Fielding, Henry (1707-1754)

The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, And of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. Written in Imitation of The Manner of Cervantes, Author of Don Quixote. In Two Volumes

London

Printed for A. Millar

1742

"He had never contracted a Debt in his Life, and was consequently the less ready at an Expedient to extricate himself. Tow-wouse was willing to give him Credit 'till next time, to which Mrs. Tow-wouse would probably have consented (for such was Joseph's Beauty, that it had made some Impression even on that Piece of Flint which that good Woman wore in her Bosom by way of heart.)"

Joseph was now reduced to a Dilemma which extremely puzzled him. The Sum due for Horse-meat was twelve Shillings, (for Adams who had borrowed the Beast of his Clerk, had ordered him to be fed as well as they could feed him) and the Cash in his Pocket amounted to Sixpence (for Adams had divided the last Shilling with him). Now, tho' there have been some ingenious Persons who have contrived to pay twelve Shillings with Sixpence, Joseph was not one of them. He had never contracted a Debt in his Life, and was consequently the less ready at an Expedient to extricate himself. Tow-wouse was willing to give him Credit 'till next time, to which Mrs. Tow-wouse would probably have consented (for such was Joseph's Beauty, that it had made some Impression even on that Piece of Flint which that good Woman wore in her Bosom by way of heart.) Joseph would have found therefore, very likely, the Passage free, had he not, when honestly discovered the Nakedness of his Pockets, pulled out that little Piece of Gold which we have mentioned before. This caused Mrs. Tow-wouse's Eyes to water; she told Joseph, she did not conceive a Man could want Money whilst he had Gold in his Pocket. Joseph answered, he had such a Value for that little Piece of Gold, that he would not part with it for a hundred times the Riches which the greatest Esquire in the Country was worth. 'A pretty way indeed,' said Mrs. Tow-wouse, 'to run in debt, and then refuse to part with you Money, because you have a Value for it. I never knew any piece of Gold of more Value than as many Shillings as it would change for.' [...]
(I.ii.2, pp. 82-3)

Mineral::Flint

Reading

Text from Henry Fielding, The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, And of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. Written in Imitation of The Manner of Cervantes, Author of Don Quixote, 2 vols. (London: Printed for A. Millar, 1742). <Link to ECCO>

See also Henry Fielding, The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and An Apology for the Life of Shamela Andrews, ed. Douglas Brooks-Davies. World Classics Edition (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1980).

09/29/2008

09/29/2008