In about a month I had a terrible accident, which I am about to relate. One summer afternoon, as I was looking out the window, I fell out of it into a winding stream, where I lay floating down I don't know where. I was so stunned by the fall that I fainted, and did not recover myself till I had floated some miles. When I recovered, I found that I was in the hands of some fishermen, (they were not regular fishermen, but only angling for sport,) who examined me very attentively. At last one said, "I'm sure I don't know what to do with this little doll." "Oh!" said the other one, "there goes a little milk-maid, let's give it to her." "So I say," said the first. "Here little girl, don't you want a doll? if you do, here is one." "Thank you, Sir," said my new mother, whose name was Agnes Earl, "I'm very much obliged to you." So Agnes took me home. She was a very pretty little girl. She had black eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. I passed a very pleasant life with my new mother. She used often to talk to me in a very motherly way; such as this: "My dear Josephine, I am very glad to see you behave so well, and I am very sorry that I cannot bring you into better society than I can. However, I think that we had better not worry about it, as you are almost polished enough." My mother used to talk to me in this way of evenings, and I hope I profited by some of her lectures to me on goodness. My mother used often to give me baths, to which I think I owe my good health. One afternoon, after my mother had bathed me, as was her usual custom, and had laid me in the sun to dry, two little girls came along and picked me up.
About This Book
A porcelain doll narrates her life after being purchased at a market and passed among several young caretakers. She describes domestic amusements, wardrobes and furnishings, spells of sickness, and small accidents that accompany country and town entertainments. Chapters recount outings such as May parties, gardening and blackberrying, seaside visits, winter play, theatrical performances and a pantomime, as well as correspondence and social visits. Through light humor and a childlike perspective the memoir traces shifting attachments, rivalries, and the everyday rituals that determine the doll's changing place in each household.