Dr. and Mrs. Ripley were charming table companions and the bright
girls were merry as happy children. Perhaps Cedar did not fill
Hawthorne's place quite so well at table as in the stable, but there
were no intimations given to that effect. Making the most of the present
moment was in order. Looking backward was not.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the first members to join the community
and was one of the first to leave it. He thought he could do better than
to spend his time and energy in digging over a manure-pile with a dung
fork. Do better he certainly did, for himself and for the world.
I have been asked more than once if the illustrious, poetic and romantic
Hawthorne did actually feed the pigs at Brook Farm. My answer is that I
do not know as I was not there during his residency, but I think he did
not, my reason for thinking he did not being that there were no pigs to
feed. The suggestion may have arisen from a passage in his Notes when he
speaks of going out with Rev. John Allen to buy a litter of pigs.
Pages:
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112