The Author's Preface
THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Idle reader: thou mayest believe me without any oath that I would this book, as it is the child of my brain, were the fairest, gayest, and cleverest that could be imagined. But I could not counteract Nature's law that everything shall beget its like; and what, then, could this sterile, illtilled wit of mine beget but the story of a dry, shrivelled, whimsical offspring, full of thoughts of all sorts and such as never came into any other imagination—just what might be begotten in a prison, where every misery is lodged and every doleful sound makes its dwelling? Tranquillity, a cheerful retreat, pleasant fields, bright skies, murmuring brooks, peace of mind, these are ...
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of custom, or to implore thee, dearest reader, almost with tears in my eyes, as others do, to pardon or excuse the defects thou wilt perceive in this child of mine. Thou art neither its kinsman nor its friend, thy soul is thine own and thy will as free as any man's, whate'er he be, thou art in thine own house and master of it as much as the king of his taxes and thou knowest the common saying, "Under my cloak I kill the king;" all which exempts and frees thee from every consideration and obligation, and thou canst say what thou wilt of the story without fear of being abused for any ill or rewarded for any good thou mayest say of it.
My wish would be simply to present it to thee plain and unadorned, without any embellishment of preface or uncountable muster of customary sonnets, epigrams, and eulogies, such as are commonly put at the beginning of books. For I can tell thee, though composing it cost me some labour, I found none greater than the making of this Preface thou art now ...
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The Author's Preface. (2013, January 3). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Authors-Preface/102243
"The Author's Preface." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 3 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Authors-Preface/102243>
"The Author's Preface." Essayworld.com. January 3, 2013. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Authors-Preface/102243.
"The Author's Preface." Essayworld.com. January 3, 2013. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Authors-Preface/102243.
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