The Adventures of Roderick Random

Narrator’s shock at the Capuchin’s immoral conduct

During their journey, conversation turns upon the night’s adventure. The capuchin asks how the narrator liked his lodging and, when the narrator speaks in rapture of Nanette, Balthazar reveals she was a morceau pour la bonne bouche and boasts he has been pretty fortunate in his amours. The narrator is shocked to learn of his intimacy with her sister, suspecting incest. Balthazar explains he distributes his favours equally between the sisters to preserve peace in the family, and because Nanette had conceived an affection for the narrator, he loved her too well to balk her inclination while obliging his friend at the same time. The narrator thanks him for this instance of friendship while being extremely disgusted at his want of delicacy and cursed the occasion that threw him in his way. Despite his own libertine tendencies, the narrator cannot bear to see a man behave so far from his assumed character. He looks upon Balthazar as a person of very little worth or honesty and would have kept a wary eye upon his pocket had he thought temptation to steal existed, but he cannot conceive the use of money to a capuchin who must appear like a beggar. The narrator proceeds with confidence toward his journey’s end.

第四十三章

This chapter continues the narrator’s journey through France, detailing his robbery by a traveling companion, subsequent desperation, and enlistment in military service.

Robbed by Capuchin Near Amiens

Near Amiens, the narrator lodges at a house with a fellow traveler—a Capuchin friar—and falls asleep exhausted after a long march. Upon waking the next morning, he discovers the monk has fled with all his money. The friar had departed four hours earlier, having told the innkeepers the narrator was indisposed and should not be disturbed. The monk had claimed he would wait at the Coq d’Or in Noyons.