OLIVER TWIST

OLIVER TWIST
Webster’s Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®, LSAT®,
GMAT®, and AP® English Test Preparation
Charles Dickens
PSAT is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT is a registered trademark of the College
Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE, AP and Advanced Placement are registered
trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT is a
registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated with this book
nor endorses this book, LSAT is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council which neither
sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved.
Oliver Twist
Webster’s Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®, LSAT®,
GMAT®, and AP® English Test Preparation
Charles Dickens
PSAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT® is a registered trademark of the
College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are
registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book,
GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated
with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council
which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved.
ii
ICON CLASSICS
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Oliver Twist: Webster’s Thesaurus Edition for PSAT®, SAT®, GRE®, LSAT®, GMAT®, and AP® English
Test Preparation
This edition published by ICON Classics in 2005
Printed in the United States of America.
Copyright ©2005 by ICON Group International, Inc.
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PSAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book;
SAT® is a registered trademark of the College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses
this book; GRE®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the
Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book, GMAT® is a
registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither
affiliated with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law
School Admissions Council which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights
reserved.
ISBN 0-497-01024-0
iii
Contents
PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR .......................................................................................... 1
CHAPTER I TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE
CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTH ....................................................................... 3
CHAPTER II TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST'S GROWTH, EDUCATION, AND BOARD ............. 7
CHAPTER III RELATES HOW OLIVER TWIST WAS VERY NEAR GETTING A PLACE WHICH
WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A SINECURE.......................................................................... 19
CHAPTER IV OLIVER, BEING OFFERED ANOTHER PLACE, MAKES HIS FIRST ENTRY
INTO PUBLIC LIFE.......................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER V OLIVER MINGLES WITH NEW ASSOCIATES. GOING TO A FUNERAL FOR
THE FIRST TIME, HE FORMS AN UNFAVOURABLE NOTION OF HIS MASTER'S BUSINESS37
CHAPTER VI OLIVER, BEING GOADED BY THE TAUNTS OF NOAH, ROUSES INTO
ACTION, AND RATHER ASTONISHES HIM ...................................................................... 49
CHAPTER VII OLIVER CONTINUES REFRACTORY ......................................................... 55
CHAPTER VIII OLIVER WALKS TO LONDON. HE ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD A
STRANGE SORT OF YOUNG GENTLEMAN ...................................................................... 63
CHAPTER IX CONTAINING FURTHER PARTICULARS CONCERNING THE PLEASANT OLD
GENTLEMAN, AND HIS HOPEFUL PUPILS ...................................................................... 73
CHAPTER X OLIVER BECOMES BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH THE CHARACTERS OF HIS
NEW ASSOCIATES; AND PURCHASES EXPERIENCE AT A HIGH PRICE. BEING A SHORT,
BUT VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER, IN THIS HISTORY ..................................................... 81
CHAPTER XI TREATS OF MR. FANG THE POLICE MAGISTRATE; AND FURNISHES A
SLIGHT SPECIMEN OF HIS MODE OF ADMINISTERING JUSTICE .................................. 87
CHAPTER XII IN WHICH OLIVER IS TAKEN BETTER CARE OF THAN HE EVER WAS
BEFORE. AND IN WHICH THE NARRATIVE REVERTS TO THE MERRY OLD GENTLEMAN
AND HIS YOUTHFUL FRIENDS ....................................................................................... 97
CHAPTER XIII SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES ARE INTRODUCED TO THE INTELLIGENT
READER, CONNECTED WITH WHOM VARIOUS PLEASANT MATTERS ARE RELATED,
APPERTAINING TO THIS HISTORY ................................................................................ 109
CHAPTER XIV COMPRISING FURTHER PARTICULARS OF OLIVER'S STAY AT MR.
BROWNLOW'S, WITH THE REMARKABLE PREDICTION WHICH ONE MR. GRIMWIG
UTTERED CONCERNING HIM, WHEN HE WENT OUT ON AN ERRAND ......................... 119
CHAPTER XV SHOWING HOW VERY FOND OF OLIVER TWIST, THE MERRY OLD JEW
AND MISS NANCY WERE .............................................................................................. 131
CHAPTER XVI RELATES WHAT BECAME OF OLIVER TWIST, AFTER HE HAD BEEN
CLAIMED BY NANCY .................................................................................................... 139
CHAPTER XVII OLIVER'S DESTINY CONTINUING UNPROPITIOUS, BRINGS A GREAT MAN
TO LONDON TO INJURE HIS REPUTATION................................................................... 151
CHAPTER XVIII HOW OLIVER PASSED HIS TIME IN THE IMPROVING SOCIETY OF HIS
REPUTABLE FRIENDS .................................................................................................. 163
CHAPTER XIX IN WHICH A NOTABLE PLAN IS DISCUSSED AND DETERMINED ON .... 173
iv
CHAPTER XX WHEREIN OLVER IS DELIVERED OVER TO MR. WILLIAM SIKES .......... 185
CHAPTER XXI THE EXPEDITION ................................................................................. 195
CHAPTER XXII THE BURGLARY................................................................................... 203
CHAPTER XXIII WHICH CONTAINS THE SUBSTANCE OF A PLEASANT CONVERSATION
BETWEEN MR. BUMBLE AND A LADY; AND SHOWS THAT EVEN A BEADLE MAY BE
SUSCEPTIBLE ON SOME POINTS ................................................................................. 211
CHAPTER XXIV TREATS ON A VERY POOR SUBJECT. BUT IS A SHORT ONE, AND MAY
BE FOUND OF IMPORTANCE IN THIS HISTORY............................................................ 221
CHAPTER XXV WHEREIN THIS HISTORY REVERTS TO MR. FAGIN AND COMPANY .... 229
CHAPTER XXVI IN WHICH A MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER APPEARS UPON THE SCENE;
AND MANY THINGS, INSEPARABLE FROM THIS HISTORY, ARE DONE AND PERFORMED237
CHAPTER XXVII ATONES FOR THE UNPOLITENESS OF A FORMER CHAPTER; WHICH
DESERTED A LADY, MOST UNCEREMONIOUSLY......................................................... 251
CHAPTER XXVIII LOOKS AFTER OLIVER, AND PROCEEDS WITH HIS ADVENTURES .. 259
CHAPTER XXIX HAS AN INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNT OF THE INMATES OF THE HOUSE,
TO WHICH OLIVER RESORTED .................................................................................... 271
CHAPTER XXX RELATES WHAT OLIVER'S NEW VISITORS THOUGHT OF HIM ............ 277
CHAPTER XXXI INVOLVES A CRITICAL POSITION ....................................................... 285
CHAPTER XXXII OF THE HAPPY LIFE OLIVER BEGAN TO LEAD WITH HIS KIND FRIENDS297
CHAPTER XXXIII WHEREIN THE HAPPINESS OF OLIVER AND HIS FRIENDS,
EXPERIENCES A SUDDEN CHECK ............................................................................... 307
CHAPTER XXXIV CONTAINS SOME INTRODUCTORY PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO A
YOUNG GENTLEMAN WHO NOW ARRIVES UPON THE SCENE; AND A NEW ADVENTURE
WHICH HAPPENED TO OLIVER .................................................................................... 317
CHAPTER XXXV CONTAINING THE UNSATISFACTORY RESULT OF OLIVER'S
