Now, what ill-natured devil could bring Old Nic Grimshaw into my head in company with these innocent sheep? Why, the truth is this: nothing is so swift as thought: it runs over a life-time in a moment; and, while I was writing the last sentence of the foregoing paragraph, thought took me up at the time when I used to wear a smock-frock and to carry a wooden bottle like that shepherd' s boy; and, in an instant, it hurried me along through my no very short life of adventure, of toil, of peril, of pleasure, of ardent friendship and not less ardent enmity; and after filling me with wonder, that a heart and mind so wrapped up in every thing belonging to the gardens, the field and the woods, should have been condemned to waste themselves away amidst the stench, the noise and the strife of cities, it brought me to the present moment, and sent my mind back to what I have yet to perform about Nicholas Grimshaw and his ditches!
My sons set off about three o' clock today, on their way to Heret fordshire, where I intend to join them, when I have had a pretty good ride in this country. There is no pleasure in traveling, except on horseback, or on foot. Carriages take your body from place to place; and, if you merely want to be conveyed, they are very good; but they enable you to see and to know nothing at all of the country.
INHERITANCE IN THE PUBLIC CARCASS
Heytesbury (Wilts),
Thursday, 31 Aug., 1826
A little further on, however, I came to a very famous inn, called DEPTFORD INN, which is in the parish of Wyty. I stayed at this inn till about four o' clock in the afternoon. I remembered Wyly very well, and thought it a gay place when I was a boy. I remembered a very beautiful garden belonging to a rich farmer and miller. I went to see it; but, alas! Though the statues in the water and on the grass-plat were still remaining, every thing seemed to be in a state of perfect carelessness and neglect. The living of this parish of Wyly was lately owned by DAMPIER (a brother of the judge, who lived at, and I believe had the living of, MEON STOKE in Hampshire.) This fellow, I believe, never saw the parish of Wyly but once, though it must have yielded him a pretty good fleece. It is a Rectory, and the great tithes must be worth, I should think, six or seven hundred pounds a year, at the least. It is a part of our system to have certain families, who have no particular merit; but who are to be maintained, without why or wherefore, at the public expense, in some shape, or under some name, or other, it matters not much what shape or what name. If you look through the old list of