The Adventures of Roderick Random

第一章

CHAPTER I

The narrator introduces himself as having been born in the northern part of the united kingdom, in the house of his grandfather—a wealthy and influential gentleman who served as a judge and was particularly noted for his severe treatment of beggars. The narrator’s father, the youngest son, secretly married a poor relation who served as housekeeper, and the narrator was their first child. Before his birth, his mother experienced a troubling dream in which she imagined giving birth to a tennis ball that the devil struck away with a racket, only for it to return and plant itself in the earth as a blossoming tree. A Highland seer interpreted this vision favorably, predicting the child would become a great traveler who would face many dangers but ultimately return to his homeland in happiness and reputation.

Upon discovering the marriage, the grandfather disowned the father, giving him until that night to find new accommodation and sending him a bill for the costs of his education. The father and mother took refuge at a farmhouse where an old servant dwelled. When the mother’s pregnancy advanced further, she secretly returned to the grandfather’s house in disguise, pleading for mercy on behalf of her unborn child. The grandfather claimed a vow prevented him from offering assistance and dismissed her. The mother went into labor immediately and, with help from a loyal maidservant, delivered the narrator in a garret before being forcibly evicted three days later. The harsh treatment and lack of care caused her to fall into a wasting illness that proved fatal.

The grief-stricken father lost his senses for six weeks, during which time the grandfather took in the infant. Upon recovering, the father was filled with profound melancholy and later disappeared without a trace, prompting speculation that he had taken his own life.