he probably owed his defective vision. These infirmities, instead of
being regarded with sympathy, as wounds received by Mr. Harmony in
the classical engagements in the various fields of literature, were,
to Mr. Verdant Green's surprise, much imposed upon;
[AN OXFORD FRESHMAN 85]
for it was a favourite pastime with the gentlemen who attended Mr.
Harmony's lectures, to gradually raise up the lecture-table by a
concerted action, and when Mr. Harmony's book had nearly reached to
the level of his nose, to then suddenly drop the table to its
original level; upon which Mr. Harmony, to the immense gratification
of all concerned, would rub his eyes, wipe his glasses, and murmur,
"Dear me! dear me! how my head swims this morning!" And then he
would perhaps ring
for his servant, and order his usual
remedy, an orange, at which he would suck abstractedly, nor discover
any difference in the flavour even when a lemon was surreptitiously
substituted. And thus he would go on through the lecture, sucking
his orange (or lemon), explaining and expounding in the most skilful
and lucid manner, and yet, as far as the "table-movement" was
concerned, as unsuspecting and as witless as a little child.
Mr. Verdant Green not only (at first) attended lectures with
exemplary diligence and regularity, but he also duly went to morning
Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit
Hindu Tales from the Sanskrit Translated by S. M. Mitra Adapted by Mrs. Arthur Bell 1919 INTRODUCTORY NOTE. Thanks to Mr. S. M. Mitra, the well-known Hindu psychologist and
and evening chapel; nor, when Sundays came, did he neglect to turn
his feet towards St. Mary's to hear the University sermons. Their
effect was as striking to him as it probably is to most persons who
have only been accustomed to the usual services of country churches.
First, there was the peculiar character of the congregation: down
below, the vice-chancellor in his throne, overlooking the other dons
in
[86 ADVENTURES OF MR. VERDANT GREEN]
their stalls (being "a complete realization of stalled Oxon!" as
Charles Larkyns whispered to our hero), who were relieved in colour
by their crimson or scarlet hoods; and then, "upstairs," in the north
and the great west galleries, the black mass of
undergraduates; while a few ladies' bonnets and heads of male
visitors peeped from the pews in the aisles, or looked out from the
curtains of the organ-gallery, where, "by the kind permission of Dr.
Elvey," they were accommodated with seats, and watched with wonder,
while
"The wild wizard's fingers,
With magical skill,
Made music that lingers,
In memory still."
