His friends sometimes took pity on him, and came to share a meal or pass a night on their passage south or northwards, but existence was, on the whole, exceedingly solitary, or seemed so to him.
他的朋友有时会同情他,在南下或北上的途中前来共进晚餐或过夜,但总的来说,生存是极其孤独的,或者在他看来是如此。