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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9211-0.txt b/9211-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2fdb7c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/9211-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,682 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sister Years (From “Twice Told Tales”), by +Nathaniel Hawthorne + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Sister Years (From “Twice Told Tales”) + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9211] +First Posted: August 23, 2003 +Last Updated: December 14, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + TWICE TOLD TALES + + THE SISTER YEARS + + By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + + +Last night, between eleven and twelve o’clock, when the Old Year was +leaving her final foot prints on the borders of Time’s empire, she +found herself in possession of a few spare moments, and sat down--of +all places in the world--on the steps of our new City Hall. The +wintry moonlight showed that she looked weary of body, and sad of +heart, like many another wayfarer of earth. Her garments, having been +exposed to much foul weather, and rough usage, were in very ill +condition; and as the hurry of her journey had never before allowed +her to take an instant’s rest, her shoes were so worn as to be +scarcely worth the mending. But, after trudging only a little +distance farther, this poor Old Year was destined to enjoy a long, +long sleep. I forgot to mention, that when she seated herself on the +steps, she deposited by her side a very capacious bandbox, in which, +as is the custom among travellers of her sex, she carried a great deal +of valuable property. Besides this luggage, there was a folio book +under her arm, very much resembling the annual volume of a newspaper. +Placing this volume across her knees, and resting her elbows upon it, +with her forehead in her hands, the weary, bedraggled, world-worn Old +Year heaved a heavy sigh, and appeared to be taking no very pleasant +retrospect of her past existence. + +While she thus awaited the midnight knell, that was to summon her to +the innumerable sisterhood of departed Years, there came a young +maiden treading lightsomely on tiptoe along the street, from the +direction of the Railroad Depot. She was evidently a stranger, and +perhaps had come to town by the evening train of cars. There was a +smiling cheerfulness in this fair maiden’s face, which bespoke her +fully confident of a kind reception from the multitude of people, with +whom she was soon to form acquaintance. Her dress was rather too airy +for the season, and was bedizened with fluttering ribbons and other +vanities, which were likely soon to be rent away by the fierce storms, +or to fade in the hot sunshine, amid which she was to pursue her +changeful course. But still she was a wonderfully pleasant looking +figure, and had so much promise and such an indescribable hopefulness +in her aspect, that hardly anybody could meet her without anticipating +some very desirable thing--the consummation of some long-sought good--from +her kind offices. A few dismal characters there may be, here and +there about the world, who have so often been trifled with by young +maidens as promising as she, that they have now ceased to pin any +faith upon the skirts of the New Year. But, for my own part, I have +great faith in her; and should I live to see fifty more such, still, +from each of those successive sisters, I shall reckon upon receiving +something that will be worth living for. + +The New Year--for this young maiden was no less a personage--carried +all her goods and chattels in a basket of no great size or weight, +which hung upon her arm. She greeted the disconsolate Old Year with +great affection, and sat down beside her on the steps of the City +Hall, waiting for the signal to begin her rambles through the world. +The two were own sisters, being both granddaughters of Time; and +though one looked so much older than the other, it was rather owing to +hardships and trouble than to age, since there was but a twelvemonth’s +difference between them. + +“Well, my dear sister,” said the New Year, after the first +salutations, “you look almost tired to death. What have you been +about during your sojourn in this part of Infinite Space?” + +“O, I have it all recorded here in my Book of Chronicles,” answered +the Old Year, in a heavy tone. “There is nothing that would amuse +you; and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from +your own personal experience. It is but tiresome reading.” + +Nevertheless, she turned over the leaves of the folio, and glanced at +them by the light of the moon, feeling an irresistible spell of +interest in her own biography, although its incidents were remembered +without pleasure. The volume, though she termed it her Book of +Chronicles, seemed to be neither more nor less than the Salem Gazette +for 1838; in the accuracy of which journal this sagacious Old Year +had so much confidence, that she deemed it needless to record her +history with her own pen. + +“What have you been doing in the political way?” asked the New Year. + +“Why, my course here in the United States,” said the Old Year,--“though +perhaps I ought to blush at the confession,--my political +course, I must acknowledge, has been rather vacillatory, sometimes +inclining towards the Whigs,--then causing the Administration party to +shout for triumph,--and now again uplifting what seemed the almost +prostrate banner of the Opposition; so that historians will hardly +know what to make of me, in this respect. But the Loco Focos--” + +“I do not like these party nicknames,” interrupted her sister, who +seemed remarkably touchy about some points. “Perhaps we shall part in +better humor, if we avoid any political discussion.” + +“With all my heart,” replied the Old Year, who had already been +tormented half to death with squabbles of this kind. “I care not if +the navies of Whig or Tory, with their interminable brawls about Banks +and the Sub-Treasury, Abolition, Texas, the Florida War, and a million +of other topics,--which you will learn soon enough for your own +comfort,--I care not, I say, if no whisper of these matters ever +reaches my ears again. Yet they have occupied so large a share of my +attention, that I scarcely know what else to tell you. There has +indeed been a curious sort of war on the Canada border, where blood +has streamed in the names of Liberty and Patriotism; but it must +remain for some future, perhaps far distant Year, to tell whether or +no those holy names have been rightfully invoked. Nothing so much +depresses me, in my view of mortal affairs, as to see high energies +wasted, and human life and happiness thrown away, for ends that appear +oftentimes unwise, and still oftener remain unaccomplished. But the +wisest people and the best keep a steadfast faith that the progress of +Mankind is onward and upward, and that the toil and anguish of the +path serve to wear away the imperfections of the Immortal Pilgrim, and +will be felt no more, when they have done their office.” + +“Perhaps,” cried the hopeful New Year,--“perhaps I shall see that +happy day!” + +“I doubt whether it be so close at hand,” answered the Old Year, +gravely smiling. “You will soon grow weary of looking for that +blessed consummation, and will turn for amusement (as has frequently +been my own practice) to the affairs of some sober little city, like +this of Salem. Here we sit on the steps of the new City Hall, which +has been completed under my administration; and it would make you +laugh to see how the game of politics, of which the Capitol at +Washington is the great chess-board, is here played in miniature. +Burning Ambition finds its fuel here; here Patriotism speaks boldly in +the people’s behalf, and virtuous Economy demands retrenchment in the +emoluments of a lamplighter; here the Aldermen range their senatorial +dignity around the Mayor’s chair of state, and the Common Council feel +that they have liberty in charge. In short, human weakness and +strength, passion and policy, Man’s tendencies, his aims and modes of +pursuing them, his individual character, and his character in the +mass, may be studied almost as well here as on the theatre of nations; +and with this great advantage, that, be the lesson ever so disastrous, +its Liliputian