josiah's mind couldn't grasp it, and with words murmured in my ears which I will never repeat to a livin' soul he wended on by my side through the same old crowd -- parasols, and wimmen, and dogs, and babies, and men, and parasols, and Injuns, and Spanards, and Creoles, and pretty girls, and old wimmen, and puckers, and gethers, and bracelets, and diamonds, and lace, and parasols.

Several times, if not more, wuz Josiah Allen scooped in by a parasol held by a female, and I felt he wuz liable to be torn from me.His weight is but small.3 times his hat fell off in the operation and wuz reskued with difficulty, and he spoke words Iblush to recall as havin' passed my pardner's lips.

Wall, in the fullness of time, or a little after, for truly I wuz not in a condition to sense things much, we arrove at a street and we gladly turned our 2 frames into it, and wended our way on it, goin' at a pretty good jog.The crowd a growin' less and less and we kep a goin', and kep a goin', till Josiah sez in weary axents:

"Where be you a goin', Samantha? Haint you never goin' to stop?

I am fairly tuckered out."