The Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens © BPI INDIA PVT LTD, 2018

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BPI INDIA PVT LTD B-1/ A-26, First Floor, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Estate, New Delhi-110044 (India) Tel: +91-11-43394300, e-mail: [email protected] Buy online: www.bpiindia.com Contents 1. The Pickwickians 5 2. The First Day of the Journey 8 3. At Rochester 11 4. An Army Challenge 15 5. The Quirky Wardles 19 6. The Jangle of Jingle 22 7. Jingle and Rachael 25 8. A Broken Heart 29 9. Awkward! 32 10. Political Pummelling 35 11. Guess Who Again? 39 12. Mr Pott Is Upset 44 13. Angry Landlord 47 14. Free from Prison 51 15. Fighting It Out 54 16. Shifting Out 57 17. Mr Winkle Meets Arabella 61 18. A Wedding to Celebrate! 64 19. Out Goes Stiggins 67 20. Poor Mr Winkle 71 21. Off to Bath 74 22. Captain Dowler Attacks 79 23. Where in Bristol? 82 24. Sam Weller in Love 85 25. His Own Little Cell 89 26. Who’s That? 92 27. Is That a Tall Tale? 95 28. Is That Mrs Raddle? 99 29. Time for Solutions 103 30. The Bagman’s Uncle 106 31. Antics of Sawyer 109 32. Pott, the Braggard 113 33. Sad News 117 34. Never Bear a Grudge 120 35. Joe Brings News 123 36. Snodgrass Makes an Entry 127 37. Flasher Swears by Bets 130 38. Arabella Bursts into Tears 133 39. The Mystery Unfolds 137 40. The Club Is Over 140 Chapter 1

The Pickwickians

he Pickwick Club of London was devoted Tto the pursuit of knowledge and the even more noble idea of sharing what they knew. On 12 May 1827, the members of the Pickwick Club held a meeting. They decided to convert themselves into a travelling society. The Club was controlled by Mr Samuel Pickwick. They determined that four members of the Club would travel around England to submit reports on what they saw. The four chosen ones were Messrs Samuel Pickwick, Tracy Tupman, Augustus Snodgrass and Nathaniel Winkle. Mr Pickwick was sorry to note that travelling, as a pastime, was losing popularity. He wanted to revive the hobby. However, Mr Blotton, the one who did not enjoy going around and whose disinterest had led to the members of the club travelling less, ticked him off for this. However, the criticism

The Pickwickians | 5 6 | Th e Pickwick Papers of his friend was not going to affect Mr Blotton and he called Mr Samuel Pickwick a humbug. To some, like Mr Snodgrass, such language could sound strong. So, he pointed out that using such language was an affront on the decorum of the respectable Pickwick Club but Mr Blotton was unfazed by such criticism. The four were rather an odd group. Mr Pickwick had been a businessman but had retired since. The kind man fancied himself as a philosopher though his thoughts had never been thought-provoking. Mr Tupman fancied himself as a ladies’ man though he had no success among the ladies to prove so. Not very young any longer, Mr Tupman still looked boyish but he had added fat to himself every year of his life. The result now showed. Augustus Snodgrass was a poet without a poem and Nathaniel Winkle was an athlete with no laurels to prove any success outdoors. The journey began. The Pickwickians met at the commencement of the journey.

The Pickwickians | 7 Chapter 2

The First Day of the Journey

he sun never forgets to rise. That day, too, Ton the thirteenth of May, 1827, it rose at the right time. Mr Samuel Pickwick also rose, like another much smaller sun, bursting out of his bed. He flung the window open in his room and looked out at Goswell Street. Wherever he looked, to right and left, below and beyond, he could only see Goswell Street. This reminded him, somehow, of the narrow view philosophers take of life, not willing to see beyond; for there certainly was a vast world out there, beyond Goswell Street, even if, at an obvious glance, it seemed to be all that there was to see. But Mr Pickwick prided himself on a curious mind. He could have, had his mind been less active, been content to look upon Goswell Street forever and not want to look beyond, because, for all purposes, that was all that he could see. However, he credited himself with making the effort to

