"Bet! Beth! Beth! Betsy! Betty!" The voices calling these names echoed in the luxurious halls of Helensburgh--so Sam and Seb brothers liked to call the villa's housekeeper, Betty. Mrs. Silk. But at this time, whether Mrs. Elizabeth Bess was called by these nicknames or by her full name, the suave butler did not appear. Partridge, the butler, appeared at the door of the hall, holding a straight toque. He stood there talking to two gentlemen with red faces sitting by the window.Three sashes with rhombus-shaped glass protrude from the facade of the house. "Gentlemen are calling Mrs. Bess," said he. "But she's not at the villa."

"Where did she go, Partridge?" "She went for a walk in the garden with Miss Campbell." The two gentlemen made a sign, and Partridge quietly withdrew. These were Miss Helena Campbell's uncles Sam and Seb, whose real names were Samuel and Sebastian respectively.They were true Scotsmen, of an old family in the Highlands, and their combined ages were a hundred and twenty years old, Sammy being a year and three months older than Sibb.To give a brief introduction to these two exemplars of honor, kindness, and devotion, nothing more is needed than mentioning the lives they gave to their nieces.Miss Campbell's mother, who was their older sister, had been widowed after a year of marriage, and soon died of serious illness herself.So Sam Melville and Sib Melville became the only guardians of the little orphan Campbell in the world. The same love made them no longer live and think for anything but their niece. , to fantasize.

For her, they have remained celibate and have no regrets. They are such good people, and they will not play other roles in this world except being the guardians of their nieces.It can even be said that the elder brother Sam became the father of the child, and the younger brother Seb became the mother of the child.Sometimes Miss Campbell greeted them quite naturally: "Good morning, Papa Sam! How are you, Mama Sib?" Except for the perfect men described by Dickens, the kind, warm-hearted, benevolent and united businessmen in London, the Chillieber Brothers, who can compare with these two Mr. Melville who are not good at doing business!I am afraid it will be difficult to find two pairs of people so similar.Some may accuse the author of this article of having appropriated the prototype of the character in (Dickens's) masterpiece "Nicolas Nickelby", but no one will regret it.

Sam and Seb were married to a branch of the old Campbell family by virtue of their older sister, and the two were often inseparable, never parting.Having received the same education makes the two have the same ethos.They both received the same education together in the same class at the same school.As they always expressed the same opinion on everything in the same language, the one could often finish with the same gestures and the same words what the other left behind. In short, these two can be said to be almost one person, although their appearance is slightly different.On the whole, Sam was a little taller than Seab, and Seab a little fatter than Sam; but even if they exchanged the gray hair on each other's heads, the inherent features of each honest face would not change at all.All the marks of dignity of descendants of the Melville family were preserved there.

It should be added that they all displayed the same taste in dress, a preference for simple old-fashioned clothing and the finest English woolen materials.If - and who can account for this slight difference - the difference, if anything, is in the choice of the color of the fabric, Sam seems to prefer light blue, Sieb prefers dark maroon . Who would have thought of being intimate with these two venerable gentlemen?They are always used to walking in unison in life, and perhaps when they arrive, they will stop their steps one after another.In any case, the last two pillars of the Melville family were still strong, and they had to continue to support the old building of the family for a long time. It's the thrillingly heroic age in which Scotland fought the English for its right to independence.

But even if Sam and Seab never had the opportunity to fight for the good of the country at all, even if their lives were not in adrift, but in the ease and peace that wealth creates, there is no reason at all. To blame them, to think that they have degenerated.They still uphold the tradition of generosity and generosity of their ancestors. Both of them are in very good health, and there is no indiscretion in life for which they can blame themselves.Surely they will age one day, but neither mentally nor physically they look old at all. Maybe they have a flaw - who dares to boast that they are perfect?It was that their speech was filled with similes and aphorisms from the epics of the famous Abbotsford, and especially Ossian, with which they were fascinated.But who can blame them in a country that gave birth to Fingal and Walter Scott?

