Speaker 1: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Chapter fifty eight. The tidings
Speaker 1: of my high fortunes, having had a heavy fall, had
Speaker 1: got down to my native place and its neighborhood. Before
Speaker 1: I got there, I found a blue boar in possession
Speaker 1: of the intelligence, and I found that it made a
Speaker 1: great change in the boer's demeanor. Whereas the boar had
Speaker 1: cultivated my good opinion with warm assiduity when I was
Speaker 1: coming into property, the boar was exceedingly cool on the subject.
Speaker 1: Now that I was going out of property. It was
Speaker 1: evening when I arrived, much fatigued by the journey I
Speaker 1: had so often made so easily. The boar could not
Speaker 1: put me into my usual bedroom, which was engaged, probably
Speaker 1: by some one who had expectations, and could only assign
Speaker 1: me a very indifferent chamber among the pigeons and post
Speaker 1: chaises up the yard. But I had as sound asleep
Speaker 1: in that lodging as in the most superior accommodation the
Speaker 1: boar could have given me, and the quality of my
Speaker 1: dreams was about the same as in the best bedroom.
Speaker 1: Early in the morning, while my breakfast was getting ready,
Speaker 1: I strolled round by Satus house. There were printed bills
Speaker 1: on the gate and on bits of carpet hanging out
Speaker 1: of the windows, announcing a sail by auction of the
Speaker 1: household furniture and effects next week. The house itself was
Speaker 1: to be sold as old building materials and pulled down.
Speaker 1: Lot one was marked in whitewashed knock knee letters on
Speaker 1: the brew house. Lot two on that part of the
Speaker 1: main building which had been so long shut up. Other
Speaker 1: lots were marked off on other parts of the structure,
Speaker 1: and the ivy had been torn down to make room
Speaker 1: for the inscriptions, and much of it trailed low in
Speaker 1: the dust and was withered. Already stepping in for a
Speaker 1: moment at the open gate and looking around me with
Speaker 1: the uncomfortable air of a stranger who had no business there,
Speaker 1: I saw the the auctioneer's clerk walking on the casks
Speaker 1: and telling them off for the information of a catalog
Speaker 1: compiler pen in hand, who made a temporary desk of
Speaker 1: the wheeled chair I had so often pushed along to
Speaker 1: the tune of old Clem. When I got back to
Speaker 1: my breakfast in the Boar's coffee room, I found mister
Speaker 1: Pumblechook conversing with the landlord. Mister Pumblechook, not improved in
Speaker 1: appearance by his late nocturnal adventure, was waiting for me
Speaker 1: and addressed me in the following terms, young man, I
Speaker 1: am sorry to see you brought low, but what else
Speaker 1: could be expected? What else could be expected? As he
Speaker 1: extended his hand with a magnificently forgiving air, And as
Speaker 1: I was broken by illness and unfit to quarrel, I
Speaker 1: took it. William said mister Pumblechook to the waiter, put
Speaker 1: a muffin on table, and has it come to this?
Speaker 1: Has he come to this? I frowningly sat down to
Speaker 1: my breakfast. Mister Pumblechuk stood over me and poured out
Speaker 1: my tea before I could touch the teapot, with the
Speaker 1: air of a benefactor who was resolved to be true
Speaker 1: to the last, William said mister Pumblechuk mournfully put the
Speaker 1: salt on in happier times, addressing me, I think you
Speaker 1: took sugar and did you take milk? You did sugar
Speaker 1: and milk. William, bring a watercress, thank you, said I shortly.
Speaker 1: But I don't eat watercresses. You don't eat em, returned
Speaker 1: mister Pumblechuk, sighing and nodding his head several times, as
Speaker 1: if he might have expected that, and as if abstinence
Speaker 1: from watercresses were consistent with my downfall. True, the simple
Speaker 1: fruits of the earth. No, you needn't bring any, William.
Speaker 1: I went on with my breakfast, and mister Pumblechook continued
Speaker 1: to stand over me, staring fishily and breathing noisily, as
Speaker 1: he always did. Little more than skin and bone, mused
Speaker 1: mister Pumblechook aloud. And yet when he went from here,
Speaker 1: I may say with my blessing, and I spread afore
Speaker 1: him my humble store like the bee. He was as
Speaker 1: plump as a peach. This reminded me of the wonderful
Speaker 1: difference between the servile manner in which he had offered
Speaker 1: his hand in my new prosperity, saying may I, and
Speaker 1: the ostentatious clemency with which he had just now exhibited
Speaker 1: the same fat five fingers ha He went on handing
Speaker 1: me bread and butter. And are you going to Joseph
Speaker 1: in Heaven's name? Said I, firing, in spite of myself,
Speaker 1: What does it matter to you where I'm going? Leave
Speaker 1: that teapot alone. It was the worst course I could
Speaker 1: have taken, because it gave Pumblechuk the opportunity he wanted. Yes,
Speaker 1: young man, said he, releasing the handle of the article
Speaker 1: in question, and retiring a step or two for my table,
Speaker 1: and speaking for the behoof of the landlord and waiter
Speaker 1: at the door, I will leave that teapot alone. You
Speaker 1: are right, young man, For once you are right, I
Speaker 1: forget myself when I take such an interest in your
Speaker 1: breakfast as to wish your frame, exhausted by the debilitating
Speaker 1: effects of prodigy gality, to be stimulated by the wholesome
Speaker 1: nourishment of your forefathers. And yet, said Pumblechuk, turning to
Speaker 1: the landlord and waiter and pointing me out at arm's length,
Speaker 1: this is him as I ever sported with in his
Speaker 1: days of happy infancy. Tell me not, it cannot be.
