He is a small man, with gray hair and gray stubble beard, and is invariably clad in a shabby surtout of snuff-color, closely buttoned, and half concealing7 a pair of gray pantaloons; the whole dress, though clean and entire, being evidently flimsy with much wear. His face, thin, withered8, furrowed9, and with features which even age has failed to render impressive, has a frost-bitten aspect. It is a moral frost which no physical warmth or comfortableness could counteract10. The summer sunshine may fling its white heat upon him or the good fire of the depot room may slake11 him the focus of its blaze on a winter’s day; but all in vain; for still the old roan looks as if he were in a frosty atmosphere, with scarcely warmth enough to keep life in the region about his heart. It is a patient, long-suffering, quiet, hopeless, shivering aspect. He is not desperate — that, though its etymology12 implies no more, would be too positive an expression — but merely devoid13 of hope. As all his past life, probably, offers no spots of brightness to his memory, so he takes his present poverty and discomfort14 as entirely15 a matter of course! he thinks it the definition of existence, so far as himself is concerned, to be poor, cold, and uncomfortable. It may be added, that time has not thrown dignity as a mantle16 over the old man’s figure: there is nothing venerable about him: you pity him without a scruple17.
He sits on a bench in the depot room; and before him, on the floor, are deposited two baskets of a capacity to contain his whole stock in trade. Across from one basket to the other extends a board, on which is displayed a plate of cakes and gingerbread, some russet and red-cheeked apples, and a box containing variegated18 sticks of candy, together with that delectable19 condiment20 known by children as Gibraltar rock, neatly21 done up in white paper. There is likewise a half-peck measure of cracked walnuts22 and two or three tin half-pints or gills filled with the nut-kernels, ready for purchasers.
Such are the small commodities with which our old friend comes daily before the world, ministering to its petty needs and little freaks of appetite, and seeking thence the solid subsistence — so far as he may subsist23 of his life.
A slight observer would speak of the old man’s quietude; but, on closer scrutiny24, you discover that there is a continual unrest within him, which somewhat resembles the fluttering action of the nerves in a corpse25 from which life has recently departed. Though he never exhibits any violent action, and, indeed, might appear to be sitting quite still, yet you perceive, when his minuter peculiarities26 begin to be detected, that he is always making some little movement or other. He looks anxiously at his plate of cakes or pyramid of apples and slightly alters their arrangement, with an evident idea that a great deal depends on their being disposed exactly thus and so. Then for a moment he gazes out of the window; then he shivers quietly and folds his arms across his breast, as if to draw himself closer within himself, and thus keep a flicker27 of warmth in his lonesome heart. Now he turns again to his merchandise of cakes, apples, and candy, and discovers that this cake or that apple, or yonder stick of red and white candy, has somehow got out of its proper position. And is there not a walnut-kernel too many or too few in one of those small tin measures? Again the whole arrangement appears to be settled to his mind; but, in the course of a minute or two, there will assuredly be something to set right. At times, by an indescribable shadow upon his features, too quiet, however, to be noticed until you are familiar with his ordinary aspect, the expression of frostbitten, patient despondency becomes very touching28. It seems as if just at that instant the suspicion occurred to him that, in his chill decline of life, earning scanty29 bread by selling cakes, apples, and candy, he is a very miserable30 old fellow.
But, if he thinks so, it is a mistake. He can never suffer the extreme of misery31, because the tone of his whole being is too much subdued32 for him to feel anything acutely.
Occasionally one of the passengers, to while away a tedious interval33, approaches the old man, inspects the articles upon his board, and even peeps curiously34 into the two baskets. Another, striding to and fro along the room, throws a look at the apples and gingerbread at every turn. A third, it may be of a more sensitive and delicate texture35 of being, glances shyly thitherward, cautious not to excite expectations of a purchaser while yet undetermined whether to buy. But there appears to be no need of such a scrupulous37 regard to our old friend’s feelings. True, he is conscious of the remote possibility to sell a cake or an apple; but innumerable disappointments have rendered him so far a philosopher, that, even if the purchased article should be returned, he will consider it altogether in the ordinary train of events. He speaks to none, and makes no sign of offering his wares38 to the public: not that he is deterred39 by pride, but by the certain conviction that such demonstrations40 would not increase his custom. Besides, this activity in business would require an energy that never could have been a characteristic of his almost passive disposition41 even in youth. Whenever an actual customer customer appears the old man looks up with a patient eye: if the price and the article are approved, he is ready to make change; otherwise his eyelids42 droop43 again sadly enough, but with no heavier despondency than before. He shivers, perhaps folds his lean arms around his lean body, and resumes the life-long, frozen patience in which consists his strength.
