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Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864

"Passages from the American Notebooks, Volume 1"

A pound of flesh could not be
spared from his abundance, any more than from the leanest man; and he
walks about briskly, without any panting or symptom of labor or pain in
his motion. He has a round, jolly face, always mirthful and humorous and
shrewd, and the air of a man well to do, and well respected, yet not
caring much about the opinions of men, because his independence is
sufficient to itself. Nobody would take him for other than a man of some
importance in the community, though his summer dress is a tow-cloth pair
of pantaloons, a shirt not of the cleanest, open at the breast, and the
sleeves rolled up at the elbows, and a straw hat. There is not such a
vast difference between this costume and that of Lawyer H------ above
mentioned, yet never was there a greater diversity of appearance than
between these two men; and a glance at them would be sufficient to mark
the difference. The blacksmith loves his glass, and comes to the tavern
for it, whenever it seems good to him, not calling for it slyly and
shyly, but marching steadily to the bar, or calling across the room for
it to be prepared.


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