Speaker 1: I tell you this is him. A low murmur from
Speaker 1: the two replied. The waiter appeared to be particularly affected.
Speaker 1: This is him, said Pumblechuk, as I have rode in
Speaker 1: my shay cart. This is him as I have seen
Speaker 1: brought up by hand. This is him unto the sister
Speaker 1: of which I was uncle by marriage, as her name
Speaker 1: was Georgiana Miria from her own mother. Let him deny
Speaker 1: it if he can. The waiter seemed convinced that I
Speaker 1: could not deny it, and that it gave the case
Speaker 1: a black look. Young man, said Pumblechuk, screwing his head
Speaker 1: at me in the old fashioned you are a going
Speaker 1: to Joseph. What does it matter to me? You ask
Speaker 1: me where you are a going? Yeah, I say to you, sir,
Speaker 1: you are a going to Joseph. The waiter coughed, as
Speaker 1: if he monstly invited me to get over that. Now,
Speaker 1: said Pumblechuk, and all this with the most exasperating air
Speaker 1: of saying, in the cause of virtue, what was perfectly
Speaker 1: convincing and conclusive. I will tell you what to say
Speaker 1: to Joseph. Here is Squire's of the Boer present, known
Speaker 1: and respected in this town. And here is William, which
Speaker 1: his father's name was Potkins. If I do not deceive myself,
Speaker 1: you do not, sir, said William in their presence. Pursued Pumblechuk,
Speaker 1: I will tell you, young man, what to say to Joseph,
Speaker 1: says you, Joseph, I have this day seen my earliest
Speaker 1: benefactor and the founder of my fortune. I will name
Speaker 1: no names, Joseph, but so they are pleased to call
Speaker 1: him up town, and I have seen that man. I
Speaker 1: swear I don't see him here, said I say that. Likewise,
Speaker 1: retorted Pomblchuk, say you said that, and even Joseph will
Speaker 1: probably betray surprise there you quite mistake him, said I
Speaker 1: I know better, says you. Pumblchuk went on, Joseph, I
Speaker 1: have seen that man, and that man bears you no malice,
Speaker 1: and bears me no malice. He knows your character, Joseph,
Speaker 1: and is well acquainted with your pigheadedness and ignorance. And
Speaker 1: he knows my character, Joseph. And he knows my want
Speaker 1: of gratitude. Yes, Joseph, says you. Here Pomelchuk shook his
Speaker 1: head and hand at me. He knows my total deficiency
Speaker 1: of common human gratitude. He knows it, Joseph, as none
Speaker 1: can you do not know it, Joseph, having no call
Speaker 1: to know it, But that man do When did Donkey
Speaker 1: as he was, It really amazed me that he could
Speaker 1: have the face to talk thus to mine, says you, Joseph.
Speaker 1: He gave me a little message which I will now repeat.
Speaker 1: It was that in my being brought low, he saw
Speaker 1: the finger of providence. He knowed that finger when he
Speaker 1: saw Joseph, and he saw it plain. He pointed out
Speaker 1: this writing Joseph reward of ingratitude to his earliest benefactor
Speaker 1: and founder of fortune. But that man's said, he did
Speaker 1: not repent of what he had done, Joseph, not at all.
Speaker 1: It was right to do it, it was kind to
Speaker 1: do it, it was benevolent to do it, and he
Speaker 1: would do it again. It's a pity, said I scornfully,
Speaker 1: as I finished my interrupted breakfast, that the man did
Speaker 1: not say what he had done and would do again.
Speaker 1: Squires of the Boar. Pummelchuk was now addressing the landlord
Speaker 1: and William, I have no objections to your mentioning, either
Speaker 1: up down or downtown, if such should be your wishes,
Speaker 1: that it was right to do it, kind to do it,
Speaker 1: benevolent to do it, and that I would do it again.