In the end, they were both snuff addicts.In the United Kingdom, everyone knows that the tobacconist's signboard usually shows a strong Scottish man holding a snuff box, dressed in traditional clothes, and looks like a peacock with his tail open.The Melville brothers were of a kind with these men on the squeaky tinted tinted windows of the tobacconist's eaves.The amount of smoke they smoke is more than that of other people on both sides of the strait.One detail, however, is worth mentioning. They had only one snuff-box, a very large snuff-box, which was carried alternately from the pocket of the one to the pocket of the other, as they had been. Another means of connection between.Not to mention the simultaneous cravings ten times an hour, of the fine powder they had someone get from France.When a man took out a snuff box from his pocket, it meant that both brothers wanted to smoke happily.If they sneezed, they said together, "God bless us!"

In conclusion, as far as real-life matters are concerned, brothers Sam and Seb are like two children who know little about the practical affairs of the world, who know nothing about industrial, financial and commercial matters, and who They never tried to understand these things; in politics, maybe they still have some prejudice against the Hanoverian dynasty in power, and they still miss the last king of the Stuttgart dynasty very much, just like a French who is nostalgic for the last king of the Merovingian dynasty In the end, they are also laymen in terms of feelings. However, the Melville brothers had only one idea: to see through Miss Campbell's heart, to guess the secrets and thoughts in her heart, to guide and develop those thoughts in her heart if necessary, and finally to marry her to a man of their own. An upright and honest lad whom she likes, married to a man who can only make her happy.From what they said--or from listening to them at all--it seemed that they had found the honest chap, the man to do the enviable task.

"Helena is out, Sib?" "Yes, Sam. It's five o'clock now, and she won't be late..." "Then, as soon as she comes back..." "I think, Sam, I've got to have a good talk with her." "In a few weeks, Sib, our boy will be 18." "Diana Vernon's age, Sam. Isn't she just as charming as the lovely heroine of ""?" "Yes, Sam. She's well mannered..." "Extraordinary temperament..." "Unique insight..." "She's more reminiscent of Diana Vernon than Flora Mark Iver, the great beauty in Wave Hey!"

The Melville brothers were extremely proud of their nation's writers, and they listed "The Curiosity Dealer", "Guy Mannerin", "The Abbess", "The Abbey", "The Pretty Girl of Perth", "Kenny The name of the heroine of Alworth's Castle, etc.; but all these, in their opinion, must give way to Miss Campbell. "She's a little merry young rose, Sib, and the proper thing to do would be..." "Find her a guardian, Sam, I can't help but say the most suitable guardian..." "Naturally her husband, Sib, for he also took root in the same land..."