ADVENTURE; AND A CONVERSATION OF SOME IMPORTANCE BETWEEN HARRY MAYLIE
AND ROSE.................................................................................................................... 329
CHAPTER XXXVI IS A VERY SHORT ONE, AND MAY APPEAR OF NO GREAT
IMPORTANCE IN ITS PLACE, BUT IT SHOULD BE READ NOTWITHSTANDING, AS A
SEQUEL TO THE LAST, AND A KEY TO ONE THAT WILL FOLLOW WHEN ITS TIME
ARRIVES ...................................................................................................................... 339
CHAPTER XXXVII IN WHICH THE READER MAY PERCEIVE A CONTRAST, NOT
UNCOMMON IN MATRIMONIAL CASES......................................................................... 343
CHAPTER XXXVIII CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASSED BETWEEN MR. AND
MRS. BUMBLE, AND MR. MONKS, AT THEIR NOCTURNAL INTERVIEW........................ 355
CHAPTER XXXIX INTRODUCES SOME RESPECTABLE CHARACTERS WITH WHOM THE
READER IS ALREADY ACQUAINTED, AND SHOWS HOW MONKS AND THE JEW LAID
THEIR WORTHY HEADS TOGETHER ............................................................................ 367
CHAPTER XL A STRANGE INTERVIEW, WHICH IS A SEQUEL TO THE LAST CHAMBER383
CHAPTER XLI CONTAINING FRESH DISCOVERIES, AND SHOWING THAT SUPRISES,
LIKE MISFORTUNES, SELDOM COME ALONE .............................................................. 391
CHAPTER XLII AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE OF OLIVER'S, EXHIBITING DECIDED MARKS
OF GENIUS, BECOMES A PUBLIC CHARACTER IN THE METROPOLIS ......................... 403
v
CHAPTER XLIII WHEREIN IS SHOWN HOW THE ARTFUL DODGER GOT INTO TROUBLE415
CHAPTER XLIV THE TIME ARRIVES FOR NANCY TO REDEEM HER PLEDGE TO ROSE
MAYLIE. SHE FAILS...................................................................................................... 427
CHAPTER XLV NOAH CLAYPOLE IS EMPLOYED BY FAGIN ON A SECRET MISSION .... 435
CHAPTER XLVI THE APPOINTMENT KEPT ................................................................... 441
CHAPTER XLVII FATAL CONSEQUENCES.................................................................... 453
CHAPTER XLVIII THE FLIGHT OF SIKES ..................................................................... 461
CHAPTER XLIX MONKS AND MR. BROWNLOW AT LENGTH MEET. THEIR
CONVERSATION, AND THE INTELLIGENCE THAT INTERRUPTS IT ............................... 471
CHAPTER L THE PURSUIT AND ESCAPE ..................................................................... 483
CHAPTER LI AFFORDING AN EXPLANATION OF MORE MYSTERIES THAN ONE, AND
COMPREHENDING A PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE WITH NO WORD OF SETTLEMENT OR
PIN-MONEY .................................................................................................................. 497
CHAPTER LII FAGIN'S LAST NIGHT ALIVE ................................................................... 511
CHAPTER LIII AND LAST.............................................................................................. 521
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................... 527
Charles Dickens
1
PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR
Designed for school districts, educators, and students seeking to maximize performance on
standardized tests, Webster’s paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently
assigned readings in English courses. By using a running thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this
edition of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens was edited for students who are actively building their
vocabularies in anticipation of taking PSAT®, SAT®, AP® (Advanced Placement®), GRE®,
LSAT®, GMAT® or similar examinations.1
Webster’s edition of this classic is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of
synonyms and antonyms for difficult and often ambiguous English words that are encountered in
other works of literature, conversation, or academic examinations. Extremely rare or idiosyncratic
words and expressions are given lower priority in the notes compared to words which are “difficult,
and often encountered” in examinations. Rather than supply a single synonym, many are provided
for a variety of meanings, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of the English language,
and avoid using the notes as a pure crutch. Having the reader decipher a word’s meaning within
context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each page covers words not
already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not noted on a page, chances are that it
has been highlighted on a previous page. A more complete thesaurus is supplied at the end of the
book; Synonyms and antonyms are extracted from Webster’s Online Dictionary.
Definitions of remaining terms as well as translations can be found at www.websters-onlinedictionary.org. Please send suggestions to websters@icongroupbooks.com
The Editor
Webster’s Online Dictionary
www.websters-online-dictionary.org
PSAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination Board and the National Merit
Scholarship Corporation neither of which sponsors or endorses this book; SAT® is a registered trademark of the
College Board which neither sponsors nor endorses this book; GRE®, AP® and Advanced Placement® are
registered trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which neither sponsors nor endorses this book,
GMAT® is a registered trademark of the Graduate Management Admissions Council which is neither affiliated
with this book nor endorses this book, LSAT® is a registered trademark of the Law School Admissions Council
which neither sponsors nor endorses this product. All rights reserved.
1
Charles Dickens
3
CHAPTER I
TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER
TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE
CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS BIRTH
Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it
will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no
fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to
wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born; on a day and date which I
need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible
consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events; the item of
mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.%
For a long time after it was ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble, by
the parish surgeon, it remained a matter of considerable doubt whether the child
would survive to bear any name at all; in which case it is somewhat more than
probable that these memoirs would never have appeared; or, if they had, that
being comprised within a couple of pages, they would have possessed the
inestimable merit of being the most concise and faithful specimen of biography,
extant in the literature of any age or country.
Thesaurus
anciently: (adv) antiquatedly,
formerly, oldly, primevally, hoarily,
primordially, obsoletely, bygonely,
archaically, antediluvianly, pastly.
concise: (adj) brief, compendious,
terse, curt, short, succinct, laconic,
pithy, summary, condensed; (v) close.
ANTONYMS: (adj) wordy, lengthy,
long, rambling, prolix, confused,
redundant, expansive, convoluted.
extant: (adj) actual, current, present,
existent, surviving, alive, living,
available, instant, in existence, that is. immeasurable, invaluable, infinite,
ANTONYMS: (adj) lost, dead,
priceless, incomputable, valuable,
departed, destroyed, gone.
precious, untold, costly, beyond
fictitious: (adj) bogus, assumed,
measure. ANTONYMS: (adj)
fictional, counterfeit, artificial, fake,
worthless, slight, minor, limited.
fabulous, sham, fabricated, fanciful, refrain: (v) desist, cease, fast, avoid,
apocryphal. ANTONYMS: (adj) true, leave off, withhold, stop, spare; (adj,
v) forbear; (n) chorus, hold.
honest, historical, factual.
inasmuch: (adv) gradually, pro tanto,
ANTONYMS: (v) participate, act,
so, since, as, that, because, inasmuch
consume, persist.
workhouse: (n) workshop, almshouse,
as, seeing that, for.
inestimable: (adj) incalculable,
shop, jail, gaol, jailhouse, labor, clink.
