登陆注册
15398600000001

第1章 OLDPORT IN WINTER(1)

Our August life rushes by, in Oldport, as if we were all shot from the mouth of a cannon, and were endeavoring to exchange visiting-cards on the way. But in September, when the great hotels are closed, and the bronze dogs that guarded the portals of the Ocean House are collected sadly in the music pavilion, nose to nose; when the last four-in-hand has departed, and a man may drive a solitary horse on the avenue without a pang,--then we know that "the season" is over. Winter is yet several months away,--months of the most delicious autumn weather that the American climate holds. But to the human bird of passage all that is not summer is winter; and those who seek Oldport most eagerly for two months are often those who regard it as uninhabitable for the other ten.

The Persian poet Saadi says that in a certain region of Armenia, where he travelled, people never died the natural death. But once a year they met on a certain plain, and occupied themselves with recreation, in the midst of which individuals of every rank and age would suddenly stop, make a reverence to the west, and, setting out at full speed toward that part of the desert, be seen no more. It is quite in this fashion that guests disappear from Oldport when the season ends. They also are apt to go toward the west, but by steamboat. It is pathetic, on occasion of each annual bereavement, to observe the wonted looks and language of despair among those who linger behind; and it needs some fortitude to think of spending the winter near such a Wharf of Sighs.

But we console ourselves. Each season brings its own attractions.

In summer one may relish what is new in Oldport, as the liveries, the incomes, the manners. There is often a delicious freshness about these exhibitions; it is a pleasure to see some opulent citizen in his first kid gloves. His new-born splendor stands in such brilliant relief against the confirmed respectability of the"Old Stone Mill," the only thing on the Atlantic shore which has had time to forget its birthday! But in winter the Old Mill gives the tone to the society around it; we then bethink ourselves of the crown upon our Trinity Church steeple, and resolve that the courtesies of a bygone age shall yet linger here. Is there any other place in America where gentlemen still take off their hats to one another on the public promenade? The hat is here what it still is in Southern Europe,--the lineal successor of the sword as the mark of a gentleman. It is noticed that, in going from Oldport to New York or Boston, one is liable to be betrayed by an over-flourish of the hat, as is an Arkansas man by a display of the bowie-knife.

Winter also imparts to these spacious estates a dignity that is sometimes wanting in summer. I like to stroll over them during this epoch of desertion, just as once, when I happened to hold the keys of a church, it seemed pleasant to sit, on a week-day, among its empty pews. The silent walls appeared to hold the pure essence of the prayers of a generation, while the routine and the ennui had vanished all away. One may here do the same with fashion as there with devotion, extracting its finer flavors, if such there be, unalloyed by vulgarity or sin. In the winter I can fancy these fine houses tenanted by a true nobility; all the sons are brave, and all the daughters virtuous. These balconies have heard the sighs of passion without selfishness; those cedarn alleys have admitted only vows that were never broken. If the occupant of the house be unknown, even by name, so much the better. And from homes more familiar, what lovely childish faces seem still to gaze from the doorways, what graceful Absences (to borrow a certain poet's phrase) are haunting those windows!

There is a sense of winter quiet that makes a stranger soon feel at home in Oldport, while the prospective stir of next summer precludes all feeling of stagnation. Commonly, in quiet places, one suffers from the knowledge that everybody would prefer to be unquiet; but nobody has any such longing here. Doubtless there are aged persons who deplore the good old times when the Oldport mail-bags were larger than those arriving at New York. But if it were so now, what memories would there be to talk about? If you wish for"Syrian peace, immortal leisure,"--a place where no grown person ever walks rapidly along the street, and where few care enough for rain to open an umbrella or walk faster,--come here.

My abode is on a broad, sunny street, with a few great elms overhead, and with large old houses and grass-banks opposite.

There is so little snow that the outlook in the depth of winter is often merely that of a paler and leafless summer, and a soft, springlike sky almost always spreads above. Past the window streams an endless sunny panorama (for the house fronts the chief thoroughfare between country and town),--relics of summer equipages in faded grandeur; great, fragrant hay-carts; vast moving mounds of golden straw; loads of crimson onions; heaps of pale green cabbages; piles of gray tree-prunings, looking as if the patrician trees were sending their superfluous wealth of branches to enrich the impoverished orchards of the Poor Farm;wagons of sea-weed just from the beach, with bright, moist hues, and dripping with sea-water and sea-memories, each weed an argosy, bearing its own wild histories. At this season, the very houses move, and roll slowly by, looking round for more lucrative quarters next season. Never have I seen real estate made so transportable as in Oldport. The purchaser, after finishing and furnishing to his fancy, puts his name on the door, and on the fence a large white placard inscribed "For sale". Then his household arrangements are complete, and he can sit down to enjoy himself.