scope still makes the beholder smile.” + +“Have you done much for the improvement of the City?” asked the New +Year. “Judging from what little I have seen, it appears to be ancient +and timeworn.” + +“I have opened the Railroad,” said the elder Year, “and half a dozen +times a day, you will hear the bell (which once summoned the Monks of +a Spanish Convent to their devotions) announcing the arrival or +departure of the cars. Old Salem now wears a much livelier expression +than when I first beheld her. Strangers rumble down from Boston by +hundreds at a time. New faces throng in Essex Street. Railroad-hacks +and omnibuses rattle over the pavements. There is a perceptible +increase of oyster-shops, and other establishments for the +accommodation of a transitory diurnal multitude. But a more important +change awaits the venerable town. An immense accumulation of musty +prejudices will be carried off by the free circulation of society. A +peculiarity of character, of which the inhabitants themselves are +hardly sensible, will be rubbed down and worn away by the attrition of +foreign substances. Much of the result will be good; there will +likewise be a few things not so good. Whether for better or worse, +there will be a probable diminution of the moral influence of wealth, +and the sway of an aristocratic class, which, from an era far beyond +my memory, has held firmer dominion here than in any other New England +town.” + +The Old Year having talked away nearly all of her little remaining +breath, now closed her Book of Chronicles, and was about to take her +departure. But her sister detained her awhile longer, by inquiring +the contents of the huge bandbox, which she was so painfully lugging +along with her. + +“These are merely a few trifles,” replied the Old Year, “which I have +picked up in my rambles, and am going to deposit, in the receptacle of +things past and forgotten. We sisterhood of Years never carry +anything really valuable out of the world with us. Here are patterns +of most of the fashions which I brought into vogue, and which have +already lived out their allotted term. You will supply their place, +with others equally ephemeral. Here, put up in little China pots, +like rouge, is a considerable lot of beautiful women’s bloom, which +the disconsolate fair ones owe me a bitter grudge for stealing. I +have likewise a quantity of men’s dark hair, instead of which, I have +left gray locks, or none at all. The tears of widows and other +afflicted mortals, who have received comfort during the last twelve +months, are preserved in some dozens of essence-bottles, well corked +and sealed. I have several bundles of love-letters, eloquently +breathing an eternity of burning passion, which grew cold and +perished, almost before the ink was dry. Moreover, here is an +assortment of many thousand broken promises, and other broken ware, +all very light and packed into little space. The heaviest articles in +my possession are a large parcel of disappointed hopes, which, a +little while ago, were buoyant enough to have inflated Mr. Lauriat’s +balloon.” + +“I have a fine lot of hopes here in my basket,” remarked the New Year. +“They are a sweet-smelling flower,--a species of rose.” + +“They soon lose their perfume,” replied the sombre Old Year. “What +else have you brought to insure a welcome from the discontented race +of mortals?” + +“Why, to say the truth, little or nothing else,” said her sister, with +a smile,--“save a few new Annuals and Almanacs, and some New Year’s +gifts for the children. But I heartily wish well to poor mortals, and +mean to do all I can for their improvement and happiness.” + +“It is a good resolution,” rejoined the Old Year; “and, by the way, I +have a plentiful assortment of good resolutions, which have now grown +so stale and musty, that I am ashamed to carry them any farther. Only +for fear that the City authorities would send Constable Mansfield, +with a warrant after me, I should toss them into the street at once. +Many other matters go to make up the contents of my bandbox; but the +whole lot would not fetch a single bid, even at an auction of worn-out +furniture; and as they are worth nothing either to you or anybody +else, I need not trouble you with a longer catalogue.” + +“And must I also pickup such worthless luggage in my travels?” asked +the New Year. + +“Most certainly; and well, if you have no heavier load to bear,” + replied the other. “And now, my dear sister, I must bid you farewell, +earnestly advising and exhorting you to expect no gratitude ‘nor +goodwill from this peevish, unreasonable, inconsiderate, ill-intending, +and worse-behaving world. However warmly its inhabitants may seen to +welcome you, yet, do what you may, and lavish on them what means of +happiness you please, they will still be complaining, still craving +what it is not in your power to give, still looking forward to some +other Year for the accomplishment of projects which ought never to +have been formed, and which, if successful, would only provide new +occasions of discontent. If these ridiculous people ever see anything +tolerable in you, it will be after you are gone forever.” + +“But I,” cried the fresh-hearted New Year,--“I shall try to leave men +wiser than I find them. I will offer them freely whatever good gifts +Providence permits me to distribute, and will tell them to be thankful +for what they have, and humbly hopeful for more; and surely, if they +are not absolute fools, they will condescend to be happy, and will +allow me to be a happy Year. For my happiness must depend on them.” + +“Alas for you, then, my poor sister!” said the Old fear, sighing, as +she uplifted her burden. “We grand-children of Time are born to +trouble. Happiness, they say, dwells in the mansions of Eternity; but +we can only lead mortals thither, step by step, with reluctant +murmurings, and ourselves must perish on the threshold. But hark! my +task is done.” + +The clock in the tall steeple of Dr. Emerson’s church struck twelve; +there was a response from Dr. Flint’s, in the opposite quarter of the +city; and while the strokes were yet dropping into the air, the Old +Year either flitted or faded away; and not the wisdom and might of +Angels, to say nothing of the remorseful yearnings of the millions who +had used her ill, could have prevailed with that departed Year to +return one step. But she, in the company of Time and all her kindred, +must hereafter hold a reckoning with Mankind. So shall it be, +likewise, with the maidenly New Year, who, as the clock ceased to +strike, arose from the steps of the City Hall, and set out rather +timorously on her earthly course. + +“A happy New Year!” cried a watchman, eying her figure very +questionably, but without the least suspicion that he was addressing +the New Year in person. + +“Thank you kindly!” said the New Year; and she gave the watchman one +of the roses of hope from her basket. “May this flower keep a sweet +smell, long after I have bidden you good by.” + +Then she stepped on more briskly through the silent streets; and such +as were awake at the moment, heard her footfall, and said, “The New +Year is come!” Wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers, they +quaffed her health. She sighed, however, to perceive that the air was +tainted--as the atmosphere of this world must continually be--with the +dying breaths of mortals who had lingered just long enough for her to +bury them. But there were millions left alive, to rejoice at her +coming; and so she pursued her way with confidence, strewing +emblematic flowers on the doorstep of almost every dwelling, which +some persons will gather up and wear in their bosoms, and others will +trample under foot. The Carrier Boy can only say further, that, early +this morning, she filled his basket with New Year’s Addresses, +assuring him that the whole City, with our new Mayor, and the Aldermen +and Common Council at its head, would make a general rush to secure +copies. Kind Patrons, will not you redeem the pledge of the NEW YEAR? + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sister Years (From “Twice Told +Tales”), by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + +***** This file should be named 9211-0.txt or 9211-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/2/1/9211/ + +Produced by David Widger. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales") + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9211] +First Posted: August 23, 2003 +Last Updated: December 14, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + TWICE TOLD TALES<br /> + </h3> + <h2> + THE SISTER YEARS<br /> + </h2> + <h3> + By Nathaniel Hawthorne<br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + Last night, between eleven and twelve o’clock, when the Old Year was + leaving her final foot prints on the borders of Time’s empire, she found + herself in possession of a few spare moments, and sat down—of all + places in the world—on the steps of our new City Hall. The wintry + moonlight showed that she looked weary of body, and sad of heart, like + many another wayfarer of earth. Her garments, having been exposed to much + foul weather, and rough usage, were in very ill condition; and as the + hurry of her journey had never before allowed her to take an instant’s + rest, her shoes were so worn as to be scarcely worth the mending. But, + after trudging only a little distance farther, this poor Old Year was + destined to enjoy a long, long sleep. I forgot to mention, that when she + seated herself on the steps, she deposited by her side a very capacious + bandbox, in which, as is the custom among travellers of her sex, she + carried a great deal of valuable property. Besides this luggage, there was + a folio book under her arm, very much resembling the annual volume of a + newspaper. Placing this volume across her knees, and resting her elbows + upon it, with her forehead in her hands, the weary, bedraggled, world-worn + Old Year heaved a heavy sigh, and appeared to be taking no very pleasant + retrospect of her past existence. + </p> + <p> + While she thus awaited the midnight knell, that was to summon her to the + innumerable sisterhood of departed Years, there came a young maiden + treading lightsomely on tiptoe along the street, from the direction of the + Railroad Depot. She was evidently a stranger, and perhaps had come to town + by the evening train of cars. There was a smiling cheerfulness in this + fair maiden’s face, which bespoke her fully confident of a kind reception + from the multitude of people, with whom she was soon to form acquaintance. + Her dress was rather too airy for the season, and was bedizened with + fluttering ribbons and other vanities, which were likely soon to be rent + away by the fierce storms, or to fade in the hot sunshine, amid which she + was to pursue her changeful course. But still she was a wonderfully + pleasant looking figure, and had so much promise and such an indescribable + hopefulness in her aspect, that hardly anybody could meet her without + anticipating some very desirable thing—the consummation of some + long-sought good—from her kind offices. A few dismal characters + there may be, here and there about the world, who have so often been + trifled with by young maidens as promising as she, that they have now + ceased to pin any faith upon the skirts of the New Year. But, for my own + part, I have great faith in her; and should I live to see fifty more such, + still, from each of those successive sisters, I shall reckon upon + receiving something that will be worth living for. + </p> + <p> + The New Year—for this young maiden was no less a personage—carried + all her goods and chattels in a basket of no great size or weight, which + hung upon her arm. She greeted the disconsolate Old Year with great + affection, and sat down beside her on the steps of the City Hall, waiting + for the signal to begin her rambles through the world. The two were own + sisters, being both granddaughters of Time; and though one looked so much + older than the other, it was rather owing to hardships and trouble than to + age, since there was but a twelvemonth’s difference between them. + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear sister,” said the New Year, after the first salutations, + “you look almost tired to death. What have you been about during your + sojourn in this part of Infinite Space?” + </p> + <p> + “O, I have it all recorded here in my Book of Chronicles,” answered the + Old Year, in a heavy tone. “There is nothing that would amuse you; and you + will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from your own personal + experience. It is but tiresome reading.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, she turned over the leaves of the folio, and glanced at them + by the light of the moon, feeling an irresistible spell of interest in her + own biography, although its incidents were remembered without pleasure. + The volume, though she termed it her Book of Chronicles, seemed to be + neither more nor less than the Salem Gazette for 1838; in the accuracy of + which journal this sagacious Old Year had so much confidence, that she + deemed it needless to record her history with her own pen. + </p> + <p> + “What have you been doing in the political way?” asked the New Year. + </p> + <p> + “Why, my course here in the United States,” said the Old Year,—“though + perhaps I ought to blush at the confession,—my political course, I + must acknowledge, has been rather vacillatory, sometimes inclining towards + the Whigs,—then causing the Administration party to shout for + triumph,—and now again uplifting what seemed the almost prostrate + banner of the Opposition; so that historians will hardly know what to make + of me, in this respect. But the Loco Focos—” + </p> + <p> + “I do not like these party nicknames,” interrupted her sister, who seemed + remarkably touchy about some points. “Perhaps we shall part in better + humor, if we avoid any political discussion.” + </p> + <p> + “With all my heart,” replied the Old Year, who had already been tormented + half to death with squabbles of this kind. “I care not if the navies of + Whig or Tory, with their interminable brawls about Banks and the + Sub-Treasury, Abolition, Texas, the Florida War, and a million of other + topics,—which you will learn soon enough for your own comfort,—I + care not, I say, if no whisper of these matters ever reaches my ears + again. Yet they have occupied so large a share of my attention, that I + scarcely know what else to tell you. There has indeed been a curious sort + of war on the Canada border, where blood has streamed in the names of + Liberty and Patriotism; but it must remain for some future, perhaps far + distant Year, to tell whether or no those holy names have been rightfully + invoked. Nothing so much depresses me, in my view of mortal affairs, as to + see high energies wasted, and human life and happiness thrown away, for + ends that appear oftentimes unwise, and still oftener remain + unaccomplished. But the wisest people and the best keep a steadfast faith + that the progress of Mankind is onward and upward, and that the toil and + anguish of the path serve to wear away the imperfections of the Immortal + Pilgrim, and will be felt no more, when they have done their office.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps,” cried the hopeful New Year,—“perhaps I shall see that + happy day!” + </p> + <p> + “I doubt whether it be so close at hand,” answered the Old Year, gravely + smiling. “You will soon grow weary of looking for that blessed + consummation, and will turn for amusement (as has frequently been my own + practice) to the affairs of some sober little city, like this of Salem. + Here we sit on the steps of the new City Hall, which has been completed + under my administration; and it would make you laugh to see how the game + of politics, of which the Capitol at Washington is the great chess-board, + is here played in miniature. Burning Ambition finds its fuel here; here + Patriotism speaks boldly in the people’s behalf, and virtuous Economy + demands retrenchment in the emoluments of a lamplighter; here the Aldermen + range their senatorial dignity around the Mayor’s chair of state, and the + Common Council feel that they have liberty in charge. In short, human + weakness and strength, passion and policy, Man’s tendencies, his aims and + modes of pursuing them, his individual character, and his character in the + mass, may be studied almost as well here as on the theatre of nations; and + with this great advantage, that, be the lesson ever so disastrous, its + Liliputian scope still makes the beholder smile.