The Adventures of Roderick Random

Character of fellow traveler Frere Balthazar

The capuchin proves to be Frere Balthazar, a merry facetious fellow who, despite his profession and appearance of mortification, loves good eating and drinking better than his rosary and pays more adoration to pretty girls than to the Virgin Mary or St. Genevieve. He is a thick brawny young man with red eyebrows, a hook nose, and a freckled face. His order does not permit him to wear linen, so he seldom undresses and is none of the cleanliest animals, his constitution naturally so strongly scented that the narrator finds it convenient to keep to windward of him. He is perfectly well known on the road, so they fare sumptuously without cost, and their journey’s fatigue is much alleviated by his good humour as he sings infinite catches on the subjects of love and wine.

Abbeville inn overnight adventure

They take their first night’s lodging at a peasant’s house near Abbeville, where they are entertained with an excellent ragout cooked by the landlord’s handsome daughters. After eating heartily and drinking sufficient small wine, they are conducted to a barn with carpets spread upon clean straw. Within half an hour, someone knocks softly at the door and Balthazar lets in the two daughters for private conversation in the dark. The capuchin asks the narrator if he is insensible to love and would refuse a share of his bed with a pretty maid who has a tendre for him. Suffering himself to be overcome by passion, the narrator eagerly seizes the occasion with the agreeable Nanette despite his reason suggesting respect for his dear mistress Narcissa. Early in the morning the kind creatures leave them to rest until eight o’clock, when they are treated at breakfast with chocolate and eau-de-vie by their paramours before taking a tender leave, after which Balthazar confesses and gives them absolution.