Excerpt from The Works of Laurence Sterne, Vol. 1 of 4: Containing the Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, a Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; Sermons, Letters, &C; With a Life of the Author The bookseller made a bow, and was going to say something, when a young decent girl, about twenty, who by her air and dress seemed to be fille de chambre to some devout woman of fashion, came into the shop and asked for Les Egarements du C ur et de l'Esprit. The bookseller gave her the book directly: she pulled out a little green satin purse, run round with a ribband of the same colour, and putting her finger and thumb into it, she took out the money and paid for it. - As I had nothing more to stay me in the shop, we both walk'd out of the door together. - And what have you to do, my dear, said I, with The Wanderings of the Heart, who scarce know yet you have one? nor, till Love has first told you it, or some faithless shepherd has made it ache, canst thou ever be sure it is so. - Le Dieu m'en garde! said the girl. - With reason, said I; for if it is a good one, 'tis a pity it should be stolen; 'tis a little treasure to thee, and gives a better air to your face than if it was dresse'd out with pearls. The young girl listened with a submissive attention, holding her satin purse by its ribband in her hand all the time. 'Tis a very small one, said I, taking hold of the bottom of it - (she held it towards me) - and there is very little in it, my dear, said I; but be but as good as thou art handsome, and Heaven will fill it. I had a parcel of crowns in my hand to pay for Shakespeare; and as she had let go the purse entirely, I put a single one in; and tying up the ribband in a bow-knot, returned it to her. The young girl made me more a humble courtesy than a low one: - 'twas one of those quiet, thankful sinkings, where the spirit bows itself down, - the body does no more than tell it. I never gave a girl a crown in my life which gave me half the pleasure. My advice, my dear, would not have been worth a pin to you, said I, if I had not given this along with it: but now, when you see the crown, you'll remember it; - so don't, my dear, lay it out in ribbands. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."