The Field I Was In
Seemed To Slope A Little Towards The Thames.
I seated myself near a
bush, and there waited the going down of the sun.
At a distance I
saw a number of people bathing in the Thames. When, after sunset,
they were a little dispersed, I drew near the spot I had been
directed to; and here, for the first time, I sported in the cool
tide of the Thames. The bank was steep, but my landlord had dug
some steps that went down into the water, which is extremely
convenient for those who cannot swim. Whilst I was there, a couple
of smart lively apprentice boys came also from the town, who, with
the greatest expedition, threw off their clothes and leathern
aprons, and plunged themselves, head foremost, into the water, where
they opposed the tide with their sinewy arms till they were tired.
They advised me, with much natural civility, to untie my hair, and
that then, like them, I might plunge into the stream head foremost.
Refreshed and strengthened by this cool bath, I took a long walk by
moonlight on the banks of the Thames. To my left were the towers of
Windsor, before me a little village with a steeple, the top of which
peeped out among the green trees, at a distance two inviting hills
which I was to climb in the morning, and around me the green
cornfields. Oh! how indescribably beautiful was this evening and
this walk! At a distance among the houses I could easily descry the
inn where I lodged, and where I seemed to myself at length to have
found a place of refuge and a home; and I thought, if I could but
stay there, I should not be very sorry if I were never to find
another.
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