Latest / Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry / 035 - The Three Wishes Part 1

Transcript

035 - The Three Wishes Part 1 · Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry

0:00
Speaker 1: Section thirty four of Fairy and Folk Tales of the
0:04
Speaker 1: Irish Peasantry. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
0:09
Speaker 1: are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
0:13
Speaker 1: please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Michel Eaton Fairy
0:19
Speaker 1: and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, edited and selected
0:23
Speaker 1: by W. B. Yates, Section thirty four The Three Wishes
0:29
Speaker 1: by W. Carlton, Part one. In ancient times there lived
0:34
Speaker 1: a man called Billy Dawson. He was known to be
0:37
Speaker 1: a great rogue. They say he was descended from the
0:41
Speaker 1: family of the Dawsons, which was the reason I suppose
0:44
Speaker 1: of his carrying their name upon him. Billy, in his
0:48
Speaker 1: youthful days, was the best hand at doing nothing in
0:51
Speaker 1: all Europe. Devil a mortal could come next or near
0:55
Speaker 1: him at idleness. And in consequence of his great practice
0:59
Speaker 1: that way, you may be sure that if any man
1:01
Speaker 1: could make a fortune by it, he would have done it.
1:05
Speaker 1: Billy was the only son of his father, barring two daughters,
1:09
Speaker 1: but they have nothing to do with the story I'm
1:11
Speaker 1: telling you. Indeed, it was kind father and grandfather for
1:16
Speaker 1: Billy to be handy at the knavery as well as
1:19
Speaker 1: at the idleness, for it was well known that not
1:22
Speaker 1: one of their blood ever did an honest act, except
1:26
Speaker 1: with a roguish intention. In short, they were altogether a
1:30
Speaker 1: decant connection and a credit to the name. As for Billy,
1:34
Speaker 1: all the villainy of the family, both plain and ornamental,
1:38
Speaker 1: came down to him by way of legacy. For it
1:41
Speaker 1: so happened that the father, in spite of all his cleverness,
1:45
Speaker 1: had nothing but his roguery to lave him. Billy to
1:49
Speaker 1: do him justice, improved the fortune he got every day,
1:53
Speaker 1: advanced him father into dishonesty and poverty, until at the
1:57
Speaker 1: long run he was acknowledged on all hands to be
2:01
Speaker 1: the completest swindler and the poorest vagabond in the whole parish.
2:06
Speaker 1: Billy's father, in his young days, had often been forced
2:09
Speaker 1: to acknowledge the inconvenience of not having a trade in
2:13
Speaker 1: consequence of some nice point in law called the vagrant act,
2:18
Speaker 1: that sometimes troubled him. On this account, he made up
2:22
Speaker 1: his mind to give Bill an occupation, and he accordingly
2:25
Speaker 1: bound him to a blacksmith. But whether Bill was to
2:28
Speaker 1: live or die by forgery was a puzzle to his father,
2:32
Speaker 1: though the neighbors said that both was most likely. At
2:35
Speaker 1: all events, he was put apprentice to a smith for
2:39
Speaker 1: seven years, and a hard card his master had to
2:42
Speaker 1: play in managing him. He took the proper method, however,
2:46
Speaker 1: for Bill was so lazy and roguish that it would
2:49
Speaker 1: vex a saint to keep him in order. Bill says
2:52
Speaker 1: his master to him one day that he had been
2:55
Speaker 1: sunning himself about the ditches instead of minding his business. Bill,
3:00
Speaker 1: my boy, I'm vexed to the heart to see you
3:03
Speaker 1: in such a bad state of health. You're very ill
3:06
Speaker 1: with that complaint. Call the all overness, however, says he.
3:11
Speaker 1: I think I can cure you. Nothing will bring you
3:14
Speaker 1: about but three or four sound doses every day of
3:18
Speaker 1: a medicine called the oil o the Hazel. Take the
3:21
Speaker 1: first dose now, says he, and he immediately banged him
3:25
Speaker 1: with a hazel cudgel until Bill's bones ached for a
3:29
Speaker 1: week afterwards. If you were my son, said his master,
3:33
Speaker 1: I'd tell you that, as long as I could get
3:36
Speaker 1: a piece of advice growing convenient in the hedges, i'd
3:39
Speaker 1: have you a different youth from what you are. If
3:42
Speaker 1: working was a sin, Bill not an innocent boy ever
3:46
Speaker 1: broke bread, then you would be good people. Scarce you think.
3:50
Speaker 1: But however that may be, I throw it out as
3:53
Speaker 1: a hint that you must take your medicine till you're cured,
3:57
Speaker 1: whenever you happen to get on well. In the same way,
4:00
Speaker 1: from this out he kept Bill's nose to the grinding stone,
4:04
Speaker 1: and whenever his complaint returned, he never failed to give
4:07
Speaker 1: him a hearty dose for his improvement. In the course
4:10
Speaker 1: of time, however, Bill was his own man and his
4:14
Speaker 1: own master. But it would puzzle a saint to know
4:17
Speaker 1: whether the master or the man was the more precious
4:20
Speaker 1: youth in the eyes of the world. He immediately married
4:23
Speaker 1: a wife and devil a doubt of it. But if
4:27
Speaker 1: he kept her in whiskey and sugar, she kept him
4:30
Speaker 1: in hot water. Bill drank and she drank. Bill thought
4:35
Speaker 1: and she fought. Bill was idle and she was idle.
4:39
Speaker 1: Bill whacked her, and she whacked Bill. If Bill gave
4:43
Speaker 1: her one black eye, she gave him another, just to
4:46
Speaker 1: keep herself in countenance. Never was there a blessed pair
4:50
Speaker 1: so well met, and a beautiful sight it was to
4:53
Speaker 1: see them both at breakfast time, blinking at each other
4:57
Speaker 1: across the potato basket, Bill with his right tie black,
5:00
Speaker 1: and she with her left. In short, there were the
5:04
Speaker 1: talk of the whole town, and to see Bill of
5:06
Speaker 1: a morning staggering home drunk, his shirt sleeves rolled up
5:10
Speaker 1: on his smutted arms, his breast open, and an old
5:14
Speaker 1: tattered leather apron with one corner tucked up under his belt,
5:18
Speaker 1: singing one minute and fighting with his wife the next,
5:21
Speaker 1: she reeling beside him with a discolored eye as a
5:25
Speaker 1: four said, a dirty ragged cap on one side of
5:28
Speaker 1: her head, a pair of Bill's old slippers on her feet,
5:32
Speaker 1: a squalling child on her arm, now coughing and dragging Bill,
5:36
Speaker 1: and again kissing and hugging him. Yes, it was a
5:40
Speaker 1: pleasant picture to see this loving pair in such a state.
5:44
Speaker 1: This might do for a while, but it could not last.
5:47
Speaker 1: They were idle, drunken, and ill conducted, and it was
5:51
Speaker 1: not to be supposed that they would get a farthing
5:54
Speaker 1: candle on their words. They were, of course drove to
5:57
Speaker 1: great straits and faith. They found that their fighting and
6:01
Speaker 1: drinking and idleness made them the laughing sport of the neighbors.
6:06
Speaker 1: But neither brought food to their children, put a coat
6:09
Speaker 1: upon their backs, nor satisfied their landlord when he came
6:12
Speaker 1: to look for his own. Still the never a one
6:15
Speaker 1: of Bill was a funny fellow with strangers, though, as
6:18
Speaker 1: we said, the greatest rogue unhanged. One day he was
6:22
Speaker 1: standing against his own anvil, completely in a brown study,
6:26
Speaker 1: being brought to his wits end how to make out
6:29
Speaker 1: a breakfast for the family. The wife was scolding and
6:32
Speaker 1: cursing in the house, and the naked creatures of children
6:36
Speaker 1: squalling about her knees for food. Bill was fairly at
6:39
Speaker 1: an ant plush, and knew not where or how to
6:42
Speaker 1: turn himself. When a poor, withered old beggar came into
6:46
Speaker 1: the forge, tottering on his staff, A long white beard
6:50
Speaker 1: fell from his chin, and he looked as thin and
6:53
Speaker 1: hungry that you might blow him, one would think over
6:56
Speaker 1: the house. Bill at this moment had been brought to
6:59
Speaker 1: his sets by distress, and his heart had a touch
7:02
Speaker 1: of pity towards the old man, for on looking at
7:06
Speaker 1: him a second time, he clearly saw starvation and sorrow
7:10
Speaker 1: in his face. God save you, honest man, said Bill.
7:14
Speaker 1: The old man gave a sigh, and raising himself with
7:17
Speaker 1: great pain on his staff. He looked at Bill in
7:20
Speaker 1: a very beseeching way. Musha, God save you, kindly, says he.
7:26
Speaker 1: Maybe you could give a poor, hungry, helpless old man
7:29
Speaker 1: a mouthful of something to eat. You see yourself, I'm
7:32
Speaker 1: not able to work. If I was, i'd scorn to
7:36
Speaker 1: be beholding to any one faith, honest man, said Bill.
7:41
Speaker 1: If you knew who you're speaking to, you'd as soon
7:44
Speaker 1: ask a monkey for a churn staff as me for
7:47
Speaker 1: either mate or money. There's not a blackguard in the
7:50
Speaker 1: three kingdoms. So fairly on the shagrin as I am
7:54
Speaker 1: for both the one and the other. The wife within
7:57
Speaker 1: is sending the curses thick and heavy on me, and
8:00
Speaker 1: the children's playing the cat's melody to keep her in comfort.
8:03
Speaker 1: Take my word for it, poor man, if I had
8:06
Speaker 1: either mate or money, i'd help you, for I know
8:10
Speaker 1: particularly well what it is to want them at the present.
8:13
Speaker 1: Speaking an empty sack won't stand neighbor so far. Bill
8:18
Speaker 1: told him truth. The good thought was in his heart
8:22
Speaker 1: because he found himself on a footing with the beggar.
8:25
Speaker 1: And nothing brings down pride or softens the heart like
8:29
Speaker 1: feeling what it is to want. Why you are in
8:32
Speaker 1: a worse state than I am, said the old man.
8:35
Speaker 1: You have a family to provide for, and I have
8:38
Speaker 1: only myself to support. You may kiss the book on that,
8:42
Speaker 1: my old worthy replied Bill. But come what I can
8:46
Speaker 1: do for you. I will plant yourself up here beside
8:49
Speaker 1: the fire, and I'll give it a blast or two
8:52
Speaker 1: of my bellows that will warm the old blood in
8:54
Speaker 1: your body. It's a cold, miserable, snowy day, and a
8:59
Speaker 1: good heat will be of service. Thank you, kindly, said
9:02
Speaker 1: the old man. I am cold, and a warming at
9:05
Speaker 1: your fire will do me good, sure enough. Oh it
9:09
Speaker 1: is a bitter, bitter day, God bless it. He then
9:12
Speaker 1: sat down and Bill blew a rousing blast that soon
9:16
Speaker 1: made the stranger edge back from the heat. In a
9:19
Speaker 1: short time, he felt quite comfortable, and when the numbness
9:22
Speaker 1: was taken out of his joints, he buttoned himself up
9:25
Speaker 1: and prepared to depart. Now, says he to Bill, you
9:29
Speaker 1: hadn't the food to give me, but what you could
9:32
Speaker 1: you did. Ask any three wishes you choose, and be
9:36
Speaker 1: they what they may. Take my word for it, they
9:39
Speaker 1: shall be granted. Now. The truth is that Bill, though
9:42
Speaker 1: he believed himself a great man, in point of cuteness, wanted,
9:47
Speaker 1: after all, a full quarter of being square, for there
9:51
Speaker 1: is always a great difference between a wise man and
9:53
Speaker 1: a knave. Bill was so much of a rogue that
9:57
Speaker 1: he could not, for the blood of him, ask an
9:59
Speaker 1: honest wish, but stood scratching his head in a puzzle.
10:03
Speaker 1: Three wishes, said he, Why let me see, did you
10:07
Speaker 1: say three? I replied the stranger, three wishes? That was
10:13
Speaker 1: what I said, Well, said Bill, here goes ha ha.
10:17
Speaker 1: Let me alone, my old, worthy faith, I'll overreach the parish.
10:22
Speaker 1: If what you say is true, I'll cheat them in dozens,
10:25
Speaker 1: rich and poor, old and young. Let me alone, man,
10:28
Speaker 1: I have it here, and he tapped his forehead with
10:31
Speaker 1: great glee. Faith, you're the sort to meat of a
10:34
Speaker 1: frosty morning when a man wants his breakfast. And I'm
10:38
Speaker 1: sorry that I have neither money nor credit to get
10:40
Speaker 1: a bottle of whiskey that we might take our morning together. Well,
10:45
Speaker 1: but let us hear the wishes, said the old man.
10:48
Speaker 1: My time is short, and I cannot stay much longer.
10:51
Speaker 1: Do you see this sledgehammer? Said Bill. I wish in
10:55
Speaker 1: the first place that whoever takes it up in their
10:57
Speaker 1: hands may never be able to lay it till I
11:00
Speaker 1: give them lave, and that whoever begins to sledge with
11:03
Speaker 1: it may never stop sledging till it's my pleasure to
11:06
Speaker 1: release him. Secondly, I have an arm chair, and I
11:10
Speaker 1: wish that whoever sits down in it may never rise
11:13
Speaker 1: out of it till they have my consent. And thirdly,
11:17
Speaker 1: that whatever money I put into my purse, nobody may
11:20
Speaker 1: have power to take it out of it but myself.
11:24
Speaker 1: You devil's rip, says the old man, in a passion,
11:27
Speaker 1: shaking his staff across Bill's nose. Why did you not
11:31
Speaker 1: ask something that would serve you both here and hereafter? Sure,
11:34
Speaker 1: it's as common as the market cross that there's not
11:37
Speaker 1: a vagabone in his Majesty's dominions stands more in need
11:41
Speaker 1: of both. Oh, by the elevens, said Bill, I forgot
11:45
Speaker 1: that altogether. Maybe you'd be civil enough to let me
11:48
Speaker 1: change one of them. The sorrow purtier wish ever was made,
11:53
Speaker 1: then I'll make if you'll give me another chance. Get out,
11:56
Speaker 1: you reprobate, said the old man, still in a passion.
12:00
Speaker 1: Your day of grace is past. Little you knew who
12:04
Speaker 1: was speaking to you all this time. I'm Saint Moroky,
12:07
Speaker 1: you blaggard, and I gave you an opportunity of doing
12:11
Speaker 1: something for yourself and your family, but you neglected it,
12:15
Speaker 1: And now your fate is cast, you dirty bog trotting profligate.
12:20
Speaker 1: Sure it's well known what you are, aren't you? A
12:23
Speaker 1: by word in everybody's mouth, you and your scold of
12:25
Speaker 1: a wife. By this and by that. If ever you
12:29
Speaker 1: happen to come across me again, I'll send you to
12:32
Speaker 1: where you won't freeze, you villain. He then gave Bill
12:35
Speaker 1: a rap of his cudgel over the head and laid
12:37
Speaker 1: him at his length beside the bellows, kicked a broken
12:41
Speaker 1: coal scuttle out of his way, and left the forge
12:44
Speaker 1: in a fury. When Bill recovered himself from the effects
12:47
Speaker 1: of the blow and began to think on what had happened,
12:50
Speaker 1: he could have quartered himself with vexation for not asking
12:54
Speaker 1: great wealth as one of the wishes at least, But
12:57
Speaker 1: now the die was cast on him, and he could
13:00
Speaker 1: only make the most of the three he pitched upon.
13:02
Speaker 1: He now bethought him how he might turn them to
13:05
Speaker 1: the best account, And here his cunning came to his aid.
13:08
Speaker 1: He began by sending for his wealthiest neighbors on pretense
13:11
Speaker 1: of business, And when he got them under his roof,
13:15
Speaker 1: he offered them the arm chair to sit down in.
13:17
Speaker 1: He now had them safe. Nor could all the art
13:20
Speaker 1: of man relieve them, except worthy Bill was willing. Bill's
13:24
Speaker 1: plan was to make the best bargain he could before
13:26
Speaker 1: he released his prisoners, and let him alone for knowing
13:29
Speaker 1: how to make their purses bleed. There wasn't a wealthy
13:32
Speaker 1: man in the country he did not fleece. The parson
13:35
Speaker 1: of the parish bled heavily, so did the lawyer, and
13:39
Speaker 1: a rich attorney who had retired from practice, swore that
13:43
Speaker 1: the court of chancery itself was paradise compared to Bill's chair.
13:48
Speaker 1: This was all very good for a time. The fame
13:50
Speaker 1: of his chair, however, soon spread, so did that of
13:53
Speaker 1: his sledge. In a short time. Neither man, woman, nor
13:57
Speaker 1: child would darken his door. All avoided him and his fixtures,
14:02
Speaker 1: as they would a spring gun or man trap. Bill,
14:05
Speaker 1: so long as he fleeced his neighbors, never wrought a
14:08
Speaker 1: hand's turn, so that when his money was out he
14:11
Speaker 1: found himself as badly off as ever. In addition to
14:14
Speaker 1: all this, his character was fifty times worse than before,
14:19
Speaker 1: For it was the general belief that he had dealings
14:22
Speaker 1: with the old boy. Nothing now could exceed his misery, distress,
14:26
Speaker 1: and ill temper. The wife and he and their children
14:30
Speaker 1: all fought among one another. Everybody hated them, cursed them,
14:35
Speaker 1: and avoided them. The people thought they were acquainted with
14:39
Speaker 1: more than Christian people ought to know. This, of course,
14:44
Speaker 1: came to Bill's ears, and it vexed him very much.
14:48
Speaker 1: One day, he was walking about the fields, thinking of
14:51
Speaker 1: how he could raise the wind once more. The day
14:54
Speaker 1: was dark, and he found himself before he stopped in
14:58
Speaker 1: the bottom of a lonely glen covered by great bushes
15:01
Speaker 1: that grew on each side. Well thought he, when every
15:05
Speaker 1: other means of raising money failed him. It's reported the
15:08
Speaker 1: time in league with the old boy. And as it's
15:11
Speaker 1: a folly to have the name of the connection without
15:13
Speaker 1: the profit, I'm ready to make a bargain with him
15:16
Speaker 1: any day, so said he, raising his voice. Nick you, sinner,
15:21
Speaker 1: if you be convenient and willing, why stand out here,
15:24
Speaker 1: show your best leg. Here's your man. The words were
15:28
Speaker 1: hardly out of his mouth when a dark, sober looking
15:31
Speaker 1: old gentleman not unlike a lawyer walked up to him.
15:35
Speaker 1: Bill looked at the foot and saw the hoof Morrow.
15:38
Speaker 1: Nick said Bill Morrow, Bill said Nick, Well, Bill, what's
15:43
Speaker 1: the news? Devil A much myself hears of late, says Bill.
15:48
Speaker 1: Is there anything fresh below? I can't exactly say, Bill.
15:52
Speaker 1: I spend little of my time down now. The tourries
15:55
Speaker 1: are in office, and my hands are consequently too full
15:58
Speaker 1: of business here to pay much attention to anything else.
16:03
Speaker 1: A fine place, this, sir, says Bill, to take a
16:06
Speaker 1: constitutional walking. When I want an appetite, I often come
16:10
Speaker 1: this way myself. High feeding is very bad without exercise
16:15
Speaker 1: high feeding. Come come, Bill. You know you didn't taste
16:19
Speaker 1: a morsel these four and twenty hours. You know that's abound, Nick.
16:23
Speaker 1: I eat to breakfast this morning. That would put a
16:26
Speaker 1: stone of flesh on you if you only smelt at it.
16:29
Speaker 1: No matter, this is not to the purpose. What's that
16:33
Speaker 1: you were muttering to yourself a while ago? If you
16:35
Speaker 1: want to come to the brunt here, I'm for you,
16:39
Speaker 1: Nick said Bill. You're complete. You want nothing barring a
16:42
Speaker 1: pair of Brian o'lyn's breeches. Bill, in fact, was bent
16:47
Speaker 1: on making his companion open the bargain, because he had
16:51
Speaker 1: often heard that in that case, with proper care on
16:54
Speaker 1: his own part, he might defeat him in the long run.
16:58
Speaker 1: The other, however, was his matt. What was the nature
17:01
Speaker 1: of Brian's garment, inquired Nick. Why you know the song?
17:06
Speaker 1: Said Bill. Brian Olin had no breeches to wear, so
17:10
Speaker 1: he got a sheepskin for to make him a pair
17:13
Speaker 1: with the fleshy side out and the wooly side in.
17:15
Speaker 1: They'll be pleasant and cool, says brian Olin. A cool
17:19
Speaker 1: pair would serve you. Nick. You're mighty waggish to day,
17:23
Speaker 1: mister Dawson, and good right, I have said Bill. I'm
17:27
Speaker 1: a man snug and well to do in the world,
17:29
Speaker 1: have lots of money, plenty of good eating and drinking,
17:32
Speaker 1: and what more need a man wish for? True, said
17:35
Speaker 1: the other. In the meantime, it's rather odd that so
17:38
Speaker 1: respectable a man should not have six inches of unbroken
17:42
Speaker 1: cloth in his apparel. You are as naked a tattered
17:45
Speaker 1: emalion as I ever laid my eyes on in full
17:48
Speaker 1: dress for a party of scarecrows. William. That's my own
17:52
Speaker 1: fancy dress, Nick, I don't work at my trade like
17:55
Speaker 1: a gentleman. This is my forged dress. You know well,
17:59
Speaker 1: but what did you summon me here for? Said the other.
18:02
Speaker 1: You may as well speak out, I tell you, for
18:05
Speaker 1: my good friend. Unless you do, I shan't smell that.
18:10
Speaker 1: I smell more than that, said Bill. And by the way,
18:13
Speaker 1: I'll thank you to give me the windy side of
18:15
Speaker 1: you curse l sulfur. I say, there, that's what I
18:20
Speaker 1: call an improvement in my condition. But as you are
18:23
Speaker 1: so stiff, says Bill, why the short and long of
18:26
Speaker 1: it is that hem? You see? I'm er sure you
18:31
Speaker 1: know I have a thriving trade of my own, and
18:34
Speaker 1: that if I like, I needn't be at a loss.
18:36
Speaker 1: But in the meantime I'm rather in a kind of so,
18:40
Speaker 1: so don't you take? And Bill winks, knowingly hoping to
18:44
Speaker 1: trick him into the first proposal. You must speak above board,
18:49
Speaker 1: my friend, says the other. I'm a man of few words,
18:52
Speaker 1: blunt and honest. If you have anything to say, be plain.
18:56
Speaker 1: Don't think I can be losing my time with such
18:59
Speaker 1: a pitiful rask. As you are well, says Bill. I
19:02
Speaker 1: want money, then, and I'm ready to come into terms.
19:06
Speaker 1: What have you to say to that? Nick? Let me see,
19:09
Speaker 1: let me look at you, says his companion, turning him about. Now, Bill,
19:15
Speaker 1: in the first place, are you not as finished a
19:17
Speaker 1: scarecrow as ever stood upon two legs? I play second
19:21
Speaker 1: fiddle to you. There again, says Bill. There you stand
19:24
Speaker 1: with the blackguard's coat of arms quartered under your eye.
19:28
Speaker 1: And don't make little of blackguards, said Bill, nor speak
19:32
Speaker 1: disparagingly of your own crest. Why what would you bring, you,
19:37
Speaker 1: brazen rascal, If you were fairly put up at auction, faith,
19:42
Speaker 1: I'd bring more bidders than you would, said Bill. If
19:45
Speaker 1: you were to go off at auction tomorrow, I tell
19:48
Speaker 1: you they should bid downwards to come to your value. Nicholas,
19:51
Speaker 1: we have no coin small enough to purchase you well,
19:55
Speaker 1: no matter, said Nick. If you are willing to be
19:58
Speaker 1: mine at the expiration of seven year, I will give
20:01
Speaker 1: you more money than ever the rascally breed of you
20:03
Speaker 1: was worth done, said Bill. But no disparagement to my
20:07
Speaker 1: family in the meantime. So down with the hard cash,
20:11
Speaker 1: and don't be a nagar. The money was accordingly paid down,
20:15
Speaker 1: but as nobody was present except the giver and receiver,
20:19
Speaker 1: the amount of what Bill got was never known. Won't
20:22
Speaker 1: you give me a luckpenny, said the old gentleman tut said, Billy,
20:27
Speaker 1: so prosperous an old fellow as you cannot want it. However,
20:31
Speaker 1: bad luck to you with all my heart. And it's
20:34
Speaker 1: rubbing grease to a fat pig to say so, be
20:37
Speaker 1: off now, or I'll commit suicide on you. Your absence
20:41
Speaker 1: is a cordial to most people, You infernal, old profligate.
20:45
Speaker 1: You have injured my morals, even for the short time
20:48
Speaker 1: you have been with me, For I don't find myself
20:51
Speaker 1: so virtuous as I was. Is that your gratitude, Billy?
20:55
Speaker 1: Is it gratitude you speak of? Man? I wonder you
20:58
Speaker 1: don't blush when you name it. However, when you come again,
21:02
Speaker 1: if you bring a third eye in your head, you
21:04
Speaker 1: will see what I mean. Nicholas Ahagur, the old gentleman,
21:09
Speaker 1: as Bill spoke, hopped across the ditch on his way
21:12
Speaker 1: to Downing Street, whereof late his thought he possesses much influence.
21:17
Speaker 1: Bill now began by degrees to show off, but still
21:20
Speaker 1: wrought a little at his trade to blindfold the neighbors.
21:24
Speaker 1: In a very short time, however, he became a great man.
21:28
Speaker 1: So long indeed, as he was a poor rascal, no
21:32
Speaker 1: decent person would speak to him. Even the proud serving
21:35
Speaker 1: men at the big house would turn up their noses
21:38
Speaker 1: at him. And he well deserved to be made little
21:41
Speaker 1: of by others, because he was mean enough to make
21:44
Speaker 1: little of himself. But when it was seen and known
21:47
Speaker 1: that he had oceans of money, it was wonderful to think,
21:51
Speaker 1: although he was now a greater blackguard than ever, how
21:54
Speaker 1: those who despised him before began to come round him
21:58
Speaker 1: and caught his company. Bill, however, had neither sense nor
22:02
Speaker 1: spirit to make those sunshiny friends know their distance, not tea.
22:06
Speaker 1: Instead of that, he was proud to be seen in
22:08
Speaker 1: decent company, And so long as the money lasted, it
22:12
Speaker 1: was hail fellow well met between himself and every fair
22:17
Speaker 1: faced sponger who had a horse under him, a decent
22:21
Speaker 1: coat to his back, and a good appetite to eat
22:23
Speaker 1: his dinners with riches and all. Bill was the same
22:27
Speaker 1: man still. But somehow or other there was a great
22:30
Speaker 1: difference between a rich profligate and a poor one, and
22:34
Speaker 1: Bill found it so to his cost. In both cases.
22:37
Speaker 1: Before half the seven years was pasted, Bill had his carriage,
22:41
Speaker 1: and his equipages was hand and glove, with my lord
22:44
Speaker 1: this and my lord that kept hounds and hunters, was
22:48
Speaker 1: the first sportsman at the Cura, patronized every boxing ruffian
22:52
Speaker 1: he could pick up, and betted night and day on cards,
22:56
Speaker 1: dice and horses. Bill, in short, should be a blood,
23:00
Speaker 1: And except he did all this, he could not presume
23:03
Speaker 1: to mingle with the fashionable bloods of this time. It's
23:07
Speaker 1: an old proverb, however, that what is got over the
23:10
Speaker 1: devil's back is sure to go off under it, and
23:13
Speaker 1: in Bill's case this proved true. In short, the old
23:17
Speaker 1: boy himself could not supply him with money so fast
23:20
Speaker 1: as he made it fly. It was come easy, go
23:23
Speaker 1: easy with Bill, and no sign was on it before
23:27
Speaker 1: he came. Within two years of his time, he found
23:30
Speaker 1: his purse empty, And now came the value of his
23:33
Speaker 1: summer friends to be known. When it was discovered that
23:36
Speaker 1: the cash was no longer flush with him, that stud
23:39
Speaker 1: and carriage and hounds were going to the hammer wish
23:43
Speaker 1: off they went, friends, relations, pot companions, dinner eaters, black legs,
23:50
Speaker 1: and all, Like a flock of crows that had smelt
23:52
Speaker 1: gunpowder down. Bill soon went week after week and day
23:57
Speaker 1: after day, until at last he was obliged to put
23:59
Speaker 1: off on the leather apron, and take to the hammer again.
24:03
Speaker 1: And not only that, for as no experience could make
24:06
Speaker 1: him wise, he once more began his tap room brawls,
24:10
Speaker 1: his quarrels with judy, and took to his high feeding
24:14
Speaker 1: at the dry potatoes and salt. Now too came the
24:17
Speaker 1: cutting tongs of all who knew him, like razors upon him.
24:22
Speaker 1: Those that he scorned because they were poor and himself rich,
24:26
Speaker 1: now paid him back his own with interest. And those
24:29
Speaker 1: that he measured himself with, because they were rich and
24:32
Speaker 1: who had countenanced him in consequence of his wealth, gave
24:35
Speaker 1: him the hardest word in their cheek. The devil meant him.
24:38
Speaker 1: He deserved it all and more if he had got it. Bill, however,
24:43
Speaker 1: who was a hardened sinner, never fretted himself down an
24:46
Speaker 1: ounce of flesh by what was said to him or
24:49
Speaker 1: of him. Not He he cursed, and fought, and swore,
24:54
Speaker 1: and schemed away as usual, taking in every one he could,
24:58
Speaker 1: and surely none could match him at villainy of all
25:03
Speaker 1: sorts and sizes. End of Section thirty four