VI + 

вЄЇвБ†What can they be doing, brother? said my father.вБ†вАФI think, replied my uncle Toby,вБ†вАФtaking, as I told you, his pipe from his mouth, and striking the ashes out of it as he began his sentence;вБ†вЄЇвБ†I think, replied he,вБ†вАФit would not be amiss, brother, if we rung the bell. + 

Pray, whatвАЩs all that racket over our heads, Obadiah?вБ†вЄЇвБ†quoth my father;вБ†вЄЇвБ†my brother and I can scarce hear ourselves speak. + 

Sir, answered Obadiah, making a bow towards his left shoulder,вБ†вАФmy Mistress is taken very badly.вБ†вАФAnd whereвАЩs Susannah running down the garden there, as if they were going to ravish her?вБ†вЄЇвБ†Sir, she is running the shortest cut into the town, replied Obadiah, to fetch the old midwife.вБ†вАФThen saddle a horse, quoth my father, and do you go directly for Dr.¬†Slop, the man-midwife, with all our services,вБ†вЄЇвБ†and let him know your mistress is fallen into labourвБ†вЄЇвБ†and that I desire he will return with you with all speed. + 

It is very strange, says my father, addressing himself to my uncle Toby, as Obadiah shut the door,вБ†вЄЇвБ†as there is so expert an operator as Dr.¬†Slop so near,вБ†вАФthat my wife should persist to the very last in this obstinate humour of hers, in trusting the life of my child, who has had one misfortune already, to the ignorance of an old woman;вБ†вЄЇвБ†and not only the life of my child, brother,вБ†вЄЇвБ†but her own life, and with it the lives of all the children I might, peradventure, have begot out of her hereafter. + 

Mayhap, brother, replied my uncle Toby, my sister does it to save the expense:вБ†вАФA puddingвАЩs end,вБ†вАФreplied my father,вБ†вЄЇвБ†the Doctor must be paid the same for inaction as action,вБ†вЄЇвБ†if not better,вБ†вАФto keep him in temper. + 

вЄЇвБ†Then it can be out of nothing in the whole world, quoth my uncle Toby, in the simplicity of his heart,вБ†вАФbut Modesty.вБ†вАФMy sister, I dare say, added he, does not care to let a man come so near her ****. I will not say whether my uncle Toby had completed the sentence or not;вБ†вЄЇвАЩtis for his advantage to suppose he had,вБ†вЄЇвБ†as, I think, he could have added no One Word which would have improved it. + 

If, on the contrary, my uncle Toby had not fully arrived at the periodвАЩs end,вБ†вАФthen the world stands indebted to the sudden snapping of my fatherвАЩs tobacco-pipe for one of the neatest examples of that ornamental figure in oratory, which Rhetoricians stile the Aposiopesis.вБ†вЄЇвБ†Just Heaven! how does the Poco piu and the Poco meno of the Italian artists;вБ†вАФthe insensible more or less, determine the precise line of beauty in the sentence, as well as in the statute! How do the slight touches of the chisel, the pencil, the pen, the fiddlestick, et cetera,вБ†вАФgive the true swell, which gives the true pleasure!вБ†вАФO my countrymen;вБ†вАФbe nice;вБ†вАФbe cautious of your language;вБ†вАФand never, O! never let it be forgotten upon what small particles your eloquence and your fame depend. + 

вЄЇвАЬMy sister, mayhap,вАЭ quoth my uncle Toby, вАЬdoes not choose to let a man come so near her ****.вАЭ Make this dash,вБ†вАФвАЩtis an Aposiopesis.вБ†вАФTake the dash away, and write Backside,вБ†вЄЇвАЩtis Bawdy.вБ†вАФScratch Backside out, and put CoverвАЩd way in, вАЩtis a Metaphor;вБ†вАФand, I dare say, as fortification ran so much in my uncle TobyвАЩs head, that if he had been left to have added one word to the sentence,вБ†вЄЇвБ†that word was it. + 

But whether that was the case or not the case;вБ†вАФor whether the snapping of my fatherвАЩs tobacco-pipe, so critically, happened through accident or anger, will be seen in due time. + 