The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne (short novels to read .txt) 📖

the Sorbonne.⁠⸻That was last year, replied I.⁠—But you have trod this moment upon a king.⁠⸺⁠Kings have bad times on’t, said I, to be trod upon by such people as me.

You have done it, replied my accuser.

I deny it, quoth I, and so have got off, and here am I standing with my bridle in one hand, and with my cap in the other, to tell my story.⁠⸻And what is it? You shall hear in the next chapter.

XXI

As Francis the first of France was one winterly night warming himself over the embers of a wood fire, and talking with his first minister of sundry things for the good of the state15⁠—It would not be amiss, said the king, stirring up the embers with his cane, if this good understanding betwixt ourselves and Switzerland was a little strengthened.⁠—There is no end, Sire, replied the minister, in giving money to these people⁠—they would swallow up the treasury of France.⁠—Poo! poo! answered the king⁠—there are more ways, Mons. le Premier, of bribing states, besides that of giving money⁠—I’ll pay Switzerland the honour of standing godfather for my next child.⁠⸺⁠Your majesty, said the minister, in so doing, would have all the grammarians in Europe upon your back;⁠⸺⁠Switzerland, as a republick, being a female, can in no construction be godfather.⁠—She may be godmother, replied Francis hastily⁠—so announce my intentions by a courier tomorrow morning.

I am astonished, said Francis the First, (that day fortnight) speaking to his minister as he entered the closet, that we have had no answer from Switzerland.⁠⸺⁠Sire, I wait upon you this moment, said Mons. le Premier, to lay before you my dispatches upon that business.⁠—They take it kindly, said the king.⁠—They do, Sire, replied the minister, and have the highest sense of the honour your majesty has done them⁠⸺⁠but the republick, as godmother, claims her right, in this case, of naming the child.

In all reason, quoth the king⁠⸺⁠she will christen him Francis, or Henry, or Lewis, or some name that she knows will be agreeable to us. Your majesty is deceived, replied the minister⁠⸺⁠I have this hour received a dispatch from our resident, with the determination of the republick on that point also.⁠⸺⁠And what name has the republick fixed upon for the Dauphin?⁠⸺⁠Shadrach, Meshech, Abed-nego, replied the minister.⁠—By Saint Peter’s girdle, I will have nothing to do with the Swiss, cried Francis the First, pulling up his breeches and walking hastily across the floor.

Your majesty, replied the minister calmly, cannot bring yourself off.

We’ll pay them in money⁠⸻said the king.

Sire, there are not sixty thousand crowns in the treasury, answered the minister.⁠⸺⁠I’ll pawn the best jewel in my crown, quoth Francis the First.

Your honour stands pawn’d already in this matter, answered Monsieur le Premier.

Then, Mons. le Premier, said the king, by⁠⸻we’ll go to war with ’em.

XXII

Albeit, gentle reader, I have lusted earnestly, and endeavoured carefully (according to the measure of such a slender skill as God has vouchsafed me, and as convenient leisure from other occasions of needful profit and healthful pastime have permitted) that these little books which I here put into thy hands, might stand instead of many bigger books⁠—yet have I carried myself towards thee in such fanciful guise of careless disport, that right sore am I ashamed now to intreat thy lenity seriously⁠⸻in beseeching thee to believe it of me, that in the story of my father and his christian-names⁠—I have no thoughts of treading upon Francis the First⁠⸺⁠nor in the affair of the nose⁠—upon Francis the Ninth⁠—nor in the character of my uncle Toby⁠⸺⁠of characterizing the militiating spirits of my country⁠—the wound upon his groin, is a wound to every comparison of that kind⁠—nor by Trim⁠—that I meant the duke of Ormond⁠⸺⁠or that my book is wrote against predestination, or free-will, or taxes⁠—If ’tis wrote against anything,⁠⸺’tis wrote, an’ please your worships, against the spleen! in order, by a more frequent and a more convulsive elevation and depression of the diaphragm, and the succussations of the intercostal and abdominal muscles in laughter, to drive the gall and other bitter juices from the gallbladder, liver, and sweetbread of his majesty’s subjects, with all the inimicitious passions which belong to them, down into their duodenums.

XXIII

—But can the thing be undone, Yorick? said my father⁠—for in my opinion, continued he, it cannot. I am a vile canonist, replied Yorick⁠—but of all evils, holding suspense to be the most tormenting, we shall at least know the worst of this matter. I hate these great dinners⁠⸺⁠said my father⁠—The size of the dinner is not the point, answered Yorick⁠⸺⁠we want, Mr. Shandy, to dive into the bottom of this doubt, whether the name can be changed or not⁠—and as the beards of so many commissaries, officials, advocates, proctors, registers, and of the most eminent of our school-divines, and others, are all to meet in the middle of one table, and Didius has so pressingly invited you⁠—who in your distress would miss such an occasion? All that is requisite, continued Yorick, is to apprize Didius, and let him manage a conversation after dinner so as to introduce the subject.⁠—Then my brother Toby, cried my father, clapping his two hands together, shall go with us.

⸺⁠Let my old tye-wig, quoth my uncle Toby, and my laced regimentals, be hung to the fire all night, Trim.

XXV

—No doubt, Sir,⁠—there is a whole chapter wanting here⁠—and a chasm of ten pages made in the book by it⁠—but the bookbinder is neither a fool, or a knave, or a puppy⁠—nor is the book a jot more imperfect (at least upon that score)⁠⸺⁠but, on the contrary, the book is more perfect and complete by wanting the chapter, than having it, as I shall demonstrate to your reverences in this manner.⁠—I question first, by the by, whether the same experiment might not be made as successfully upon sundry other chapters⁠⸻but there is no end, an’ please your reverences, in trying experiments upon chapters⁠⸻we have had enough of