4
Oliver Twist
Although I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a workhouse,
is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a
human being, I do mean to say that in this particular instance, it was the best
thing for Oliver Twist that could by possibility have occurred. The fact is, that
there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver to take upon himself the
office of respiration,--a troublesome practice, but one which custom has rendered
necessary to our easy existence; and for some time he lay gasping on a little flock
mattress, rather unequally poised between this world and the next: the balance
being decidedly in favour of the latter. Now, if, during this brief period, Oliver
had been surrounded by careful grandmothers, anxious aunts, experienced
nurses, and doctors of profound wisdom, he would most inevitably and
indubitably have been killed in no time. There being nobody by, however, but a
pauper old woman, who was rendered rather misty by an unwonted allowance
of beer; and a parish surgeon who did such matters by contract; Oliver and
Nature fought out the point between them. The result was, that, after a few
struggles, Oliver breathed, sneezed, and proceeded to advertise to the inmates of
the workhouse the fact of a new burden having been imposed upon the parish,
by setting up as loud a cry as could reasonably have been expected from a male
infant who had not been possessed of that very useful appendage, a voice, for a
much longer space of time than three minutes and a quarter.%
As Oliver gave this first proof of the free and proper action of his lungs, the
patchwork coverlet which was carelessly flung over the iron bedstead, rustled;
the pale face of a young woman was raised feebly from the pillow; and a faint
voice imperfectly articulated the words, 'Let me see the child, and die.'
The surgeon had been sitting with his face turned towards the fire: giving the
palms of his hands a warm and a rub alternately. As the young woman spoke, he
rose, and advancing to the bed's head, said, with more kindness than might have
been expected of him:
'Oh, you must not talk about dying yet.'
Thesaurus
appendage: (n) increment, adjunct,
appendix, accessory, accompaniment,
annex, limb, attachment, tailpiece,
extra, addendum. ANTONYM: (n)
head.
bedstead: (n) bed, berth, cot,
bedframe, furniture, shakedown,
pallet, stretcher, tester, stead, hatch.
befall: (v) bechance, become, happen,
fall, arise, come about, occur, betide,
chance, transpire, pass.
coverlet: (n) blanket, bedspread, cover,
bedcover, bed cover, tarpaulin,
drugget, coverlid, spread, mantle,
quilt.
imposed: (adj) compulsory, obligatory.
indubitably: (adv) certainly, surely,
positively, incontrovertibly,
unquestionably, clearly,
undoubtedly, of course, absolutely,
indisputably, decidedly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) possibly,
arguably, doubtfully.
proceeded: (v) proceed, yode.
unequally: (adv) irregularly,
disproportionately, unfairly,
unlikely, roughly, lopsidedly,
disparately, partially,
unsymmetrically, unbalancedly,
disproportionally. ANTONYMS:
(adv) evenly, fairly.
unwonted: (adj) unaccustomed, rare,
unusual, unused, infrequent,
uncustomary, singular,
extraordinary, scarce, unaccountable,
remarkable.
Charles Dickens
5
'Lor bless her dear heart, no!' interposed the nurse, hastily depositing in her
pocket a green glass bottle, the contents of which she had been tasting in a corner
with evident satisfaction.%
'Lor bless her dear heart, when she has lived as long as I have, sir, and had
thirteen children of her own, and all on 'em dead except two, and them in the
wurkus with me, she'll know better than to take on in that way, bless her dear
heart! Think what it is to be a mother, there's a dear young lamb do.'
Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother's prospects failed in
producing its due effect. The patient shook her head, and stretched out her hand
towards the child.
The surgeon deposited it in her arms. She imprinted her cold white lips
passionately on its forehead; passed her hands over her face; gazed wildly
round; shuddered; fell back--and died. They chafed her breast, hands, and
temples; but the blood had stopped forever. They talked of hope and comfort.
They had been strangers too long.
'It's all over, Mrs. Thingummy!' said the surgeon at last.
'Ah, poor dear, so it is!' said the nurse, picking up the cork of the green bottle,
which had fallen out on the pillow, as she stooped to take up the child. 'Poor
dear!'
'You needn't mind sending up to me, if the child cries, nurse,' said the
surgeon, putting on his gloves with great deliberation. 'It's very likely it will be
troublesome. Give it a little gruel if it is.' He put on his hat, and, pausing by the
bed-side on his way to the door, added, 'She was a good-looking girl, too; where
did she come from?'
'She was brought here last night,' replied the old woman, 'by the overseer's
order. She was found lying in the street. She had walked some distance, for her
shoes were worn to pieces; but where she came from, or where she was going to,
nobody knows.'
The surgeon leaned over the body, and raised the left hand. 'The old story,'
he said, shaking his head: 'no wedding-ring, I see. Ah! Good-night!'
Thesaurus
bless: (v) consecrate, celebrate,
debate, caution, thought, advisement, intercedent, intervenient,
sanctify, anoint, eulogize, sign,
attention, contemplation,
parenthetical, intermediate colors,
praise, keep, grant, glorify; (n)
consultation; (adj, n) calculation,
mediate.
blessing. ANTONYMS: (v) curse,
circumspection. ANTONYMS: (n)
stooped: (adj) hunched, stoop,
condemn, disapprove, damn,
thoughtlessness, carelessness,
stooping, crooked, bended, not
disallow, deny.
impetuosity, distraction, rashness.
straight, inclined, not erect, arched,
chafed: (adj) uncomfortable, sore,
gruel: (n) mess, congee, loblolly, paste, asymmetrical, droopy.
painful, galled, angry; (v) fretted,
tasting: (n) degustation, gustation,
waste, porridge, mush, pap, skilly,
agitated.
wet feed.
savoring, relishing, sample, gustatory
consolatory: (adj) consoling, soothing, imprinted: (adj) printed, marked,
sensation, gustatory perception,
cheering.
embossed.
discernment, drinking, eating,
deliberation: (n) cogitation, counsel,
interposed: (adj) interjacent,
feeding.
6
Oliver Twist
The medical gentleman walked away to dinner; and the nurse, having once
more applied herself to the green bottle, sat down on a low chair before the fire,
and proceeded to dress the infant.%
What an excellent example of the power of dress, young Oliver Twist was!
Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his only covering, he might
have been the child of a nobleman or a beggar; it would have been hard for the
haughtiest stranger to have assigned him his proper station in society. But now
that he was enveloped in the old calico robes which had grown yellow in the
same service, he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his place at once--a parish
child--the orphan of a workhouse--the humble, half-starved drudge--to be
cuffed and buffeted through the world--despised by all, and pitied by none.
Oliver cried lustily. If he could have known that he was an orphan, left to the
tender mercies of church-wardens and overseers, perhaps he would have cried
the louder.