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you done much for the improvement of the City?” asked the New Year. + “Judging from what little I have seen, it appears to be ancient and + timeworn.” + </p> + <p> + “I have opened the Railroad,” said the elder Year, “and half a dozen times + a day, you will hear the bell (which once summoned the Monks of a Spanish + Convent to their devotions) announcing the arrival or departure of the + cars. Old Salem now wears a much livelier expression than when I first + beheld her. Strangers rumble down from Boston by hundreds at a time. New + faces throng in Essex Street. Railroad-hacks and omnibuses rattle over the + pavements. There is a perceptible increase of oyster-shops, and other + establishments for the accommodation of a transitory diurnal multitude. + But a more important change awaits the venerable town. An immense + accumulation of musty prejudices will be carried off by the free + circulation of society. A peculiarity of character, of which the + inhabitants themselves are hardly sensible, will be rubbed down and worn + away by the attrition of foreign substances. Much of the result will be + good; there will likewise be a few things not so good. Whether for better + or worse, there will be a probable diminution of the moral influence of + wealth, and the sway of an aristocratic class, which, from an era far + beyond my memory, has held firmer dominion here than in any other New + England town.” + </p> + <p> + The Old Year having talked away nearly all of her little remaining breath, + now closed her Book of Chronicles, and was about to take her departure. + But her sister detained her awhile longer, by inquiring the contents of + the huge bandbox, which she was so painfully lugging along with her. + </p> + <p> + “These are merely a few trifles,” replied the Old Year, “which I have + picked up in my rambles, and am going to deposit, in the receptacle of + things past and forgotten. We sisterhood of Years never carry anything + really valuable out of the world with us. Here are patterns of most of the + fashions which I brought into vogue, and which have already lived out + their allotted term. You will supply their place, with others equally + ephemeral. Here, put up in little China pots, like rouge, is a + considerable lot of beautiful women’s bloom, which the disconsolate fair + ones owe me a bitter grudge for stealing. I have likewise a quantity of + men’s dark hair, instead of which, I have left gray locks, or none at all. + The tears of widows and other afflicted mortals, who have received comfort + during the last twelve months, are preserved in some dozens of + essence-bottles, well corked and sealed. I have several bundles of + love-letters, eloquently breathing an eternity of burning passion, which + grew cold and perished, almost before the ink was dry. Moreover, here is + an assortment of many thousand broken promises, and other broken ware, all + very light and packed into little space. The heaviest articles in my + possession are a large parcel of disappointed hopes, which, a little while + ago, were buoyant enough to have inflated Mr. Lauriat’s balloon.” + </p> + <p> + “I have a fine lot of hopes here in my basket,” remarked the New Year. + “They are a sweet-smelling flower,—a species of rose.” + </p> + <p> + “They soon lose their perfume,” replied the sombre Old Year. “What else + have you brought to insure a welcome from the discontented race of + mortals?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, to say the truth, little or nothing else,” said her sister, with a + smile,—“save a few new Annuals and Almanacs, and some New Year’s + gifts for the children. But I heartily wish well to poor mortals, and mean + to do all I can for their improvement and happiness.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a good resolution,” rejoined the Old Year; “and, by the way, I have + a plentiful assortment of good resolutions, which have now grown so stale + and musty, that I am ashamed to carry them any farther. Only for fear that + the City authorities would send Constable Mansfield, with a warrant after + me, I should toss them into the street at once. Many other matters go to + make up the contents of my bandbox; but the whole lot would not fetch a + single bid, even at an auction of worn-out furniture; and as they are + worth nothing either to you or anybody else, I need not trouble you with a + longer catalogue.” + </p> + <p> + “And must I also pickup such worthless luggage in my travels?” asked the + New Year. + </p> + <p> + “Most certainly; and well, if you have no heavier load to bear,” replied + the other. “And now, my dear sister, I must bid you farewell, earnestly + advising and exhorting you to expect no gratitude ‘nor goodwill from this + peevish, unreasonable, inconsiderate, ill-intending, and worse-behaving + world. However warmly its inhabitants may seen to welcome you, yet, do + what you may, and lavish on them what means of happiness you please, they + will still be complaining, still craving what it is not in your power to + give, still looking forward to some other Year for the accomplishment of + projects which ought never to have been formed, and which, if successful, + would only provide new occasions of discontent. If these ridiculous people + ever see anything tolerable in you, it will be after you are gone + forever.” + </p> + <p> + “But I,” cried the fresh-hearted New Year,—“I shall try to leave men + wiser than I find them. I will offer them freely whatever good gifts + Providence permits me to distribute, and will tell them to be thankful for + what they have, and humbly hopeful for more; and surely, if they are not + absolute fools, they will condescend to be happy, and will allow me to be + a happy Year. For my happiness must depend on them.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas for you, then, my poor sister!” said the Old fear, sighing, as she + uplifted her burden. “We grand-children of Time are born to trouble. + Happiness, they say, dwells in the mansions of Eternity; but we can only + lead mortals thither, step by step, with reluctant murmurings, and + ourselves must perish on the threshold. But hark! my task is done.” + </p> + <p> + The clock in the tall steeple of Dr. Emerson’s church struck twelve; there + was a response from Dr. Flint’s, in the opposite quarter of the city; and + while the strokes were yet dropping into the air, the Old Year either + flitted or faded away; and not the wisdom and might of Angels, to say + nothing of the remorseful yearnings of the millions who had used her ill, + could have prevailed with that departed Year to return one step. But she, + in the company of Time and all her kindred, must hereafter hold a + reckoning with Mankind. So shall it be, likewise, with the maidenly New + Year, who, as the clock ceased to strike, arose from the steps of the City + Hall, and set out rather timorously on her earthly course. + </p> + <p> + “A happy New Year!” cried a watchman, eying her figure very questionably, + but without the least suspicion that he was addressing the New Year in + person. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you kindly!” said the New Year; and she gave the watchman one of + the roses of hope from her basket. “May this flower keep a sweet smell, + long after I have bidden you good by.” + </p> + <p> + Then she stepped on more briskly through the silent streets; and such as + were awake at the moment, heard her footfall, and said, “The New Year is + come!” Wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers, they quaffed her + health. She sighed, however, to perceive that the air was tainted—as + the atmosphere of this world must continually be—with the dying + breaths of mortals who had lingered just long enough for her to bury them. + But there were millions left alive, to rejoice at her coming; and so she + pursued her way with confidence, strewing emblematic flowers on the + doorstep of almost every dwelling, which some persons will gather up and + wear in their bosoms, and others will trample under foot. The Carrier Boy + can only say further, that, early this morning, she filled his basket with + New Year’s Addresses, assuring him that the whole City, with our new + Mayor, and the Aldermen and Common Council at its head, would make a + general rush to secure copies. Kind Patrons, will not you redeem the + pledge of the NEW YEAR? + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sister Years (From “Twice Told +Tales”), by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + +***** This file should be named 9211-h.htm or 9211-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/2/1/9211/ + +Produced by David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales") + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Posting Date: December 2, 2010 [EBook #9211] +Release Date: November, 2005 +First Posted: August 23, 2003 +Last Updated: February 5, 2007 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + TWICE TOLD TALES + + THE SISTER YEARS + + By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + + +Last night, between eleven and twelve o'clock, when the Old Year was +leaving her final foot prints on the borders of Time's empire, she +found herself in possession of a few spare moments, and sat down--of +all places in the world--on the steps of our new City Hall. The +wintry moonlight showed that she looked weary of body, and sad of +heart, like many another wayfarer of earth. Her garments, having been +exposed to much foul weather, and rough usage, were in very ill +condition; and as the hurry of her journey had never before allowed +her to take an instant's rest, her shoes were so worn as to be +scarcely worth the mending. But, after trudging only a little +distance farther, this poor Old Year was destined to enjoy a long, +long sleep. I forgot to mention, that when she seated herself on the +steps, she deposited by her side a very capacious bandbox, in which, +as is the custom among travellers of her sex, she carried a great deal +of valuable property. Besides this luggage, there was a folio book +under her arm, very much resembling the annual volume of a newspaper. +Placing this volume across her knees, and resting her elbows upon it, +with her forehead in her hands, the weary, bedraggled, world-worn Old +Year heaved a heavy sigh, and appeared to be taking no very pleasant +retrospect of her past existence. + +While she thus awaited the midnight knell, that was to summon her to +the innumerable sisterhood of departed Years, there came a young +maiden treading lightsomely on tiptoe along the street, from the +direction of the Railroad Depot. She was evidently a stranger, and +perhaps had come to town by the evening train of cars. There was a +smiling cheerfulness in this fair maiden's face, which bespoke her +fully confident of a kind reception from the multitude of people, with +whom she was soon to form acquaintance. Her dress was rather too airy +for the season, and was bedizened with fluttering ribbons and other +vanities, which were likely soon to be rent away by the fierce storms, +or to fade in the hot sunshine, amid which she was to pursue her +changeful course. But still she was a wonderfully pleasant looking +figure, and had so much promise and such an indescribable hopefulness +in her aspect, that hardly anybody could meet her without anticipating +some very desirable thing--the consummation of some long-sought good--from +her kind offices. A few dismal characters there may be, here and +there about the world, who have so often been trifled with by young +maidens as promising as she, that they have now ceased to pin any +faith upon the skirts of the New Year. But, for my own part, I have +great faith in her; and should I live to see fifty more such, still, +from each of those successive sisters, I shall reckon upon receiving +something that will be worth living for. + +The New Year--for this young maiden was no less a personage--carried +all her goods and chattels in a basket of no great size or weight, +which hung upon her arm. She greeted the disconsolate Old Year with +great affection, and sat down beside her on the steps of the City +Hall, waiting for the signal to begin her rambles through the world. +The two were own sisters, being both granddaughters of Time; and +though one looked so much older than the other, it was rather owing to +hardships and trouble than to age, since there was but a twelvemonth's +difference between them. + +"Well, my dear sister," said the New Year, after the first +salutations, "you look almost tired to death. What have you been +about during your sojourn in this part of Infinite Space?" + +"O, I have it all recorded here in my Book of Chronicles," answered +the Old Year, in a heavy tone. "There is nothing that would amuse +you; and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from +your own personal experience. It is but tiresome reading." + +Nevertheless, she turned over the leaves of the folio, and glanced at +them by the light of the moon, feeling an irresistible spell of +interest in her own biography, although its incidents were remembered +without pleasure. The volume, though she termed it her Book of +Chronicles, seemed to be neither more nor less than the Salem Gazette +for 1838; in the accuracy of which journal this sagacious Old Year +had so much confidence, that she deemed it needless to record her +history with her own pen. + +"What have you been doing in the political way?" asked the New Year. + +"Why, my course here in the United States," said the Old Year,--"though +perhaps I ought to blush at the confession,--my political +course, I must acknowledge, has been rather vacillatory, sometimes +inclining towards the Whigs,--then causing the Administration party to +shout for triumph,--and now again uplifting what seemed the almost +prostrate banner of the Opposition; so that historians will hardly +know what to make of me, in this respect. But the Loco Focos--" + +"I do not like these party nicknames," interrupted her sister, who +seemed remarkably touchy about some points. "Perhaps we shall part in +better humor, if we avoid any political discussion." + +"With all my heart," replied the Old Year, who had already been +tormented half to death with squabbles of this kind. "I care not if +the navies of Whig or Tory, with their interminable brawls about Banks +and the Sub-Treasury, Abolition, Texas, the Florida War, and a million +of other topics,--which you will learn soon enough for your own +comfort,--I care not, I say, if no whisper of these matters ever +reaches my ears again. Yet they have occupied so large a share of my +attention, that I scarcely know what else to tell you. There has +indeed been a curious sort of war on the Canada border, where blood +has streamed in the names of Liberty and Patriotism; but it must +remain for some future, perhaps far distant Year, to tell whether or +no those holy names have been rightfully invoked. Nothing so much +depresses me, in my view of mortal affairs, as to see high energies +wasted, and human life and happiness thrown away, for ends that appear +oftentimes unwise, and still oftener remain unaccomplished. But the +wisest people and the best keep a steadfast faith that the progress of +Mankind is onward and upward, and that the toil and anguish of the +path serve to wear away the imperfections of the Immortal Pilgrim, and +will be felt no more, when they have done their office." + +"Perhaps," cried the hopeful New Year,--"perhaps I shall see that +happy day!" + +"I doubt whether it be so close at hand," answered the Old Year, +gravely smiling. "You will soon grow weary of looking for that +blessed consummation, and will turn for amusement (as has frequently +been my own practice) to the affairs of some sober little city, like +this of Salem. Here we sit on the steps of the new City Hall, which +has been completed under my administration; and it would make you +laugh to see how the game of politics, of which the Capitol at +Washington is the great chess-board, is here played in miniature. +Burning Ambition finds its fuel here; here Patriotism speaks boldly in +the people's behalf, and virtuous Economy demands retrenchment in the +emoluments of a lamplighter; here the Aldermen range their senatorial +dignity around the Mayor's chair of state, and the Common Council feel +that they have liberty in charge. In short, human weakness and +strength, passion and policy, Man's tendencies, his aims and modes of +pursuing them, his individual character, and his character in the +mass, may be studied almost as well here as on the theatre of nations; +and with this great advantage, that, be the lesson ever so disastrous, +its Liliputian scope still makes the beholder smile." + +"Have you done much for the improvement of the City?" asked the New +Year. "Judging from what little I have seen, it appears to be ancient +and timeworn." + +"I have