Trimming

“ No, my beloved nestlings, never will your wretched father be at liberty to guide your flight and instruct you in your duty." Here his voice faltered, and overcome with bitter reflections, he resigned himself a prey to silent sorrow.
"This dove is not happy, however," said the hen redbreast to her mate, "and no wonder; but let us attend to the notes of that lark." His eyes were turned up towards the sky, he fluttered his wings, he strained his throat, and would, to a human eye, have appeared in raptures of joy; but the redbreasts perceived that he was inflamed with rage. ”

“ The mother then again attempted to calm them, but all in vain; their fears were now redoubled for their father's safety; however, to their great joy, he soon returned. "Well," said he, "I have seen this monster." The little ones then clung to their mother, fearing the dreadful creature was just at hand.
"What, afraid again?" cried he; "a parcel of stout hearts I have in my nest, truly! Why, when you fly about in the world, you will in all probability see hundreds of such monsters, as you call them, unless you choose to confine yourselves to a retired life ”

“ Trim had one day missed a fine morsel from the hungry activity of one of the young gentlemen who dined in the gunroom. Seeing him, however, talking and eating at the same time, my persevering gentle-man did not give it up, though the piece was half masticated and only waited for a period to disappear; but running up the waistcoat of our unsuspecting guest, for Trim was but then a kitten, and placing one paw at each corner of his mouth, he laid vigorous siege to his morsel; and whilst the astonished midshipman inarticulately exclaimed "G--d d--n the cat!" ”

“ It is, in short, to be a Trimmer in the true sense of that honorable term; which for some reason or other is always used in a sense exactly opposite to its own. It seems really to be supposed that a Trimmer means a cowardly person who always goes over to the stronger side. It really means a highly chivalrous person who always goes over to the weaker side; like one who trims a boat by sitting where there are few people seated. Woman is a trimmer ”

“ Seated in the lobby of the De la Pax on Sunday morning, Mr. Trimmer turned a disapproving eye upon the lank Englishman at his side as he made this query. And his question was not without good foundation. For the aspirant to the title of Lord Harrowby was at the moment a jelly quaking with fear.
"Fawncy meeting you after all these years," said poor old George in an uncertain treble.
"Come, come," cried Mr. Trimmer, "put a little more authority into your voice. You can't walk up and claim your rights with your knees dancing the tango. This is the moment we've been looking forward to. ”

“ Back and forth along the lower edge of his yard the farmer hunted, with the whimpering, cowed terrier to guide him, poking in dark corners with the muzzle of his shotgun for the unseen intruder whose coming had aroused the household. In a brushpile just over the fence to the east Mr. Trimm lay on his face upon the wet earth, with the rain beating down on him, sobbing with choking gulps that wrenched him cruelly, biting at the bonds on his wrists until the sound of breaking teeth gritted in the air. ”

“ Slop, interrupting Trim, is more detestable than all the rest;—and seems to have been taken from some pettifogging Lawyer amongst you:—Amongst us, a man's conscience could not possibly continue so long blinded;—three times in a year, at least, he must go to confession. Will that restore it to sight, quoth my uncle Toby?—Go on, Trim, quoth my father, or Obadiah will have got back before thou has got to the end of thy sermon;—'tis a very short one, replied Trim.—I wish it was longer, quoth my uncle Toby, for I like it hugely.—Trim went on. ”

“ Trim, though vain as we have seen, was not like those young men who, being assured of an independence, spend their youth in idle trifling, and consider all serious application as pedantic and derogatory, or at least to be useless; he was, on the contrary, animated with a noble zeal for the improvement of his faculties. ”

“ Trim found he was upon a wrong scent, and stopped short with a low bow—Two misfortunes, quoth the corporal to himself, are twice as many at least as are needful to be talked over at one time,—the mischief the cow has done in breaking into the fortifications, may be told his honour hereafter—Trim's casuistry and address, under the cover of his low bow, prevented all suspicion in my uncle Toby, so he went on with what he had to say to Trim as follows. ”

