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     ,   1724 .  ,           .     ,    ,     . ,   , ,     .        ,      .    ,    ,       .

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     ,   1724 .  ,           .     ,    ,     . ,   , ,     .        ,      .    ,    ,       .

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  .., 2026.



Daniel Defoe  

The Happy Courtesan  

or the history of the life and various vicissitudes of fate of Mademoiselle de Belo, afterwards called Countess de Winzelsheim of Germany, she is also the person known in the time of Charles II under the name of Lady Roxana.          ,      ,   ,     II    .



Author's Preface  

The history of this beautiful lady is eloquent enough;      ; and if the narrative is inferior in grace and beauty of appearance to her about whom the story is told - and she, if we believe the rumor, was a true beauty - if the narrative of her life is not as entertaining as the reader would like it to be, and if the most interesting parts are not sufficiently edifying, then the blame for all this must lie solely with the narrator.           ,    ,   ,   ,   ,         ,     ,       ,         . The colors which he chose for his narrative, one must suppose, are in many ways inferior to the brightness of the clothes in which the person on whose behalf he speaks was pleased to appear in the world. ,      ,  ,     ,       ,     .

The narrator takes it upon himself to assert that this story differs from the majority of modern works of this kind, although many of them were favorably received by the public.      ,           ,        . Thus, the main difference of our story is that it is based on authentic events, or, in other words, the reader is offered not a story itself, but the history of a human life. ,      ,       , ,  ,     ,    .

The places where the main events of this story take place are so close to the places chosen by the narrator that he is forced to hide the names of the characters for fear that the inhabitants of those places, in whose memory the events described have not yet been completely erased, will not recognize the true participants in these events. ,      ,   ,  ,         ,     ,         ,      .

There is no particular need to present the participants in a true story under their real names, while the publication of this story itself undoubtedly serves a benefit;           ,           ; and if we were each time given the condition:         : either to present all the participants in true events under their own names, or to refuse to describe them altogether - how many delightful and entertaining stories would never see the light of day!          ,                   ! How many pleasures - not to mention benefits - the reader would be deprived!            !

Being personally acquainted with the first husband of this lady, a brewer..., as well as with his father, and thoroughly knowing the sad circumstances that befell this family, the narrator fully vouches for the veracity of the first part of the proposed story and is inclined to see in this a guarantee that the rest of it is also worthy of trust;           ,          ,     ,                 ,       ; True, the events described in it took place mainly in overseas lands, and therefore cannot be verified, nevertheless, since we learn about these events from the very words of the person in question, we have no reason to doubt their reliability. ,           ,     ,   ,          ,    ,        .

From her simple story it is clear that she does not seek to justify her actions, nor, even more so, to advise others to follow her example in anything other than her sincere repentance.     ,        , ,  ,       -,    . In the numerous digressions with which she interrupts her story, she condemns and brands herself with the most severe severity.   ,      ,         . How often and with what genuine passion does she punish herself, thereby instilling in us a just view of her actions!          ,         !

It is true that, following the paths of vice, she achieves unheard-of success;  , ,   ,    ; however, even having reached the pinnacle of earthly well-being, she continually admits that the joys that she acquired by unrighteous means are nothing compared to the torments of repentance and that neither the pleasures of wealth, in which she, one might say, bathed, nor the magnificent clothes and outings, nor even the honors with which she was surrounded, gave her soul the long-awaited peace and did not allow her to forget for an hour in those sleepless nights when she turned to herself with too deserved reproaches. ,     ,     ,  ,    ,          ,   ,  , ,     ,   ,    ,                   ,        .



The pious reflections to which this part of the story arouses the reader fully justify its publication, for to make people think deeply is the aim which the narrator has set himself.  ,       ,    ,         ,   . And if, in relating this story, it is not always possible to do without describing vice in all its ugliness, the narrator asks the reader to believe that he has made every effort to avoid indecent and immodest turns;  ,   ,           ,    ,       ,      ; he hopes that you will not find here anything that could serve to encourage vice, and that, on the contrary, you will be convinced that vice is everywhere presented in its most unsightly form.  ,       ,       ,  , , ,        .

