He was a skilful chopper， and indulged in some flourishes and ornaments in his art.  He cut his trees level and close to the ground， that the sprouts which came up afterward might be more vigorous and a sled might slide over the stumps； and instead of leaving a whole tree to support his corded wood， he would pare it away to a slender stake or splinter which you could break off with your hand at last.

　　He interested me because he was so quiet and solitary and so happy withal； a well of good humor and contentment which overflowed at his eyes.  His mirth was without alloy.  Sometimes I saw him at his work in the woods， felling trees， and he would greet me with a laugh of inexpressible satisfaction， and a salutation in Canadian French， though he spoke English as well.  When I approached him he would suspend his work， and with half-suppressed mirth lie along the trunk of a pine which he had felled， and， peeling off the inner bark， roll it up into a ball and chew it while he laughed and talked.  Such an exuberance of animal spirits had he that he sometimes tumbled down and rolled on the ground with laughter at anything which made him think and tickled him.  Looking round upon the trees he would exclaim  ―― "By George！  I can enjoy myself well enough here chopping； I want no better sport."  Sometimes， when at leisure， he amused himself all day in the woods with a pocket pistol， firing salutes to himself at regular intervals as he walked. In the winter he had a fire by which at noon he warmed his coffee in a kettle； and as he sat on a log to eat his dinner the chickadees would sometimes come round and alight on his arm and peck at the potato in his fingers； and he said that he "liked to have the little fellers about him."

　　In him the animal man chiefly was developed.  In physical endurance and contentment he was cousin to the pine and the rock.  I asked him once if he was not sometimes tired at night， after working all day； and he answered， with a sincere and serious look，"Gorrappit， I never was tired in my life."  But the intellectual and what is called spiritual man in him were slumbering as in an infant. He had been instructed only in that innocent and ineffectual way in which the Catholic priests teach the aborigines， by which the pupil is never educated to the degree of consciousness， but only to the degree of trust and reverence， and a child is not made a man， but kept a child.  When Nature made him， she gave him a strong body and contentment for his portion， and propped him on every side with reverence and reliance， that he might live out his threescore years and ten a child.  He was so genuine and unsophisticated that no introduction would serve to introduce him， more than if you introduced a woodchuck to your neighbor.  He had got to find him out as you did.  He would not play any part.  Men paid him wages for work， and so helped to feed and clothe him； but he never exchanged opinions with them.  He was so simply and naturally humble ―― if he can be called humble who never aspires ―― that humility was no distinct quality in him， nor could he conceive of it.  Wiser men were demigods to him.  If you told him that such a one was coming，he did as if he thought that anything so grand would expect nothing of himself， but take all the responsibility on itself， and let him be forgotten still.  He never heard the sound of praise.  He particularly reverenced the writer and the preacher.  Their performances were miracles.  When I told him that I wrote considerably， he thought for a long time that it was merely the handwriting which I meant， for he could write a remarkably good hand himself.  I sometimes found the name of his native parish handsomely written in the snow by the highway， with the proper French accent，and knew that he had passed.  I asked him if he ever wished to write his thoughts.  He said that he had read and written letters for those who could not， but he never tried to write thoughts ―― no， he could not， he could not tell what to put first， it would kill him，and then there was spelling to be attended to at the same time！

　　他是一個(gè)熟練的樵夫，他陶醉在這項(xiàng)藝術(shù)的技巧之中，他齊著地面把樹(shù)木伐下來(lái)，從根上再萌發(fā)的芽將來(lái)就格外強(qiáng)壯，而運(yùn)木料的雪橇在平根上也可以滑得過(guò)去；而且，他不是用繩子來(lái)把砍過(guò)根部一半的大樹(shù)拉倒的，他把樹(shù)木砍削得成為細(xì)細(xì)的一根或者薄薄的一片，最后，你只消輕輕用手一推，就推倒了。

