Tom’s early life.

Let us skip a number of years.rnrnLondon was fifteen hundred years old, and was a great town--for thatrnday. It had a hundred thousand inhabitants--some think double as many. The streets were very narrow, and crooked, and dirty, especially in thernpart where Tom Canty lived, which was not far from London Bridge. Thernhouses were of wood, with the second story projecting over the first,rnand the third sticking its elbows out beyond the second. The higherrnthe houses grew, the broader they grew. They were skeletons of strongrncriss-cross beams, with solid material between, coated with plaster. The beams were painted red or blue or black, according to the owner’srntaste, and this gave the houses a very picturesque look. The windowsrnwere small, glazed with little diamond-shaped panes, and they openedrnoutward, on hinges, like doors.rnrnThe house which Tom’s father lived in was up a foul little pocket calledrnOffal Court, out of Pudding Lane. It was small, decayed, and rickety,rnbut it was packed full of wretchedly poor families. Canty’s tribernoccupied a room on the third floor. The mother and father had a sort ofrnbedstead in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters,rnBet and Nan, were not restricted--they had all the floor to themselves,rnand might sleep where they chose. There were the remains of a blanketrnor two, and some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could notrnrightly be called beds, for they were not organised; they were kickedrninto a general pile, mornings, and selections made from the mass atrnnight, for service.rnrnBet and Nan were fifteen years old--twins. They were good-heartedrngirls, unclean, clothed in rags, and profoundly ignorant. Their motherrnwas like them. But the father and the grandmother were a couple ofrnfiends. They got drunk whenever they could; then they fought each otherrnor anybody else who came in the way; they cursed and swore always, drunkrnor sober; John Canty was a thief, and his mother a beggar. They madernbeggars of the children, but failed to make thieves of them. Among,rnbut not of, the dreadful rabble that inhabited the house, was a good oldrnpriest whom the King had turned out of house and home with a pension ofrna few farthings, and he used to get the children aside and teach themrnright ways secretly. Father Andrew also taught Tom a little Latin, andrnhow to read and write; and would have done the same with the girls,rnbut they were afraid of the jeers of their friends, who could not havernendured such a queer accomplishment in them.rnrnAll Offal Court was just such another hive as Canty’s house.rnDrunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night andrnnearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in thatrnplace. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, butrndid not know it. It was the sort of time that all the Offal Court boysrnhad, therefore he supposed it was the correct and comfortable thing. When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father wouldrncurse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awfulrngrandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that awayrnin the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with anyrnmiserable scrap or crust she had been able to save for him by goingrnhungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort ofrntreason and soundly beaten for it by her husband.rnrnNo, Tom’s life went along well enough, especially in summer. He onlyrnbegged just enough to save himself, for the laws against mendicancy werernstringent, and the penalties heavy; so he put in a good deal of his timernlistening to good Father Andrew’s charming old tales and legendsrnabout giants and fairies, dwarfs and genii, and enchanted castles, andrngorgeous kings and princes. His head grew to be full of these wonderfulrnthings, and many a night as he lay in the dark on his scant andrnoffensive straw, tired, hungry, and smarting from a thrashing, hernunleashed his imagination and soon forgot his aches and pains inrndelicious picturings to himself of the charmed life of a petted princernin a regal palace. One desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a real prince, with his own eyes. He spoke of it once tornsome of his Offal Court comrades; but they jeered him and scoffed him sornunmercifully that he was glad to keep his dream to himself after that.rnrnHe often read the priest’s old books and got him to explain and enlargernupon them. His dreamings and readings worked certain changes in him,rnby-and-by. His dream-people were so fine that he grew to lament hisrnshabby clothing and his dirt, and to wish to be clean and better clad. He went on playing in the mud just the same, and enjoying it, too; but,rninstead of splashing around in the Thames solely for the fun of it,rnhe began to find an added value in it because of the washings andrncleansings it afforded.rnrnTom could always find something going on around the Maypole inrnCheapside, and at the fairs; and now and then he and the rest of Londonrnhad a chance to see a military parade when some famous unfortunate wasrncarried prisoner to the Tower, by land or boat. One summer’s day he sawrnpoor Anne Askew and three men burned at the stake in Smithfield, andrnheard an ex-Bishop preach a sermon to them which did not interest him.rnYes, Tom’s life was varied and pleasant enough, on the whole.rnrnBy-and-by Tom’s reading and dreaming about princely life wrought such arnstrong effect upon him that he began to _act_ the prince, unconsciously.rnHis speech and manners became curiously ceremonious and courtly, to thernvast admiration and amusement of his intimates. But Tom’s influencernamong these young people began to grow now, day by day; and in time herncame to be looked up to, by them, with a sort of wondering awe, as arnsuperior being. He seemed to know so much! and he could do and say suchrnmarvellous things! and withal, he was so deep and wise! Tom’s remarks,rnand Tom’s performances, were reported by the boys to their elders; andrnthese, also, presently began to discuss Tom Canty, and to regard himrnas a most gifted and extraordinary creature. Full-grown people broughtrntheir perplexities to Tom for solution, and were often astonished at thernwit and wisdom of his decisions. In fact he was become a hero to allrnwho knew him except his own family--these, only, saw nothing in him.rnrnPrivately, after a while, Tom organised a royal court! He was thernprince; his special comrades were guards, chamberlains, equerries, lordsrnand ladies in waiting, and the royal family. Daily the mock prince wasrnreceived with elaborate ceremonials borrowed by Tom from his romanticrnreadings; daily the great affairs of the mimic kingdom were discussedrnin the royal council, and daily his mimic highness issued decrees to hisrnimaginary armies, navies, and viceroyalties.rnrnAfter which, he would go forth in his rags and beg a few farthings, eatrnhis poor crust, take his customary cuffs and abuse, and then stretchrnhimself upon his handful of foul straw, and resume his empty grandeursrnin his dreams.rnrnAnd still his desire to look just once upon a real prince, in the flesh,rngrew upon him, day by day, and week by week, until at last it absorbedrnall other desires, and became the one passion of his life.rnrnOne January day, on his usual begging tour, he tramped despondently uprnand down the region round about Mincing Lane and Little East Cheap, hourrnafter hour, bare-footed and cold, looking in at cook-shop windows andrnlonging for the dreadful pork-pies and other deadly inventions displayedrnthere--for to him these were dainties fit for the angels; that is,rnjudging by the smell, they were--for it had never been his good luck tornown and eat one. There was a cold drizzle of rain; the atmosphere wasrnmurky; it was a melancholy day. At night Tom reached home so wet andrntired and hungry that it was not possible for his father and grandmotherrnto observe his forlorn condition and not be moved--after their fashion;rnwherefore they gave him a brisk cuffing at once and sent him to bed. For a long time his pain and hunger, and the swearing and fightingrngoing on in the building, kept him awake; but at last his thoughtsrndrifted away to far, romantic lands, and he fell asleep in the companyrnof jewelled and gilded princelings who live in vast palaces, and hadrnservants salaaming before them or flying to execute their orders. Andrnthen, as usual, he dreamed that _he_ was a princeling himself.rnrnAll night long the glories of his royal estate shone upon him; he movedrnamong great lords and ladies, in a blaze of light, breathing perfumes,rndrinking in delicious music, and answering the reverent obeisances ofrnthe glittering throng as it parted to make way for him, with here arnsmile, and there a nod of his princely head.rnrnAnd when he awoke in the morning and looked upon the wretchednessrnabout him, his dream had had its usual effect--it had intensified thernsordidness of his surroundings a thousandfold. Then came bitterness,rnand heart-break, and tears.