understand every
word of our discourse; now, do you or do you not?"

"Understand every word of your discourse?" said I; "I wish I did; I would
give five pounds to understand every word of your discourse."

"That's a clever attempt to get off, sir," said the old man, "but it
won't exactly do. Tell us whether you know more Welsh than bara y caws,
or to speak more plainly, whether you understand a good deal of what we
say."

"Well," said I, "I do understand more Welsh than bara y caws--I do
understand a considerable part of a Welsh conversation; moreover, I can
read Welsh, and have the life of Tom O'r Nant at my fingers' ends."

"Well, sir, that is speaking plain, and I will tell you plainly that we
don't like to have strangers among us who understand our discourse, more
especially if they be gentlefolks."

"That's strange," said I; "a Welshman or foreigner, gentle or simple, may
go into a public-house in England, and nobody cares a straw whether he
understands the discourse of the company or not."

"That may be the custom in England," said the old man, "but it is not so
in Wales."

"What have you got to conceal?" said I; "I suppose you are honest men."

"I hope we are, sir," said the old man; "but I must tell you, once for
all, that we don't like strangers to listen to our discourse."

"Come," said I, "I will not listen to your discourse, but you shall
listen to mine. I have a wonderful deal to say if I once begin; I have
been everywhere."

"Well, sir," said the old man, "if you have anything to tell us about
where you have been and what you have seen, we shall be glad to hear
you."

"Have you ever been in Russia?" shouted a voice, that of the large rough
fellow who asked me the question about the Russian war.

"Oh yes, I have been in Russia," said I.

"Well, what kind of a country is it?"

"Very different from this," said I, "which is a little country up in a
corner, full of hills and mountains; that is an immense country,
extending from the Baltic Sea to the confines of China, almost as flat as
a pancake, there not being a hill to be seen for nearly two thousand
miles."

"A very poor country isn't it, always covered with ice and snow?"

"Oh no; it is one of the richest countries in the world, producing all
kinds of grain, with noble rivers intersecting it, and in some parts
covered with stately forests. In the winter, which is rather long, there
is a good deal of ice and snow, it is true, but in t