8 | The Pickwick Papers look beyond the obvious, although there were other lands around. Mr Samuel Pickwick then went on to get dressed and got all tied up in knots when he tried to pack his clothes even while he tried to pack himself into his clothes. Now, you may wonder what was so difficult about getting the clothes where they belonged at that time, but Mr Samuel Pickwick was special. Like most great people, Mr Samuel Pickwick was not very particular about his clothes. He went through the whole routine of shaving and dressing. Then, he drank his morning cup of coffee. One hour later, he picked up his portmanteau and slipped his telescope into the pocket of his greatcoat. He also remembered to put a notebook into the pocket of his waist coat, close at hand and easy to slip out as soon as he saw something noteworthy. Then, he ambled over to the coach stand at St Martin’s- le-Grand. He hailed a cab. Travelling in the hired horse drawn carriage, Mr Samuel Pickwick was off to meet his three friends who were to be his fellow-travellers. The driver of the hired horse carriage kept him engaged with fantastic stories about his horse. Mr Samuel Pickwick diligently wrote them all down in his notebook. That made The First Day of the Journey | 9 the cab driver rather suspicious of Mr Pickwick. When they reached their destination, he picked a fight with the Pickwickians. Seeing the fight, an uncomfortable crowd collected around them. The poor Pickwickians would have hardly stood a chance, had it not been for their fortunate rescue by a rather opinionated young man of doubtful credentials. He had the gift of the gab. Their strange benefactor offered to accompany them on their way to the town of Rochester. On the way, he spun wild stories that he claimed to have experienced.

10 | The Pickwick Papers Chapter 3

At Rochester

fter an interesting journey spent with Atheir new companion spinning tall tales, the Pickwickians reached Rochester. They continued to play hospitable gentlemen and invited their saviour and travel companion to dine with them at a stylish hotel. The bonhomie was so infectious that all of them had one drink too many. Soon, only Tracy Tupman and the stranger were left awake. The others passed out in a stupor of oblivion. The other guests at the inn were enjoying a dance. Since the stranger wanted to shake a leg but did not think he was dressed appropriately, Mr Tupman lent him Mr Winkle’s dress coat. The stranger proved to be popular during the dance and much to the chagrin of Dr Slammer, who was in the Army, he won away from him a wealthy widow Dr Slammer was with. Dr

At Rochester | 11 12 | Th e Pickwick Papers Slammer was furious. He vowed to take revenge. Since no formal introductions had been made, it was Mr Winkle’s coat that was to stand out as identification. The next day, a lieutenant went around searching for the person who was wearing a particular coat. The description happened to match the coat Mr Winkle had on. Now, poor Mr Winkle could not, for the life of him, comprehend why the lieutenant was challenging him to a duel on Dr Slammer’s behalf, but he had no option other than to take up the challenge. After all, if he did not, he would be scorned as a coward. So, to preserve his reputation, Mr Winkle accepted the offer of the fight. The duel was scheduled for that evening. Mr Winkle, convinced that it would be his very end, took with him Mr Snodgrass. Life takes strange turns, as Mr Winkle was about to witness. Just before the duel began, Dr Slammer called it off because he realised that Mr Winkle was not the man he wanted revenge on. Mr Winkle was most relieved that he did not have to fight it out. So, relieved with the turn of events, Messrs

At Rochester | 13 Winkle and Snodgrass went back to the inn. There, they found Mr Pickwick, Mr Tupman and the stranger and a friend he had found around Rochester. This person, called Dismal Jemmy, looked as dismal and miserable as his nickname. He was an actor. Dismal Jemmy decided to regale the group with anecdotes from his own cheerless experiences. He told them about an actor who was addicted to drink. The man would beat up his wife and son. The addiction did not improve matters for him and he began to lose all the good roles he could have otherwise got. The parts he was offered kept getting worse and his acting career nosedived. There arrived a day when the man could not earn enough to look after himself. He had no other recourse but to turn to his wife for support. The man, he said, lost his mind soon after that and died a miserable death.

14 | The Pickwick Papers The Pickwick Papers

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