“Vanity Fair”

by William M. Thackeray

T

he truth is that by economy and good management—by sparing use of ready money, and by paying scarcely anybody,—people can manage, for a time at least, to make a great show with very little means; and it is our belief that Becky's much-talked-of parties, which were not, after all was said, very numerous, cost this lady very little more than the wax candles which lighted the walls. Stillbrook and Queen's Crawley supplied her with game and fruit in abundance. Lord Steyne's cellar was at her disposal, and that excellent nobleman's cook presided over her little kitchen, or sent by my Lord's order the rarest delicacies from their own. I protest it is quite shameful in the world to abuse a simple creature, as people of her time abuse Becky, and I warn the public against believing one-tenth of the stories against her. If every person is to be banished from society who runs into debt and cannot pay, if we are to be peering into everybody's private life, speculating upon their income, and cutting them if we don't approve of their expenditure—why, what a howling wilderness and intolerable dwelling Vanity Fair would be! Every man's hand would be against his neighbour in this case, my dear sir, and the benefits of civilization would be done away with.

            We should be quarrelling, abusing, avoiding one another. Our houses would become caverns, and we should go in rags because we cared for nobody. Rents would go down, parties wouldn't be given any more. All the tradesmen of the town would be bankrupt. Wine, waxlights, comestibles, diamonds, wigs, old china, and splendid high-stepping carriage horses—all the delights of life, I say,—would go to the deuce, if people did but act upon their silly principles, and avoid those whom they dislike and abuse. Whereas, by a little charity and mutual forbearance, things are made to go on pleasantly enough; we may abuse a man as much as we like, and call him the greatest rascal unhanged—but do we wish to hang him therefore? No; we shake hands when we meet. If his cook is good we forgive him, and go and dine with him; and we expect he will do the same by us. Thus trade flourishes—civilization advances; peace is kept; new dresses are wanted for new assemblies every week; and the last year's vintage of Lafitte will remunerate the honest proprietor who reared it.

Notes and exercises:

1.   The sound [tò] is spelt “tch” in the following words: kitchen, bitch, match, stitch, catch, butcher, satchel, wretch, wretched, watch, Dutch, ditch.

2.   In the following words of French origin the sound [Ù] is spelt “ou”: flourish, trouble, country, cousin, couple, nourish, touch, courage, double. We find the same spelling before “–gh”: clough, tough, rough, enough, slough, hiccough.

3.   The following words have the suffix “–or”. What is the general meaning of these nouns? Memorize their spelling in order to avoid using the wrong suffixes “–er”, “–ar” and “–eur” which are pronounced in the same way:

actor	proprietor	sponsor	author	warrior	bachelor
visitor	governor	collector	emperor	director	professor
donor	aggressor	survivor	solicitor	traitor	inventor
sailor	oppressor	inspector	ambassador	competitor	benefactor
tailor	debtor	supervisor	dissector	distributor	doctor

4.   Word study:

comestibles           things to eat (formal)

deuce         the devil, bad luck (in exclamations of annoyance)

5.   Combine the adjectives from A with the nouns from B:

A.

intolerant         intolerable

B.

person behaviour         attitudes           views   opinions          conditions

6.   Translate the following expressions and use them in sentences of your own:

to abuse someone’s patience, you have been abused, I am not to be abused by empty promises, crying abuse, abuse of administrative authority, abuse of trust, abusive language, an abusive exercise of power;

sparing use of ready money, a spare room, spare parts, to spare the life of, to spare no expenses, to spare oneself, spare the rod and spoil the child, I have no time to spare, Can you spare me a dollar?