opened the Railroad," said the elder Year, "and half a dozen +times a day, you will hear the bell (which once summoned the Monks of +a Spanish Convent to their devotions) announcing the arrival or +departure of the cars. Old Salem now wears a much livelier expression +than when I first beheld her. Strangers rumble down from Boston by +hundreds at a time. New faces throng in Essex Street. Railroad-hacks +and omnibuses rattle over the pavements. There is a perceptible +increase of oyster-shops, and other establishments for the +accommodation of a transitory diurnal multitude. But a more important +change awaits the venerable town. An immense accumulation of musty +prejudices will be carried off by the free circulation of society. A +peculiarity of character, of which the inhabitants themselves are +hardly sensible, will be rubbed down and worn away by the attrition of +foreign substances. Much of the result will be good; there will +likewise be a few things not so good. Whether for better or worse, +there will be a probable diminution of the moral influence of wealth, +and the sway of an aristocratic class, which, from an era far beyond +my memory, has held firmer dominion here than in any other New England +town." + +The Old Year having talked away nearly all of her little remaining +breath, now closed her Book of Chronicles, and was about to take her +departure. But her sister detained her awhile longer, by inquiring +the contents of the huge bandbox, which she was so painfully lugging +along with her. + +"These are merely a few trifles," replied the Old Year, "which I have +picked up in my rambles, and am going to deposit, in the receptacle of +things past and forgotten. We sisterhood of Years never carry +anything really valuable out of the world with us. Here are patterns +of most of the fashions which I brought into vogue, and which have +already lived out their allotted term. You will supply their place, +with others equally ephemeral. Here, put up in little China pots, +like rouge, is a considerable lot of beautiful women's bloom, which +the disconsolate fair ones owe me a bitter grudge for stealing. I +have likewise a quantity of men's dark hair, instead of which, I have +left gray locks, or none at all. The tears of widows and other +afflicted mortals, who have received comfort during the last twelve +months, are preserved in some dozens of essence-bottles, well corked +and sealed. I have several bundles of love-letters, eloquently +breathing an eternity of burning passion, which grew cold and +perished, almost before the ink was dry. Moreover, here is an +assortment of many thousand broken promises, and other broken ware, +all very light and packed into little space. The heaviest articles in +my possession are a large parcel of disappointed hopes, which, a +little while ago, were buoyant enough to have inflated Mr. Lauriat's +balloon." + +"I have a fine lot of hopes here in my basket," remarked the New Year. +"They are a sweet-smelling flower,--a species of rose." + +"They soon lose their perfume," replied the sombre Old Year. "What +else have you brought to insure a welcome from the discontented race +of mortals?" + +"Why, to say the truth, little or nothing else," said her sister, with +a smile,--"save a few new Annuals and Almanacs, and some New Year's +gifts for the children. But I heartily wish well to poor mortals, and +mean to do all I can for their improvement and happiness." + +"It is a good resolution," rejoined the Old Year; "and, by the way, I +have a plentiful assortment of good resolutions, which have now grown +so stale and musty, that I am ashamed to carry them any farther. Only +for fear that the City authorities would send Constable Mansfield, +with a warrant after me, I should toss them into the street at once. +Many other matters go to make up the contents of my bandbox; but the +whole lot would not fetch a single bid, even at an auction of worn-out +furniture; and as they are worth nothing either to you or anybody +else, I need not trouble you with a longer catalogue." + +"And must I also pickup such worthless luggage in my travels?" asked +the New Year. + +"Most certainly; and well, if you have no heavier load to bear," +replied the other. "And now, my dear sister, I must bid you farewell, +earnestly advising and exhorting you to expect no gratitude 'nor +goodwill from this peevish, unreasonable, inconsiderate, ill-intending, +and worse-behaving world. However warmly its inhabitants may seen to +welcome you, yet, do what you may, and lavish on them what means of +happiness you please, they will still be complaining, still craving +what it is not in your power to give, still looking forward to some +other Year for the accomplishment of projects which ought never to +have been formed, and which, if successful, would only provide new +occasions of discontent. If these ridiculous people ever see anything +tolerable in you, it will be after you are gone forever." + +"But I," cried the fresh-hearted New Year,--"I shall try to leave men +wiser than I find them. I will offer them freely whatever good gifts +Providence permits me to distribute, and will tell them to be thankful +for what they have, and humbly hopeful for more; and surely, if they +are not absolute fools, they will condescend to be happy, and will +allow me to be a happy Year. For my happiness must depend on them." + +"Alas for you, then, my poor sister!" said the Old fear, sighing, as +she uplifted her burden. "We grand-children of Time are born to +trouble. Happiness, they say, dwells in the mansions of Eternity; but +we can only lead mortals thither, step by step, with reluctant +murmurings, and ourselves must perish on the threshold. But hark! my +task is done." + +The clock in the tall steeple of Dr. Emerson's church struck twelve; +there was a response from Dr. Flint's, in the opposite quarter of the +city; and while the strokes were yet dropping into the air, the Old +Year either flitted or faded away; and not the wisdom and might of +Angels, to say nothing of the remorseful yearnings of the millions who +had used her ill, could have prevailed with that departed Year to +return one step. But she, in the company of Time and all her kindred, +must hereafter hold a reckoning with Mankind. So shall it be, +likewise, with the maidenly New Year, who, as the clock ceased to +strike, arose from the steps of the City Hall, and set out rather +timorously on her earthly course. + +"A happy New Year!" cried a watchman, eying her figure very +questionably, but without the least suspicion that he was addressing +the New Year in person. + +"Thank you kindly!" said the New Year; and she gave the watchman one +of the roses of hope from her basket. "May this flower keep a sweet +smell, long after I have bidden you good by." + +Then she stepped on more briskly through the silent streets; and such +as were awake at the moment, heard her footfall, and said, "The New +Year is come!" Wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers, they +quaffed her health. She sighed, however, to perceive that the air was +tainted--as the atmosphere of this world must continually be--with the +dying breaths of mortals who had lingered just long enough for her to +bury them. But there were millions left alive, to rejoice at her +coming; and so she pursued her way with confidence, strewing +emblematic flowers on the doorstep of almost every dwelling, which +some persons will gather up and wear in their bosoms, and others will +trample under foot. The Carrier Boy can only say further, that, early +this morning, she filled his basket with New Year's Addresses, +assuring him that the whole City, with our new Mayor, and the Aldermen +and Common Council at its head, would make a general rush to secure +copies. Kind Patrons, will not you redeem the pledge of the NEW YEAR? + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Sister Years (From "Twice Told +Tales"), by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SISTER YEARS *** + +***** This file should be named 9211.txt or 9211.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/2/1/9211/ + +Produced by David Widger. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7e12c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #9211 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9211) diff --git a/old/haw3810.txt b/old/haw3810.