he
vase.

"A knife," said the old man, "that character is one of the simplest
radicals or keys."

"And what is the sound of it?" said I.

"Tau," said the old man.

"Tau!" said I; "tau!"

"A strange word for a knife is it not?" said the old man.

"Tawse!" said I; "tawse!"

"What is tawse?" said the old man.

"You were never at school at Edinburgh, I suppose?"

"Never," said the old man.

"That accounts for your not knowing the meaning of tawse," said I; "had
you received the rudiments of a classical education at the High School,
you would have known the meaning of tawse full well. It is a leathern
thong, with which refractory urchins are recalled to a sense of their
duty by the dominie. Tau--tawse--how singular!"

"I cannot see what the two words have in common, except a slight
agreement in sound."

"You will see the connection," said I, "when I inform you that the thong,
from the middle to the bottom, is cut or slit into two or three parts,
from which slits or cuts, unless I am very much mistaken, it derives its
name--tawse, a thong with slits or cuts, used for chastising disorderly
urchins at the High School, from the French tailler, to cut; evidently
connected with the Chinese tau, a knife--how very extraordinary!"

CHAPTER XXXIII

Convalescence--The Surgeon's Bill--Letter of Recommendation--Commencement
of the Old Man's History.

Two days--three days passed away--and I still remained at the house of my
hospitable entertainer; my bruised limb rapidly recovering the power of
performing its functions. I passed my time agreeably enough, sometimes
in my chamber, communing with my own thoughts; sometimes in the stable,
attending to, and not unfrequently conversing with, my horse; and at meal-
time--for I seldom saw him at any other--discoursing with the old
gentleman, sometimes on the Chinese vocabulary, sometimes on Chinese
syntax, and once or twice on English horseflesh; though on this latter
subject, notwithstanding his descent from a race of horse-traders, he did
not enter into with much alacrity. As a small requital for his kindness,
I gave him one day, after dinner, unasked, a brief account of my history
and pursuits. He listened with attention; and when it was concluded,
thanked me for the confidence which I had reposed in him. "Such
conduct," said he, "deserves a return. I will tell you my own history;
it is brief, but may perhaps not prove uninteresting to you--though the
relati