Thesaurus
beggar: (n) mendicant, mumper,
humble: (v) demean, humiliate,
mortify; (n, v) disgrace, debase; (adj,
pauper, tramp, sponger, joker, poor
man, cadger, bloke; (v) beg,
n, v) abase; (adj) base, lowly,
pauperize. ANTONYM: (n) giver.
unassuming, docile, low.
calico: (n) cambric, fabric, cashmere,
ANTONYMS: (adj) impressive,
chintz, cloth; (adj) motley,
arrogant, haughty, imposing,
varicoloured, pied, assorted.
conceited, pompous, snooty,
cuffed: (adj) slapped.
overbearing, presumptuous, proud,
enveloped: (adj) convoluted, enclosed, exalted.
cover, bounded, Byzantine, clothed, lustily: (adv) stoutly, energetically,
involved, misty, swallowed,
robustly, powerfully, vigorously,
vestured, emotionally involved.
mightily, halely, strappingly,
potently, sturdily, heartily.
nobleman: (n) patrician, aristocrat,
lord, peer, marquis, nobility,
grandee, baron, duke, armiger,
burgrave.
oliver: (n) king Oliver.
orphan: (n) waif, caterpillar, nymph,
nympha, cocoon, Aurelia, tyke,
staddle, youngster, shaver; (adj)
orphaned.
robes: (n) garb, fine clothes, costume,
best clothes.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
7
%II
TREATS OF OLIVER TWIST'S GROWTH,
EDUCATION, AND BOARD
For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a systematic course
of treachery and deception. He was brought up by hand. The hungry and
destitute situation of the infant orphan was duly reported by the workhouse
authorities to the parish authorities. The parish authorities inquired with dignity
of the workhouse authorities, whether there was no female then domiciled in 'the
house' who was in a situation to impart to Oliver Twist, the consolation and
nourishment of which he stood in need. The workhouse authorities replied with
humility, that there was not. Upon this, the parish authorities magnanimously
and humanely resolved, that Oliver should be 'farmed,' or, in other words, that
he should be dispatched to a branch-workhouse some three miles off, where
twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws, rolled about the
floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing,
under the parental superintendence of an elderly female, who received the
culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per
week. Sevenpence-halfpenny's worth per week is a good round diet for a child; a
great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to overload its
stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was a woman of
Thesaurus
destitute: (adj) impoverished, needy,
ANTONYM: (adv) cruelly.
meal, meat, diet, feeding, nutrition,
impart: (v) give, convey, disclose,
bankrupt, broke, poor, helpless,
repast, sustenance, edible, fuel.
overload: (n, v) overburden, glut; (v)
impecunious, penniless, necessitous; communicate, announce, grant,
(adj, v) forlorn, devoid. ANTONYMS: reveal, hand, bestow, divulge, confer. overcharge, encumber, surcharge,
(adj) wealthy, privileged, prosperous, ANTONYMS: (v) withhold,
oppress, load, clog, overlay,
overwhelm; (n) excess. ANTONYMS:
solvent.
withdraw.
dispatched: (adj) fulfilled, finished.
magnanimously: (adv) exaltedly,
(n) restraint, shortage; (v) alleviate.
humanely: (adv) kindly, benevolently, kindly, handsomely, greatly,
superintendence: (n) oversight,
humanitarianly, mercifully, benignly, chivalrously, selflessly, unselfishly,
direction, management, inspection,
sympathetically, compassionately,
gallantly, grandly, bigly,
control, government, surveillance,
beneficently, considerately,
considerately.
supervising, care, guidance,
nourishment: (n) food, alimentation,
philanthropically, nicely.
invigilation.
8
Oliver Twist
wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children; and she had a
very accurate perception of what was good for herself. So, she appropriated the
greater part of the weekly stipend to her own use, and consigned the rising
parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided
for them. Thereby finding in the lowest depth a deeper still; and proving herself
a very great experimental philosopher.%
Everybody knows the story of another experimental philosopher who had a
great theory about a horse being able to live without eating, and who
demonstrated it so well, that he had got his own horse down to a straw a day,
and would unquestionably have rendered him a very spirited and rampacious
animal on nothing at all, if he had not died, four-and-twenty hours before he was
to have had his first comfortable bait of air. Unfortunately for, the experimental
philosophy of the female to whose protecting care Oliver Twist was delivered
over, a similar result usually attended the operation of her system; for at the very
moment when the child had contrived to exist upon the smallest possible portion
of the weakest possible food, it did perversely happen in eight and a half cases
out of ten, either that it sickened from want and cold, or fell into the fire from
neglect, or got half-smothered by accident; in any one of which cases, the
miserable little being was usually summoned into another world, and there
gathered to the fathers it had never known in this.
Occasionally, when there was some more than usually interesting inquest
upon a parish child who had been overlooked in turning up a bedstead, or
inadvertently scalded to death when there happened to be a washing--though
the latter accident was very scarce, anything approaching to a washing being of
rare occurrence in the farm--the jury would take it into their heads to ask
troublesome questions, or the parishioners would rebelliously affix their
signatures to a remonstrance. But these impertinences were speedily checked by
the evidence of the surgeon, and the testimony of the beadle; the former of
whom had always opened the body and found nothing inside (which was very
probable indeed), and the latter of whom invariably swore whatever the parish
wanted; which was very self-devotional. Besides, the board made periodical
Thesaurus
affix: (n, v) annex; (adj, v) attach, fix;
(v) adjoin, append, add on, fasten,
join, connect, stick; (n) addition.
ANTONYMS: (v) unfasten, remove,
loosen, delete.
appropriated: (adj) taken, destined,
taken over, confiscate, confiscated,
condemned, seized, reserved.
beadle: (n) verger, catchpoll, almoner,
functionary, sacristan, sexton, janitor,
Suisse, tipstaff, officer, George Wells
beadle.
consigned: (adj) destined, aboard.
parishioners: (n) people attending
worship, worshippers.
rebelliously: (adv) mutinously,
contumaciously, riotously,
seditiously, disobediently,
insurgently, recalcitrantly,
revolutionarily, unruly, naughtily,
insubordinately. ANTONYMS: (adv)
submissively, loyally, meekly.
remonstrance: (n) protest,
expostulation, objection, dissuasion,
censure, remonstration,
reprehension, admonition,
monstrance, mediation, dehortation.
scalded: (adj) scorched, overcooked,
burnt. ANTONYM: (adj) underdone.
shorter: (adj) smaller, inferior.
sickened: (adj) aghast, horrified,
appalled, shocked.
stipend: (n) salary, pay, earnings,
allowance, remuneration, wage,
compensation, pension, reward, fee,
grant.
Charles Dickens
9
pilgrimages to the farm, and always sent the beadle the day before, to say they
were going. The children were neat and clean to behold, when they went; and
what more would the people have!
It cannot be expected that this system of farming would produce any very
extraordinary or luxuriant crop. Oliver Twist's ninth birthday found him a pale
thin child, somewhat diminutive in stature, and decidedly small in
circumference. But nature or inheritance had implanted a good sturdy spirit in
Oliver's breast. It had had plenty of room to expand, thanks to the spare diet of
the establishment; and perhaps to this circumstance may be attributed his having
any ninth birth-day at all. Be this as it may, however, it was his ninth birthday;
and he was keeping it in the coal-cellar with a select party of two other young
gentleman, who, after participating with him in a sound thrashing, had been
locked up for atrociously presuming to be hungry, when Mrs. Mann, the good
lady of the house, was unexpectedly startled by the apparition of Mr. Bumble,
the beadle, striving to undo the wicket of the garden-gate.%
'Goodness gracious! Is that you, Mr. Bumble, sir?' said Mrs. Mann, thrusting
her head out of the window in well-affected ecstasies of joy. '(Susan, take Oliver
and them two brats upstairs, and wash 'em directly.)--My heart alive! Mr.
Bumble, how glad I am to see you, sure-ly!'
Now, Mr. Bumble was a fat man, and a choleric; so, instead of responding to
this open-hearted salutation in a kindred spirit, he gave the little wicket a
tremendous shake, and then bestowed upon it a kick which could have
emanated from no leg but a beadle's.
