David Copperfield

Chapter 104 Housework (1)
Chapter 48 Housework (1)
The book I had worked so hard to get published was a success, without hindering the punctual performance of my newspaper duties.Although I am extremely sensitive to the compliments that come my way, and I believe I appreciate my own talents more than anyone else, I am not carried away by them.When I observe human nature, I see that a person who has enough reasons to trust himself never brags in front of others to make others trust him.Therefore, I am humble in my self-esteem so that others can trust me.The more people praise me, the more I am humble enough to deserve it.

Although what I write in this book are all important memories of my life, I do not intend to describe the process of writing my novel in it.They can manifest themselves, and I let them manifest themselves.When I mention them occasionally, it is only as part of the progression of my life.

By this time, I had reason to believe that both natural talent and chance had made me a writer, and I took up the work with confidence.If I hadn't had this confidence, I would have given it up long ago and pursued other activities.Then I have to figure out a long time ago, what my innate talent and chance have arranged for me to do, and then I am obliged to do it.

My submissions to newspapers and elsewhere have always been smooth.So after my endeavours, I feel like I have a reason to stop documenting those annoying debates.So one pleasant evening, after taking note for the last time of that long parliamentary speech, which I never bothered to ask about, I could still make out in the papers the same old tune of the whole session as it had been before.

The period I am writing now is about a year and a half of my marriage.After practice, I have regarded housework as futile and useless.We left the housekeeping to our own devices, we just hired a bellboy.This guy's main job is to fight the cook.

I felt as if he was going to live under the beating of the pot lid all day.His whole life was just a melee.At inopportune times—such as when we had small dinner parties, or when friends visited late in the evening—he would scream, cry for help, or stumble out of the kitchen, being chased by the iron.We wanted to fire him, but he was very attached to us and couldn't bear to leave.He was a crybaby, and when we made the slightest hint that we wanted to cut him off, he burst into tears, and we had to give up.He lost his mother—only his sister.No sooner had his sister delivered him into our hands than she fled to America.He was unusually sensitive to his own condition and wiped his tears from time to time.

This unfortunate little footman, hired at ten pounds six shillings a year, is perpetually giving me trouble.I watched him grow up day by day—anxiously wanting to keep him until the time he shaves, even when he is bald and gray.I see no hope of getting rid of him, and when I imagine his future, I always think what a burden it will be for him to be an old man!

I never expected this guy to get me out of trouble the way he did.He stole Dora's watch and exchanged it for money, which he spent on the stage coaches that traveled constantly between London and Uxbridge.As far as I know, the police caught him on his No. 15 trip.

If he had not repented, the disturbance he had caused and its aftermath would have made me much less unhappy.But he regretted it very much, and in a strange way-not in batches, but in parts.For example, the day after I was forced to testify against him at the police station, he leaked information about a basket in the basement.We thought it was full of wine, but in fact there was nothing else in it except the bottle and cork.We thought he'd confessed to the greatest crime he ever knew about cooks, and we were relieved, didn't we?However, after a day or two, his conscience was freshly condemned, and he confessed that the cook had a little girl who came every morning to take our bread, and how he himself was bribed by the milkman to pay us with coal. help him.After another two or three days, he confessed that there were beef tenderloins buried in the kitchen garbage and sheets hidden in the rag bags.Not long after that, he told the truth in a completely new direction, confessing that he had learned of the hotel bartender's plans to steal from our house, and that the bartender was promptly arrested.I was so ashamed of being such a victim that I would have given him some money to keep him from talking, or a large bribe to give him the chance to escape.But it was a nuisance to him that he understood nothing of it, and thought he was paying me back (not to mention doing me favors) with every new discovery.

Later, as soon as I saw the policeman who brought the new situation, I ran away first.This sneaky life didn't come to an end until he was tried and sent away.Even then he refused to be honest, and kept writing to us, desiring very much to see Dora before he left.So Dora had to visit him, but fainted as soon as she entered the iron gate.In short, I did not live a single day of peace until he was allotted.I later learned that he worked as a shepherd in a place in the "country".As for where it is geographically, I don't know.

All this caused me to ponder deeply, and I gained a new perspective on our faults.As much as I love Dora, I couldn't help telling my Dora one night.

"Honey," I said, "it makes me sad to think that our household chores are so messed up, not only for ourselves, but for others."

"You haven't nagged for days, and now you're going to lose your temper, aren't you?" said Dora.

"No, honey!"

"I don't think I need to know what you mean," said Dora.

"But I want you to know, honey. You put the Jeep down first."

Dora put Kip's nose on mine,' to banish my seriousness, but it failed. So she ordered Kip to go to his lair, with a helpless face and a resigned look on his face. with me.

"My dear," I said, "we infected everyone around us."

I was about to go on and on with the metaphor, but Dora's face reminded me that she was keen to understand whether I was going to suggest a new vaccination, or some other remedy for our unhygienic state.So I had to rein in myself and make my point clearer.

"If we don't become more careful," I said, "not only will we lose our money and our happiness, and sometimes even our peace, but we will also be held seriously responsible for the fact that we People who have anything to do with each other are spoiled. I don't think the faults are entirely one-sided, but the reason why these people are so bad is that we are not very good ourselves."

"What a crime," cried Dora, "that you've seen me steal gold watches!"

"Honey," I said, "don't talk nonsense! Who ever thought anything about gold watches?"

"You have," said Dora, "you know you have. You said I was bad, and compared me to him."

"Compared to who?" I asked.

"And that little page," said Dora, "you are cruel, comparing your beloved wife with a sent page? Why didn't you tell me your opinion before the marriage? You cruel, why did you Didn't tell me you believed me to be worse than a footman? You think so badly of me!"

"I say, Dora, my dear," I tried to say softly, "that what you say is not only very ridiculous, but very wrong, and, first of all, it is not true."

"You always said he was a liar," said Dora, "and now you say that about me! What shall I do!"

"Dear darling," I said, "I really must reason with you, listen to what I have just said and what I am going to say now. If we do not do our duty to our servants, they will never We do our part. Maybe we give people the opportunity to do bad things, which we should never give. Even if we are willing to be as loose as we are in the housework. I believe, we should not go on like this. We It does make some people bad. We ought to think about it, and I do, Dora. It's a reflection I can't get rid of, and sometimes it makes me uneasy."

"Hey, honey, stop being silly."

Dora muttered: If I'm feeling uneasy, why am I getting married? Why don't I say before we leave for church, I'll be uneasy, I'd better not get married.If I can't stand her, why don't I send her to my aunt, or to Julia Mills in India?Julia would be delighted to see her, and would not call her a sentin' boy, Julia would never call her that.In short, Dora was very distressed, and the situation has distressed me very much.So I felt that it was useless to repeat this effort, and that I had to do something else.

What other method could be employed? To cultivate her mind!This is a mandarin that sounds pleasant and promising, so I made up my mind.

(End of this chapter)