Speaker 1: With these words, the impostor shook them both by the
Speaker 1: hand with an air and left the house, leaving me
Speaker 1: much more astonished than delighted by the virtues of that
Speaker 1: same indefinite it. I was not long after him in
Speaker 1: leaving the house, too, and when I went down the
Speaker 1: high street I saw him holding forth no doubt to
Speaker 1: the same effect at his shop door, to a select group,
Speaker 1: who honored me with very unfavorable glances as I passed
Speaker 1: on the opposite side of the way. But it was
Speaker 1: only the pleasanter to turn to Biddy and to Joe,
Speaker 1: whose great forbearance shone more brightly than before, if that
Speaker 1: could be contrasted with this brazen pretender. I went towards
Speaker 1: them slowly, for my limbs were weak, but with a
Speaker 1: sense of increasing relief as I drew nearer to them,
Speaker 1: and a sense of leaving arrogance and untruthfulness further and
Speaker 1: further behind. The June weather was delicious, the sky was blue,
Speaker 1: the larks were soaring high over the green corn. I
Speaker 1: thought all that countryside more beautiful and peaceful by far
Speaker 1: than I had ever known it to be. Yet many
Speaker 1: pleasant pictures of the life that I would lead there,
Speaker 1: and the change for the better that would come over
Speaker 1: my character. When I had a guiding spirit at my side,
Speaker 1: whose simple faith and clear home wisdom I had proved
Speaker 1: beguiled my way, They awakened a tender emotion in me,
Speaker 1: for my heart was softened by my return, and such
Speaker 1: a change had come to pass that I felt like
Speaker 1: one who was toiling home barefoot from distant travel, and
Speaker 1: whose wanderings had lasted many years. The schoolhouse where Biddy
Speaker 1: was mistress I had never seen, but the little roundabout
Speaker 1: lane by which I entered the village for Quietness's sake
Speaker 1: took me past it. I was disappointed to find that
Speaker 1: the day was a holiday, no children were there, and
Speaker 1: Biddy's house was closed. Some hopeful notion of seeing her
Speaker 1: busily engaged in her daily duties before she saw me
Speaker 1: had been in my mind, and was defeated. But the
Speaker 1: forge was a very short distance off, and I went
Speaker 1: towards it under the sweet green limes, listening for the
Speaker 1: clink of Joe's hammer, long after I ought to have
Speaker 1: heard it, and long after I had fancied i'd heard
Speaker 1: it and found it. But a fancy all was still.
Speaker 1: The limes were there, and the white thorns were there,
Speaker 1: and the chestnut trees were there, and their leaves rustled
Speaker 1: harmoniously when I stopped to listen, but the clink of
Speaker 1: Joe's hammer was not. In the midsummer wind. Almost fearing,
Speaker 1: without knowing why, to come in view of the forge,
Speaker 1: I saw it at last, and saw that it was closed,
Speaker 1: no gleam of fire, no glittering shower of sparks, no
Speaker 1: roar of bellows, all shut up and still. But the
Speaker 1: house was not as same, and the best parlor seemed
Speaker 1: to be in use, for there were white curtains fluttering
Speaker 1: in its window, and the window was open and gay
Speaker 1: with flowers. I went softly towards it, meaning to peep
Speaker 1: over the flowers, when Joe and Biddy stood before me,
Speaker 1: arm in arm. At first, Biddy gave a cry as
Speaker 1: if she thought it was my apparition, But in another
Speaker 1: moment she was in my embrace. I wept to see her,
Speaker 1: and she wept to see me. Ay, because she looked
Speaker 1: so fresh and pleasant. She because I looked so worn
Speaker 1: and white. But dear Biddy, how smart you are, yes,
Speaker 1: dear Pip. And Joe, how smart you are, yes, dear
Speaker 1: old Pip old chap. I looked at both of them,
Speaker 1: from one to the other. And then it's my wedding day,
Speaker 1: cried Biddy, in a burst of happiness. And I am
Speaker 1: married to Joe. They had taken me into the kitchen,
Speaker 1: and I had laid my head down on the old
Speaker 1: deal table. Biddy held one of my hands to her lips,
Speaker 1: and Joe's restoring touch was on my shoulder, which you
Speaker 1: warn't strong enough, my dear fur to be surprised, said Joe,
Speaker 1: And Biddy said, I ought to have thought of it,
Speaker 1: dear Joe, but I was too happy. They were both
Speaker 1: so overjoyed to see me, so proud to see me,
Speaker 1: so touched by my coming to them, so delighted that
Speaker 1: I should have come by accident to make their day complete.
