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.She had96 of 379 Erewhonthe best mind to tell her father, only that she was afraid theconsequences would be so very serious for me.Hermanner was so injured and decided, and her anger soevidently unfeigned, that I forgot my cold upon the spot,begging her by all means to tell her father if she wished todo so, and telling her that I had no idea of being shieldedby her from anything whatever; presently mollifying, afterhaving said as many biting things as I could, I asked herwhat it was that I had done amiss, and promisedamendment as soon as ever I became aware of it.She sawthat I was really ignorant, and had had no intention ofbeing rude to her; whereon it came out that illness of anysort was considered in Erewhon to be highly criminal andimmoral; and that I was liable, even for catching cold, tobe had up before the magistrates and imprisoned for aconsiderable period an announcement which struck medumb with astonishment.I followed up the conversation as well as my imperfectknowledge of the language would allow, and caught aglimmering of her position with regard to ill-health; but Idid not even then fully comprehend it, nor had I as yetany idea of the other extraordinary perversions of thoughtwhich existed among the Erewhonians, but with which Iwas soon to become familiar.I propose, therefore, to97 of 379 Erewhonmake no mention of what passed between us on thisoccasion, save that we were reconciled, and that shebrought me surreptitiously a hot glass of spirits and waterbefore I went to bed, as also a pile of extra blankets, andthat next morning I was quite well.I never remember tohave lost a cold so rapidly.This little affair explained much which had hithertopuzzled me.It seemed that the two men who wereexamined before the magistrates on the day of my arrivalin the country, had been given in charge on account of illhealth, and were both condemned to a long term ofimprisonment with hard labour; they were now expiatingtheir offence in this very prison, and their exercise groundwas a yard separated by my fives wall from the garden inwhich I walked.This accounted for the sounds ofcoughing and groaning which I had often noticed ascoming from the other side of the wall: it was high, and Ihad not dared to climb it for fear the jailor should see meand think that I was trying to escape; but I had oftenwondered what sort of people they could be on the otherside, and had resolved on asking the jailor; but I seldomsaw him, and Yram and I generally found other things totalk about.98 of 379 ErewhonAnother month flew by, during which I made suchprogress in the language that I could understand all thatwas said to me, and express myself with tolerable fluency.My instructor professed to be astonished with the progressI had made; I was careful to attribute it to the pains he hadtaken with me and to his admirable method of explainingmy difficulties, so we became excellent friends.My visitors became more and more frequent.Amongthem there were some, both men and women, whodelighted me entirely by their simplicity, unconsciousnessof self, kindly genial manners, and last, but not least, bytheir exquisite beauty; there came others less well-bred,but still comely and agreeable people, while some weresnobs pure and simple.At the end of the third month the jailor and myinstructor came together to visit me and told me thatcommunications had been received from the Governmentto the effect that if I had behaved well and seemedgenerally reasonable, and if there could be no suspicion atall about my bodily health and vigour, and if my hair wasreally light, and my eyes blue and complexion fresh, I wasto be sent up at once to the metropolis in order that theKing and Queen might see me and converse with me; butthat when I arrived there I should be set at liberty, and a99 of 379 Erewhonsuitable allowance would be made me.My teacher alsotold me that one of the leading merchants had sent me aninvitation to repair to his house and to consider myself hisguest for as long a time as I chose. He is a delightful man,continued the interpreter, but has suffered terribly from(here there came a long word which I could not quitecatch, only it was much longer than kleptomania), and hasbut lately recovered from embezzling a large sum ofmoney under singularly distressing circumstances; but hehas quite got over it, and the straighteners say that he hasmade a really wonderful recovery; you are sure to likehim.100 of 379 ErewhonCHAPTER IX: TO THE METROPOLISWith the above words the good man left the roombefore I had time to express my astonishment at hearingsuch extraordinary language from the lips of one whoseemed to be a reputable member of society. Embezzle alarge sum of money under singularly distressingcircumstances! I exclaimed to myself, and ask ME to goand stay with him! I shall do nothing of the sortcompromise myself at the very outset in the eyes of alldecent people, and give the death-blow to my chances ofeither converting them if they are the lost tribes of Israel,or making money out of them if they are not! No.I willdo anything rather than that. And when I next saw myteacher I told him that I did not at all like the sound ofwhat had been proposed for me, and that I would havenothing to do with it.For by my education and theexample of my own parents, and I trust also in somedegree from inborn instinct, I have a very genuine dislikefor all unhandsome dealings in money matters, thoughnone can have a greater regard for money than I have, if itbe got fairly.101 of 379 ErewhonThe interpreter was much surprised by my answer, andsaid that I should be very foolish if I persisted in myrefusal.Mr.Nosnibor, he continued, is a man of at least500,000 horse- power (for their way of reckoning andclassifying men is by the number of foot pounds whichthey have money enough to raise, or more roughly bytheir horse-power), and keeps a capital table; besides, histwo daughters are among the most beautiful women inErewhon.When I heard all this, I confess that I was much shaken,and inquired whether he was favourably considered in thebest society. Certainly, was the answer; no man in the countrystands higher.He then went on to say that one would have thoughtfrom my manner that my proposed host had had jaundiceor pleurisy or been generally unfortunate, and that I was infear of infection. I am not much afraid of infection, said I, impatiently, but I have some regard for my character; and if I know aman to be an embezzler of other people s money, be sureof it, I will give him as wide a berth as I can.If he were illor poor 102 of 379 Erewhon Ill or poor! interrupted the interpreter, with a face ofgreat alarm. So that s your notion of propriety! Youwould consort with the basest criminals, and yet deemsimple embezzlement a bar to friendly intercourse.Icannot understand you
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