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Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes-Part12_ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON(1850-1894)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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such a cleansing. I went on with a light and peaceful heart, and



sang psalms to the spiritual ear as I advanced.

Suddenly up came an old woman, who point-blank demanded alms.



'Good,' thought I; 'here comes the waiter with the bill.'

And I paid for my night's lodging on the spot. Take it how you



please, but this was the first and the last beggar that I met with

during all my tour.



A step or two farther I was overtaken by an old man in a brown

nightcap, clear-eyed, weather-beaten, with a faint excited smile.



A little girl followed him, driving two sheep and a goat; but she

kept in our wake, while the old man walked beside me and talked



about the morning and the valley. It was not much past six; and

for healthy people who have slept enough, that is an hour of



expansion and of open and trustful talk.

'CONNAISSEZ-VOUS LE SEIGNEUR?' he said at length.



I asked him what Seigneur he meant; but he only repeated the

question with more emphasis and a look in his eyes denoting hope



and interest.

'Ah,' said I, pointing upwards, 'I understand you now. Yes, I know



Him; He is the best of acquaintances.'

The old man said he was delighted. 'Hold,' he added, striking his



bosom; 'it makes me happy here.' There were a few who knew the

Lord in these valleys, he went on to tell me; not many, but a few.



'Many are called.' he quoted, 'and few chosen.'

'My father,' said I, 'it is not easy to say who know the Lord; and



it is none of our business. Protestants and Catholics, and even

those who worship stones, may know Him and be known by Him; for He



has made all.'

I did not know I was so good a preacher.



The old man assured me he thought as I did, and repeated his

expressions of pleasure at meeting me. 'We are so few,' he said.



'They call us Moravians here; but down in the Department of Gard,

where there are also a good number, they are called Derbists, after



an English pastor.'

I began to understand that I was figuring, in questionable taste,



as a member of some sect to me unknown; but I was more pleased with

the pleasure of my companion than embarrassed by my own equivocal



position. Indeed, I can see no dishonesty in not avowing a

difference; and especially in these high matters, where we have all



a sufficient assurance that, whoever may be in the wrong, we

ourselves are not completely in the right. The truth is much



talked about; but this old man in a brown nightcap showed himself

so simple, sweet, and friendly, that I am not unwilling to profess



myself his convert. He was, as a matter of fact, a Plymouth

Brother. Of what that involves in the way of doctrine I have no



idea nor the time to inform myself; but I know right well that we

are all embarked upon a troublesome world, the children of one



Father, striving in many essential points to do and to become the

same. And although it was somewhat in a mistake that he shook



hands with me so often and showed himself so ready to receive my

words, that was a mistake of the truth-finding sort. For charity



begins blindfold; and only through a series of similar

misapprehensions rises at length into a settled principle of love



and patience, and a firm belief in all our fellow-men. If I

deceived this good old man, in the like manner I would willingly go



on to deceive others. And if ever at length, out of our separate

and sad ways, we should all come together into one common house, I



have a hope, to which I cling dearly, that my mountain Plymouth

Brother will hasten to shake hands with me again.



Thus, talking like Christian and Faithful by the way, he and I came

down upon a hamlet by the Tarn. It was but a humble place, called



La Vernede, with less than a dozen houses, and a Protestant chapel

on a knoll. Here he dwelt; and here, at the inn, I ordered my



breakfast. The inn was kept by an agreeable young man, a stone-

breaker on the road, and his sister, a pretty and engaging girl.



The village schoolmaster dropped in to speak with the stranger.

And these were all Protestants - a fact which pleased me more than



I should have expected; and, what pleased me still more, they




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