The Adventures of Roderick Random

Gascon Duel Victory

Stung by the narrator’s sarcasm, the Gascon threatens him but receives a kick that overturns him. He draws his sword and attacks with fury, but the narrator sustains only a small scratch on his right shoulder. Seeing the Gascon’s breath and vigour nearly exhausted, the narrator assaults him in turn, closes with him, and wrests the sword from his hand. After demanding the Gascon beg for his life—an answer received only in a shrug—the narrator thrusts the Gascon’s sword into something (described as “not a tansy”) lying smoking on the plain, and rejoins his comrades with an air of indifference.

Rheims Winter Quarters

With the campaign ended and the English marched back to the Netherlands, the regiment is ordered into winter quarters in Champagne, with the grenadier company (to which the narrator now belongs) stationed at Rheims. The narrator is in the utmost want, as his pay of five sols a day cannot provide necessaries. His clothing is reduced to two pair of sleeves and necks, the shirt bodies having been converted into spatterdashes. He writes to his uncle in England, though without sanguine hopes, and consoles himself with the suggestions of his lively imagination.

Reunion with Friend Strap

While standing sentinel at a general officer’s gate, the narrator recognizes his old friend Strap (now calling himself Monsieur d’Estrapes) accompanying a nobleman. The porter explains that Strap was valet-de-chambre to an English gentleman lately deceased and is much regarded by the marquis. The narrator visits Strap’s lodging, concealing his identity at first, and finds him terrified at the request from a soldier, fearing the Bastille. Upon recognition, Strap leaps upon the narrator in a transport of joy, kisses him, and weeps. He rebukes the narrator for his past unkindness, provides him with a fine shirt, and offers a dinner of soup, pullets, asparagus, biscuit, and Burgundy.