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No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine Her situation in life, the character of her father and ainst her Her father was a clergylected, or poor, and a very respectable h his name was Richard--and he had never been handsos--and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters Her ood teood constitution She had three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of dying in bringing the latter into the world, as anybody ht expect, she still lived on--lived to have six childrenup around her, and to enjoy excellent health herself A family of ten children will be always called a fine fah for the nuht to the word, for they were in general very plain, and Catherine, for many years of her life, as plain as any
She had a thin aard figure, a sallow skin without colour, dark lank hair, and strong features--so much for her person; and not less unpropitious for heroisreatly preferred cricket not merely to dolls, but to thea canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush Indeed she had no taste for a garden; and if she gathered flowers at all, it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief--at least so it was conjectured fro those which she was forbidden to take Such were her propensities--her abilities were quite as extraordinary
She never could learn or understand anything before she was taught; and sometimes not even then, for she was often inattentive, and occasionally stupid Herher only to repeat the "Beggar's Petition"; and after all, her next sister, Sally, could say it better than she did Not that Catherine was always stupid--by no means; she learnt the fable of "The Hare and Many Friends" as quickly as any girl in England Her mother wished her to learn music; and Catherine was sure she should like it, for she was very fond of tinkling the keys of the old forlorn spinner; so, at eight years old she began She learnt a year, and could not bear it; and Mrs Morland, who did not insist on her daughters being accomplished in spite of incapacity or distaste, allowed her to leave off The day which dismissed the music-master was one of the happiest of Catherine's life Her taste for draas not superior; though whenever she could obtain the outside of a letter from her mother or seize upon any other odd piece of paper, she did what she could in that way, by drawing houses and trees, hens and chickens, all very ht by her father; French by her mother: her proficiency in either was not remarkable, and she shirked her lessons in both whenever she could What a strange, unaccountable character!--for with all these syacy at ten years old, she had neither a bad heart nor a bad temper, was seldom stubborn, scarcely ever quarrelsome, and very kind to the little ones, with few interruptions of tyranny; she was moreover noisy and wild, hated confine so well in the world as rolling down the green slope at the back of the house