Page 85 - erewhon

what I should myself consider a well-deserved chastisement’
(for he was getting angry, and so was I); ‘but the Queen was
so inquisitive, and wanted so much to see you, that she pe-
titioned the King and made him give you his pardon, and
assign you a pension in consideration of your meritorious
complexion. It is lucky for you that he has not heard what
you have been saying now, or he would be sure to cancel it.’
As I heard these words my heart sank within me. I felt the
extreme difficulty of my position, and how wicked I should
be in running counter to established usage. I remained
silent for several minutes, and then said that I should be
happy to accept the embezzler’s invitation,—on which my
instructor brightened and said I was a sensible fellow. But
I felt very uncomfortable. When he had left the room, I
mused over the conversation which had just taken place be-
tween us, but I could make nothing out of it, except that it
argued an even greater perversity of mental vision than I
had been yet prepared for. And this made me wretched; for
I cannot bear having much to do with people who think dif-
ferently from myself. All sorts of wandering thoughts kept
coming into my head. I thought of my master’s hut, and my
seat upon the mountain side, where I had first conceived
the insane idea of exploring. What years and years seemed
to have passed since I had begun my journey!
I thought of my adventures in the gorge, and on the jour-
ney hither, and of Chowbok. I wondered what Chowbok
told them about me when he got back,—he had done well
in going back, Chowbok had. He was not handsome—nay,
he was hideous; and it would have gone hardly with him.

Erewhon