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Familiar Studies of Men & Books-Part37_ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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wait for a dish of poached eggs, he must put in the time by

playing on the flageolet; if a sermon were dull, he must read



in the book of Tobit or divert his mind with sly advances on

the nearest women. When he walked, it must be with a book in



his pocket to beguile the way in case the nightingales were

silent; and even along the streets of London, with so many



pretty faces to be spied for and dignitaries to be saluted,

his trail was marked by little debts "for wine, pictures,



etc.," the true headmark of a life intolerant of any joyless

passage. He had a kind of idealism in pleasure; like the



princess in the fairy story, he was conscious of a rose-leaf

out of place. Dearly as he loved to talk, he could not enjoy



nor shine in a conversation when he thought himself

unsuitably dressed. Dearly as he loved eating, he "knew not



how to eat alone;" pleasure for him must heighten pleasure;

and the eye and ear must be flattered like the palate ere he



avow himself content. He had no zest in a good dinner when

it fell to be eaten "in a bad street and in a periwig-maker's



house;" and a collation was spoiled for him by indifferent

music. His body was indefatigable, doing him yeoman's



service in this breathless chase of pleasures. On April 11,

1662, he mentions that he went to bed "weary, WHICH I SELDOM



AM;" and already over thirty, he would sit up all night

cheerfully to see a comet. But it is never pleasure that



exhausts the pleasure-seeker; for in that career, as in all

others, it is failure that kills. The man who enjoys so



wholly and bears so impatiently the slightest widowhood from

joy, is just the man to lose a night's rest over some paltry



question of his right to fiddle on the leads, or to be "vexed

to the blood" by a solecism in his wife's attire; and we find



in consequence that he was always peevish when he was hungry,

and that his head "aked mightily" after a dispute. But



nothing could divert him from his aim in life; his remedy in

care was the same as his delight in prosperity; it was with



pleasure, and with pleasure only, that he sought to drive out

sorrow; and, whether he was jealous of his wife or skulking



from a bailiff, he would equally take refuge in the theatre.

There, if the house be full and the company noble, if the



songs be tunable, the actors perfect, and the play diverting,

this odd hero of the secret Diary, this private self-adorer,



will speedily be healed of his distresses.

Equally pleased with a watch, a coach, a piece of meat, a



tune upon the fiddle, or a fact in hydrostatics, Pepys was

pleased yet more by the beauty, the worth, the mirth, or the



mere scenic attitude in life of his fellow-creatures. He

shows himself throughout a sterling humanist. Indeed, he who



loves himself, not in idle vanity, but with a plenitude of

knowledge, is the best equipped of all to love his



neighbours. And perhaps it is in this sense that charity may

be most properly said to begin at home. It does not matter



what quality a person has: Pepys can appreciate and love him

for it. He "fills his eyes" with the beauty of Lady



Castlemaine; indeed, he may be said to dote upon the thought

of her for years; if a woman be good-looking and not painted,



he will walk miles to have another sight of her; and even

when a lady by a mischance spat upon his clothes, he was



immediately consoled when he had observed that she was

pretty. But, on the other hand, he is delighted to see Mrs.



Pett upon her knees, and speaks thus of his Aunt James: "a

poor, religious, well-meaning, good soul, talking of nothing



but God Almighty, and that with so much innocence that

mightily pleased me." He is taken with Pen's merriment and



loose songs, but not less taken with the sterling worth of

Coventry. He is jolly with a drunken sailor, but listens



with interest and patience, as he rides the Essex roads, to

the story of a Quaker's spiritual trials and convictions. He



lends a critical ear to the discourse of kings and royal

dukes. He spends an evening at Vauxhall with "Killigrew and






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