'Lor, only think,' said Mrs. Mann, running out,--for the three boys had been
removed by this time,--'only think of that! That I should have forgotten that the
gate was bolted on the inside, on account of them dear children! Walk in sir;
walk in, pray, Mr. Bumble, do, sir.'
Although this invitation was accompanied with a curtsey that might have
softened the heart of a church-warden, it by no means mollified the beadle.
Thesaurus
atrociously: (adv) cruelly, dreadfully,
kneel, bob.
unhealthy, arid, withering, sparse,
implanted: (adj) ingrained, inherent,
wickedly, heinously, horrifically,
shabby, unadorned.
open-hearted: (adj) open, sincere,
abominably, terribly, brutally,
ingrafted, entrenched, surrounded,
outrageously, inhumanly, ghastly.
native, established, fixed, set in,
liberal.
ANTONYMS: (adv) humanely,
presuming: (adj) forward, arrogant,
rooted.
kindred: (adj) cognate, akin, similar,
pleasantly.
insolent, familiar, overconfident,
choleric: (adj) angry, irascible,
allied, related; (n) kin, consanguinity, conceited, assuming, rash, brash,
passionate, peppery, fiery,
relation, folk, folks, kin group.
pretentious, confident.
luxuriant: (adj, n) lush; (adj) abundant, salutation: (n, v) salute; (n) reception,
cantankerous, quick-tempered,
quarrelsome, cross, snappish,
lavish, exuberant, dense, thick, fertile, hail, hello, welcome, address,
hotheaded.
flourishing, fecund, opulent, profuse. compliment, hullo, recognition,
curtsey: (n, v) curtsy; (n) obeisance; (v) ANTONYMS: (adj) barren, meager,
interpellation, pax.
10
Oliver Twist
'Do you think this respectful or proper conduct, Mrs. Mann,' inquired Mr.
Bumble, grasping his cane, 'to keep the parish officers a waiting at your gardengate, when they come here upon porochial business with the porochial orphans?
Are you aweer, Mrs. Mann, that you are, as I may say, a porochial delegate, and
a stipendiary?'
'I'm sure Mr. Bumble, that I was only a telling one or two of the dear children
as is so fond of you, that it was you a coming,' replied Mrs. Mann with great
humility.%
Mr. Bumble had a great idea of his oratorical powers and his importance. He
had displayed the one, and vindicated the other. He relaxed.
'Well, well, Mrs. Mann,' he replied in a calmer tone; 'it may be as you say; it
may be. Lead the way in, Mrs. Mann, for I come on business, and have
something to say.'
Mrs. Mann ushered the beadle into a small parlour with a brick floor; placed
a seat for him; and officiously deposited his cocked hat and cane on the table
before him. Mr. Bumble wiped from his forehead the perspiration which his
walk had engendered, glanced complacently at the cocked hat, and smiled. Yes,
he smiled. Beadles are but men: and Mr. Bumble smiled.
'Now don't you be offended at what I'm a going to say,' observed Mrs. Mann,
with captivating sweetness. 'You've had a long walk, you know, or I wouldn't
mention it. Now, will you take a little drop of somethink, Mr. Bumble?'
'Not a drop. Nor a drop,' said Mr. Bumble, waving his right hand in a
dignified, but placid manner.
'I think you will,' said Mrs. Mann, who had noticed the tone of the refusal,
and the gesture that had accompanied it. 'Just a leetle drop, with a little cold
water, and a lump of sugar.'
Mr. Bumble coughed.
'Now, just a leetle drop,' said Mrs. Mann persuasively.
'What is it?' inquired the beadle.
Thesaurus
bumble: (v) botch, stumble, blunder,
stutter, falter, stammer, hum, buzz,
bungle, muff, screw up.
calmer: (n) placid, quiet.
captivating: (adj, v) enchanting,
charming, engaging; (adj) attractive,
absorbing, alluring, bewitching,
delightful, engrossing, lovely,
enthralling. ANTONYMS: (adj)
repellent, boring, unpleasant,
unappealing, forgettable, annoying.
complacently: (adv) contently,
conceitedly, self-satisfiedly,
flatulent, Oratorian, overblown.
persuasively: (adv) compellingly,
graciously, arrogantly, satisfiedly,
contentedly, virtuously,
potently, strongly, forcefully,
sanctimoniously.
powerfully, eloquently, effectively,
don't: (adv) not; (n) taboo, prohibition. soundly, cogently, movingly, slickly.
officiously: (adv) meddlesomely,
ANTONYMS: (adv) ineffectively,
overbearingly, busily, impertinently, hesitantly, weakly.
vindicated: (adj) exculpated,
meddlingly, bossily, intrusively,
obtrusively, imperiously, rudely,
exonerated, cleared, absolved,
dictatorially.
unmortgaged, unclouded, safe, easily
oratorical: (adj) grandiloquent,
deciphered, easily perceptible, clean,
guiltless. ANTONYM: (adj) wrong.
oratorial, bombastic, redundant,
Charles Dickens
11
'Why, it's what I'm obliged to keep a little of in the house, to put into the
blessed infants' Daffy, when they ain't well, Mr. Bumble,' replied Mrs. Mann as
she opened a corner cupboard, and took down a bottle and glass. 'It's gin. I'll not
deceive you, Mr. B. It's gin.'
'Do you give the children Daffy, Mrs. Mann?' inquired Bumble, following
with his eyes the interesting process of mixing.%
'Ah, bless 'em, that I do, dear as it is,' replied the nurse. 'I couldn't see 'em
suffer before my very eyes, you know sir.'
'No'; said Mr. Bumble approvingly; 'no, you could not. You are a humane
woman, Mrs. Mann.' (Here she set down the glass.) 'I shall take a early
opportunity of mentioning it to the board, Mrs. Mann.' (He drew it towards him.)
'You feel as a mother, Mrs. Mann.' (He stirred the gin-and-water.) 'I--I drink your
health with cheerfulness, Mrs. Mann'; and he swallowed half of it.
'And now about business,' said the beadle, taking out a leathern pocket-book.
'The child that was half-baptized Oliver Twist, is nine year old to-day.'
'Bless him!' interposed Mrs. Mann, inflaming her left eye with the corner of
her apron.
'And notwithstanding a offered reward of ten pound, which was afterwards
increased to twenty pound. Notwithstanding the most superlative, and, I may
say, supernat'ral exertions on the part of this parish,' said Bumble, 'we have
never been able to discover who is his father, or what was his mother's
settlement, name, or con--dition.'
Mrs. Mann raised her hands in astonishment; but added, after a moment's
reflection, 'How comes he to have any name at all, then?'
The beadle drew himself up with great pride, and said, 'I inwented it.'
'You, Mr. Bumble!'
'I, Mrs. Mann. We name our fondlings in alphabetical order. The last was a
S,--Swubble, I named him. This was a T,--Twist, I named him. The next one
Thesaurus
alphabetical: (adj) abecedarian.
cozen, trick, beguile; (n, v) dupe; (n)
petticoat, gathering head, wife, jupe,
ANTONYMS: (adj) analphabetic,
fraud. ANTONYMS: (v) guide,
farthingale.
disordered, intermittent, interrupted. cheerfulness: (n) glee, happiness,
inform, undeceive, protect.
approvingly: (adv) approving,
inflaming: (adj) burning, consuming,
exhilaration, hilarity, mirth,
approve, sympathetically, kindly,
merriment, gladness, cheer, good
inflammatory, excessively hot,
exciting, fiery; (n) arousal.
positively, constructively,
spirits, pleasure, joviality.