　　他使我發(fā)生興趣是因?yàn)樗@樣安靜，這樣寂寞，而內(nèi)心又這樣愉快；他的眼睛里溢出他高興而滿(mǎn)足的神情。他的歡樂(lè)并沒(méi)有攙雜其他的成分。有時(shí)候，我看到他在樹(shù)林中勞動(dòng)、砍伐樹(shù)木，他帶著一陣無(wú)法描寫(xiě)的滿(mǎn)意的笑聲迎接我，用加拿大腔的法文向我致意，其實(shí)他的英文也說(shuō)得好。等我走近了他，他就停止工作，一半克制著自己的喜悅，躺倒在他砍下的一棵松樹(shù)旁邊，把樹(shù)枝里層的皮剝了下來(lái)，再把它卷成一個(gè)圓球，一邊笑著說(shuō)話(huà)，一邊還咀嚼它。他有如此充溢的元?dú)猓袝r(shí)遇到使他運(yùn)用思想的任何事情，碰著了他的癢處，他就大笑得倒在地上，打起滾來(lái)了。看看他四周的樹(shù)木，他會(huì)叫喊，――“真的呵！在這里伐木真夠勁；我不要更好的娛樂(lè)了。”有時(shí)候，他閑了下來(lái)，他帶著把小手槍在林中整天自得其樂(lè)，一邊走，一邊按時(shí)地向自己放槍致敬。冬天他生了火，到正午在一個(gè)壺里煮咖啡，當(dāng)他坐在一根圓木上用膳的時(shí)候，小鳥(niǎo)偶爾會(huì)飛過(guò)來(lái)，停在他的胳膊上，啄他手里的土豆；他就說(shuō)他“喜歡旁邊有些小把戲”。

　　在他身上，主要的是生氣勃發(fā)。論體力上的堅(jiān)韌和滿(mǎn)足，他跟松樹(shù)和巖石稱(chēng)得上是表兄弟。有一次問(wèn)他整天做工，晚上累不累；他口答時(shí)，目光真誠(chéng)而嚴(yán)肅，“天曉得，我一生中從沒(méi)有累過(guò)。”可是在他身上，智力，即一般所謂的靈性卻還是沉睡著的，跟嬰孩的靈性一樣。他所受的教育，只是以那天真的，無(wú)用的方式進(jìn)行的，天主教神父就是用這種方式來(lái)教育土人，而用這種方式，學(xué)生總不能達(dá)到意識(shí)的境界，只達(dá)到了信任和崇敬的程度，像一個(gè)孩子并沒(méi)有被教育成人，他依然還是個(gè)孩子。當(dāng)大自然創(chuàng)造他這人的時(shí)候，她給了他一副強(qiáng)壯的身體，并且讓他對(duì)自己的命運(yùn)感到滿(mǎn)足，在他的四周用敬意和信任支撐著他，這樣他就從可以像一個(gè)孩子似的，一直活到七十歲。他是這樣單純，毫不虛偽，無(wú)須用介紹的方式來(lái)介紹他，正如你無(wú)須給你的鄰居介紹土撥鼠一樣。

　　他這人，還得自己慢慢來(lái)認(rèn)識(shí)自己，就跟你得慢慢地才能認(rèn)識(shí)他一樣。他什么事都不做作。人們?yōu)榱怂墓ぷ鳎o他錢(qián)；這就幫他得到了衣食；可是他從來(lái)不跟人們交換意見(jiàn)。

　　他這樣地單純，天然地卑微，――如果那種不抱奢望的人可以稱(chēng)作卑微的話(huà)，――這種卑微在他身上并不明顯，他自己也不覺(jué)得。對(duì)于他，聰明一點(diǎn)的人，簡(jiǎn)直成了神仙，如果你告訴他，這樣一個(gè)人正要來(lái)到，他似乎覺(jué)得這般隆重的事情肯定是與他無(wú)關(guān)的，事情會(huì)自然而然地自己辦好的，還是讓他被人們忘掉吧。他從來(lái)沒(méi)有聽(tīng)到過(guò)贊美他的話(huà)。

　　他特別敬重作家和傳教師。他認(rèn)為他們的工作真是神乎其神。當(dāng)我告訴他，說(shuō)我也寫(xiě)作甚多，他想了一會(huì)兒，以為我說(shuō)的是寫(xiě)字，他也寫(xiě)得一手好字呢。我有時(shí)候看到，在公路旁的積雪上很秀麗地寫(xiě)著他那故鄉(xiāng)的教區(qū)的名字，并標(biāo)明了那法文的重音記號(hào)，就知道他曾在這里經(jīng)過(guò)。我問(wèn)過(guò)他有沒(méi)有想過(guò)要寫(xiě)下他自己的思想來(lái)。他說(shuō)他給不識(shí)字的人讀過(guò)和寫(xiě)過(guò)一些信件，但從沒(méi)有試過(guò)寫(xiě)下他的思想，――不，他不能，他就不知道應(yīng)該先寫(xiě)什么，這會(huì)難死他的，何況寫(xiě)的時(shí)候還要留意拼音！

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