---
title: "Down and Out in Paris and London"
author: "George Orwell"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Literature"
section: 38 of 38
url: https://scriptura.si/works/orwell-down-and-out-fp20180314/38/
cite: "George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, section 38. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/orwell-down-and-out-fp20180314/38/"
---

# Down and Out in Paris and London

*George Orwell*

> * A Distributed Proofreaders Canada eBook *

> This eBook is made available at no cost and with very few
restrictions. These restrictions apply only if (1) you make
a change in the eBook (other than alteration for different
display devices), or (2) you are making commercial use of
the eBook. If either of these conditions applies, please
contact an FP administrator before proceeding.

> This work is in the Canadian public domain, but may be under
copyright in some countries. If you live outside Canada, check your
country's copyright laws. IF THE BOOK IS UNDER COPYRIGHT
IN YOUR COUNTRY, DO NOT DOWNLOAD OR REDISTRIBUTE THIS FILE.

> Title: Down and Out in Paris and London
Date of first publication: 1933
Author: George Orwell (1903-1950)
Date first posted: Mar. 14, 2018
Date last updated: Mar. 14, 2018
Faded Page eBook #20180314

> This eBook was produced by: Delphine Lettau, Howard Ross
& the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

> GEORGE ORWELL

> _Down and Out_
    _in Paris and London_

> O scathful harm, condicion of poverte!
       CHAUCER

> PENGUIN BOOKS

> First published by Victor Gollancz 1933

> Copyright 1933 by Eric Blair

> [The end of _Down and Out in Paris and London_ by George Orwell]

## 38. Chapter XXXVIII

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/orwell-down-and-out-fp20180314/38/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/orwell-down-and-out-fp20180314/38/#p-N

[¶0] After we left the spike at Lower Binfield, Paddy and I earned half a
crown at weeding and sweeping in somebody's garden, stayed the night at
Cromley, and walked back to London. I parted from Paddy a day or two
later. B. lent me a final two pounds, and, as I had only another eight
days to hold out, that was the end of my troubles. My tame imbecile
turned out worse than I had expected, but not bad enough to make me wish
myself back in the spike or the Auberge de Jehan Cottard.

[¶1] Paddy set out for Portsmouth, where he had a friend, who might
conceivably find work for him, and I have never seen him since. A short
time ago I was told that he had been run over and killed, but perhaps my
informant was mixing him up with someone else. I had news of Bozo only
three days ago. He is in Wandsworth—fourteen days, for begging. I do
not suppose prison worries him very much.

[¶2] My story ends here. It is a fairly trivial story, and I can only hope
that it has been interesting in the same way as a travel diary is
interesting. I can at least say, Here is the world that awaits you if
you are ever penniless. Some day I want to explore that world more
thoroughly. I should like to know people like Mario and Paddy and Bill
the moocher, not from casual encounters, but intimately; I should like
to understand what really goes on in the souls of _plongeurs_ and tramps
and Embankment sleepers. At present I do not feel that I have seen more
than the fringe of poverty.

[¶3] Still, I can point to one or two things I have definitely learned by
being hard up. I shall never again think that all tramps are drunken
scoundrels, nor expect a beggar to be grateful when I give him a penny,
nor be surprised if men out of work lack energy, nor subscribe to the
Salvation Army, nor pawn my clothes, nor refuse a handbill, nor enjoy a
meal at a smart restaurant. That is a beginning.

[¶4] THE END