ANTONYMS: (n) sadness, grimness, superlative: (adj) matchless, greatest,
admiringly, deferentially,
enthusiastically, flatteringly,
seriousness, misery, resentment,
excellent, peerless, outstanding,
encouragingly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
supreme, maximum, highest; (n)
uncheerfulness, solemnity, lethargy,
peak; (adj, n) top; (adv) most.
censoriously, negatively.
bleakness, gravity, gloominess.
apron: (n) skirt, proscenium, pall,
deceive: (v) cheat, circumvent,
ANTONYMS: (adj) unexceptional,
pontificals, lawn sleeves, pinafore,
bamboozle, pretend, hoax, fool,
inferior, mediocre, poor, abysmal.
12
Oliver Twist
comes will be Unwin, and the next Vilkins. I have got names ready made to the
end of the alphabet, and all the way through it again, when we come to Z.'
'Why, you're quite a literary character, sir!' said Mrs. Mann.%
'Well, well,' said the beadle, evidently gratified with the compliment;
'perhaps I may be. Perhaps I may be, Mrs. Mann.' He finished the gin-and-water,
and added, 'Oliver being now too old to remain here, the board have determined
to have him back into the house. I have come out myself to take him there. So let
me see him at once.'
'I'll fetch him directly,' said Mrs. Mann, leaving the room for that purpose.
Oliver, having had by this time as much of the outer coat of dirt which encrusted
his face and hands, removed, as could be scrubbed off in one washing, was led
into the room by his benevolent protectress.
'Make a bow to the gentleman, Oliver,' said Mrs. Mann.
Oliver made a bow, which was divided between the beadle on the chair, and
the cocked hat on the table.
'Will you go along with me, Oliver?' said Mr. Bumble, in a majestic voice.
Oliver was about to say that he would go along with anybody with great
readiness, when, glancing upward, he caught sight of Mrs. Mann, who had got
behind the beadle's chair, and was shaking her fist at him with a furious
countenance. He took the hint at once, for the fist had been too often impressed
upon his body not to be deeply impressed upon his recollection.
'Will she go with me?' inquired poor Oliver.
'No, she can't,' replied Mr. Bumble. 'But she'll come and see you sometimes.'
This was no very great consolation to the child. Young as he was, however,
he had sense enough to make a feint of feeling great regret at going away. It was
no very difficult matter for the boy to call tears into his eyes. Hunger and recent
ill-usage are great assistants if you want to cry; and Oliver cried very naturally
indeed. Mrs. Mann gave him a thousand embraces, and what Oliver wanted a
great deal more, a piece of bread and butter, less he should seem too hungry
Thesaurus
alphabet: (n) rudiments, rudiment,
covered, smudged, dirty, filthy,
stately, imperial, royal, exalted,
glorious, kingly, August; (adj, v)
elements, grammar, ABC,
peeling, grubby, soiled, flaking,
imposing; (adj, adv) regal.
fundamentals, basics, first rudiment, curmudgeonly. ANTONYM: (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) pathetic, pitiful,
first principle, outlines, abecedary.
smooth.
cocked: (adj) erect, upright, vertical.
feint: (n) wile, pretence, simulation,
modest, lowly, undignified.
countenance: (n) aspect, expression,
affectation, sham, guise, ruse, deceit, recollection: (n, v) mind; (n)
brow, complexion; (n, v) face,
bluff, cheat, pretense.
reminiscence, recall, anamnesis,
sanction, support, favor; (v) allow,
gratified: (adj) glad, satisfied, pleased, remembrance, recognition, memento,
tolerate, uphold. ANTONYMS: (v)
delighted, happy, thankful, grateful,
memorial, commemoration, memoir,
reject, oppose, discourage,
content, complacent, comfortable,
retrospect.
scrubbed: (adj) deferred, clean,
disapprove, prohibit.
cheerful.
encrusted: (adj) crusted, crustlike,
majestic: (adj) grand, awesome,
cleaner.
Charles Dickens
13
when he got to the workhouse. With the slice of bread in his hand, and the little
brown-cloth parish cap on his head, Oliver was then led away by Mr. Bumble
from the wretched home where one kind word or look had never lighted the
gloom of his infant years. And yet he burst into an agony of childish grief, as the
cottage-gate closed after him. Wretched as were the little companions in misery
he was leaving behind, they were the only friends he had ever known; and a
sense of his loneliness in the great wide world, sank into the child's heart for the
first time.%
Mr. Bumble walked on with long strides; little Oliver, firmly grasping his
gold-laced cuff, trotted beside him, inquiring at the end of every quarter of a
mile whether they were 'nearly there.' To these interrogations Mr. Bumble
returned very brief and snappish replies; for the temporary blandness which
gin-and-water awakens in some bosoms had by this time evaporated; and he
was once again a beadle.
Oliver had not been within the walls of the workhouse a quarter of an hour,
and had scarcely completed the demolition of a second slice of bread, when Mr.
Bumble, who had handed him over to the care of an old woman, returned; and,
telling him it was a board night, informed him that the board had said he was to
appear before it forthwith.
Not having a very clearly defined notion of what a live board was, Oliver was
rather astounded by this intelligence, and was not quite certain whether he
ought to laugh or cry. He had no time to think about the matter, however; for Mr.
Bumble gave him a tap on the head, with his cane, to wake him up: and another
on the back to make him lively: and bidding him to follow, conducted him into a
large white-washed room, where eight or ten fat gentlemen were sitting round a
table. At the top of the table, seated in an arm-chair rather higher than the rest,
was a particularly fat gentleman with a very round, red face.
'Bow to the board,' said Bumble. Oliver brushed away two or three tears that
were lingering in his eyes; and seeing no board but the table, fortunately bowed
to that.
'What's your name, boy?' said the gentleman in the high chair.
Thesaurus
astounded: (adj) amazed, stunned,
flabbergasted, bewildered,
dumbfounded, surprised, staggered,
astonied, dazed, astound, aghast.
awakens: (adj) awakened.
bidding: (n) behest, order, dictate,
charge, bid, request, call, dictation,
direction, fiat; (adj) imperative.
blandness: (n) insipidity,
unappetizingness, graciousness,
suavity, insipidness, dullness.
ANTONYM: (n) pungency.
cuff: (n, v) hit, knock, clout, punch,
intrusive; (adj, n) questioning; (v)
slap, whack, manacle, handcuff; (v)
inquire; (n) enquiry, question,
examination. ANTONYM: (adj)
box, buffet, beat.
evaporated: (adj) vaporised,
uninquiring.
vaporized, gaseous, dry; (n) milk.
lighted: (adj) illuminated, lit, light,
forthwith: (adv) directly, immediately, ablaze, bright, ignited, burn, burning,
at once, now, instantly, straight,
ignite, kindled, lighten.
snappish: (adj) irritable, snappy,
presently, straightaway,
incontinently; (adj, adv) quickly; (adj) fractious, crusty, curt, irascible,
immediate.
brusque, waspish, peppery, peevish,
inquiring: (adj) inquisitive, quizzical,
morose. ANTONYMS: (adj)
interested, analytical, probing,
easygoing, gentle, rambling.
