Memoirs of Count Boruwslaski

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

177-80

text excerpt

[...] my narrative was interrupted, by the servant introducing coffee. On my taking the first cup, I heard a bell passing in the street, of which I did not take any notice, till it approached the door of Mr. McMahon; upon which I instantly made the sign of the cross, and bent my knees; from which circumstance, he and his friend (a comedian who was in company) immediately knowing me to be a stranger in the country, determined to amuse themselves at my expence, and accordingly, they began their devotions. The bells in the street never ceasing, we of course continued our prayers, till at length I observed the countenance of the comedian most wonderfully distorted, as if he had received a paralytic stroke, or got some disorder in his body, causing the most horrid grimaces. I endeavoured in vain to resume my cup of coffee; for, no sooner had it reached my lips, than tinkle tinkle again went the bell; down I dropt on my knees, and I could not finish a single cup. At length, I was induced to enquire into the reason why so many priests were employed in the streets; and you will imagine, that the answer did not prove at all satisfactory to me, when Mr. McMahon informed me, that I had arrived just at the commencement of the plague, and that the whole town was in a state of grievous desolation and trouble. 

Whilst I was listening to this information, the comedian was rehearsing his part of the joke in an adjoining room, and began to cry out, in the most piteous tones, "Lord have mercy upon us, there are four fallen down dead in the street;" and made the sign of the cross with such contortions, that he appeared to me to be possessed with a devil. but when I observed the wonderful change in his countenance, I concluded that he was affected by a spasmodic complaint, and I repeatedly requested him to send for a doctor; but whilst I was speaking, the bell again began; our prayers of course followed; and I immediately declared my determination of quitting the town, since I was not yet in a hurry to join the dead. [...] He concluded with intreating me, no more to regard the bells that I heard, which only served to announce the postman's passing by. Although this information composed my mind at the moment, yet it was a considerable time before I became perfectly familiarized to the sound of the bells. At length, however, by habit, and with the well-timed raillery of my friend, I became as reconciled to it as the English themselves.

excerpt from 'Memoirs of Count Boruwslaski' pp. 177-80 (441 words)

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