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d02788 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/haw3810.txt @@ -0,0 +1,655 @@ +Project Gutenberg EBook The Sister Years, by Nathaniel Hawthorne +From "Twice Told Tales" +#38 in our series by Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + + +Title: The Sister Years (From "Twice Told Tales") + +Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne + +Release Date: Nov, 2005 [EBook #9211] +[This file was first posted on August 31, 2003] +[Last updated on February 5, 2007] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SISTER YEARS *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + + + + + + TWICE TOLD TALES + + THE SISTER YEARS + + By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + + +Last night, between eleven and twelve o'clock, when the Old Year was +leaving her final foot prints on the borders of Time's empire, she +found herself in possession of a few spare moments, and sat down--of +all places in the world--on the steps of our new City Hall. The +wintry moonlight showed that she looked weary of body, and sad of +heart, like many another wayfarer of earth. Her garments, having been +exposed to much foul weather, and rough usage, were in very ill +condition; and as the hurry of her journey had never before allowed +her to take an instant's rest, her shoes were so worn as to be +scarcely worth the mending. But, after trudging only a little +distance farther, this poor Old Year was destined to enjoy a long, +long sleep. I forgot to mention, that when she seated herself on the +steps, she deposited by her side a very capacious bandbox, in which, +as is the custom among travellers of her sex, she carried a great deal +of valuable property. Besides this luggage, there was a folio book +under her arm, very much resembling the annual volume of a newspaper. +Placing this volume across her knees, and resting her elbows upon it, +with her forehead in her hands, the weary, bedraggled, world-worn Old +Year heaved a heavy sigh, and appeared to be taking no very pleasant +retrospect of her past existence. + +While she thus awaited the midnight knell, that was to summon her to +the innumerable sisterhood of departed Years, there came a young +maiden treading lightsomely on tiptoe along the street, from the +direction of the Railroad Depot. She was evidently a stranger, and +perhaps had come to town by the evening train of cars. There was a +smiling cheerfulness in this fair maiden's face, which bespoke her +fully confident of a kind reception from the multitude of people, with +whom she was soon to form acquaintance. Her dress was rather too airy +for the season, and was bedizened with fluttering ribbons and other +vanities, which were likely soon to be rent away by the fierce storms, +or to fade in the hot sunshine, amid which she was to pursue her +changeful course. But still she was a wonderfully pleasant looking +figure, and had so much promise and such an indescribable hopefulness +in her aspect, that hardly anybody could meet her without anticipating +some very desirable thing--the consummation of some long-sought good- +from her kind offices. A few dismal characters there may be, here and +there about the world, who have so often been trifled with by young +maidens as promising as she, that they have now ceased to pin any +faith upon the skirts of the New Year. But, for my own part, I have +great faith in her; and should I live to see fifty more such, still, +from each of those successive sisters, I shall reckon upon receiving +something that will be worth living for. + +The New Year--for this young maiden was no less a personage--carried +all her goods and chattels in a basket of no great size or weight, +which hung upon her arm. She greeted the disconsolate Old Year with +great affection, and sat down beside her on the steps of the City +Hall, waiting for the signal to begin her rambles through the world. +The two were own sisters, being both granddaughters of Time; and +though one looked so much older than the other, it was rather owing to +hardships and trouble than to age, since there was but a twelvemonth's +difference between them. + +"Well, my dear sister," said the New Year, after the first +salutations, "you look almost tired to death. What have you been +about during your sojourn in this part of Infinite Space?" + +"O, I have it all recorded here in my Book of Chronicles," answered +the Old Year, in a heavy tone. "There is nothing that would amuse +you; and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from +your own personal experience. It is but tiresome reading." + +Nevertheless, she turned over the leaves of the folio, and glanced at +them by the light of the moon, feeling an irresistible spell of +interest in her own biography, although its incidents were remembered +without pleasure. The volume, though she termed it her Book of +Chronicles, seemed to be neither more nor less than the Salem Gazette +for 1838; in the accuracy of which journal this sagacious Old Year +had so much confidence, that she deemed it needless to record her +history with her own pen. + +"What have you been doing in the political way?" asked the New Year. + +"Why, my course here in the United States," said the Old Year,-- +"though perhaps I ought to blush at the confession,--my political +course, I must acknowledge, has been rather vacillatory, sometimes +inclining towards the Whigs,--then causing the Administration party to +shout for triumph,--and now again uplifting what seemed the almost +prostrate banner of the Opposition; so that historians will hardly +know what to make of me, in this respect. But the Loco Focos--" + +"I do not like these party nicknames," interrupted her sister, who +seemed remarkably touchy about some points. "Perhaps we shall part in +better humor, if we avoid any political discussion." + +"With all my heart," replied the Old Year, who had already been +tormented half to death with squabbles of this kind. "I care not if +the navies of Whig or Tory, with their interminable brawls about Banks +and the Sub-Treasury, Abolition, Texas, the Florida War, and a million +of other topics,--which you will learn soon enough for your own +comfort,--I care not, I say, if no whisper of these matters ever +reaches my ears again. Yet they have occupied so large a share of my +attention, that I scarcely know what else to tell you. There has +indeed been a curious sort of war on the Canada border, where blood +has streamed in the names of Liberty and Patriotism; but it must +remain for some future, perhaps far distant Year, to tell whether or +no those holy names have been rightfully invoked. Nothing so much +depresses me, in my view of mortal affairs, as to see high energies +wasted, and human life and happiness thrown away, for ends that appear +oftentimes unwise, and still oftener remain unaccomplished. But the +wisest people and the best keep a steadfast faith that the progress of +Mankind is onward and upward, and that the toil and anguish of the +path serve to wear away the imperfections of the Immortal Pilgrim, and +will be felt no more, when they have done their office." + +"Perhaps," cried the hopeful New Year,--"perhaps I shall see that +happy day!" + +"I doubt whether it be so close at hand," answered the Old Year, +gravely smiling. "You will soon grow weary of looking for that +blessed consummation, and will turn for amusement (as has frequently +been my own practice) to the affairs of some sober little city, like +this of Salem. Here we sit on the steps of the new City Hall, which +has been completed under my administration; and it would make you +laugh to see how the game of politics, of which the Capitol at +Washington is the great chess-board, is here played in miniature. +Burning Ambition finds its fuel here; here Patriotism speaks boldly in +the people's behalf, and virtuous Economy demands retrenchment in the +emoluments of a lamplighter; here the Aldermen range their senatorial +dignity around the Mayor's chair of state, and the Common Council feel +that they have liberty in charge. In short, human weakness and +strength, passion and policy, Man's tendencies, his aims and modes of +pursuing them, his individual character, and his character in the +mass, may be studied almost as well here as on the theatre of nations; +and with this great advantage, that, be the lesson ever so disastrous, +its Liliputian scope still makes the beholder smile." + +"Have you done much