pensioners, sinecurists, parsons, and the like, you will find the same names everlastingly recurring. They seem to be sort of creatures that have an inheritance in the public carcass, like the maggots that some people have in their skins. This family of DAMPIER seems to be one of those. What, in God' s name, should have made one of these a Bishop and the other a Judge! I never heard of the smallest particle of talent that either of them possessed. This Rector of Wyly was another of them. There was no harm in them that I know of, beyond that of living upon the public; but, where were their merits? They had none.
教育论客
博格克勒里
1825年10月31日星期一上午
不过，标榜“教育”的论客们是最古怪的了。他们已?看到，他们所说的“毕业”正同犯罪一起日益增长。尽管数量已是先前的六倍，可还是要发展到人满为患才行。然而，那些论客仍在叫喊，说犯罪事件的发生是由于缺乏教育造成的。他们看见罪大恶极之人享受着比诚实劳动者更好的物质生活。虽然他们都明白这些，却还是不停地叫喊，说犯罪事件的发生是因为缺少“教育”。那么，什么因素可诱发这种不正当行为呢？犯罪不是不正当的，它是流氓行为，是一种堕落和暴政。暴君——无情的暴君残酷地压榨他的子民以满足贪欲。而混沌的政客与文痞教氓则谎称不是因为缺衣少食，而是缺乏教育，为自己将穷困潦倒的人变成小偷和强盗找借口。如果新闻界——仅仅是新闻界能尽忠尽责，或者只是尽十分之一之责也好，这种恶劣的社会秩序也不会继续下去。
但是，新闻界悲哀地将其归咎为错误的起因：收税人压榨地主，地主压榨农场主，农场主压榨劳动者。最后落得如此下场，而劳动者阶层的生活是如此的悲惨，以至于连重犯都不如。还有其他能导致犯罪的因素吗？但是对于这些因素，尽管在明眼人看来是如此清楚，可是新闻界从不提起；相反不停地叫嚣什么教育与道德，宣扬无知与不道德导致了重大犯罪。的确，不道德会导致犯罪，不知道？然而，会期待饿得半死的人会有道德？如果他们不工作就会受到鞭打，尽管他们一天的饭食都不及我小儿子在斯多克查勒地土丘六七分钟吃得多。啊！但是，如果新闻界能将犯罪率增加归咎到真正的?因上，那就要从远了说起。?因必须回到税收、国债，重负、数目庞大的常备军、不计其数的闲置职员的退休和补助金上。这些真正的因素也只适合很少的一部分出版单位，而他们就是靠以上其中的某一项得以存在和发展。
英国客栈沉思
东埃温雷（威尔特郡）
1826年8月27日星期天夜
埃温雷到幼德格霄大约不到三英里，周五下午我们去了那里。那天晚上下了一场很大的暴雨，所有的蚊虫都被赶走了，空气格外怡人。埃温雷是个名副其实的平?村庄。在这里，你放眼望去看不到一棵树木、一片树篱或是灌木丛。村庄到处是茵茵的绿草，而且这里是全英国最有名的赛狗场。18年前，我跟随一行人拜访这里时，就住在这家小客栈；直到现在，客栈仍没有易主，店主一眼就认出了我。在客栈居住期间，有一天，有人在田野上放出了40只猎狗，每条跑道上有一只，有的跑道上有两只。这片场地是世界上最平坦的，从这里到两三英里外野兔的藏身之处，没有石头、树丛，也没有土丘。有一天，我看到三只野兔居然在猎狗的追击下逃脱了。这恰恰向我证明了：就目前来说，野兔是英国最敏捷的动物。为了给狗和兔子一个公平的判定，这里应该是只有一条狗。然后，如果狗追得太紧以至于兔子不得不转向的话，那就证明狗跑得最快。狗或是狗群不能追得很紧而迫使兔子转向时，兔子就可以很公正地被称为“胜利逃脱”。而且，我有一天亲眼目睹三只兔子在猎狗的追赶下成功逃脱，因此我得出结论：兔子比狗跑得更快。
这家客栈是英国最好的一家，也是夏季居住最舒适的一家。我想，我的?历一定可以证明我的说法是正确的。客栈的房间很大，院落和马棚也都不错，而店主又是一位农民，因此，马儿可以尽情地享受草物，自己则尽情地享用鸡蛋和奶油。屋子南边是一个花园，很大，修饰也很别致。花园斜坡上有一排房屋，还有灌木丛和花，以及修剪得整齐的矮草。花园低处生长着高大的树木，百合与椰树点缀林间。花园之外有一大片梧桐树林，林中栖息着许多白嘴鸦。这里的一切都让我感到欣喜。客栈的北边紧临一个有着301口人的村庄。其余的地方就是空旷的草地或耕地了。我现在坐在客栈的一扇南窗前，视线越过了花园，眺望着林地。此刻太阳快要下山了，白嘴鸦正在枝头来回跳窜；我看到林间有一群大约有几百只羊正从草地返回羊圈，边走边吃着沿途的草。
此刻，面对这些无辜的羊，我的脑海中闪出一个念头：什么恶魔能让我想起尼科·格林肖？然而，事实上，没有什么可以超越思想的速度，它能瞬间飞越整个生命历程。就在我写下上面一段文字最后一句时，思维带我回到过去的一个瞬间。那时，我身穿一件长外套，手里提着一只木瓶，像个牧童。倏地，思绪又催促着我记起了那段并不短暂的生命。那段时光充满了冒险、艰辛、危险、快乐、真挚友谊和浓烈的憎恨。看到如此多的奇妙，我的心智都沉浸在花园、田间和树林的一草一木之中。我们的心智浪费在肮脏、嘈杂和充满冲突的城市里，它们应当受到责难。我又回到现在，我的思绪又回到了我要去完成的任务——对付格林肖和他的诡计。
今天大约三点钟，我的儿子们就动身去了赫特福德郡，我在这个村里好好地享受骑马的乐趣后，再赶过去与他们会合。除了骑马或步行，旅游就没有乐趣可言了。马车载着你的身体从一个地方到另一个地方，如果你仅仅是想被搬运，这样的旅游还是很不错的。不过，这样你就失去了观察、了解整个国家的机会。
公共寄生虫
海特斯堡（威尔茨）
1826年8月31日星期四