Speaker 1: My first thought was one of great thankfulness that I
Speaker 1: have never breathed this last baffled hope to Joe, how
Speaker 1: often while he was with me in my illness had
Speaker 1: it risen to my lips. How irrevocable would have been
Speaker 1: his knowledge of it if he had remained with me
Speaker 1: but another hour, Dear Biddy said I you have the
Speaker 1: best husband in the whole world, and if you could
Speaker 1: have seen him by my bed, you would have. But no,
Speaker 1: you couldn't love him better than you do. No, I couldn't, indeed,
Speaker 1: said Biddy. And dear Joe, you have the best wife
Speaker 1: in the whole world, and she will make you as
Speaker 1: happy as even you deserve to be. You, dear good
Speaker 1: noble Joe. Joe looked at me with a quivering lip,
Speaker 1: and fairly put his sleeve before his eyes. And Joe
Speaker 1: and Biddie, both, as you have been to church to
Speaker 1: day and are in charity and love with all mankind,
Speaker 1: receive my humble thanks for all you have done for me,
Speaker 1: and all I have so ill repaid. And when I
Speaker 1: say that I am going away within the hour, for
Speaker 1: I am soon going abroad, and that I shall never
Speaker 1: rest until I have worked for the money with which
Speaker 1: you have kept me out of prison and have sent
Speaker 1: it to you, don't think, dear Joe and Biddy, that
Speaker 1: if I could repay it a thousand times over, I
Speaker 1: suppose I could cancel a farthing of the debt I
Speaker 1: owe you, or that I would do so if I could.
Speaker 1: They were both melted by these words, and both entreated
Speaker 1: me to say no more. But I must say more.
Speaker 1: Dear Joe, I hope you will have children to love,
Speaker 1: and that some little fellow will sit in this chimney
Speaker 1: corner of a winter night who may remind you of
Speaker 1: another little fellow gone out of it forever. Don't tell him, Joe,
Speaker 1: that I was thankless. Don't tell him Biddy, that I
Speaker 1: was ungenerous and unjust only tell him that I honored
Speaker 1: you both because you were both so good and true,
Speaker 1: and that as your child, I said, it would be
Speaker 1: natural to him to grow up a much better man
Speaker 1: than I did. I ain't a goin, said Joe, from
Speaker 1: behind his sleeve, to tell him nothing of that nature.
Speaker 1: Pip nor Biddy ain't nor yet, no one ain't. And now,
Speaker 1: though I know you have already done it in your
Speaker 1: own kind hearts, pray tell me both that you forgive me. Pray.
Speaker 1: Let me hear you say the words, that I may
Speaker 1: carry the sound of them away with me, and then
Speaker 1: I shall be able to believe that you can trust
Speaker 1: me and think better of me in the time to come. Oh,
Speaker 1: dear old pip Old Chap, said Joe. God knows as
Speaker 1: I forgive you if I have anything to forgive, Amen,
Speaker 1: And God knows I do. Echo Biddy. Now let me
Speaker 1: go up and look at my old little room and
Speaker 1: rest there a few minutes by myself. And then when
Speaker 1: I've eaten and drunk with you, go with me as
Speaker 1: far as the finger post. Dear Joe and Biddy, before
Speaker 1: we say good bye. I sold all I had and
Speaker 1: put aside as much as I could for a composition
Speaker 1: with my creditors, who gave me ample time to pay
Speaker 1: them in full, and I went out and joined Herbert.
Speaker 1: Within a month I had quitted England, and within two
Speaker 1: months I was clerk to Clerriker and Company, and within
Speaker 1: four months I assumed my first undivided responsibility for the
Speaker 1: beam across the parlor ceiling at Mill Pond. Bank had
Speaker 1: then ceased to tremble under Old Bill Barley's growls and
Speaker 1: was at peace, and Herbert had gone away to marry Clara,
Speaker 1: and I was left in sole charge of the eastern
Speaker 1: branch until he brought her back. Many a year went
Speaker 1: round before I was a partner in the house. But
Speaker 1: I lived happily with Herbert and his wife, and lived frugally,
Speaker 1: and paid my debts, and made maintained a constant correspondence
Speaker 1: with Biddy and Joe. It was not until I became
Speaker 1: third in the firm that Clerker betrayed me to Herbert.
Speaker 1: But he then declared that the secret of Herbert's partnership
Speaker 1: had been long enough upon his conscience, and he must
Speaker 1: tell it. So we told it, and Herbert was as
Speaker 1: much moved as amazed, and the dear fellow and I
Speaker 1: were not the worst friends. For the long concealment, I
Speaker 1: must not leave it to be supposed that we were
Speaker 1: ever a great house, or that we made mints of money.
Speaker 1: We were not in a grand way of business, but
Speaker 1: we had a good name, and worked for our profits
Speaker 1: and did very well. We owed so much to Herbert's
Speaker 1: ever cheerful industry and readiness that I often wondered how
Speaker 1: I had conceived that old idea of his inaptitude, until
Speaker 1: I was one day enlightened by the reflection that perhaps
Speaker 1: the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but
Speaker 1: it been at me. End the chapter