sionally," said I; "that old
woman is an old friend of mine." "Friend?" said the stranger; "I am glad
of it, for I shall know where to find you. At present I am going to
'Change; time, you know, is precious to a merchant." We were by this
time close to Cheapside. "Farewell," said he; "I shall not forget this
service. I trust we shall soon meet again." He then shook me by the
hand and went his way.

The next day, as I was seated beside the old woman in the booth, the
stranger again made his appearance, and, after a word or two, sat down
beside me; the old woman was sometimes reading the Bible, which she had
already had two or three days in her possession, and sometimes
discoursing with me. Our discourse rolled chiefly on philological
matters.

"What do you call bread in your language?" said I.

"You mean the language of those who bring me things to buy, or who did;
for, as I told you before, I shan't buy any more; it's no language of
mine, dear--they call bread pannam in their language."

"Pannam!" said I, "pannam! evidently connected with, if not derived from,
the Latin panis; even as the word tanner, which signifieth a sixpence, is
connected with, if not derived from, the Latin tener, which is itself
connected with, if not derived from, tawno or tawner, which, in the
language of Mr. Petulengro, signifieth a sucking child. {386} Let me
see, what is the term for bread in the language of Mr. Petulengro? Morro,
or manro, as I have sometimes heard it called; is there not some
connection between these words and panis? Yes, I think there is; and I
should not wonder if morro, manro, and panis were connected, perhaps
derived from the same root; but what is that root? I don't know--I wish
I did; though, perhaps, I should not be the happier. Morro--manro! I
rather think morro is the oldest form; it is easier to say morro than
manro. Morro! Irish, aran; Welsh, bara; English, bread. I can see a
resemblance between all the words, and pannam too; and I rather think
that the Petulengrian word is the elder. How odd it would be if the
language of Mr. Petulengro should eventually turn out to be the mother of
all the languages in the world; yet it is certain that there are some
languages in which the terms for bread have no connection with the word
used by Mr. Petulengro, notwithstanding that those languages, in many
other points, exhibit a close affinity to the language of the horse-shoe
master: for example, bread, i