Pictures of crimes, no matter how they are painted, can always incline a vicious soul to evil;  ,      ,       ; however, if vice is presented here in all its colorful plumage, then this is done not for the sake of temptation, but in order to completely debunk it;           ,      ,  ,    ; and it is not the fault of the narrator if, having admired the picture presented, the reader makes an inappropriate use of it.    , ,   ,      .

However, we proceed from the fact that the more moral a person is, the more he strives to improve his virtue; ,    ,  ,   ,       ; moreover, the advantages of the proposed work are obvious, and the reader, having devoted hours of leisure to it, will spend time with pleasure and benefit.       ,  ,    ,      .



I was born, as my relatives told me, in France, in the city of Poitiers, in the province, or, as we call it, the county of Poitou.  ,      ,  ,   ,  , , -,   . In 1683 or thereabouts, my parents brought me to England, for, like many other Protestants, they were forced to flee from France, where they were subjected to cruel persecution for their faith.  1683         , ,    ,      ,       .

Without really understanding, or rather, without understanding at all, the reasons for our move, I was quite pleased with my new place of residence.   , , ,      ,       . The big, cheerful city, London, suited my taste.   ,     . I was still a child, and the crowds of people amused me, and the smartly dressed crowd delighted me.    ,    ,    .

I took nothing from France except the language of that country.      ,    . My father and mother belonged to a higher circle than those who were usually called refugees at that time:         ,  ,        : they left France among the first, when it was still possible to save their fortune;      ,       ; my father managed to smuggle here in advance either a large sum of money, or, as I recall, a large shipment of some goods - French cognac, paper and something else;           ,  , ,   -    ,    -; he managed to sell all this at a great profit, so that by the time we arrived he had a considerable capital at his disposal and he did not have to turn to his compatriots who had settled here earlier for help.        ,                        . On the contrary, our house was constantly besieged by hungry crowds of pitiful refugees who had left their country - some because of their convictions, some for other reasons. ,        ,        ,     .

I remember my father saying that among the multitude of people who beset him there were some who cared little for questions of religion and who were threatened by nothing but hunger in their own country. ,    ,         ,            ,  . Having heard of the hospitality with which foreigners are welcomed in England, of how easy it is to find work here, how, thanks to the kind care of Londoners, newcomers are encouraged in every way to enter the factories - in London and its environs, in Spitalfields, Canterbury and other places - and also of how much better the earnings are here than in France and other countries, they came in whole hordes in search of what is called the means of subsistence.   ,      ,  ,     , ,    ,            ,  ,         ,    ,      ,       ,     .

As I have already said, my father said that among those who sought his help there were more people of this kind than true exiles, whom conscience, to their great sorrow, forced to leave their homeland.    ,   ,          ,   ,  ,    ,   .

I was about ten years old when I was brought here, where, as I have already said, we lived without knowing any want, and where, eleven years after our move, my father died.     ,    , ,    ,  ,   ,             . During this period, since I was preparing myself for social life, I managed, as is customary in London, to get to know some of the neighbors.   ,       ,  ,     ,      . I made friends with two or three girls of my own age and retained their friendly disposition in later years, which greatly favored my further success in society.    -           ,        .



I studied in English schools and, being young, I easily and perfectly mastered the English language, as well as all the customs that English girls adhered to.      ,    ,        ,     ,    . So that nothing remained of French in me except the language;         ,  ; my conversation, however, was not replete with French expressions, as happens with foreigners, and I spoke the most, one might say, natural English no worse than any Englishwoman.  , ,    ,     ,         ,  ,   .

Since I have to recommend myself, I hope that I may be permitted to speak of myself with as much impartiality as possible, as if I were talking about a stranger.      ,  ,        ,   , ,         . Whether I flatter myself or not, judge from my story.      ,    .

