Троє в човні крім собаки

           Ihadalwaysregarded"TwoLovelyBlackEyes"asratheracommonplacetuneuntilthatevening. TherichveinofsadnessthatGeorgeextractedfromitquitesurprisedme. 

           ThedesirethatgrewuponHarrisandmyself,asthemournfulstrainsprogressed,wastofalluponeachother’snecksandweep; butbygreateffortwekeptbacktherisingtears,andlistenedtothewildyearnfulmelodyinsilence. 

           Whenthechoruscameweevenmadeadesperateefforttobemerry. Were-filledourglassesandjoinedin;Harris,inavoicetremblingwithemotion,leading,andGeorgeandIfollowingafewwordsbehind: 

           "Twolovelyblackeyes; 

           Oh!whatasurprise! 

           Onlyfortellingamanhewaswrong, 

           Two—" 

           Therewebrokedown. TheunutterablepathosofGeorge’saccompanimenttothat"two"wewere,inourthenstateofdepression,unabletobear. Harrissobbedlikealittlechild,andthedoghowledtillIthoughthisheartorhisjawmustsurelybreak. 

           Georgewantedtogoonwithanotherverse. Hethoughtthatwhenhehadgotalittlemoreintothetune,andcouldthrowmore"abandon,"asitwere,intotherendering,itmightnotseemsosad. Thefeelingofthemajority,however,wasopposedtotheexperiment. 

           Therebeingnothingelsetodo,wewenttobed—thatis,weundressedourselves,andtossedaboutatthebottomoftheboatforsomethreeorfourhours. Afterwhich,wemanagedtogetsomefitfulslumberuntilfivea.m.,whenweallgotupandhadbreakfast.