Pagina 199 di 483

"A considerable period elapsed before I discovered one of the

causes of the uneasiness of this amiable family: it was poverty,

and they suffered that evil in a very distressing degree. Their

nourishment consisted entirely of the vegetables of their garden

and the milk of one cow, which gave very little during the

winter, when its masters could scarcely procure food to support

it. They often, I believe, suffered the pangs of hunger very

poignantly, especially the two younger cottagers, for several

times they placed food before the old man when they reserved none

for themselves.

"This trait of kindness moved me sensibly. I had been accustomed,

during the night, to steal a part of their store for my own

consumption, but when I found that in doing this I inflicted pain

on the cottagers, I abstained and satisfied myself with berries,

nuts, and roots which I gathered from a neighbouring wood.