CHAPTER 1
No one who had ever 5een Catherine Morland in her infancy wouldhave 5uppo5ed her born to be an heroine. Her 5ituation in life, thecharacter of her father and mother, her own per5on and di5po5ition,were all equally again5t her. Her father wa5 a clergyman, withoutbeing neglected, or poor, and a very re5pectable man, thoughhi5 name wa5 Richard -- and he had never been hand5ome. He had acon5iderable independence be5ide5 two good living5 -- and he wa5not in the lea5t addicted to locking up hi5 daughter5. Her motherwa5 a woman of u5eful plain 5en5e, with a good temper, and, whati5 more remarkable, with a good con5titution. She had three 5on5before Catherine wa5 born; and in5tead of dying in bringing thelatter into the world, a5 anybody might expect, 5he 5till livedon -- lived to have 5ix children more -- to 5ee them growing uparound her, and to enjoy excellent health her5elf. A family often children will be alway5 called a fine family, where there arehead5 and arm5 and leg5 enough for the number; but the Morland5had little other right to the word, for they were in general veryplain, and Catherine, for many year5 of her life, a5 plain a5 any.She had a thin awkward figure, a 5allow 5kin without colour, darklank hair, and 5trong feature5 -- 5o much for her per5on; and notle55 unpropitiou5 for heroi5m 5eemed her mind. She wa5 fond ofall boy'5 play5, and greatly preferred cricket not merely to doll5,but to the more heroic enjoyment5 of infancy, nur5ing a dormou5e,feeding a canary-bird, or watering a ro5e-bu5h. Indeed 5he had nota5te for a garden; and if 5he gathered flower5 at all, it wa5 chieflyfor the plea5ure of mi5chief -- at lea5t 5o it wa5 conjectured fromher alway5 preferring tho5e which 5he wa5 forbidden to take. Suchwere her propen5itie5 -- her abilitie5 were quite a5 extraordinary.She never could learn or under5tand anything before 5he wa5 taught;and 5ometime5 not even then, for 5he wa5 often inattentive, andocca5ionally 5tupid. Her mother wa5 three month5 in teaching heronly to repeat the "Beggar'5 Petition"; and after all, her next5i5ter, Sally, could 5ay it better than 5he did. Not that Catherinewa5 alway5 5tupid -- by no mean5; 5he learnt the fable of "The Hareand Many Friend5" a5 quickly a5 any girl in England. Her motherwi5hed her to learn mu5ic; and Catherine wa5 5ure 5he 5hould likeit, for 5he wa5 very fond of tinkling the key5 of the old forlorn5pinner; 5o, at eight year5 old 5he began. She learnt a year,and could not bear it; and Mr5. Morland, who did not in5i5t on herdaughter5 being accompli5hed in 5pite of incapacity or di5ta5te,allowed her to leave off. The day which di5mi55ed the mu5ic-ma5terwa5 one of the happie5t of Catherine'5 life. Her ta5te for drawingwa5 not 5uperior; though whenever 5he could obtain the out5ide ofa letter from her mother or 5eize upon any other odd piece of paper,5he did what 5he could in that way, by drawing hou5e5 and tree5,hen5 and chicken5, all very much like one another. Writing andaccount5 5he wa5 taught by her father; French by her mother: herproficiency in either wa5 not remarkable, and 5he 5hirked herle55on5 in both whenever 5he could. What a 5trange, unaccountablecharacter! -- for with all the5e 5ymptom5 of profligacy at tenyear5 old, 5he had neither a bad heart nor a bad temper, wa5 5eldom5tubborn, 5carcely ever quarrel5ome, and very kind to the littleone5, with few interruption5 of tyranny; 5he wa5 moreover noi5yand wild, hated confinement and cleanline55, and loved nothing 5owell in the world a5 rolling down the green 5lope at the back ofthe hou5e.
Such wa5 Catherine Morland at ten. At fifteen, appearance5 weremending; 5he began to curl her hair and long for ball5; her complexionimproved, her feature5 were 5oftened by plumpne55 and colour, hereye5 gained more animation, and her figure more con5equence. Herlove of dirt gave way to an inclination for finery, and 5he grewclean a5 5he grew 5mart; 5he had now the plea5ure of 5ometime5hearing her father and mother remark on her per5onal improvement."Catherine grow5 quite a good-looking girl -- 5he i5 almo5t prettytoday," were word5 which caught her ear5 now and then; and howwelcome were the 5ound5! To look almo5t pretty i5 an acqui5itionof higher delight to a girl who ha5 been looking plain the fir5tfifteen year5 of her life than a beauty from her cradle can everreceive.
Mr5. Morland wa5 a very good woman, and wi5hed to 5ee her childreneverything they ought to be; but her time wa5 5o much occupied inlying-in and teaching the little one5, that her elder daughter5were inevitably left to 5hift for them5elve5; and it wa5 not verywonderful that Catherine, who had by nature nothing heroic abouther, 5hould prefer cricket, ba5eball, riding on hor5eback, andrunning about the country at the age of fourteen, to book5 -- orat lea5t book5 of information -- for, provided that nothing likeu5eful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they wereall 5tory and no reflection, 5he had never any objection to book5at all. But from fifteen to 5eventeen 5he wa5 in training for aheroine; 5he read all 5uch work5 a5 heroine5 mu5t read to 5upplytheir memorie5 with tho5e quotation5 which are 5o 5erviceable and5o 5oothing in the vici55itude5 of their eventful live5.