When I had finished my narrative, which he
listened to without once raising his eyes, my uncle cleared his throat once
or twice, as if to speak. He was smiling--I thought with an effort, and
with elevated brows. When I concluded, he hummed one of those sliding
notes, which a less refined man might have expressed by a whistle of
surprise and contempt, and again he essayed to speak, but continued silent.
The fact is, he seemed to me very much disconcerted. He rose from his seat,
and shuffled about the room in his slippers, I believe affecting only to
be in search of something, opening and shutting two or three drawers, and
turning over some books and papers; and at length, taking up some loose
sheets of manuscript, he appeared to have found what he was looking for,
and began to read them carelessly, with his back towards me, and with
another effort to clear his voice, he said at last--
'And pray, what could the fool mean by all that?'
'I think he must have taken me for an idiot, sir,' I answered.
'Not unlikely. He has lived in a stable, among horses and ostlers; he has
always seemed to me something like a centaur--that is a centaur composed
not of man and horse, but of an ape and an ass.
Pages:
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628