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Northanger Abbey
No
one
who
had
ever
seen
Catherine
Morland
in
her
infancy
would
have
supposed
her
born
to
be
an
heroine
.
Her
situation
in
life
,
the
character
of
her
father
and
mother
,
her
own
person
and
disposition
,
were
all
equally
against
her
.
Her
father
was
a
clergyman
,
without
being
neglected
,
or
poor
,
and
a
very
respectable
man
,
though
his
name
was
Richard
—
and
he
had
never
been
handsome
.
He
had
a
considerable
independence
besides
two
good
livings
—
and
he
was
not
in
the
least
addicted
to
locking
up
his
daughters
.
Her
mother
was
a
woman
of
useful
plain
sense
,
with
a
good
temper
,
and
,
what
is
more
remarkable
,
with
a
good
constitution
.
She
had
three
sons
before
Catherine
was
born
;
and
instead
of
dying
in
bringing
the
latter
into
the
world
,
as
anybody
might
expect
,
she
still
lived
on
—
lived
to
have
six
children
more
—
to
see
them
growing
up
around
her
,
and
to
enjoy
excellent
health
herself
.
A
family
of
ten
children
will
be
always
called
a
fine
family
,
where
there
are
heads
and
arms
and
legs
enough
for
the
number
;
but
the
Morlands
had
little
other
right
to
the
word
,
for
they
were
in
general
very
plain
,
and
Catherine
,
for
many
years
of
her
life
,
as
plain
as
any
.
She
had
a
thin
awkward
figure
,
a
sallow
skin
without
colour
,
dark
lank
hair
,
and
strong
features
—
so
much
for
her
person
;
and
not
less
unpropitious
for
heroism
seemed
her
mind
.
She
was
fond
of
all
boy
’
s
plays
,
and
greatly
preferred
cricket
not
merely
to
dolls
,
but
to
the
more
heroic
enjoyments
of
infancy
,
nursing
a
dormouse
,
feeding
a
canary
-
bird
,
or
watering
a
rose
-
bush
.
Indeed
she
had
no
taste
for
a
garden
;
and
if
she
gathered
flowers
at
all
,
it
was
chiefly
for
the
pleasure
of
mischief
—
at
least
so
it
was
conjectured
from
her
always
preferring
those
which
she
was
forbidden
to
take
.
Such
were
her
propensities
—
her
abilities
were
quite
as
extraordinary
.
She
never
could
learn
or
understand
anything
before
she
was
taught
;
and
sometimes
not
even
then
,
for
she
was
often
inattentive
,
and
occasionally
stupid
.
Her
mother
was
three
months
in
teaching
her
only
to
repeat
the
“
Beggar
’
s
Petition
”
;
and
after
all
,
her
next
sister
,
Sally
,
could
say
it
better
than
she
did
.
Not
that
Catherine
was
always
stupid
—
by
no
means
;
she
learnt
the
fable
of
“
The
Hare
and
Many
Friends
”
as
quickly
as
any
girl
in
England
.
Her
mother
wished
her
to
learn
music
;
and
Catherine
was
sure
she
should
like
it
,
for
she
was
very
fond
of
tinkling
the
keys
of
the
old
forlorn
spinnet
;
so
,
at
eight
years
old
she
began
.
She
learnt
a
year
,
and
could
not
bear
it
;
and
Mrs
.
Morland
,
who
did
not
insist
on
her
daughters
being
accomplished
in
spite
of
incapacity
or
distaste
,
allowed
her
to
leave
off
.
The
day
which
dismissed
the
music
-
master
was
one
of
the
happiest
of
Catherine
’
s
life
.
Her
taste
for
drawing
was
not
superior
;
though
whenever
she
could
obtain
the
outside
of
a
letter
from
her
mother
or
seize
upon
any
other
odd
piece
of
paper
,
she
did
what
she
could
in
that
way
,
by
drawing
houses
and
trees
,
hens
and
chickens
,
all
very
much
like
one
another
.
Writing
and
accounts
she
was
taught
by
her
father
;
French
by
her
mother
:
her
proficiency
in
either
was
not
remarkable
,
and
she
shirked
her
lessons
in
both
whenever
she
could
.
What
a
strange
,
unaccountable
character
!
—
for
with
all
these
symptoms
of
profligacy
at
ten
years
old
,
she
had
neither
a
bad
heart
nor
a
bad
temper
,
was
seldom
stubborn
,
scarcely
ever
quarrelsome
,
and
very
kind
to
the
little
ones
,
with
few
interruptions
of
tyranny
;
she
was
moreover
noisy
and
wild
,
hated
confinement
and
cleanliness
,
and
loved
nothing
so
well
in
the
world
as
rolling
down
the
green
slope
at
the
back
of
the
house
.
Such
was
Catherine
Morland
at
ten
.
At
fifteen
,
appearances
were
mending
;
she
began
to
curl
her
hair
and
long
for
balls
;
her
complexion
improved
,
her
features
were
softened
by
plumpness
and
colour
,
her
eyes
gained
more
animation
,
and
her
figure
more
consequence
.
Her
love
of
dirt
gave
way
to
an
inclination
for
finery
,
and
she
grew
clean
as
she
grew
smart
;
she
had
now
the
pleasure
of
sometimes
hearing
her
father
and
mother
remark
on
her
personal
improvement
.
“
Catherine
grows
quite
a
good
-
looking
girl
—
she
is
almost
pretty
today
,
”
were
words
which
caught
her
ears
now
and
then
;
and
how
welcome
were
the
sounds
!
To
look
almost
pretty
is
an
acquisition
of
higher
delight
to
a
girl
who
has
been
looking
plain
the
first
fifteen
years
of
her
life
than
a
beauty
from
her
cradle
can
ever
receive
.
Mrs
.
Morland
was
a
very
good
woman
,
and
wished
to
see
her
children
everything
they
ought
to
be
;
but
her
time
was
so
much
occupied
in
lying
-
in
and
teaching
the
little
ones
,
that
her
elder
daughters
were
inevitably
left
to
shift
for
themselves
;
and
it
was
not
very
wonderful
that
Catherine
,
who
had
by
nature
nothing
heroic
about
her
,
should
prefer
cricket
,
baseball
,
riding
on
horseback
,
and
running
about
the
country
at
the
age
of
fourteen
,
to
books
—
or
at
least
books
of
information
—
for
,
provided
that
nothing
like
useful
knowledge
could
be
gained
from
them
,
provided
they
were
all
story
and
no
reflection
,
she
had
never
any
objection
to
books
at
all
.
But
from
fifteen
to
seventeen
she
was
in
training
for
a
heroine
;
she
read
all
such
works
as
heroines
must
read
to
supply
their
memories
with
those
quotations
which
are
so
serviceable
and
so
soothing
in
the
vicissitudes
of
their
eventful
lives
.
From
Pope
,
she
learnt
to
censure
those
who
“
bear
about
the
mockery
of
woe
.
”
From
Gray
,
that
