We came down here yesterday， after 10 days of fog in London. You see how delicately I tell you the news of the metropolis： were you picking roses and walking about under a Parasol all the time！ Here we saw the sun for the first time—at any rate what was left of the sun， as it was just setting. However it rose all right this morning， as healthy as possible.
It is the loveliest place. When you want to build another cottage， build one here. We have Beech trees practically poking their heads in at the front door—at least Adrian says he can smell them in the drawing room， and Forest ponies come when you call them—and Thoby saw a cow chasing a Fox in a field last night in the moonlight. This morning— I don't know that the fox has anything to do with it—he shaved off his moustache—in the hope of looking more like a lawyer. Nessa and I have hired bicycles： my front wheel went off like a pistol this afternoon， and has a great gash in its side. I don't know why I have written such a long letter when you didn't really particularly want it， but there are no books， and when I see a pen and ink， I can't help taking to it， as some people do to gin.
Yours affectionately，
A.V.S
22nd Dec.， 1904
Please say what you don't dare to say！
親愛的奈莉：
我早就想為你的來信而向你表示感謝，它是我收到的第一封對我的文學作品發表看法的信，因此我非常高興！你想不到作家是一種何等愛慕虛榮的動物——不過妮莎會告訴你的。我想藝術家不會像作家那樣強烈地受到虛榮的**，因為，所有他或她的創作都是公開進行的，因此總是遭受到批評；然而，可憐的作家們遭遇的就是另外一種情形了，他們把自己的思想都藏匿在大腦黑暗的角落裏，當這些思想被印刷成文字的時候，他們看上去是那樣的**顫抖、戰戰兢兢。因此，對於作家來說，有人喜歡他的作品就是一種很大的鼓舞。這並非說評論文章值得讚揚，我想，寫評論肯定是一件十分乏味的事。我憎恨對人妄加批評的態度，因為我知道自己一直在說些騙人的空話。捫心自問，如果我自己都做不好，我又有什麽權利來斷定何謂好壞！