But we'll lea' 't i' the street afore it s' come 'atween 's!" said Donal.

"Gien ye'll hae me, sae lang's I'm i' the toon, I s' gang nae ither gait." "An' ye'll doobtless read the Greek like yer mither-tongue ?" said the cobbler, with a longing admiration in his tone.
"Na, no like that; but weel eneuch to get guid o' 't." "Weel, that's jist the ae thing I grutch ye--na, no grutch--I'm glaid ye hae't--but the ae thing I wud fain be a scholar for mysel'! To think I kenna a cheep o' the word spoken by the Word himsel'!" "But the letter o' the word he made little o' comparet wi' the speerit!" said Donal.
"Ay, that's true! an' yet it's whaur a man may weel be greedy an' want to hae a'thing: wha has the speerit wad fain hae the letter tu! But it disna maitter; I s' set to learnin' 't the first thing whan I gang up the stair--that is, gien it be the Lord's wull." "Hoots!" said his wife, "what wad ye du wi' Greek up there! I s' warran' the fowk there, ay, an' the maister himsel', speyks plain Scotch! What for no! What wad they du there wi' Greek, 'at a body wad hae to warstle wi' frae mornin' to nicht, an' no mak oot the third pairt o' 't!" Her husband laughed merrily, but Donal said, "'Deed maybe ye're na sae far wrang, guidwife! I'm thinkin' there maun be a gran' mither-tongue there, 'at 'll soop up a' the lave, an' be better to un'erstan' nor a body's ain--for it'll be yet mair his ain." "Hear til him!" cried the cobbler, with hearty approbation.
"Ye ken," Donal went on, "a' the languages o' the earth cam, or luik as gien they had come, frae ane, though we're no jist dogsure o' that.
There's my mither's ain Gaelic, for enstance: it's as auld, maybe aulder nor the Greek; onygait, it has mair Greek nor Laitin words intil 't, an' ye ken the Greek 's an aulder tongue nor the Laitin.

Weel, gien we could work oor w'y back to the auldest grit-gran'mither-tongue o' a', I'm thinkin' it wad come a kin o' sae easy til 's, 'at, wi' the impruvt faculties o' oor h'avenly condition, we micht be able in a feow days to haud communication wi' ane anither i' that same, ohn stammert or hummt an' hawt." "But there's been sic a heap o' things f'un' oot sin' syne, i' the min' o' man, as weel 's i' the warl' ootside," said Andrew, "that sic a language wad be mair like a bairn's tongue nor a mither's, I'm thinkin', whan set against a' 'at wad be to speyk aboot!" "Ye're verra richt there, I dinna doobt.

But hoo easy wad it be for ilk ane to bring in the new word he wantit, haein' eneuch common afore to explain 't wi'! Afore lang the language wad hae intil 't ilka word 'at was worth haein' in ony language 'at ever was spoken sin' the toor o' Babel." "Eh, sirs, but it's dreidfu' to think o' haein' to learn sae muckle!" said the old woman.

"I'm ower auld an' dottlet!" Her husband laughed again.
"I dinna see what ye hae to lauch at!" she said, laughing too.