CHAPTER 1 .
I 0
AM BORN Whether
I 0
shall turn out to be
the hero of
my 0
own life 53
, or whether that station will be held by
anybody else 1
, these pages must show .
To begin
my 0
life with the beginning of
my 0
life ,
I 0
record that
I 0
was born ( as
I 0
have been informed and believe ) on a Friday , at twelve o’clock at night .
It was remarked that the clock began to strike , and
I 0
began to cry , simultaneously .
In consideration of the day and hour of
my 0
birth , it was declared by
the nurse 2
, and by
some sage women in
the neighbourhood 4
who had taken a lively interest in
me 0
several months before there was any possibility of
our 5
becoming personally acquainted 3
, first , that
I 0
was destined to be unlucky in life ; and secondly , that
I 0
was privileged to see ghosts and spirits ; both these gifts inevitably attaching , as
they 3
believed , to
all unlucky infants of either gender , born towards the small hours on a Friday night 6
.
I 0
need say nothing here , on the first head , because nothing can show better than
my 0
history whether that prediction was verified or falsified by the result .
On the second branch of the question ,
I 0
will only remark , that unless
I 0
ran through that part of
my 0
inheritance while
I 0
was still
a baby 54
,
I 0
have not come into it yet .
But
I 0
do not at all complain of having been kept out of
this property 7
; and if
anybody else 8
should be in the present enjoyment of
it 7
,
he 8
is heartily welcome to keep
it 7
.
I 0
was born with a caul , which was advertised for sale , in the newspapers , at the low price of fifteen guineas .
Whether
sea-going people 9
were short of money about that time , or were short of faith and preferred cork jackets ,
I 0
do n’t know ; all
I 0
know is , that there was but one solitary bidding , and that was from
an attorney connected with the bill-broking business 10
, who offered two pounds in cash , and the balance in sherry , but declined to be guaranteed from drowning on any higher bargain .
Consequently the advertisement was withdrawn at a dead loss -- for as to sherry ,
my 0
poor dear mother 11
’s own sherry was in the market then -- and ten years afterwards , the caul was put up in a raffle down in
our 13
part of
the country 14
12
, to fifty members at half-a-crown a head ,
the winner 15
to spend five shillings .
I 0
was present
myself 0
, and
I 0
remember to have felt quite uncomfortable and confused , at a part of
myself 0
being disposed of in that way .
The caul was won ,
I 0
recollect , by
an old lady with a hand-basket 16
, who , very reluctantly , produced from it the stipulated five shillings , all in halfpence , and twopence halfpenny short -- as it took an immense time and a great waste of arithmetic , to endeavour without any effect to prove to
her 16
.
It is a fact which will be long remembered as remarkable down there , that
she 16
was never drowned , but died triumphantly in bed , at ninety-two .
I 0
have understood that it was , to the last ,
her 16
proudest boast , that
she 16
never had been on
the water 17
in
her 16
life , except upon
a bridge 18
; and that over
her 16
tea ( to which
she 16
was extremely partial )
she 16
, to the last , expressed
her 16
indignation at the impiety of
mariners 19
and
others , who had the presumption to go ‘ meandering ’ about
the world 21
20
.
It was in vain to represent to
her 16
that some conveniences , tea perhaps included , resulted from this objectionable practice .
She 16
always returned , with greater emphasis and with an instinctive knowledge of the strength of
her 16
objection , ‘ Let
us 22
have no meandering . ’
Not to meander
myself 0
, at present ,
I 0
will go back to
my 0
birth .
I 0
was born at
Blunderstone 23
, in
Suffolk 24
, or ‘ there by ’ , as
they 25
say in
Scotland 26
.
I 0
was
a posthumous child 55
.
My 0
father 27
’s eyes had closed upon the light of
this world 21
six months , when mine opened on
it 21
.
There is something strange to
me 0
, even now , in the reflection that
he 27
never saw
me 0
; and something stranger yet in the shadowy remembrance that
I 0
have of
my 0
first childish associations with
his 27
white grave-stone in
the churchyard 28
, and of the indefinable compassion
I 0
used to feel for it lying out alone there in the dark night , when
our 30
little parlour 29
was warm and bright with fire and candle , and the doors of
our 30
house 31
were -- almost cruelly , it seemed to
me 0
sometimes -- bolted and locked against it .
An aunt of
my 0
father 27
’s 32
, and consequently
a great-aunt of mine 32
, of whom
I 0
shall have more to relate by and by , was
the principal magnate of
our 34
family 33
59
.
Miss Trotwood 32
, or
Miss Betsey 32
, as
my 0
poor mother 35
always called
her 32
, when
she 35
sufficiently overcame
her 32
dread of
this formidable personage 32
to mention
her 32
at all ( which was seldom ) , had been married to
a husband younger than
herself 32
36
, who was very handsome , except in the sense of the homely adage , ‘ handsome is , that handsome does ’ -- for
he 36
was strongly suspected of having beaten
Miss Betsey 32
, and even of having once , on a disputed question of supplies , made some hasty but determined arrangements to throw
her 32
out of a two pair of
stairs 37
’ window .
These evidences of an incompatibility of temper induced
Miss Betsey 32
to pay
him 36
off , and effect a separation by mutual consent .
He 36
went to
India 38
with
his 36
capital , and
there 38
, according to a wild legend in
our 34
family 33
,
he 36
was once seen riding on an elephant , in company with a Baboon ; but
I 0
think it must have been a Baboo -- or a Begum .
Anyhow , from
India 38
tidings of
his 36
death reached
home 39
, within ten years .
How they affected
my 0
aunt 32
,
nobody 40
knew ; for immediately upon the separation ,
she 32
took
her 32
maiden name again , bought
a cottage in
a hamlet on
the sea-coast a long way off 43
42
41
, established
herself 32
there 41
as
a single woman with
one servant 44
56
, and was understood to live secluded , ever afterwards , in an inflexible retirement .
My 0
father 27
had once been
a favourite of hers 57
,
I 0
believe ; but
she 32
was mortally affronted by
his 27
marriage , on the ground that
my 0
mother 35
was
‘ a wax doll ’ 58
.
She 32
had never seen
my 0
mother 35
, but
she 32
knew
her 35
to be not yet twenty .
My 0
father 27
and
Miss Betsey 32
never met again .
He 27
was double
my 0
mother 35
’s age when
he 27
married , and of but a delicate constitution .
He 27
died a year afterwards , and , as
I 0
have said , six months before
I 0
came into
the world 21
.
This was the state of matters , on the afternoon of , what
I 0
may be excused for calling , that eventful and important Friday .
I 0
can make no claim therefore to have known , at that time , how matters stood ; or to have any remembrance , founded on the evidence of
my 0
own senses , of what follows .
My 0
mother 35
was sitting by the fire , but poorly in health , and very low in spirits , looking at it through
her 35
tears , and desponding heavily about
herself 35
and
the fatherless little stranger , who was already welcomed by some grosses of prophetic pins , in a drawer
upstairs 45
, to a world not at all excited on the subject of
his 0
arrival 0
;
my 0
mother 35
,
I 0
say , was sitting by the fire , that bright , windy March afternoon , very timid and sad , and very doubtful of ever coming alive out of the trial that was before
her 35
, when , lifting
her 35
eyes as
she 35
dried them , to the window opposite ,
she 35
saw
a strange lady coming up
the garden 46
32
.
My 0
mother 35
had a sure foreboding at the second glance , that it was
Miss Betsey 32
.
The setting sun was glowing on
the strange lady 32
, over the garden-fence , and
she 32
came walking up to the door with a fell rigidity of figure and composure of countenance that could have belonged to
nobody 47
else .
When
she 32
reached
the house 31
,
she 32
gave another proof of
her 32
identity .
My 0
father 27
had often hinted that
she 32
seldom conducted
herself 32
like
any ordinary Christian 48
; and now , instead of ringing the bell ,
she 32
came and looked in at that identical window , pressing the end of
her 32
nose against the glass to that extent , that
my 0
poor dear mother 35
used to say it became perfectly flat and white in a moment .
She 32
gave
my 0
mother 35
such a turn , that
I 0
have always been convinced
I 0
am indebted to
Miss Betsey 32
for having been born on a Friday .
My 0
mother 35
had left
her 35
chair in
her 35
agitation , and gone behind it in the corner .
Miss Betsey 32
, looking round
the room 49
, slowly and inquiringly , began on the other side , and carried
her 32
eyes on , like a Saracen ’s Head in a Dutch clock , until they reached
my 0
mother 35
.
Then
she 32
made a frown and a gesture to
my 0
mother 35
, like one who was accustomed to be obeyed , to come and open the door .
My 0
mother 35
went .
Mrs. David Copperfield 35
,
I 32
think , ’ said
Miss Betsey 32
; the emphasis referring , perhaps , to
my 0
mother 35
’s mourning weeds , and
her 35
condition .
‘ Yes , ’ said
my 0
mother 35
, faintly .
Miss Trotwood 32
, ’ said
the visitor 32
.
You 35
have heard of
her 32
,
I 32
dare say ? ’
My 0
mother 35
answered
she 35
had had that pleasure .
And
she 35
had a disagreeable consciousness of not appearing to imply that it had been an overpowering pleasure .
‘ Now
you 35
see
her 32
, ’ said
Miss Betsey 32
.
My 0
mother 35
bent
her 35
head , and begged
her 32
to walk in .
They 50
went into
the parlour
my 0
mother 35
had come from 29
, the fire in
the best room on the other side of
the passage 52
51
not being lighted -- not having been lighted , indeed , since
my 0
father 27
’s funeral ; and when
they 50
were both seated , and
Miss Betsey 32
said nothing ,
my 0
mother 35
, after vainly trying to restrain
herself 35
, began to cry .
‘ Oh tut , tut , tut ! ’
said
Miss Betsey 32
, in a hurry .
‘ Do n’t do that !
Come , come ! ’
My 0
mother 35
could n’t help it notwithstanding , so
she 35
cried until
she 35
had had
her 35
cry out .
‘ Take off
your 35
cap ,
child 35
, ’ said
Miss Betsey 32
, ‘ and let
me 32
see
you 35
. ’
My 0
mother 35
was too much afraid of
her 32
to refuse compliance with this odd request , if
she 35
had any disposition to do so .
Therefore
she 35
did as
she 35
was told , and did it with such nervous hands that
her 35
hair ( which was luxuriant and beautiful ) fell all about
her 35
face .