Chapter 1

by Jane Austen

　　No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in herinfancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother,her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected,or poor, and a very respectable man, though his namewas Richard--and he had never been handsome. He had aconsiderable independence besides two good livings--and hewas not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters.Her mother was a woman of useful plain sense, with agood temper, and, what is more remarkable, with agood constitution. She had three sons before Catherinewas born; and instead of dying in bringing the latterinto the world, as anybody might expect, she still livedon--lived to have six children more--to see them growingup around her, and to enjoy excellent health herself.A family of ten children will be always called a fine family,where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number;but the Morlands had little other right to the word,for they were in general very plain, and Catherine,for many years of her life, as plain as any. She hada thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour,dark lank hair, and strong features--so much for her person;and not less unpropiteous for heroism seemed her mind.She was fond of all boy's plays, and greatly preferredcricket not merely to dolls, but to the more heroicenjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding acanary-bird, or watering a rose-bush. Indeed she had notaste for a garden; and if she gathered flowers at all,it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief--at least so itwas conjectured from her always preferring those which shewas forbidden to take. Such were her propensities--herabilities were quite as extraordinary. She never couldlearn or understand anything before she was taught;and sometimes not even then, for she was often inattentive,and occasionally stupid. Her mother was three monthsin teaching her only to repeat the "Beggar's Petition";and after all, her next sister, Sally, could say itbetter than she did. Not that Catherine was alwaysstupid--by no means; she learnt the fable of "The Hareand Many Friends" as quickly as any girl in England.Her mother wished her to learn music; and Catherine wassure she should like it, for she was very fond of tinklingthe keys of the old forlorn spinner; so, at eight yearsold she began. She learnt a year, and could not bear it;and Mrs. Morland, who did not insist on her daughtersbeing accomplished in spite of incapacity or distaste,allowed her to leave off. The day which dismissed themusic-master was one of the happiest of Catherine's life.Her taste for drawing was not superior; though whenevershe could obtain the outside of a letter from her motheror seize upon any other odd piece of paper, she didwhat she could in that way, by drawing houses and trees,hens and chickens, all very much like one another.Writing and accounts she was taught by her father; French byher mother: her proficiency in either was not remarkable,and she shirked her lessons in both whenever she could.What a strange, unaccountable character!--for with allthese symptoms of profligacy at ten years old, she hadneither a bad heart nor a bad temper, was seldom stubborn,scarcely ever quarrelsome, and very kind to the little ones,with few interruptions of tyranny; she was moreover noisyand wild, hated confinement and cleanliness, and loved nothingso well in the world as rolling down the green slope at theback of the house.

　　Such was Catherine Morland at ten. At fifteen,appearances were mending; she began to curl her hairand long for balls; her complexion improved, her featureswere softened by plumpness and colour, her eyes gainedmore animation, and her figure more consequence.Her love of dirt gave way to an inclination for finery,and she grew clean as she grew smart; she had now thepleasure of sometimes hearing her father and motherremark on her personal improvement. "Catherine growsquite a good-looking girl--she is almost pretty today,"were words which caught her ears now and then;and how welcome were the sounds! To look almost prettyis an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who hasbeen looking plain the first fifteen years of her lifethan a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.

　　Mrs. Morland was a very good woman, and wishedto see her children everything they ought to be;but her time was so much occupied in lying-in and teachingthe little ones, that her elder daughters were inevitablyleft to shift for themselves; and it was not very wonderfulthat Catherine, who had by nature nothing heroic about her,should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback,and running about the country at the age of fourteen,to books--or at least books of information--for, providedthat nothing like useful knowledge could be gainedfrom them, provided they were all story and no reflection,she had never any objection to books at all. But fromfifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine;she read all such works as heroines must read to supplytheir memories with those quotations which are so serviceableand so soothing in the vicissitudes of their eventful lives.

　　From Pope, she learnt to censure those who "bear about the mockery of woe." From Gray, that "Many a flower is born to blush unseen, "And waste its fragrance on the desert air." From Thompson, that --"It is a delightful task "To teach the young idea how to shoot." And from Shakespeare she gained a great store of information-- amongst the rest, that --"Trifles light as air, "Are, to the jealous, confirmation strong, "As proofs of Holy Writ." That "The poor beetle, which we tread upon, "In corporal sufferance feels a pang as great "As when a giant dies." And that a young woman in love always looks --"like Patience on a monument "Smiling at Grief."So far her improvement was sufficient--and in manyother points she came on exceedingly well; for though shecould not write sonnets, she brought herself to read them;and though there seemed no chance of her throwing a wholeparty into raptures by a prelude on the pianoforte,of her own composition, she could listen to other people'sperformance with very little fatigue. Her greatestdeficiency was in the pencil--she had no notion ofdrawing--not enough even to attempt a sketch of herlover's profile, that she might be detected in the design.There she fell miserably short of the true heroic height.At present she did not know her own poverty, for she had nolover to portray. She had reached the age of seventeen,without having seen one amiable youth who could call forthher sensibility, without having inspired one real passion,and without having excited even any admiration but whatwas very moderate and very transient. This was strangeindeed! But strange things may be generally accountedfor if their cause be fairly searched out. There was notone lord in the neighbourhood; no--not even a baronet.There was not one family among their acquaintance whohad reared and supported a boy accidentally found attheir door--not one young man whose origin was unknown.Her father had no ward, and the squire of the parishno children.

　　But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perversenessof forty surrounding families cannot prevent her.Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.

　　Mr. Allen, who owned the chief of the propertyabout Fullerton, the village in Wiltshire where theMorlands lived, was ordered to Bath for the benefit of agouty constitution--and his lady, a good-humoured woman,fond of Miss Morland, and probably aware that if adventureswill not befall a young lady in her own village,she must seek them abroad, invited her to go with them.Mr. and Mrs. Morland were all compliance, and Catherineall happiness.