So, I was (having reached the age of fourteen) a tall and stately girl, intelligent in everything that concerned everyday affairs, not at a loss for words, as they say, and sharp - like your hawk; ,   (  )    ,  ,    , ,  ,  ,          ; a little mocking and quick of tongue, or, as they say in England, cheeky;      , ,      , ; however, in my actions I did not allow myself to go beyond the bounds of decency.           . Being French by blood, I danced like a natural dancer, and I loved dancing to a passion;    ,  ,   ,     ; my voice was also not offended and I sang - and so well that (as you will see from what follows) this skill served me no small service.           ,  (    )      . In short, I was not lacking in beauty, nor in intelligence, nor in money, and I entered into life with all the advantages possessed by a young girl can count on universal location and a happy life. ,        ,   ,   ,        ,            .

When I turned fifteen, my father, having given me a dowry of 25,000 livres (he was accustomed to counting in French money), which in our terms would be two thousand pounds, married me to a large London brewer.    , ,     25000  (     ), -     ,      . I ask forgiveness for not revealing his name, for although he was the main culprit of my death, I still cannot dare to take such cruel revenge.    ,     , ,        ,          .

With this creature called a husband, I lived for eight years in complete prosperity;  - ,  ,       ; for some time I even had my own carriage, or rather, something like one, for on weekdays the horses were harnessed to a cart, and on Sundays I could ride in my carriage to church or somewhere else - with my husband's consent. -      , ,  ,        ,                  . However, there was almost no agreement between us. , -       . But more on that later.    .

Before I begin to describe the period of my life that I spent in legal marriage, let me give an equally impartial account of the character of my husband.         ,      ,           . He was a nice fellow, handsome and cheerful, in a word, a friend of whom every woman, it would seem, can only dream:    ,   , ,  ,    ,  ,   : well built, tall, perhaps even a little too tall - however, not so much as to seem awkward, and an excellent dancer.  , , ,     ,  ,   ,  , . The latter circumstance, probably, served as the main reason for our rapprochement.  ,  ,       . His father diligently and assiduously handled the affairs of the brewery, so that his own duties were limited to visiting the office from time to time.        ,        ,       . Not being burdened with cares, he did not bother himself with anything, I went to visit, caroused with friends and indulged in my favorite pastime - hunting.    ,     ,    ,          .

A handsome man and an excellent hunter - that's his whole portrait!            ! I, like many young girls, having chosen a life partner for his handsome appearance and cheerful disposition, turned out to be unhappy, because in all other respects he was the most empty, the most worthless and uneducated man with whom a woman has ever had to link her fate.  ,    ,          ,  ,         ,     ,   -     .

Here I must make a small digression and - no matter how much I condemn myself for what follows - allow myself to address my young compatriots with the following warning:                           : Ladies, if your well-being is at all dear to you, if you count on a happy marriage, if you hope to preserve - and in case of trouble to restore your property - do not marry a fool. ,   -   ,      ,           ,      . Anyone - just not a fool!        ! Of course, no one can guarantee that you will be happy in marriage, no matter whom you marry, but that you will be unhappy if you marry a fool, that is already certain. ,    ,      ,      ,     ,      ,   . Yes, you can be unhappy with an intelligent man, but be happy with a fool - never! ,      ,       ! He is not able, even if he wanted to, to protect you from want and deprivation;    ,    ,      ; whatever he does is inappropriate, whatever he says - inappropriately.       ,     . Any more or less sensible woman will feel twenty times a day how unbearable he is.  -       ,   . Indeed, what could be worse than blushing every time this handsome, stately fellow opens his mouth in public?   ,    ,    ,   ,      ? Hearing other men express reasonable opinions while your husband sits there as if he has taken water in his mouth? ,         ,    ,     ? But thats not the worst of it - what would it be like to hear the friendly laughter of those around him if he suddenly starts ranting?            ,      ?



Besides, there are so many varieties of fools in the world, the diversity of this breed is so limitless and unimaginable, and it is so difficult to determine which kind is the worst, that I am forced to say:          ,       ,  ,    ,  ,    : We do not need any fools, ladies, neither a reckless fool, nor a sedate blockhead, neither a prudent nor a reckless one!     , ,   ,   ,  ,  ! No, any fate is preferable to the fate of a woman who has a fool as a husband - it is better to spend the rest of her life as a maid than to link her fate with a fool! ,   ,   ,     ,     ,      !

