Opis: Austria - Kohl J. G.

Excerpt from Austria: Vienna, Prague, Etc; Etc

To travel or not to travel, was once more the question. To wander, to stroll through the world, or to remain and shoot out roots like a tree. Whether 'twas nobler in a man to tend his own little garden, or to arm himself against a sea of troubles, and plough his way round our terrestrial planet A house, or a tent A warm room, or a windy seat in a post coach A shady tree, or a budless staff One friend, or a thousand friendly faces

I must own I had heard in a quiet little farm on the banks of the Elbe, the cackling of hens and the crowing of cocks; I had visited the peaceful chambers, and the cozy garden with its circling wall; had seen the contented cattle fattening in their stalls, and the tempter had said to me, "Might not all this be thine" and mightst thou not find here all that thou seekest in the wide world, and bearest thou not in thy own breast a world that cannot come to a birth for want of repose" - "Yes, if a wish could command repose, who would fardels bear, and groan and sweat beneath a load of travelling troubles" I replied to my advising friend, whispered many other things into his ear that were not intended fur the crowd, and concluded with these words: "Look, my dear friend, thus it is that necessity makes brave men of us, and enterprises that seem full of great pith and moment, with this respect lose much of the merit ascribed to them." So saying, I once more took leave of him, and stepped into the Saxon Postwagen that had been standing for some time ready harnessed in the courtyard of the Diligence office at Dresden. I was about to start for Teplitz, there to consign myself to the keeping of a Bohemian vehicle, by the aid of which I hoped to reach the deep-rolling Danube, here I fully intended to embark on a steamer that should convey me to Vienna. After that I contemplated intrusting my person to a Hungarian Bauerwagen, and alternately by land and by water, sometimes with the aid of a living steed, and sometimes by that of a many-horsed power of the unquiet steam-engine, to press forward to the confines of Turkey, and when I had done all this, my purpose was to return quietly to my native land.

Such was my plan, but in the execution of it I was delayed for full five minutes, by a countryman of the gallant Falconbridge. "A proper man's picture," as Portia says; i. e. an Englishman, came rushing into the court-yard, just as the horses were starting. His appearance was striking enough. His collar, I believe, had been bought in Italy, his trousers in France, his cap in Germany, and his manners had been picked up everywhere. It did not rain, nevertheless he carried a huge umbrella to shield him against the sun. He was out of breath, placed himself right before the horses, and having slightly adjusted his cravat and dusted his coat, he began a series of pantomimic demonstrations, addressed by turns to the horses, the postilion, and the conductor. The horses whom he had grasped by the bridle, were the only part of his audience who seemed to understand him; for he spoke neither Latin, French, nor Italian, and not one mortal word of German. We made him out to be a passenger who had overstaid his time, and the diligence was stopped. He ran immediately into the office, where he paid the remainder of his fare, and then again, in mute despair, he rushed through the crowd of spectators, to gaze out into the street. The conductors took him by the arm to lead him back to the carriage, but he broke from them and ran into the street again, where he stood gazing to the right and to the left, in evident anxiety. No one could guess the meaning of all this, and in a little time we should have left him alone with his despair, if at the critical moment a valet-de-place, who came panting into the yard, with a hatbox in his hand, had not afforded a solution to the enigma. My Englishman now took his place by my side, and related to me that he was setting out

Szczegóły: Austria - Kohl J. G.

Nazwa: Austria Vienna, Prague, Etc; Etc (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Kohl J. G.
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781331790709
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 110
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: Austria - Kohl J. G.