"
No sooner had we landed on the Hungarian side of the river than up came
a customhouse official, who informed me that I must pay duty for my
horse. Of course, as a law-respecting Briton, I was ready enough to
comply; but the fellow could not tell me what the charge was, saying his
chief was absent, and might not be back for some hours.
This was exasperating to the last degree; the more so that it seemed so
stupid that the man left in charge could not consult a tariff of taxes,
or elicit from the villagers some information. He was stolidly
obstinate, and refused to let my horse go at any price, though I offered
him what H---- and I both thought a reasonable number of florins for the
horse-duty. In less than ten minutes I had worked myself into a rage--a
foolish thing to do with the thermometer at 96 deg. in the shade; but H----
was provokingly calm, which irritated me still more. There is an old
French verse which, rendered into English, says--
"Some of your griefs you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived;
But what torments of pain you endured
From evils that never arrived!"
Now, a little patience would have saved me a useless ebullition of
temper. While I was still at white-heat up came the head official;
removing the cigar from his lips with Oriental dignity and deliberation,
he calmly answered my question, and having paid the money we went our
way.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55