We will have to return to this subject in time, but for now we will leave it.        ,    . My misfortune was all the more bitter;     ; because the man I got combined in his person several varieties of fool at the same time.  ,   ,     ,   .

He was, first of all - and this is completely intolerable - a self-satisfied fool, tout opmiatre;  , -,        , tout opmiatre; No matter what company he was in, no matter what opinion was expressed in his presence - even in the most modest, unassuming tone - my young man was bound to jump out with his opinion;       ,           ,           ; and, of course, it was the only correct and sensible one!  , ,      ! When it came to justifying his opinion, he talked such nonsense that everyone felt awkward.       ,    ,    .

Secondly, he was stubborn and inflexible; -,     ; the more stupid and absurd the idea he expressed, the more stubbornly he defended it.     ,   ,     . This made him completely impossible.     .

The two qualities I have mentioned, even if he had no others, would have been enough to make him the most intolerable of husbands, so that I think it is obvious to everyone what it was like for me to live with him.   ,        ,   ,      ,   ,  , ,      . However, I did not lose heart and mostly kept silent - this was the only way to overcome him. ,              . Whatever nonsense he talked, whatever he started talking about, I did not answer or argue with him, and then he would fly into an unimaginable rage and run out of the room.      ,      ,        ,           . And that was just what I needed.       .

A list of all the tricks I had to resort to in order to make existence with this impossible man somewhat bearable would take too much time, and the examples would seem too insignificant.   ,     ,        - ,     ,      . I will mention only a few of them and in those places of my narrative where the events described require it.           ,     .

About the fifth year of my marriage my father died - I had buried my mother long before.               . My father was so displeased with my marriage, my husband's behavior upset him so much that, although he left me more than 5,000 livres in his will, he ordered this sum to be given to my elder brother, so that he would keep it for me.      ,      , ,         5000 ,          ,      . My brother, having indulged in overly risky commercial speculation, eventually went bankrupt, as a result of which he lost not only his own money, but also mine.  ,      ,    , -       ,    . But more on that later.     .

Thus I lost all that was due to me from my father's generosity - and this for the simple reason that I married a man whom my father did not dare to confide in.     ,      ,       ,     ,      . This is a worthy reward for a woman who linked her fate with a fool!    ,     !

Two years after my father's death, my father-in-law also died, leaving, as it seemed to me at the time, a considerable addition to our capital, for with his death all the proceeds from the brewery - and its business was flourishing - passed to my husband.            , ,      ,     ,                 .

However, this increase in our income also served as his undoing, for he had no business sense whatsoever and was a complete ignoramus when it came to accounting.          ,       ,        . At first, it is true, he fussed around the office, wanting to show himself a business man, but soon he let everything go again. , ,    ,     ,     . He considered checking accounts beneath his dignity, and trusted completely to clerks and bookkeepers.       ,     . As long as he had cash to pay the malt suppliers and the tax collector, and had some money in his pocket, he didnt give a damn;     ,         ,     ,      ; whatever happens, so be it!  ,   !



Foreseeing how all this would end, I tried to reason with him several times, urging him to look into the matter more diligently. ,    ,      ,     . I told him about the numerous complaints of clients about his employees and that, due to the dishonesty of his manager, he had turned from a creditor into a debtor, but he responded to my admonitions either with rudeness or lies, presenting the state of affairs to me in a different light than in which they actually were.              ,  -         ,        ,  ,       ,  ,      .

In short, to put an end to this boring story, which did not last long at all, he soon discovered that his trade was fading, his capital was melting away, and that; ,      ,   -  ,   ,    ,  ,  ; in short, he was not in a position to carry on the business any longer.  ,       . Twice he was even forced, due to lack of cash, to hand over all the brewery equipment to pay off the tax, and the last time this happened, he bought it back with great difficulty.                ,   ,   ,      .

My husband, seriously frightened, decided to give up the business, which, to tell the truth, I was not very sorry about, realizing that if he did not hand it over to other hands of his own free will, he would be forced to do so by circumstances, in other words, he would go bankrupt.    ,      ,  ,   ,   - , ,            ,      ,  , . Besides, I wanted him to get rid of the brewery while he still had some capital left, so that I would not be stripped naked and thrown out into the street with the children - and I must say that by this time my husband had given me as many as five souls - the only business for which fools are good!     ,     ,      -  ,                 ,              ,    !