14
Oliver Twist
Oliver was frightened at the sight of so many gentlemen, which made him
tremble: and the beadle gave him another tap behind, which made him cry.
These two causes made him answer in a very low and hesitating voice;
whereupon a gentleman in a white waistcoat said he was a fool. Which was a
capital way of raising his spirits, and putting him quite at his ease.%
'Boy,' said the gentleman in the high chair, 'listen to me. You know you're an
orphan, I suppose?'
'What's that, sir?' inquired poor Oliver.
'The boy is a fool--I thought he was,' said the gentleman in the white
waistcoat.
'Hush!' said the gentleman who had spoken first. 'You know you've got no
father or mother, and that you were brought up by the parish, don't you?'
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver, weeping bitterly.
'What are you crying for?' inquired the gentleman in the white waistcoat.
And to be sure it was very extraordinary. What could the boy be crying for?
'I hope you say your prayers every night,' said another gentleman in a gruff
voice; 'and pray for the people who feed you, and take care of you--like a
Christian.'
'Yes, sir,' stammered the boy. The gentleman who spoke last was
unconsciously right. It would have been very like a Christian, and a
marvellously good Christian too, if Oliver had prayed for the people who fed
and took care of him. But he hadn't, because nobody had taught him.
'Well! You have come here to be educated, and taught a useful trade,' said the
red-faced gentleman in the high chair.
'So you'll begin to pick oakum to-morrow morning at six o'clock,' added the
surly one in the white waistcoat.
For the combination of both these blessings in the one simple process of
picking oakum, Oliver bowed low by the direction of the beadle, and was then
hurried away to a large ward; where, on a rough, hard bed, he sobbed himself to
Thesaurus
blessings: (n) blessing, godsend.
gentlemen: (n) sirs, messieurs.
gruff: (adj) bluff, abrupt, curt, crusty,
brusque, brutal, husky; (adj, v) coarse,
rough, hoarse, harsh. ANTONYMS:
(adj) courteous, friendly, high,
velvety, smooth, mellow, gentle,
civil, polite.
hesitating: (adj) indecisive, irresolute,
undecided, doubtful, hesitate,
reluctant, faltering, unwilling,
hesitancy, backward, hesitatingly.
marvellously: (adv) wondrously,
unfriendly. ANTONYMS: (adj)
wonderfully, terrifically, superbly,
cheerful, gentle, pleasant, courteous,
fantastically, miraculously, terrificly, easygoing, friendly.
tremble: (adj, n, v) shiver; (n, v) quiver,
phenomenally, gloriously,
shudder, thrill, palpitate; (adj, v)
tremendously, tally.
oakum: (n) tape, twist, whipcord,
totter, quake; (n) throb; (v) flutter,
quail, falter. ANTONYMS: (v) steady,
wire, yarn, cord, thread, cotton,
string, sewing silk, packthread.
calm.
red-faced: (adj) abashed.
waistcoat: (n) CHUDDER, barbe,
surly: (adj) sullen, grumpy, peevish,
garment, jerkin, jubbah, oilskins,
crusty, churlish, grouchy, gruff,
pilot jacket, pajamas, cardigan,
morose; (adj, n) harsh, rude; (adj, adv) singlet, talma jacket.
Charles Dickens
15
sleep. What a novel illustration of the tender laws of England! They let the
paupers go to sleep!
Poor Oliver! He little thought, as he lay sleeping in happy unconsciousness
of all around him, that the board had that very day arrived at a decision which
would exercise the most material influence over all his future fortunes. But they
had. And this was it:%
The members of this board were very sage, deep, philosophical men; and
when they came to turn their attention to the workhouse, they found out at once,
what ordinary folks would never have discovered--the poor people liked it! It
was a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes; a tavern where
there was nothing to pay; a public breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper all the year
round; a brick and mortar elysium, where it was all play and no work. 'Oho!'
said the board, looking very knowing; 'we are the fellows to set this to rights;
we'll stop it all, in no time.' So, they established the rule, that all poor people
should have the alternative (for they would compel nobody, not they), of being
starved by a gradual process in the house, or by a quick one out of it. With this
view, they contracted with the water-works to lay on an unlimited supply of
water; and with a corn-factor to supply periodically small quantities of oatmeal;
and issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half
a roll of Sundays. They made a great many other wise and humane regulations,
having reference to the ladies, which it is not necessary to repeat; kindly
undertook to divorce poor married people, in consequence of the great expense
of a suit in Doctors' Commons; and, instead of compelling a man to support his
family, as they had theretofore done, took his family away from him, and made
him a bachelor! There is no saying how many applicants for relief, under these
last two heads, might have started up in all classes of society, if it had not been
coupled with the workhouse; but the board were long-headed men, and had
provided for this difficulty. The relief was inseparable from the workhouse and
the gruel; and that frightened people.
For the first six months after Oliver Twist was removed, the system was in
full operation. It was rather expensive at first, in consequence of the increase in
Thesaurus
compel: (v) force, coerce, pressure,
necessitate, enforce, command,
oblige, require, make, obligate, press.
ANTONYMS: (v) impede, deter,
check, block, request, prevent.
elysium: (n) heaven, paradise, Elysia,
Elysian, Eden, Valhalla, Arcadia, easy
street, rapture.
inseparable: (adj) indissoluble,
inextricable, inherent, indiscerptible,
built-in, indispensable, infrangible,
innate, unseparable; (v) severable,
unseparated. ANTONYMS: (adj)
separable, dividable, isolatable.
oatmeal: (n) burgoo, rolled oats,
porridge, meal, beige; (v) ice cream,
mince pie, mangosteen, mango,
lettuce; (adj) mush.
quantities: (n) quantity.
sage: (adj) sagacious, discerning,
intelligent, prudent, judicious,
learned, profound, knowing; (adj, v)
grave; (n) philosopher, scholar.
starved: (adj) famished, starving,
ravenous, meager, emaciated,
malnourished, thin, esurient,
hungerly, lean, starveling.
ANTONYM: (adj) healthy.
theretofore: (adj) aforehand,
beforehand, ere; (adv) erewhile.
unconsciousness: (n) blackout,
insensibility, grogginess, loss of
consciousness, coma, trance,
stupefaction, faint, unawareness,
ignorance, torpor. ANTONYM: (n)
awareness.
16
Oliver Twist
the undertaker's bill, and the necessity of taking in the clothes of all the paupers,
which fluttered loosely on their wasted, shrunken forms, after a week or two's
gruel. But the number of workhouse inmates got thin as well as the paupers; and
the board were in ecstasies.%
The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at
one end: out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and
assisted by one or two women, ladled the gruel at mealtimes. Of this festive
composition each boy had one porringer, and no more--except on occasions of
great public rejoicing, when he had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides.
The bowls never wanted washing. The boys polished them with their spoons
till they shone again; and when they had performed this operation (which never
took very long, the spoons being nearly as large as the bowls), they would sit
staring at the copper, with such eager eyes, as if they could have devoured the
very bricks of which it was composed; employing themselves, meanwhile, in
sucking their fingers most assiduously, with the view of catching up any stray
splashes of gruel that might have been cast thereon. Boys have generally
excellent appetites. Oliver Twist and his companions suffered the tortures of
slow starvation for three months: at last they got so voracious and wild with
hunger, that one boy, who was tall for his age, and hadn't been used to that sort
of thing (for his father had kept a small cook-shop), hinted darkly to his
companions, that unless he had another basin of gruel per diem, he was afraid he
might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who happened to be
a weakly youth of tender age. He had a wild, hungry eye; and they implicitly
believed him. A council was held; lots were cast who should walk up to the
master after supper that evening, and ask for more; and it fell to Oliver Twist.
