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 approach 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 i 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 