for the improvement of the City?" asked the New +Year. "Judging from what little I have seen, it appears to be ancient +and timeworn." + +"I have opened the Railroad," said the elder Year, "and half a dozen +times a day, you will hear the bell (which once summoned the Monks of +a Spanish Convent to their devotions) announcing the arrival or +departure of the cars. Old Salem now wears a much livelier expression +than when I first beheld her. Strangers rumble down from Boston by +hundreds at a time. New faces throng in Essex Street. Railroad-hacks +and omnibuses rattle over the pavements. There is a perceptible +increase of oyster-shops, and other establishments for the +accommodation of a transitory diurnal multitude. But a more important +change awaits the venerable town. An immense accumulation of musty +prejudices will be carried off by the free circulation of society. A +peculiarity of character, of which the inhabitants themselves are +hardly sensible, will be rubbed down and worn away by the attrition of +foreign substances. Much of the result will be good; there will +likewise be a few things not so good. Whether for better or worse, +there will be a probable diminution of the moral influence of wealth, +and the sway of an aristocratic class, which, from an era far beyond +my memory, has held firmer dominion here than in any other New England +town." + +The Old Year having talked away nearly all of her little remaining +breath, now closed her Book of Chronicles, and was about to take her +departure. But her sister detained her awhile longer, by inquiring +the contents of the huge bandbox, which she was so painfully lugging +along with her. + +"These are merely a few trifles," replied the Old Year, "which I have +picked up in my rambles, and am going to deposit, in the receptacle of +things past and forgotten. We sisterhood of Years never carry +anything really valuable out of the world with us. Here are patterns +of most of the fashions which I brought into vogue, and which have +already lived out their allotted term. You will supply their place, +with others equally ephemeral. Here, put up in little China pots, +like rouge, is a considerable lot of beautiful women's bloom, which +the disconsolate fair ones owe me a bitter grudge for stealing. I +have likewise a quantity of men's dark hair, instead of which, I have +left gray locks, or none at all. The tears of widows and other +afflicted mortals, who have received comfort during the last twelve +months, are preserved in some dozens of essence-bottles, well corked +and sealed. I have several bundles of love-letters, eloquently +breathing an eternity of burning passion, which grew cold and +perished, almost before the ink was dry. Moreover, here is an +assortment of many thousand broken promises, and other broken ware, +all very light and packed into little space. The heaviest articles in +my possession are a large parcel of disappointed hopes, which, a +little while ago, were buoyant enough to have inflated Mr. Lauriat's +balloon." + +"I have a fine lot of hopes here in my basket," remarked the New Year. +"They are a sweet-smelling flower,--a species of rose." + +"They soon lose their perfume," replied the sombre Old Year. "What +else have you brought to insure a welcome from the discontented race +of mortals?" + +"Why, to say the truth, little or nothing else," said her sister, with +a smile,--"save a few new Annuals and Almanacs, and some New Year's +gifts for the children. But I heartily wish well to poor mortals, and +mean to do all I can for their improvement and happiness." + +"It is a good resolution," rejoined the Old Year; "and, by the way, I +have a plentiful assortment of good resolutions, which have now grown +so stale and musty, that I am ashamed to carry them any farther. Only +for fear that the City authorities would send Constable Mansfield, +with a warrant after me, I should toss them into the street at once. +Many other matters go to make up the contents of my bandbox; but the +whole lot would not fetch a single bid, even at an auction of worn-out +furniture; and as they are worth nothing either to you or anybody +else, I need not trouble you with a longer catalogue." + +"And must I also pickup such worthless luggage in my travels?" asked +the New Year. + +"Most certainly; and well, if you have no heavier load to bear," +replied the other. "And now, my dear sister, I must bid you farewell, +earnestly advising and exhorting you to expect no gratitude 'nor good- +will from this peevish, unreasonable, inconsiderate, ill-intending, +and worse-behaving world. However warmly its inhabitants may seen to +welcome you, yet, do what you may, and lavish on them what means of +happiness you please, they will still be complaining, still craving +what it is not in your power to give, still looking forward to some +other Year for the accomplishment of projects which ought never to +have been formed, and which, if successful, would only provide new +occasions of discontent. If these ridiculous people ever see anything +tolerable in you, it will be after you are gone forever." + +"But I," cried the fresh-hearted New Year,--"I shall try to leave men +wiser than I find them. I will offer them freely whatever good gifts +Providence permits me to distribute, and will tell them to be thankful +for what they have, and humbly hopeful for more; and surely, if they +are not absolute fools, they will condescend to be happy, and will +allow me to be a happy Year. For my happiness must depend on them." + +"Alas for you, then, my poor sister!" said the Old fear, sighing, as +she uplifted her burden. "We grand-children of Time are born to +trouble. Happiness, they say, dwells in the mansions of Eternity; but +we can only lead mortals thither, step by step, with reluctant +murmurings, and ourselves must perish on the threshold. But hark! my +task is done." + +The clock in the tall steeple of Dr. Emerson's church struck twelve; +there was a response from Dr. Flint's, in the opposite quarter of the +city; and while the strokes were yet dropping into the air, the Old +Year either flitted or faded away; and not the wisdom and might of +Angels, to say nothing of the remorseful yearnings of the millions who +had used her ill, could have prevailed with that departed Year to +return one step. But she, in the company of Time and all her kindred, +must hereafter hold a reckoning with Mankind. So shall it be, +likewise, with the maidenly New Year, who, as the clock ceased to +strike, arose from the steps of the City Hall, and set out rather +timorously on her earthly course. + +"A happy New Year!" cried a watchman, eying her figure very +questionably, but without the least suspicion that he was addressing +the New Year in person. + +"Thank you kindly!" said the New Year; and she gave the watchman one +of the roses of hope from her basket. "May this flower keep a sweet +smell, long after I have bidden you good by." + +Then she stepped on more briskly through the silent streets; and such +as were awake at the moment, heard her footfall, and said, "The New +Year is come!" Wherever there was a knot of midnight roisterers, they +quaffed her health. She sighed, however, to perceive that the air was +tainted--as the atmosphere of this world must continually be--with the +dying breaths of mortals who had lingered just long enough for her to +bury them. But there were millions left alive, to rejoice at her +coming; and so she pursued her way with confidence, strewing +emblematic flowers on the doorstep of almost every dwelling, which +some persons will gather up and wear in their bosoms, and others will +trample under foot. The Carrier Boy can only say further, that, early +this morning, she filled his basket with New Year's Addresses, +assuring him that the whole City, with our new Mayor, and the Aldermen +and Common Council at its head, would make a general rush to secure +copies. Kind Patrons, will not you redeem the pledge of the NEW YEAR? + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SISTER YEARS *** +By Nathaniel Hawthorne + +*** This file should be named haw3810.txt or haw3810.zip *** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, haw3811.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, haw3810a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net] + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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