270 



THE RAVEN. 



every thing. He was as playful as a kitten; he 

 showed vast aptitude in learning to talk ; and he was 

 so correct an imitator of sounds, that I had every 

 nope of teaching him the tune which Goldsmith in- 

 forms us he heard a raven sing with ^' great distinct- 

 ness, truth, and humour." Marco was fond of seeing 

 a carriage a23proach the house. He would attend 

 company on their arrival at the bridge, and wait near 

 the gate until their return ; and then he would go 

 part of the way back with them. He was an uni- 

 versal favourite, notwithstanding that at times his 

 evil genius prompted him to commit almost unpar- 

 donable excesses ; so much so, that I often said to 

 him in the words of the poet, — 



" Difficilis, — facilis, jucundus acerbus es idem.'* 



" In all thy humours, whether grave or mellow, 

 Thou art such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow ; 

 Hast so much wit, and mirth, and glee about thee, 

 There is no living with thee, nor without thee." 



One day he took a sudden dislike to an old duck, 

 with which, till then, he had been upon the best of 

 terms ; and he killed her in an instant. The coach- 

 man and Marco were inseparable companions ; but 

 at last they had a serious and a fatal quarrel. Marco 

 bit him severely in the thumb ; upon which, this 

 ferocious son of the whip seized the bird by the 

 throat, and deliberately strangled it. I learned 

 from poor Marco, that birds will occasionally do 

 that which I had always supposed to be solely con- 

 fined to quadrupeds. When Marco could find a 

 heap of sand, or when there was snow upon the 



