Saturday 8 November 1662

All the morning sitting at the office, and after that dined alone at home, and so to the office again till 9 o’clock, being loth to go home, the house is so dirty, and my wife at my brother’s. So home and to bed.

20 Annotations

First Reading

Dave Bell  •  Link

For some reason, I have this image of Sam sitting alone in the dark, picking out <i>Heartbreak Hotel</i> on his guitar...

He seems so different today.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"he seems so different today"
Maybe SAD ,seasonal affective disorder;
short days at his latitude can get to you.

Michael L  •  Link

Perhaps he is down. Or it could just be that he wrote this diary entry at a later date. Sometimes when he does that, you get a very short entry like this.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

I'm puzzled that lonely guy doesn't just go over to Tom's. Certainly he's left the house in worse (more exposed) condition before, womaned solely by our capable Jane. I wonder if his earlier remark about Bess going to Tom's "by my order" suggests she wasn't too pleased to be ordered to go and he's now in a hole of his own making, anxious to go but determined not to cave and give her the satisfaction.

(If so, Sam, you blasted fool, go on over and let her have her laugh)

Australian Susan  •  Link

Don't forget, it will be dark very early - perhaps he just didn't want to go through the streets (in the rain, too maybe)at night and maybe risk picking a quarrel again with Tom over marriage prospects.

Joe  •  Link

Note how Pepys describes his motivation: he doesn't want to go home. This seems a marked contrast to so many of his entries that celebrate his commitment to business and industry and the joy he takes in his work.

Linda F  •  Link

A terse, tired entry speaking volumes. The first day in a long while that Sam awoke with no propsect of excavating lost Tower treasure. His home staff (in response to their understanding of his instructions?) yesterday made things worse to get them right, and they are not right yet. Add to the dirt and disappointment the shorter days, colder nights, and his wife's absence, and this is Sam at his best: just facts and few of them when silence is the better part of valor.

chris  •  Link

Sad, down, tired, whatever. Does Sam ever miss an entry altogether? He has great self-discipline. How many of us have ever maintained a serious journal for any length of time?

Xjy  •  Link

Routine
We shouldn't forget how often Sam has started making things happen - seeing people and proposing courses of action. Today we just get the skeleton of a day (office, dinner, office, home, bed) cos there's nothing happening on any front. No acceleration, just uniform motion in a straight line ;-). He's a change/acceleration junkie.
We still get an emotion (loth to go home) and two reasons for this (the dirt, and no Beth).
Nice to see the effect a minimal entry can have when we've been spoilt by such detail recently.
(And I don't apologize at all for exceeding Sam's word count with my own :-) )

Pedro  •  Link

"the house is so dirty"

Maybe Sam's has a touch of the SBS?

Jeannine  •  Link

"being loth to go home, the house is so dirty" (spolier, but no secret)As much as I think that the tragedy of Elizabeth's and Sam's life is that they will never have children, I can't help but be struck by this comment in a humourous way. Sam is so meticulous and organized in his manner that the clutter, activity and general 'mess' that comes along with having kids would possibly be a challenge to him in more ways then one (although I do believe that the benefits would outweigh the intrusion to his organizational needs). Then again, that type of confusion may make the office even more appealing!

Jeannine  •  Link

Xjy-"And I don't apologize at all for exceeding Sam's word count with my own", well if only those not guilty of the same are going to cast stones then I guess I have to be mute on this one!

bardi  •  Link

Poor boy! It's Saturday night. Time to toss his vows out the window and hit the local pub.

Ruben  •  Link

Mess & children
who knows? I presume in Pepys more or less urban middle class (this are words from a later century)children had a "proper place", they ate in the kitchen with the servants and went to bed sans the "benefit" of TV. ALL the responsibility was the mothers responsibility, so FATHER had not to be bother with infantile problems. Once in a while FATHER would take them for an outing. Then, there was a need to educate the children: i.e. hit them! (remember his arm tired of hitting his boy?)

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Given that Sam has a good relationship with his father, despite Dad's lack of social position, etc, I suspect he'd be a good father. The big problem would probably be the usual with busy dads-he'd want his time with the kids to be all fun and smiles, leaving Mom to be the bad guy except in cases of dispensing Father's Life Lessons.

Pauline  •  Link

'he’d be a good father'
I agree, Robert; and a good relationship with his mother as well. Sam is well anchored in life because of it. Kids are great. I'm sorry S&E will miss this.

Jeannine  •  Link

Robert, you are quite probably quite right about Sam as a father,except, of course for THE TEENAGE YEARS --a play in 4 Acts...which I am waiting for you to write and bring to Broadway...

Act 1-Brampton Visit Oct 1662--Sam won't wear his new scallop to THAT church, wine stinks, sends out for wormwood, etc. and generally disses family.
Act 2- Brampton after Sam leaves--Family sits around drinking "their" wine, disses Sam
Act 3- 15 years later-"Lord's Day" Sam Jr.'s bedroom- Sam gives Jr. his beloved scallop to wear to church, Sam Jr. squirms around the issue, finally blurts out, "Father, I can't wear that old thing, it's SOOO 60's" - leaves room in huff, borrows scallop from uppity neighbor, parades into church wearing it.
Act 4-Later in the evening, Sam and Elizabeth,alone in 2 chairs- Bewildered Sam says " I have no idea how he turned out that way". A silent Elizabeth smiles.......

Ruben  •  Link

I think that consumer society is something new. In old days people did not consider old things like not proper. I remember reading somewhere that an English aristocrat of 200 years ago would not consider wearing a new garment. He would give it to his butler to wear it for a time, so it did not look new.

Second Reading

Bridget Davis  •  Link

Sam has spoken much of dirt in the house which I would expect during construction. I wonder if the workers are being intentionally messy?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Bridget, Sam complains of "dirt" because he's a neatnik who can't stand mess. (That said, there is the womanizing, but apparently so far that mess can be escaped.)

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