So when he managed to sell his brewery to someone, I felt a great relief. ,     -  ,    . After he had paid off all his debts, which cost him a considerable sum, he was left with two or three thousand pounds.  ,        ,       ,        . We also had to part with our house near the brewery, and we moved to ..., a small village about two miles from the city limits.          ,     ,  ,        . Taking into account all these circumstances, I considered it fortunate that we managed to get off so easily, and if my handsome man had possessed even a grain of common sense, I would never have known what poverty was.      ,    ,      , ,       ,        ,   .

With the remaining capital, or part of it, I proposed to buy a house:           : For such a purchase I was ready to add my own money, which was still untouched at that time;         ,     ; By the way, if my husband had listened to my advice then, I probably would not have lost it at all, and we could have lived comfortably - at least until the end of his life.  ,       ,   ,  -   ,              . But a fool is a fool for not listening to reasonable advice;      ,     ; He did not listen to mine either and, without lifting a finger, continued his carefree life:      ,     ,    : he continued to keep many servants and horses and went hunting every day. -           . Meanwhile, the money melted away from hour to hour, and before my eyes there clearly arose a picture of our final ruin, which I had no way to prevent.        ,          ,      .

No matter how much I tried to persuade my husband, no matter how much I begged him to change, it was all in vain.     ,        . I told him how quickly our money was running out, what a miserable situation we would find ourselves in when it was completely gone, but my words made no impression on him;   ,     ,      ,    ,         ; as if possessed, he continued his own way, not paying attention to my tears and complaints and not reducing the expenses for his clothes, carriages, footmen and horses by a penny, and so on until the very end, until one fine day he discovered that his entire fortune amounted to one hundred pounds.  ,   ,                  , ,   ,     ,       ,       .

In just three years he managed to squander all his money, and he squandered it, one might say, senselessly, in the company of the most insignificant people, hunters and horse breeders, who stood much lower than him in position.  -        ,   -  ,  , ,     ,   ,       . Well, yes, this is another indispensable quality of a fool. ,       . A fool never seeks the company of a person smarter or more capable than himself:          : no, he associates with scoundrels, drinks malt with porters, in a word, keeps company with the most vile people. ,    ,    , ,      .



One morning during this unfortunate time, my husband suddenly announced to me that he had realized how worthless he had become and that he had decided to go and seek his fortune wherever his eyes led him.          ,  ,           ,   . He had said this before, however, and more than once, in response to my entreaties to come to his senses before it was too late and to think about the situation he and his family were in. , ,    ,    ,      ,   ,    ,         . And I no longer paid attention to these words of his, believing that they, like everything else he said, meant absolutely nothing.          , ,  ,   ,   ,     . Sometimes, when he started such a conversation, I, sinfully, even thought to myself:  ,     , ,  ,    : Thats good, and go with God, otherwise youll kill us all of hunger.   ,    ,        .

And indeed, having announced his departure, he remained at home all that day, and even spent the night at home.    ,    ,      ,     . But the next morning he jumped up before dawn and, as always, when he called people to hunt, he began to blow into the French horn (thats what he called his hunting horn).        ,   ,  ,      ,     (     ).

It was the end of August, when it was still quite early, around five o'clock.    ,     ,   . It was at that hour that I heard him leave the courtyard with two servants and close the gate behind him.  -    ,              . He didn't say anything to me that he wouldn't usually say when he went hunting;      ,     ,   ; I didn't even get out of bed and didn't say anything special to him either;             ; when he drove away, I fell asleep again and slept for another two hours.   ,        .

The reader will probably be surprised when I tell him that from that very time I never saw my husband again. , , ,    ,             . Moreover, I never received a single message from him and never heard anything more about him, or about his two servants, or even about their horses;  ,            ,     ,           ; I was unable to find out what happened to them, or where, or even in what direction, they went, what they did or what they intended to do - it was as if they had disappeared into thin air.    ,     ,  ,        ,      ,      . However, later on, something came to light. ,  - .