“ Mr. Trimmer was speaking. The time was noon of the following day, and Trimmer faced Lord Harrowby in the sitting-room of his lordship's hotel suite. Also present—at Harrowby's invitation—were Martin Wall and Mr. Minot.
His lordship turned his gray eyes on Trimmer's eager face. He could make those eyes fishy when he liked—he made them so now.
"He is not my brother," he said coldly, "and I shall not see him. May I ask you not to call me Mr. Harrowby?"
"You may ask till you're red in your noble face," replied Trimmer, firm in his disrespect. ”

“ TRISTRAM.
Thou art come, indeed; thou hast rejoined me;
Thou hast dared it—but too late to save.
Fear not now that men should tax thine honor!
I am dying; build (thou may’st) my grave.{144}
ISEULT.
Tristram, ah! for love of heaven, speak kindly!
What! I hear these bitter words from thee?
Sick with grief I am, and faint with travel;
Take my hand—dear Tristram, look on me!
TRISTRAM.
I forgot, thou comest from thy voyage ”

“ He was trumpeting madly and swinging his trunk from side to side.
Trim’s foot caught in a vine as he neared the water’s edge and he fell full length. The elephant saw him and he came tearing down the slope after him.
“Lord save us!” cried Dobbin. “He’ll stamp the poor lad’s life out!”
Trim was on his feet in an instant, and facing the giant beast.
He drew his revolver, although he knew how poor a weapon it was in fighting such an animal.
A pistol bullet could not do more than pierce the tough skin of the creature. Nevertheless, he shot and his hand was never steadier or his nerves cooler. ”

“ As soon as he recovered,—
"Why cannot I soar as I see other birds do?" said he.
"Alas!" cried the mother, "we are in a place of confinement, we are shut up, and can never get out; but here is food in abundance, and every other necessary." "Never get out!" exclaimed the whole brood; "then adieu to happiness!" She attempted to soothe them, but in vain.
The little redbreasts rejoiced in their liberty, and Dicky gave up the desire of living in the aviary, and wished to be gone. ”

“ I'll do what I can."
"And you can do a lot. Watch me until you see me lead Trimmer away. Then get his pet. I'll steer Trimmer somewhere near the beach, and keep an eye on the Lileth. When you get George safely aboard, wave a red light in the bow. Then Trimmer and I shall part company for the night."
"I'm on," said Wall, rising. "Anything to help Harrowby. And—this won't be the first time I've waited at the stage door."
"Right-o," said Minot. "But don't stop to buy a champagne supper for a trained seal, will you? I don't want to have to listen to Mr. Trimmer all night." ”

“ At this instant their attention was attracted by one of the partridges in the pen, which thus addressed his mate:—"Well, my love, as there is no chance of our being set at liberty, I think we may as well prepare our nest, that you may deposit your eggs in it. The employment of hatching and raising your little ones will at least mitigate the wearisomeness of confinement, and I promise myself many happy days yet; for as we are so well fed and attended, I think we may form hopes that our offspring will also be provided for ”

“ Finding at length that nature had not designed him for an astronomer, Trim had too much good sense to continue a useless pursuit; but a musket ball slung with a piece of twine, and made to whirl round upon the deck by a slight motion of the finger, never failed to attract his notice, and to give him pleasure ”

“ Let not the critic ask how Corporal Trim could come by all this.—I've told him it should be explained;—but so he stood before my father, my uncle Toby, and Dr. Slop,—so swayed his body, so contrasted his limbs, and with such an oratorical sweep throughout the whole figure,—a statuary might have modelled from it;—nay, I doubt whether the oldest Fellow of a College,—or the Hebrew Professor himself, could have much mended it.
Trim made a bow, and read as follows:
The Sermon.
Hebrews xiii. 18.
—For we trust we have a good Conscience. ”

“ Harriet was fearful lest they should sting, and Frederick was running away; but Mrs. Wilson assured them the little creatures would not do any mischief if no one attempted to catch them. "Bees are, in their natural dispositions, very harmless creatures, I assure you, Master Benson," said she; "though I own they will certainly sting little boys who endeavour to catch them in order to suck their bags of honey or take out their sting; but you see that though I have hundreds about me, and even on my face and arms, not one offers to do me an injury ”

