Даниэль Дефо - Roxana

My Father, I say, told me , That he was more pester’d with the Clamours of these People, than by those who were truly REFUGEES, and fled in Distress, merely [17] merely : entirely. for Conscience .

I was about ten Years old when I was brought over hither, where, as I have said , my Father liv’d in very good Circumstances, and died in about eleven Years more; in which time, as I had accomplish’d myself for the sociable Part of the World, so I had acquainted myself with some of our English Neighbours, as is the Custom in London ; and as, while I was Young, I had pick’d-up three or four Play-Fellows and Companions, suitable to my Years; so as we grew bigger; we learnt to call one-another Intimates and Friends; and this forwarded very much the finishing me for Conversation [18] Conversation : social intercourse. , and the World.

I went to English Schools, and being young, I learnt the English Tongue perfectly well, with all the Customs of the English Young-Women; so that I retain’d nothing of the French , but the Speech; nor did I so much as keep any Remains of the French Language tagg’d to my Way of Speaking, as most Foreigners do , but spoke what we call Natural English , as if I had been born here.

Being to give my own Character, I must be excus’d to give it as impartially as possible, and as if I was speaking of another-body; and the Sequel will lead you to judge whether I flatter myself or no .

I was (speaking of myself as about Fourteen Years of Age) tall, and very well made; sharp as a Hawk in Matters of common Knowledge; quick and smart in Discourse; apt to be Satyrical; full of Repartee, and a little too forward in Conversation; or, as we call it in English , BOLD, tho’ perfectly Modest in my Behaviour. Being French Born, I danc’d, as some say , naturally, lov’d it extremely, and sung well also, and so well, that, as you will hear , it was afterwards some Advantage to me: With all these Things, I wanted neither Wit, Beauty, or Money. In this Manner I set out into the World, having all the Advantages that any Young Woman cou’d desire, to recommend me to others, and form a Prospect of happy Living to myself.

At about Fifteen Years of Age, my Father gave me, as he called it in French, 25000 Livres, [19] Livres : The livre (strictly, the livre tournois) was a money of account (i.e., not a coin or bill) in the French monetary system from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century. It declined in value against sterling throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1700 £1 was equivalent to 15.62 livres. that is to say , two Thousand Pounds Portion, [20] Portion : dowry, the money and property a woman brings to a marriage. and married me to an Eminent Brewer in the City; pardon me if I conceal his Name, for tho’ he was the Foundation of my Ruin, I cannot take so severe a Revenge upon him .

With this Thing call’d a Husband, I liv’d eight Years in good Fashion, and for some Part of the Time, kept a Coach, that is to say , a kind of Mock-Coach; for all the Week the Horses were kept at Work in the Dray-Carts, but on Sunday I had the Privilege to go Abroad in my Chariot, either to Church, or otherways, as my Husband and I cou’d agree about it; [21] to Church, or otherways, as my Husband and I cou’d agree about it : One of the major themes of Defoe’s writings on marriage and the family is the necessity for harmony of religious belief and practice between husband and wife. Lack of agreement is seen as a prime cause of marital discord. See Religious Courtship (1727). which, by the way , was not very often: But of that hereafter.

Before I proceed in the History of the Marry’d Part of my Life, you must allow me to give as impartial an Account of my Husband, as I have done of myself: He was a jolly, handsome Fellow, as any Woman need wish for a Companion; tall, and well made; rather a little too large, but not so as to be ungentile; [22] ungentile : ungenteel, loutish. he danc’d well, which, I think , was the first thing that brought us together: He had an old Father, who manag’d the Business carefully; so that he had little of that Part lay [23] lay : laid. on him, but now-and-then to appear, and show himself; and he took the Advantage of it, for he troubl’d himself very little about it, but went Abroad, kept Company, hunted much, and lov’d it exceedingly.

After I have told you that he was a Handsome Man, and a good Sportsman, I have, indeed, said all; and unhappy was I, like other young People of our Sex, I chose him for being a handsome, jolly Fellow, as I have said; for he was otherwise a weak, empty-headed, untaught Creature, as any Woman could ever desire to be coupled with: And here I must take the Liberty, whatever I have to reproach myself with in my after-Conduct, to turn to my Fellow-Creatures, the Young Ladies of this Country, and speak to them, by way of Precaution, If you have any Regard to your future Happiness; any View of living comfortably with a Husband; any Hope of preserving your Fortunes, or restoring them after any Disaster; Never, Ladies, marry a Fool; [24] Never, Ladies, marry a Fool : advice that Defoe frequently gave his female readers. See Good Advice to the Ladies (1702), pp. 7–8; Reformation of Manners (1702), reprinted in A True Collection of the Writings of the True Born English-man , (1703), pp. 103–4 and the Review , IV (4 October 1707), 404. any Husband rather than a Fool; with some other Husbands you may be unhappy, but with a Fool you will be miserable; with another Husband you may , I say, be unhappy, but with a Fool you must ; nay, if he wou’d, he cannot make you easie; every thing he does is so awkward, every thing he says is so empty, a Woman of any Sence cannot but be surfeited, and sick of him twenty times a-Day: What is more shocking, than for a Woman to bring a handsome, comely Fellow of a Husband, into Company, and then be oblig’d to Blush for him every time she hears him speak? To hear other Gentlemen talk Sence, and he able to say nothing? And so look like a Fool, or, which is worse, hear him talk Nonsence, and be laugh’d at for a Fool.

In the next Place, there are so many Sorts of Fools, such an infinite Variety of Fools, and so hard it is to know the Worst of the Kind, that I am oblig’d to say, No Fool, Ladies, at all, no kind of Fool; whether a mad Fool, or a sober Fool, a wise Fool, [25] a wise Fool : one who says little or nothing, after the proverbial expression that fools are wise as long as they are silent. or a silly Fool; take any thing but a Fool; nay, be any thing, be even an Old Maid, the worst of Nature’s Curses, rather than take up with a Fool.

But to leave this a-while, for I shall have Occasion to speak of it again; my Case was particularly hard, for I had a Variety of foolish Things complicated in this unhappy Match.

First , and which, I must confess, is very unsufferable, he was a conceited Fool, Tout Opiniatre , [26] Tout Opiniatre : utterly fixed in his opinions. every thing he said, was Right, was Best, and was to the Purpose, whoever was in Company, and whatever was advanc’d by others, tho’ with the greatest Modesty imaginable; and yet when he came to defend what he had said, by Argument and Reason, he would do it so weakly, so emptily, and so nothing to the Purpose, that it was enough to make any-body that heard him, sick and asham’d of him.

Secondly , He was positive and obstinate, and the most positive in the most simple and inconsistent Things, such as were intollerable to bear.