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Chapter 1 David Copperfield's childhood |
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I was born at Blunderstone,in Suffolk,in the east of England,and was given my poor father's name,David Copperfield. |
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Sadly,he never saw me He was much older than my mother when they married,and died six months before I was born. |
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My father's death made my beautiful young mother very unhappy, |
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and she knew she would find life extremely difficult with a new baby and no husband. |
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The richest and most important person in our family was my father's aunt,Miss Betsey Trotwood. |
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She had in fact been married once,to a handsome young husband. |
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But because he demanded money from her,and sometimes beat her,she decided they should separate. |
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He went abroad,and soon news came of his death. |
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Miss Trotwood bought a small house by the sea,and lived there alone,with only one servant. |
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She had not spoken to my father since his marriage,because she considered he had made a mistake in marrying a very young girl. |
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But just before I was born,when she heard that my mother was expecting a baby,she came to visit Blunder- stone. |
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It was a cold,windy Friday afternoon in March. |
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My mother was sitting by the fire,feeling very lonely and unhappy,and crying a little. |
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Suddenly a stern, strange-looking face appeared at the window. |
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"Open the door!" ordered the sternfaced lady. “ |
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My mother was shocked,but obeyed at once. |
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"You must be David Copper field's wife,"said the lady as she entered. “ |
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"I'm Betsey Trotwood. You've heard of me?" “ |
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"Yes，"whispered mother,trembling. "“ |
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How young you are!" cried Miss Betsey."Just a baby!" “ |
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My mother started sobbing again."I know I look like a child! |
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I know I was young to be a wife,and I'm young to be a mother! |
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But perhaps I'll die before I become a mother!" |
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"Come, come! answered Miss Betsey."Have some tea. “ |
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Then you'll feel better.What do you call your girl?" |
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"My girl?I don't know yet that it will be a girl,"replied my mother miserably. “ |
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"No,I don't mean the baby,I mean your servant!" “ |
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"Her name's Peggotty.Her first name's Clara,the same as mine, “ |
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so I call her by her family name,you see." |
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"What a terrible name!However,never mind. Peggotty!"she called,going to the door. “ |
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"Bring Mrs Copperfield some tea at once!" “ |
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She sat down again and continued speaking."You were talking about the baby.I'm sure it'll be a girl. |
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Now,as soon as she' s born..." "He,perhaps," said my mother bravely. |
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"Don' t be stupid,of course it'll be a she.I'm going to send her to school,and educate her well. “ |
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I want to prevent her from making the mistakes I've made in life." |
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Miss Betsey looked quite angry as she said this. |
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My mother said nothing,as she was not feeling at all well. |
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"But tell me,were you and your husband happy?"asked Miss Betsey. “ |
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This made my poor mother feel worse than ever." |
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"I know I wasn't very sensible—about money—or cooking—or things like that!" she sobbed. “ |
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"But we loved each other—and he was helping me to learn—and then he died!Oh!Oh!" “ |
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And she fell back in her chair,completely unconscious. |
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Peggotty,who came in just then with the tea,realized how serious the situation was,and took my mother upstairs to bed. |
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The doctor arrived soon afterwards,and stayed all evening to take care of his patient. |
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At about midnight he came downstairs to the sitting－room where Miss Betsey was waiting impatiently. |
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"Well,doctor, what's the news? How is she?" “ |
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"The young mother is quite comfortable,madam," replied the doctor politely. “ |
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"But she,the baby,how is she?" cried Miss Betsey. “ |
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The doctor looked strangely at Miss Betsey."It's a boy,madam," he replied. |
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Miss Betsey said nothing,but walked straight out of the house,and never came back. |
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That was how I was born. |
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My early childhood was extremely happy,as my beautiful mother and kind Peggotty took care of me. |
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But when I was about eight,a shadow passed over my happiness. |
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My mother often went out walking,in her best clothes,with a gentleman called Mr Murdstone. |
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He had black hair,a big black moustache and an unpleasant smile,and seemed to be very fond of my mother. |
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But I knew that Peggotty did not like him. |
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A few months later Peggotty told me that my mother was going to have a short holiday with some friends. |
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Meanwhile Peggotty and I would go to stay with her brother Daniel in Yarmouth，on the east coast,for two weeks. |
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I was very excited when we climbed into the cart,although it was sad saying goodbye to my mother. |
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Mr Murdstone was at her shoulder,waving goodbye,as the driver called to his horse,and we drove out of the village. |
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When we got down from the cart in Yarmouth,after our journey,Peggotty said,"That's the house,Master David!" |
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I looked all round,but could only see an old ship on the sand. |
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"Is that—that your brother's house?"I asked in delight. |
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And when we reached it,I saw it had doors and windows and a chimney,just like a real house. |
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I could not imagine a nicer place to live. Everything was clean and tidy,and smelt of fish. |
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Now I was introduced to the Peggotty family.There was Daniel Peggotty,a kind old sailor. |
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Although he was not married,he had adopted two orphans,who lived with him and called him Uncle. |
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Ham Peggotty was a large young man with a gentle smile,and Emily was a beautiful,blue-eyed little girl. |
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They all welcomed Peggotty and me warmly. |
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I spent a wonderfully happy two weeks there,playing all day on the beach with Emily,and sleeping in my own little bed on the ship. |
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I am sure I was in love with little Emily in my childish way,and I cried bitterly when we had to say goodbye at the end of the holiday. |
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But on the way home to Blunderstone,Peggotty looked at me very worriedly. |
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"Master David,my dear,"she said suddenly in a trembling voice. “ |
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"I must tell you—you'll have to know now... “ |
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While we've been away,your dear mother—has married Mr Murdstone!He's your stepfather now!" |
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I was deeply shocked. I could not understand how my mother could have married that man. |
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And when we arrived home,I could not help showing my mother how very miserable I was. |
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I went straight to my room and lay sobbing on my bed,which made my poor mother very unhappy too. |
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As she sat beside me,holding my hand,Mr Murdstone suddenly came in. |
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"What's this,Chara,my love?" he asked sternly. “ |
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"Remember，you?must?be firm with the boy!I've told you before,you're too weak with him!" “ |
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"Oh yes，Edward,I'm afraid you're right," my mother replied quickly."I'm very sorry.I'll try to be firmer with him." “ |
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And when she left the room,Mr Murdstone whispered angrily to me, |
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"David,do you know what I'll do if you don't obey me? I'll beat you like a dog!" “ |
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I was still very young,and I was very frightened of him. |
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If he had said one kind word to me,perhaps I would have liked and trusted him,and my life would have been different. |
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Instead,I hated him for the influence he had over my dear mother,who wanted to be kind to me,but also wanted to please her new husband. |
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That evening Mr Murdstone's sister arrived to "help" my mother in the house. |
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A tall dark lady,with a stern,frowning face,she looked and sounded very much like her brother. |
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I thought she was planning to stay with us for a long time,and I was right. |
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In fact,she intended to stay for ever. She started work the next morning. |
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"Now,Clara," she said firmly to my mother at breakfast,"I am here to help you. “ |
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You're much too pretty and thoughtless to worry about the servants,the food and so on. |
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So just hand me your keys to all the cupboards,and I'll take care of everything for you." |
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My poor mother just blushed,looked a little ashamed,and obeyed. |
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From then on,Miss Murdstone took complete control of the house,keeping the keys hanging from her waist as she hurried through the house, |
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checking that everything was being done just as she wished. |
