American notes
Charles Dickens
查尔斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens，1812—1870年)，19世纪英国最著 名的小说家，批判现实主义的杰出代表人物。但他更是文学上伟大的革新 家，他开创的描写中下层社会的小人物的先河，在文学作品中可以说是空 前的。高度的艺术概括，生动的细节描写，妙趣横生的幽默和细致入微的 心理分析，是他独特的风格。他的作品通过许多令人难忘的形象的塑造， 真实地反映了英国19世纪初叶的社会面貌，具有巨大的感染力。主要作品 有《匹克威克外传》《老古玩店》《大卫·科波菲尔》《双城记》《远大 前程》《艰难时世》等。
狄更斯于1812年2月7日出生于英国朴资茅斯的波特西地区。狄更斯 幼年时就读了大量的小说。由于家境贫寒，其父在其10岁时便因债务入 狱，作为长子的狄更斯便担起了家庭重担。以后他父亲获得一笔小小的遗 产，出了监狱，把查尔斯·狄更斯送到威林顿高等学校(相当于高小)去 读书。家中仅有的一点钱财不久又用光了，查尔斯·狄更斯不得不停学就 业，为生活奔波。艰难的生活使狄更斯获得了非常丰富的生活知识，为他 以后的写作积累了宝贵的素材。》
22岁时，狄更斯试着给一家杂志社投了一篇短篇小说，一个星期后小 说被刊出，就这样狄更斯开始了业余写作活动。他最初为《记事晨报》写 一些特写，署名“鲍斯”。1837年他写成了第一部长篇小说《匹克威克外 传》。这部作品发表以后，风行一时，畅销全国，并使得他以靠写作维持 生活，开始了写作生涯。以后他又写了许多作品，主要是长篇小说获得极 大的成功，终于成为英国文学史上伟大的作家之一。
RETURN To CINCINNATI—A STAGE—COACH RIDE FROMTHAT CITY TO COLUMBUS，AND THENCE TO SANDUSKY-SO，BY LAKE ERIE，TO THE FALLS 0F NIAGARA．
AS I had a desire to travel through the interior of the state of Ohio．and to“strike the lakes，”as the phrase is，at a small town calledSandusky，to which that route would conduct US on our way to Niagara，we had to return from St．Louis by the way we had come．and to retraceour former track as far as Cincinnati． The day on which we were to take leave of St．Louis being very fine，and the steamboat，which was to have started I don’t know how earlyin the morning，postponing，for the three or four times，her departureuntil the afternoon，we rode forward to an old French village on the river，called properly Carondelet，and nicknamed Vide Poche，and arranged thatthe packet should call for US there． The place consisted of a few poor cottages，and two or three public—houses；the state of whose larders certainly seemed to justify the second designation of the village，for there was nothing to eat in any of them．At length，however，by going back some half a mile or so，we found a solitary house where ham and coffee were procurable；and there wetarried to await the advent of the boat，which would come in sight fromthe green before the door，a long way off． It was a neat，unpretending village tavern，and we took our repast in a quaint little room with a bed in it，decorated with some old oil paintings，which in their time had probably done duty in a Catholic chapel or monastery．The fare was very good，and served with great cleanliness．The house was kept by a characteristic old couple，with whom we had a long talk，and who were perhaps a very good sample of that kind of people in the West．
The landlord was a dry，tough，hard-faced old fellow(not SO very old either，for he was but just turned sixty，I should think)，who had been out with the militia in the last War with England，and had seen all kinds of service-except abattle；andhehadbeenVerynearseeingthat，he added--very near．He had all his life been restless and locomotive，with an irresistible desire for change；and was still the son of his old self：for if he had nothing to keep him at home，he said(slightly jerking his hat and his thumb towards the window of the room in which the old lady sat，as we stood talking in front of the house)，he would clean up his musket，and be off to Texas tomorrow morning．He was one of the very many descendants of Cain proper to this continent，who seem destined from their birth to ser．ve as pioneers in the great human army；who gladly go on from year、to year extending its outposts，and leaving home after home behind them；and die at last，utterly regardless of their grave being left thousands of miles behind，by the wandering generation who succeed．
His wife was a domesticated，kind-hearted old soul，who had come with him from“the queen city of the world，”which，it seemed，was Philadelphia；but had no love for this western country，and indeed had little reason to bear it any；having seen her children，one by one，die here of fever，in the full prime and beauty of their youth．Her heart was sore，she said，tO think of them；and to talk．on this theme，even to strangers，in that blighted place，SO tar from her old home，eased it somewhat，and became a melancholy pleasure。
The boat appearing towards evening，we bade adieu to the poor old lady and her vagrant spouse，and making for the nearest landing-place，were soon on board the Messenger again，in our old cabin，and steaming down the Mississippi．