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私たち二人とも若かりし頃のある日,私は彼と一緒に田舎を散歩していて,ある農民の土地の一角に侵入してしまった。その農夫は私たちを追っかけてきて,怒鳴り,怒りで顔を真っ赤にしていた。クロムプトンは手を耳にあてて,これ以上ないほど穏やかに,こう言った。 「もう少し大きな声で言っていただけませんか？ よく聞きとれませんので,・・・」農夫はそれまで出していた声よりももっと大きな声で叫ぼうと努力したためにかえって口がきけなくなってしまった。彼が死ぬすこし前,彼がこの話をしていたのを聞いたが,かなり詳細かつ誇張して言い,そのようなことをしたのは彼ではなくて私だと言っていた。そこで私は彼が言うのをさえぎってこう言った- 「そんなことは,まったく信じてはいけません。それは私ではなく,すべてクロムプトンがやったことです。」そして最後には,彼は情愛をこめたくすくす笑いをして,私がやったという発言を取り消した。 |
* From Free animation library https://www.animationlibrary.com/a-l/ What made Crompton at the same time so admirable and so delightful, was not his ability, but his strong loves and hates, his fantastic humour, and his rock-like honesty. He was one of the wittiest men that I have ever known, with a great love of mankind combined with a contemptuous hatred for most individual men. He had by no means the ways of a saint. 
Once, when we were both young, I was walking with him in the country, and we trespassed over a corner of a farmer's land. The farmer came running out after us, shouting and red with fury. Crompton held his hand to his ear, and said with the utmost mildness:
'Would you mind speaking a little louder? I'm rather hard of hearing.'The farmer was reduced to speechlessness in the endeavour to make more noise than he was already making. Not long before his death I heard him tell this story, with great detail and exaggeration, attributing his part in it to me, while I interrupted, saying, 'Don't believe a word of it. It wasn't me, it was all Crompton,'until finally he dissolved in affectionate chuckles. |