同类推荐
  • 摩诃僧祇律

    摩诃僧祇律

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 秋水轩尺牍

    秋水轩尺牍

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 明伦汇编官常典都察院部

    明伦汇编官常典都察院部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 药性切用

    药性切用

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 偶会篇

    偶会篇

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 无尽帝途

    无尽帝途

    万年前,神武大陆,轩辕大帝陨落,承传十二颗苍灵珠散落世间。万年后,帝珠现,大陆风起云涌,巅峰皇族,隐秘世家,超然圣地,鬼魔异族,无人逃脱出这血色漩涡。何人执棋?!何人为子?!阴谋、阳谋层出不穷,征伐,霸战时刻上演!看少年洛扬如何在这乱世间突破层层迷网,固本心,挥热血,交挚友,揽红颜,铸就一个属于自己的无尽帝途!无尽正版VIP群【帝军】83625721ps:入群请出示订阅截图。妹子众多,激情无限,欢迎加入无尽大家庭。
  • 虚镜之门

    虚镜之门

    世界与世界相联系,不知不觉中,一扇门奇妙地让你们相遇。
  • 紫微郎花事

    紫微郎花事

    京中有二丑,王爷与我。那年紫薇花开,诗会上,我们初会某烂泥塘边。数日后,再会暴雨倾盆的街上。二见投缘。义兄说,王爷是打着灯笼也找不着的好王爷,君子端方,不知会便宜哪家闺女。近来,听说皇上要为王爷赐婚,我心下略感油煎:想我顾眉君,脱了官袍抹了疤,亦是眉清目秀良家女,不知王爷他可曾留意否?
  • 英雄联盟之逆战

    英雄联盟之逆战

    光明与黑暗,犹如一枚硬币的两面,相生相克,永世不消。
  • 封印之穿越时空的爱

    封印之穿越时空的爱

    一次偶然,我们聚在一起。一起穿越时空的,寻找我们的爱情。。。。。穿越时空的,呵,好玩!
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 娆梦

    娆梦

    在尘世中她已经浮华了两百年,杀人如麻,刀口舔血早已不知多少回。在人间行走,倒不若是梦里轮回几番。寻不得真爱,那是杀戮的诅咒。那个从天而降的人,迟早叩开她的心扉,斩却重重荆棘,破除诅咒。原以为人妖之恋不可能会有结局,原来,大家都错了。行走人间命里生死,那是为了给她杀戮的报应。修得正果,是她的一颗温暖尚存的心所换来的一切。------------------------------人间另一处,天尊下凡。只为渡劫而来,却怎么也悟不透。堕仙成魔之时,可否知道自己错究竟错在哪里?
  • 都市传奇之风流医圣

    都市传奇之风流医圣

    中医传人,悬壶济世。异能世界,精彩纷呈。谱写一场传奇故事,铸就一段风流佳话。
  • 唯美爱情:玫瑰童话

    唯美爱情:玫瑰童话

    美丽的姑娘左岚在一次偶然中收到神秘的玫瑰花,并如约到达“温馨港湾”咖啡厅,却与真正的如俊擦肩而过,左岚误以为范沉便是那个神秘的送花人,并且有些喜欢上了他。后来在人群中左岚看见了韩如俊,并且他就是左岚所在公司的美国总经理,如俊对左岚爱护有加,渐渐的,左岚发现自己其实爱的是如俊。后来两个人在一起,如俊告诉了她关于“玫瑰童话”的爱情和梦中女孩,两个人相爱不久,又一场袭击而来,美国的Mery来到公司,以家族利益为要挟,让如俊和她结婚,为了爱情,也为了千年的爱情神话能够重现,如俊毅然选择了左岚。直到后来,Mery被玫瑰童话和他们之间的爱感动,便放弃了如俊,她和如俊一起回到中国,并且告诉左岚她要和如俊结婚,正当左岚伤心流泪的时候,如俊出现了,当他们互相拥抱在玫瑰花面前的时候,玫瑰花开。幸福的爱情成真。一千年的神话,今生的“玫瑰童话”,唯美的爱情,震撼世俗的爱情观!
  • 武义之风尘录

    武义之风尘录

    异能与道术,演绎僵尸与丧尸,鬼怪精灵的奇异世界。