第42章古瓷器（2）
“Then，doyourememberourpleasantwalkstoEnf？ield，andPotter’sBar，andehadaholiday—holidays，andallotherfun，aregonenowweareridthelittlehainwhichIusedtodepositourday’sfareofsavorybandsalad—andhowyouwouldpryaboutatnoontideforsomedethhtgoinaore—onlypayiyoumustcallfor—aeuponthelooksofthelandlady，ahershewaslikelytoallowusatabledwishforsuotherhoessasIzaakWaltonhasdesyaoblanksoftheLea，whea-f？ishing—aheywingenough，aheywouldllyuponus—butwehadcheerfullooksstillforoher，aourplainfoodsavorily，scarcelygrudgingPiscatorhisTroutHall？Noegooutaday’spleasuring，whichisseldom，moreover，weridepartoftheway—andgointoaf？ineinn，ahebestofdiingtheexpense—which，afterall，neverhashalftherelishofthosetrysnaps，ereatthemerusageandapree。
“Youaretooproudtoseeaplayai。Doyouremembereusedtosit，theBattleofHexham，andtheSurrenderofdBannisterandMrs。Blandintheintheesqueezedsapiecetositthreeorfourtimesiheone-shillinggallery—whereyoufeltallthetimethatyououghtnotthtme—aroobligationtbroughtme—andthepleasurewasthebetterforalittleshame—ahedrewup，whatcaredweforourplathehouse，orwhatmatterediteresittihoughtswerewithRosalihViolaattheCourtofIlyria。Youusedtosaythatthegallerywasthebestplaceaplaysocially—thattherelishofsuchexhibitionsmustbeinproportiontotheinfrequeng—thatthepahere，notbeingingeneralreadersofplays，wereobligedtoattendthemore，anddidattend，towhatwasgoingoage—becauseawordlostwouldhavebeenachasm，whichitossibleforthemtof？illup。Withsuchref？leswesoledourpridethen—aoyouwhether，asawomagehlessattentionandaodationthanIhavedonesinmoreexpeiohegettihegupthoseiaircaseswasbadenough—buttherewasstillalawofcivilityteasgreataasweeverfouherpassages—andhowalittlediff？ieheightehesheplay，afterelypayourmoneyandwalkin。Youotsee，yousay，inthegalleriesnow。Iamsurewesaw，aoo，wellesight，andall，Ithink，isgohourpoverty。”
我对古瓷器的偏爱甚至有些女性化。每次去大户人家造访，我都要求先看看瓷器架，然后才是画廊。我改变不了这个欣赏的先后顺序，只能说人人都有这样或那样的偏好，由于年代久远不可能记得哪些是后天形成的。我还记得跟人看的第一出戏、第一次展览，但真不记得这些瓷坛瓷碟是何时进入我的思索空间的。
那些怪异的天蓝色的小巧形体没有规律可以琢磨，我当时就不曾反感，现在又怎么会反感呢？在常人眼中，他们在那个没有透视的世界——一个瓷茶杯上飘浮不定，不受任何局限。