“ Trim and his party arrived at the edge of the meadow without meeting anybody.
Pausing there and looking toward the river they saw that the party whom Trim had seen from the top of the cliff were on the bank of the river.
They had managed somehow to catch one of the rafts and had dragged it to the shore.
“No doubt they’re wondering,” said Trim to Dobbin, “what has become of the men who were traveling on it.
“Now, men, we must keep in the edge of the woods and get down as close to the river as we can before they realize what we are up to. Then we’ll see if we can stampede them. ”

“ Trim’s companions wanted to fire after them, but the boy forbade them.
“There’s no sense in killing them unnecessarily,” he said; “let them scoot if they want to. A scare is just as good for them as a beating.”
At that moment there was a sound of firing at the other entrance to the cave.
Leaving his guards with orders to fight off any further attack that might be made, Trim hurried around under the falls, passing Dobbin and the donkeys, until he came to the other entrance. ”

“ We had several dogs on board the Spyall, but Trim was undisputed master of them all. When they were at play upon the deck, he would go in amongst them with his stately air; and giving a blow at the eyes of one, and a scratch on the nose to another, oblige them to stand out of his way. He was capable of being animated against a dog, as dogs usually may be against a cat ”

“ Many a time in my life I have had to do with trifles. When that English gentleman, my father left us, and poor mama broke her heart, a trifle perhaps to him,—and little sister and I lived on a few handfuls of rice a day, given by the poor out of their scanty store, it was a mere trifle, and when the good old faqir gave us a few handfuls of parched grain, it was only a trifle, but life to us, and when Mr. Percy found us in the serai, only a trifle, but what would I have been if that trifling incident had never occurred? ”

“ Tremsin went out to the stall of the gray steed and wept bitterly. “Surely the evil that comes to me will never end. I caught the Zhar bird in a net, the thrice-lovely Nastasia I brought my master for a bride and now I must bring the necklace of pearls from the bottom of the sea or I will lose my head from my shoulders.” ”

“ Thereupon Trim, thwarted in one direction, endeavoured to rob his neighbour Lorry Slim, ‘an unlucky wight,’ of a threadbare pair of black plush breeches. The sketch ends with Trim's signal humiliation. Much of the jesting is coarse, but throughout Sterne gave proofs of his capacity as a literary artist in humour. In its general tone it adumbrates many characteristic features of ‘Tristram Shandy.’ The name Trim Sterne transferred to his novel unaltered. ”

“ An' I hope to God there won't be no voices around here tonight!"
The Strangler grunted, and the "Kid" slouched off up the stairs and into the room that had been Monte's. He closed the door carefully, crossed over to the light, and then stood listening.
The night wind was stirring around the house, whistling and moaning down the chimney; but the "Kid" had an antidote for fear tonight: he went over to his bed and fumbled for the jewels. The touch of the smooth leather-covered box started his heart to pounding. ”

“ And what conclusion dost thou draw, corporal Trim, cried my father, from all these premises?
I infer, an’ please your worship, replied Trim, that the radical moisture is nothing in the world but ditch-water—and that the radical heat, of those who can go to the expence of it, is burnt brandy,—the radical heat and moisture of a private man, an’ please your honour, is nothing but ditch-water—and a dram of geneva——and give us but enough of it, with a pipe of tobacco, to give us spirits, and drive away the vapours—we know not what it is to fear death. ”

“ Trimm became the primitive man. He was filled with those elemental emotions that make a man see in spatters of crimson. Gathering strength from passion out of an exhausted frame, he sprang forward at the tramp. He struck at him with his head, his shoulders, his knees, his manacled wrists, all at once. ”

“ How many men are there, who have no claim either from birth, fortune, or acquirements, personal or mental, whose vanity is not to be confined within such harmless bounds, as was that of Trim! And I will say for him, that he never spoke ill of or objected to the pretensions of others, which is more than can be said for very many bipeds. ”