"And grow naturally with the roses under his protection, Sam." Together the Melville brothers cite this metaphor from The Best Gardener.No doubt they were very pleased with this, for there were smiles on their good-looking faces.Seab opened the communal snuff-box, slipped two fingers in it very deftly, and passed it into Sam's hand.Sam took a quick pinch and pocketed the box. "So, that's how we agreed, Sam?" "Same as ever, Sib!" "Even in the choice of protector?" "Can you find another person who is more likable than that young scholar and more in line with Helena's wishes? He has shown us the right amount of affection more than once..." "And it seemed to him such serious affection!" "It's not easy. He was educated at Oxford and Edinburgh and took his degrees from there..." "A physicist on par." "A chemist comparable to that." "Knowledge of everything in the world, Sam..." "There's no question that can stump him, Sib..." "Born of a distinguished family in Fife, and, besides, the owner of a considerable fortune..." "Not to mention his flattering face, which in my opinion makes him even smarter with his aluminum-rimmed glasses!" The spectacle frames of the person in question may have been steel or nickel, possibly even gold, and the Melville brothers have not found a single blemish there that would warrant a return.Indeed, there is nothing better suited to young scholars than this optic, which just completes their somewhat serious faces.But is this young man who went to university with a degree, this physicist, this chemist, a match for Miss Campbell?Since Miss Campbell is like Diana Vernon, it is well known that Diana Vernon showed no affection other than a down-to-earth friendship for her cousin, the scholar Rushley, and did not marry at the end of the book. to her cousin. all right!The brothers don't worry about it at all, which also shows that the two old boys are inexperienced and incapable of dealing with these things. "They have begun to see each other often, Sib, and our young friend is not indifferent to Helena's beauty!" "I am sure of this, Sam, holy Ossion, if he had praised her virtue, her beauty and grace, he would have called her Moina, that is to say loved by all..." "Unless he compares Helena to Fiona, Sib, that is to say, to the most beautiful beauty of the Gaelic era!" "Didn't he read Helena's mind, Sam, when he said: She left the hiding place where she sighed secretly, and appeared like a moon surrounded by clouds in the east, shining..." "The charming light surrounded her , Sib, the sound of her light footsteps is very pleasant, like a beautiful piece of music!" Fortunately, the brothers stopped there and fell back into reality from the cloud-colored sky described by the lyric poet. "No doubt," said one, "if Helena captivates our young scholar, she will like this young man too..." "So, as far as Helena is concerned, Sam, if she hasn't noticed all the noble qualities nature bestows on young scholars..." "The only reason, Sib, is that we haven't told her it's time to think about getting married." "But when we just directed her mind in this direction, we found that she either had some prejudices about her husband or about marriage..." "She'll say yes at once, Sam." "Like the venerable Benedictine, Sieb, after a long period of resistance... in the finale of "Big Mouth," ended up marrying Beatrice." That's how Miss Campbell's two uncles handled things.Miss Campbell's union with the young scholar seemed to them as natural as the ending of a Shakespearean comedy. They stood up together, looked at each other with knowing smiles, and rubbed their hands rhythmically (expressing satisfaction).this marriage.It's a sure thing!What trouble might arise?The young man had proposed to them, and the girl was about to answer.As for the answer, it is self-evident, and there is no need to worry about it.Everything fit so well, all that was left was to set a date for the wedding. There is no doubt that the wedding ceremony will be very satisfying.It will be held in Glasgow, but it will certainly not be held at St. Mungo's, although that is the only church in Scotland to survive the Reformation, along with St. Magnus'.Certainly not, because it is too big, too heavy and oppressive for a wedding ceremony.The Melville brothers believed that a wedding should display youthful vigor and love.They would rather choose St. Andrew's Church or St. Enoch's or St. George's Church. The brothers continued to formulate their plans solitary rather than in conversation, for the two always expressed the same train of thoughts in the same words.Their mouths were moving, but their eyes, through the lozenges of glass in the large window, were looking at the lush trees in the garden, under which Miss Campbell was walking.In the garden, brocade flowers surround the babbling stream, and in the sky there are bright clouds unique to the central Scottish highlands.The Melville brothers no longer looked at each other in vain, but they still instinctively linked arms and held hands from time to time, as if trying to better communicate with each other through an electromagnetic current. yes!Nothing could be better!Things will be done decently and pompously.Those poor poor people in West George Street, if there were any—where were there no poor people?They will not be forgotten on the wedding day.Had Miss Campbell wished to keep things simple, and had tried to convince them of it, they would have for the first time in their lives not bowed to her, and would not yield an inch.According to ancient tradition, the guests have to drink wildly at the wedding feast.Think of these Sam and Seab with their right arms half outstretched, as if already exchanging the famous Scottish toast in advance. Just then, the door of the hall opened.A blushing young girl walked in quickly.Flicking the newspaper in her hand, she went up to the Melville brothers and kissed each of them twice. "Hello, Uncle Sam," she said. "Hello, dear boy." "How are you, Uncle Sib?" "great." "Helena," said Sam, "we have a little matter to discuss with you." "A small matter! What is it? Uncle, what plot do you have?" Miss Campbell asked, scrutinizing her two uncles with sly eyes. "Do you know this young man, Aristobulus Ursy Claus?" "I know him." "Do you hate this man?" "Why should I hate him, Uncle Sam?" "So you like him?" "Why should I like him, Uncle Sibb?" "After much deliberation, Sam and I have decided to marry you to him." "Get me married! Me!" cried Miss Campbell, laughing so loudly that the whole hall echoed with her laughter. "Don't you want to get married?" Sam asked. "What's the use of being married?" "Never...?" asked Sieb. "Never marry in my life," replied Miss Campbell, her expression becoming serious, while the smile remained at the corners of her mouth. "Not in my life, uncle, at least as long as I haven't seen..." "Didn't see anything?" cried Sam and Seb in unison. "As long as I haven't seen the green light yet."

---

Notes: