The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Volume 01Smollett, T. (Tobias)
General
The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Volume 01
Smollett, T. (Tobias)
Adventure stories; Gothic fiction
Having well-nigh stifled his countryman with embraces, and besmeared
himself with pulville from head to foot, he proceeded in this manner,
"Mercy upon thee, knight, thou art so transmographied, and bedaubed, and
bedizened, that thou mought rob thy own mother without fear of
information. Look ye here now, I will be trussed, if the very bitch that
was brought up in thy own bosom knows thee again. Hey, Sweetlips, here
hussy, d--n the tuoad, dos't n't know thy old measter? Ey, ey, thou
may'st smell till Christmas, I'll be bound to be hanged, knight, if the
creature's nose an't foundered by the d----d stinking perfumes you have
got among you."
These compliments being passed, the two knights sat down by one another,
and Sir Stentor being asked by his neighbour, upon what errand he had
crossed the sea, gave him to understand, that he had come to France, in
consequence of a wager with Squire Snaffle, who had laid a thousand
pounds, that he, Sir Stentor, would not travel to Paris by himself, and
for a whole month appear every day at a certain hour in the public walks,
without wearing any other dress than that in which he saw him. "The
fellor has got no more stuff in his pate," continued this polite
stranger, "than a jackass, to think I could not find my way hither thof I
could not jabber your French lingo. Ecod! the people of this country are
sharp enough to find out your meaning, when you want to spend anything
among them; and, as for the matter of dress, bodikins! for a thousand
pound, I would engage to live in the midst of them, and show myself
without any clothes at all. Odds heart! a true-born Englishman needs not
be ashamed to show his face, nor his backside neither, with the best
Frenchman that ever trod the ground. Thof we Englishmen don't beplaister
our doublets with gold and silver, I believe as how we have our pockets
better lined than most of our neighbours; and for all my bit of a fustian
frock, that cost me in all but forty shillings, I believe, between you
and me, knight, I have more dust in my fob, than all those powdered
sparks put together. But the worst of the matter is this; here is no
solid belly-timber in this country. One can't have a slice of delicate
sirloin, or nice buttock of beef, for love nor money. A pize upon them!
I could get no eatables upon the ruoad, but what they called bully, which
looks like the flesh of Pharaoh's lean kine stewed into rags and tatters;
and then their peajohn, peajohn, rabbet them! One would think every old
woman of this kingdom hatched pigeons from her own body."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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