Once in a while a school-boy comes hastily up, places cent or two upon the board, and takes up a cake, or stick of candy, or a measure of walnuts, or an apple as red-checked as himself. There are no words as to price, that being as well known to the buyer as to the seller. The old apple-dealer never speaks an unnecessary word not that he is sullen44 and morose45; but there is none of the cheeriness and briskness46 in him that stirs up people to talk.
Not seldom he is greeted by some old neighbor, a man well to do in the world, who makes a civil, patronizing observation about the weather; and then, by way of performing a charitable deed, begins to chaffer for an apple. Our friend presumes not on any past acquaintance; he makes the briefest possible response to all general remarks, and shrinks quietly into himself again. After every diminution47 of his stock he takes care to produce from the basket another cake, another stick of candy, another apple, or another measure of walnuts, to supply the place of the article sold. Two or three attempts — or, perchance, half a dozen — are requisite48 before the board can be rearranged to his satisfaction. If he have received a silver coin, he waits till the purchaser is out of sight, then examines it closely, and tries to bend it with his finger and thumb: finally he puts it into his waistcoat-pocket with seemingly a gentle sigh. This sigh, so faint as to be hardly perceptible, and not expressive49 of any definite emotion, is the accompaniment and conclusion of all his actions. It is the symbol of the chillness and torpid50 melancholy51 of his old age, which only make themselves felt sensibly when his repose52 is slightly disturbed.
Our man of gingerbread and apples is not a specimen53 of the “needy man who has seen better days.” Doubtless there have been better and brighter days in the far-off time of his youth; but none with so much sunshine of prosperity in them that the chill, the depression, the narrowness of means, in his declining years, can have come upon him by surprise. His life has all been of a piece. His subdued and nerveless boyhood prefigured his abortive54 prime, which likewise contained within itself the prophecy and image of his lean and torpid age. He was perhaps a mechanic, who never came to be a master in his craft, or a petty tradesman, rubbing onward55 between passably to do and poverty. Possibly he may look back to some brilliant epoch56 of his career when there were a hundred or two of dollars to his credit in the Savings57 Bank. Such must have been the extent of his better fortune — his little measure of this world’s triumphs — all that he has known of success. A meek58, downcast, humble59, uncomplaining creature, he probably has never felt himself entitled to more than so much of the gifts of Providence60. Is it not still something that he has never held out his hand for charity, nor has yet been driven to that sad home and household of Earth’s forlorn and broken-spirited children, the almshouse? He cherishes no quarrel, therefore, with his destiny, nor with the Author of it. All is as it should be.
If, indeed, he have been bereaved61 of a son, a bold, energetic, vigorous young man, on whom the father’s feeble nature leaned as on a staff of strength, in that case he may have felt a bitterness that could not otherwise have been generated in his heart. But methinks the joy of possessing such a son and the agony of losing him would have developed the old man’s moral and intellectual nature to a much greater degree than we now find it. Intense grief appears to be as much out of keeping with his life as fervid62 happiness.
To confess the truth, it is not the easiest matter in the world to define and individualize a character like this which we are now handling. The portrait must be so generally negative that the most delicate pencil is likely to spoil it by introducing some too positive tint63. Every touch must be kept down, or else you destroy the subdued tone which is absolutely essential to the whole effect. Perhaps more may be done by contrast than by direct description. For this purpose I make use of another cake and candy merchant, who, likewise infests64 the railroad depot. This latter worthy65 is a very smart and well-dressed boy of ten years old or thereabouts, who skips briskly hither and thither36, addressing the passengers in a pert voice, yet with somewhat of good breeding in his tone and pronunciation. Now he has caught my eye, and skips across the room with a pretty pertness, which I should like to correct with a box on the ear. “Any cake, sir? any candy?”
