文档介绍：Little Britain
Little Britain
by Washington Irving
1
Little Britain
What I write is most true...I have a whole booke of cases lying by me
which if I should sette foorth, some grave auntients (within the hearing of
Bow bell) would be out of charity with me.
NASHE.
IN the centre of the great city of London lies a small neighborhood,
consisting of a cluster of narrow streets and courts, of very venerable and
debilitated houses, which goes by the name of LITTLE BRITAIN. Christ
Church School and St. Bartholomew's Hospital bound it on the west;
Smithfield and Long Lane on the north; Aldersgate Street, like an arm of
the sea, divides it from the eastern part of the city; whilst the yawning gulf
of Bull-and-Mouth Street separates it from Butcher Lane, and the regions
of Newgate. Over this little territory, thus bounded and designated, the
great dome of St. Paul's, swelling above the intervening houses of
Paternoster Row, Amen Corner, and Ave Maria Lane, looks down with an
air of motherly protection.
This quarter derives its appellation from having been, in ancient times,
the residence of the Dukes of Brittany. As London increased, however,
rank and fashion rolled off to the west, and trade, creeping on at their heels,
took possession of their deserted abodes. For some time Little Britain
became the great mart of learning, and was peopled by the busy and
prolific race of booksellers; these also gradually deserted it, and,
emigrating beyond the great strait of Newgate Street, settled down in
Paternoster Row and St. Paul's Churchyard, where they continue to
increase and multiply even at the present day.
But though thus falling into decline, Little Britain still bears traces of
its former splendor. There are several houses ready to tumble down, the
fronts of which are magnificently enriched with old oaken carvings of
hideous faces, unknown birds, beasts, and fishes; and fruits and flowers
which it would perplex a naturalist to classify. T