The whole family
were uncommonly good and obliging towards me, were very open-
hearted, and if I bought fruit, eggs, or anything of the kind, and
offered them any, they accepted it with great modesty. But it was
not only towards myself that they were so kind, but also towards
others; no beggar went away from their threshold unrelieved; and yet
this family was terrible, and made my stay a complete purgatory.
The mother, a very stupid scolding woman, bawled and beat her
children the whole day. Ten minutes did not pass without her
dragging her children about by the hair, or kicking and thumping
them. The children were not slow in returning it; and, besides
that, fought among themselves; so that I had not a moment's quiet in
my corner, and was not unfrequently in danger of coming in for my
share, for they amused themselves by spitting and throwing large
blocks of wood at each other's heads. The eldest son several times
throttled his mother in such a way that she became black and blue in
the face. I always endeavoured, indeed, to establish peace; but it
was very seldom that I succeeded, as I was unfortunately not
sufficient master of the language to make them understand the
impropriety of their conduct.
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