No, none for me, my lad. I did but glance at your brisk figure in order to catch a reflected light and throw it upon your old rival yonder.
Again, in order to invest my conception of the old man with a more decided66 sense of reality, I look at him in the very moment of intensest bustle67, on the arrival of the cars. The shriek68 of the engine as it rushes into the car-house is the utterance69 of the steam fiend, whom man has subdued by magic spells and compels to serve as a beast of burden. He has skimmed rivers in his headlong rush, dashed through forests, plunged70 into the hearts of mountains, and glanced from the city to the desert-place, and again to a far-off city, with a meteoric71 progress, seen and out of sight, while his reverberating72 roar still fills the ear. The travellers swarm73 forth74 from the cars. All are full of the momentum75 which they have caught from their mode of conveyance76. It seems as if the whole world, both morally and physically77, were detached from its old standfasts and set in rapid motion. And, in the midst of this terrible activity, there sits the old man of gingerbread, so subdued, so hopeless, so without a stake in life, and yet not positively78 miserable — there he sits, the forlorn old creature, one chill and sombre day after another, gathering79 scanty coppers80 for his cakes, apples, and candy — there sits the old apple-dealer, in his threadbare suit of snuff-color and gray and his grizzly81 stubble heard. See! he folds his lean arms around his lean figure with that quiet sigh and that scarcely perceptible shiver which are the tokens of his inward state. I have him now. He and the steam fiend are each other’s antipodes; the latter is the type of all that go ahead, and the old man the representative of that melancholy class who by some sad witchcraft are doomed82 never to share in the world’s exulting83 progress. Thus the contrast between mankind and this desolate84 brother becomes picturesque, and even sublime85.
And now farewell, old friend! Little do you suspect that a student of human life has made your character the theme of more than one solitary86 and thoughtful hour. Many would say that you have hardly individuality enough to be the object of your own self-love. How, then, can a stranger’s eye detect anything in your mind and heart to study and to wonder at? Yet, could I read but a tithe87 of what is written there, it would be a volume of deeper and more comprehensive import than all that the wisest mortals have given to the world; for the soundless depths of the human soul and of eternity88 have an opening through your breast. God be praised, were it only for your sake, that the present shapes of human existence are not cast in iron nor hewn in everlasting89 adamant90, but moulded of the vapors91 that vanish away while the essence flits upward to the infinite. There is a spiritual essence in this gray and lean old shape that shall flit upward too. Yes; doubtless there is a region where the life-long shiver will pass away from his being, and that quiet sigh, which it has taken him so many years to breathe, will be brought to a close for good and all.
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1
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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hueless
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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8
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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11
slake
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| v.解渴，使平息 | |
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12
etymology
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| n.语源；字源学 | |
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13
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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14
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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15
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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16
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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17
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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18
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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19
delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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20
condiment
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| n.调味品 | |
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21
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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22
walnuts
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| 胡桃（树）( walnut的名词复数 )； 胡桃木 | |
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23
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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24
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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25
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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26
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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27
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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28
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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29
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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30
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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31
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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32
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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33
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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34
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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35
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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36
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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37
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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38
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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39
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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41
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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42
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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43
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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44
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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45
morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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46
briskness
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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47
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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48
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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49
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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50
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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51
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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52
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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53
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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54
abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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55
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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56
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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57
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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58
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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59
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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60
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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61
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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62
fervid
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| adj.热情的；炽热的 | |
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63
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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64
infests
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| n.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的名词复数 )；遍布于v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的第三人称单数 )；遍布于 | |
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65
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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66
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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67
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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68
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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69
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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70
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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71
meteoric
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| adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的 | |
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72
reverberating
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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73
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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74
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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75
momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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76
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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77
physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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78
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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79
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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80
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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81
grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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82
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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83
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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84
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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85
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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86
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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87
tithe
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| n.十分之一税；v.课什一税，缴什一税 | |
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88
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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89
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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90
adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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91
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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