"Be soople,
Davie, in things immaterial," said he. "Bear ye this in mind, that,
though gentle born, ye have had a country rearing. Dinnae shame us, Davie,
dinnae shame us! In yon great, muckle house, with all these domestics, upper
and under, show yourself as nice, as circumspect, as quick at the conception,
and as slow of speech as any. As for the laird—remember
he's the laird; I say no more: honour to whom honour. It's a pleasure to obey a
laird; or should be, to the young."
"Well,
sir," said I, "it may be; and I'll promise you I'll try to make it
so."
"Why, very
well said," replied Mr. Campbell, heartily. "And now to come to the
material, or (to make a quibble) to the immaterial. I have here a little packet
which contains four things." He tugged it, as he spoke, and with some
great difficulty, from the skirt pocket of his coat. "Of these four
things, the first is your legal due: the little pickle money for your father's
books and plenishing, which I have bought (as I have explained from the first)
in the design of re-selling at a profit to the incoming dominie. The other
three are gifties that Mrs. Campbell and myself would be blithe of your
acceptance. The first, which is round, will likely please ye best at the first
off-go; but, O Davie, laddie, it's but a drop of water in the sea; it'll help
you but a step, and vanish like the morning. The second, which is flat and
square and written upon, will stand by you through life, like a good staff for
the road, and a good pillow to your head in sickness. And as for the last,
which is cubical, that'll see you, it's my prayerful wish, into a better
land."
With that he got
upon his feet, took off his hat, and prayed a little while aloud, and in
affecting terms, for a young man setting out into the world; then suddenly took
me in his arms and embraced me very hard; then held me at arm's length, looking
at me with his face all working with sorrow; and then whipped about, and crying
good-bye to me, set off backward by the way that we had come at a sort of
jogging run. It might have been laughable to another; but I was in no mind to
laugh. I watched him as long as he was in sight; and he never stopped hurrying,
nor once looked back. Then it came in upon my mind that this was all his sorrow
at my departure; and my conscience smote me hard and fast, because I, for my
part, was overjoyed to get away out of that quiet country-side, and go to a
great, busy house, among rich and respected gentlefolk of my own name and
blood.
Stevenson with wife in Samoa |
"Davie,
Davie," I thought, "was ever seen such black ingratitude? Can you
forget old favours and old friends at the mere whistle of a name? Fie, fie;
think shame."
And I sat down
on the boulder the good man had just left, and opened the parcel to see the
nature of my gifts. That which he had called cubical, I had never had much
doubt of; sure enough it was a little Bible, to carry in a plaid-neuk. That
which he had called round, I found to be a shilling piece; and the third, which
was to help me so wonderfully both in health and sickness all the days of my
life, was a little piece of coarse yellow paper, written upon thus in red ink:
"TO MAKE
LILLY OF THE VALLEY WATER.—Take the flowers of lilly of the valley and distil them in sack, and drink a spooneful
or two as there is occasion. It restores speech to those that have the dumb palsey. It is good against the Gout; it comforts the heart and
strengthens the memory; and the flowers, put into a Glasse, close stopt, and
set into ane hill of ants for a month, then take it out, and you will find a
liquor which comes from the flowers, which keep in a vial; it is good, ill or
well, and whether man or woman."
And then, in the
minister's own hand, was added:
"Likewise
for sprains, rub it in; and for the cholic,
a great spooneful in the hour."
To be sure, I
laughed over this; but it was rather tremulous laughter; and I was glad to get
my bundle on my staff's end and set out over the ford and up the hill upon the
farther side; till, just as I came on the green drove-road running wide through
the heather, I took my last look of Kirk Essendean, the trees about the manse,
and the big rowans in the kirkyard where my father and my mother lay… (From Kidnapp, by Robert L. Stevenson)
Vocabulary
Laird: a
landowner
Lilly: lirio
Palsey: palsy: Complete
or partial muscle paralysis
Gout: A disturbance of uric-acid metabolism
Sprain: laceration of the ligaments of a joint
My Summary
Mr. Campbell
gave Davie good advice. The boy had to obey, show respect, speak a little, and be
smart. Davie was given a little money, a bible, a prayer book, and some recipes
to cure different illnesses. Lilies were good for the palsey, the gout, and
sprains.
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