Many of them had not traveled, and a returned tourist was a
comparative rarity in the place. I went down there on purpose to talk
about Europe. It was too early for my grandmother's return to the
country. I proposed to spend a week with my village friends, and, before
their bright firesides, charm and delight them with accounts of those
things which had so charmed and delighted me. The lives of city people
are so filled with every sort of material that it is useless to try to
crowd anything more into them. Here, however, were people with excellent
intellects, whose craving for mental pabulum, especially in the winter,
could be but partially satisfied.
But bless me! I never heard of such an over-stock of mental pabulum as I
found there. It was poured upon me by every one with whom I tried to
converse. I was frequently permitted to begin statements which I
believed must win their way, if they were allowed a fair start; but very
soon something I said was sure to suggest something which had occurred
in the village, and before I could brace myself the torrent would burst
upon me. Never did I hear, in the same space of time, so much about
things which had happened as I then heard from my village neighbors. It
was not that so much had occurred, but that so much was said about what
had occurred.
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