For the first two days his absence did not surprise me at all, and for the first two weeks either I was not very worried;         ,          ; if any misfortune had happened to them, I told myself, I would have found out about it immediately;       ,   ,      ; and taking into account also that my husband had two servants and three horses with him, to admit that all of them - both people and animals - had disappeared without a trace was indeed too incredible.       ,         , ,      ,      ,        .

You can, however, imagine my anxiety when a week passed, then another, then a month, then two months, and so on, and still no sign of my husband! , ,   ,   , , ,     ,      ,  ! I began to think hard about my future life:       : five children and not a penny of money to feed them, except for the seventy pounds in cash that I still had left, and a few valuable things;          ,       ,     ,  -  ; although I could have sold them for a considerable sum, but it would not have been enough for any long period. ,  ,      ,        -  .

I didnt know what to do, who to turn to for advice and help;   ,  ,       ; It was impossible to stay in the house where we lived  the rent was too high, and I also didnt dare leave it without an order from my husband, who could suddenly return.   ,    ,        ,   ,       ,    ,    . I was in complete confusion and completely lost heart.         .

Almost a year passed in such despondency.  -    . My husband had two sisters, both married, living in complete prosperity;     ,  ,    ; he also had other relatives.      . Thinking that they would not want to leave me in trouble, I often sent to them to find out if they had any news about my vagabond. ,        ,      ,         . However, they all answered in unison that they knew nothing about him.     ,      . I apparently got on their nerves with my pestering, which they made it clear to me by each time greeting the servant whom I sent to them more and more unkindly.  , ,    ,      ,        ,     .

This resentment made my soul even more bitter;          ; my only refuge was tears, for I had no one close to me.     ,         . I forgot to say that six or seven months before my husband left me, the very misfortune I mentioned earlier befell my brother, namely, he went bankrupt, ended up in prison for debt, and - what was worse - as I learned with great sorrow, he was destined, after he reached an agreement with his creditors, to emerge from it almost a beggar.   ,         ,    ,       ,     ,     ,         ,         ,    ,       ,       .



It is not for nothing that they say that misfortunes never come alone.  ,     . That is what happened to me too: my husband left me soon after my only surviving relative went bankrupt and, therefore, could not serve as a support for me.      ,                , ,     . So, having lost my husband and being left with five small children in my arms without any means of providing for them, I found myself in a situation so terrible that no words can describe it. ,                    ,      ,     .

I still hadand considering the circumstances in which we had lived before, it could not have been otherwisesome silverware and jewelry.          ,     ,     ,  -    . My husband ran away before we were completely impoverished, so that he did not have to rob me at the end, as husbands usually do in such circumstances.    ,     ,     ,       ,     . But in those long months when I still counted on his return, I spent all our cash, and soon I was forced to sell one thing after another.     ,    ,   ,     ,         . The little that had real value melted away from day to day, and a picture of gloomy despair opened before my mental gaze:  ,    ,              : soon, I said to myself, I will have to witness the death of my little ones by starvation. ,   ,        . I leave my state of mind to be judged by women burdened with a large family and accustomed, like me, to live in comfort and on a large leg.       ,     ,  ,       . As for my husband, I had already lost all hope of ever seeing him again, and even if he had returned, would he have been able to help me?    ,      -,  ,      ,       ? After all, he would not have earned a shilling to ease our need;       ,    ; he had neither the skill nor the desire for this.        ,  . With his chicken handwriting, he was not even fit to be a scribe?          ? And what about handwriting - he did not even know how to read properly!       -   ! - he understood spelling so much that he could not write two words without a mistake.      ,        . Idleness was his greatest delight, he could stand for half an hour at a time, leaning against a post, and - like Dryden's peasant, who whistled because his mind was not burdened with a single thought - carelessly puff on his pipe.     ,     ,   ,     ,   ,         ,     . And this when the remains of our the fortunes were already noticeably melting away, when the family was already facing hunger, when we were all, one might say, bleeding to death!   ,       ,     ,   ,  ,  ! But he didnt have enough grief.      . He didnt even think about where he would get another shilling when the very last one had already floated away.    ,     ,     .




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