They did
not spare me a single thing. Where Aristides was not very clear, or
rather not full enough, in describing America, I was called on to
supplement, and I had to make several speeches. Of course, as I spoke in
English, he had to put it into Altrurian for me, and it made the greatest
excitement. The Altrurians are very lively people, and as full of the
desire to hear some new things as Paul said the men of Athens were. At
times they were in a perfect gale of laughter at what we told them about
America. Afterwards some of the women confessed to me that they liked to
hear us speaking English together; it sounded like the whistling of birds
or the shrilling of locusts. But they were perfectly kind, and though
they laughed it was clear that they laughed at what we were saying, and
never at us, or at least never at _me_.
Of course there was the greatest curiosity to know what Aristides'
wife looked like, as well as sounded like; he had written out about
our engagement before I broke it; and my clothes were of as much
interest As myself, or more.
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