A Rill from the Town Pump
1835
A Rill from the Town Pump, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and first published in 1835, is a satirical short story that serves as a social commentary on consumption and temperance. Set in Salem, Massachusetts, the narrative features a personified town pump that humorously reflects on its significance in the community, advocating for the virtues of water over alcohol. Through its interactions with townsfolk, the pump emphasizes the importance of pure water as a life-sustaining resource and a moral guide, contrasting it with the vices associated with intoxicating beverages.
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“Pleasant is a rainy winter's day, within doors! The best study for such a day, or the best amusement,”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Thus from beneath the black veil there rolled a cloud into the sunshine, an ambiguity of sin or sorrow, which enveloped the poor minister, so that love or sympathy could never reach him.””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Perhaps a germ of love was springing in their hearts so pure that it might blossom in Paradise, since it could not be matured on earth;””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“I know what to think when a young girl shivers by a warm hearth and complains of lonesomeness at her mother's side. Shall I put these feelings into words?””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a black veil!””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“All through life that piece of crape had hung between him and the world; it had separated him from cheerful brotherhood and woman's love and kept him in that saddest of all prisons his own heart;””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“I wonder he is not afraid to be alone with himself." "Men sometimes are so," said her husband.””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“The subject had reference to secret sin and those sad mysteries which we hide from our nearest and dearest, and would fain conceal from our own consciousness, even forgetting that the Omniscient can detect them.””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister as his black veil to them.””
— Nathaniel Hawthorne
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<a href="https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123b"><img src="https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg" alt="Read A Rill from the Town Pump by Nathaniel Hawthorne free on Lex" width="160" height="40"></a>[](https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123b)[url=https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123b][img]https://lex-books.com/badges/read-on-lex.svg[/img][/url]Read A Rill from the Town Pump by Nathaniel Hawthorne free on Lex: https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123bCite this book
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. A Rill from the Town Pump. Lex, lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123b.Hawthorne, N. (1835). A Rill from the Town Pump. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123bHawthorne, Nathaniel. A Rill from the Town Pump. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/a-rill-from-the-town-pump-8c897ccc-d772-4c4c-a6f9-b552ac1f123b.