The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in his cook's
uniform, stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged
themselves behind him; the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over
the short commons. The gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and
winked at Oliver; while his next neighbors nudged him. Child as he was, he was
desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and
Thesaurus
assiduously: (adv) diligently,
industriously, busily, sedulously,
carefully, attentively, studiously,
constantly, untiringly, thoroughly,
scrupulously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
carelessly, inconsistently, hastily.
devoured: (adj) eaten up.
hinted: (adj) veiled, roundabout, not
explicit, implicit, coded, oblique.
neighbors: (n) neighbourhood.
pauper: (n) poor man, mumper, bum,
poor person, starveling; (adj) poor,
indigent, penniless; (v) bust, fold.
ANTONYMS: (adj) plump, bloated.
porringer: (n) bowl, pan, platter,
sucking: (n) suck, intake, uptake,
calabash, plate, saucer, posnet,
aspiration, ingestion, consumption.
thereon: (adv) on that, thereupon,
crucible, potager, trencher.
rejoicing: (n) exultation, jubilation,
afterward, at once, early,
happiness, joy, mirth, pleasure,
immediately, therefore.
elation; (adj) jubilant, exultant; (v)
voracious: (adj) greedy, rapacious,
rejoice; (adv) rejoicingly. ANTONYM: ravenous, hungry, gluttonous,
(n) sadness.
esurient, edacious, avid, ravening,
shrunken: (adj) wizened, shrivelled,
grasping, insatiable. ANTONYMS:
shrunk, withered, contracted, wizen, (adj) quenched, disinterested,
narrow, dried, thin, lean, sear.
moderate.
Charles Dickens
17
advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his
own temerity:
'Please, sir, I want some more.'
The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in
stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for
support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with
fear.%
'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.
'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more.'
The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his
arm; and shrieked aloud for the beadle.
The board were sitting in solemn conclave, when Mr. Bumble rushed into the
room in great excitement, and addressing the gentleman in the high chair, said,
'Mr. Limbkins, I beg your pardon, sir! Oliver Twist has asked for more!'
There was a general start. Horror was depicted on every countenance.
'For more!' said Mr. Limbkins. 'Compose yourself, Bumble, and answer me
distinctly. Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper
allotted by the dietary?'
'He did, sir,' replied Bumble.
'That boy will be hung,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. 'I know
that boy will be hung.'
Nobody controverted the prophetic gentleman's opinion. An animated
discussion took place. Oliver was ordered into instant confinement; and a bill
was next morning pasted on the outside of the gate, offering a reward of five
pounds to anybody who would take Oliver Twist off the hands of the parish. In
other words, five pounds and Oliver Twist were offered to any man or woman
who wanted an apprentice to any trade, business, or calling.
'I never was more convinced of anything in my life,' said the gentleman in the
white waistcoat, as he knocked at the gate and read the bill next morning: 'I
Thesaurus
allotted: (adj) agreed, chosen, fixed,
selected.
assistants: (n) cabinet.
compose: (v) build, compile, write,
weave; (adj, v) appease, tranquilize,
allay, lull; (n, v) calm, constitute,
settle. ANTONYMS: (v) destroy, ruin,
unsettle, annihilate, discompose,
demolish, disturb, fluster.
conclave: (n) congress, caucus,
convocation, meeting, vestry,
consistory, conventicle, convention,
synod, gathering, conference.
ladle: (v) lade, scoop, dip, laden,
transfuse; (n, v) shovel; (n) spoon,
trowel, watch glass, vessel, thimble.
paralysed: (adj) palsied, paralyzed.
pasted: (adj) affixed.
prophetic: (adj) oracular, mantic,
prophetical, prognostic, visionary,
biblical, vaticinal, sibylline,
foreshadowing, fatidical, pythonic.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unprophetic,
unimaginative.
stupefied: (adj) stunned, amazed,
astonished, bewildered, astounded,
dumbfounded, stupid, confused,
flabbergasted, dumfounded, groggy.
ANTONYMS: (adj) precise,
unimpressed.
temerity: (n) nerve, effrontery,
hardihood, boldness, rashness,
imprudence, audaciousness,
carelessness, assurance, indiscretion,
venturesomeness. ANTONYMS: (n)
caution, care, reticence.
18
Oliver Twist
never was more convinced of anything in my life, than I am that that boy will
come to be hung.'
As I purpose to show in the sequel whether the white waistcoated
gentleman was right or not, I should perhaps mar the interest of this narrative
(supposing it to possess any at all), if I ventured to hint just yet, whether the life
of Oliver Twist had this violent termination or no.%
Thesaurus
convinced: (adj, v) sure, positive,
allusion; (n, v) tip, touch, dash; (adj, v)
confident, firm; (v) cocksure,
intimate. ANTONYM: (n) overtone.
narrative: (n, v) history, tale; (n)
persuaded, satisfied, assured, bold;
(adj) clear, definite. ANTONYMS:
account, story, chronicle, legend,
(adj) doubtful, unconvinced,
yarn, recital, relation, report,
uncertain, cynical.
anecdote.
gentleman: (n) gent, Mr, male,
possess: (adj, v) own; (v) hold, wield,
patrician, sir, adult male, esquire,
occupy, bear, keep, enjoy, contain,
sahib, gentlemen; (adj) gentilhomme, retain, to have, maintain.
ANTONYMS: (v) lack, remove.
gentlemanly.
hint: (v) suggest; (adj, n) trace; (n)
sequel: (n) sequence, result, issue,
suggestion, intimation, inkling, cue,
aftermath, continuation, continuance,
outcome, consequence, ending,
upshot, outgrowth. ANTONYM: (n)
prelude.
termination: (n) close, end, conclusion,
result, dissolution, cessation,
expiration, finale, finish, completion,
issue. ANTONYMS: (n) beginning,
preservation, initiation, inauguration,
creation.
whether: (pron) where.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
19
%III
RELATES HOW OLIVER TWIST WAS VERY
NEAR GETTING A PLACE WHICH WOULD NOT
HAVE BEEN A SINECURE
For a week after the commission of the impious and profane offence of
asking for more, Oliver remained a close prisoner in the dark and solitary room
to which he had been consigned by the wisdom and mercy of the board. It
appears, at first sight not unreasonable to suppose, that, if he had entertained a
becoming feeling of respect for the prediction of the gentleman in the white
waistcoat, he would have established that sage individual's prophetic character,
once and for ever, by tying one end of his pocket-handkerchief to a hook in the
wall, and attaching himself to the other. To the performance of this feat,
however, there was one obstacle: namely, that pocket-handkerchiefs being
decided articles of luxury, had been, for all future times and ages, removed from
the noses of paupers by the express order of the board, in council assembled:
solemnly given and pronounced under their hands and seals. There was a still
greater obstacle in Oliver's youth and childishness. He only cried bitterly all
day; and, when the long, dismal night came on, spread his little hands before his
eyes to shut out the darkness, and crouching in the corner, tried to sleep: ever
and anon waking with a start and tremble, and drawing himself closer and closer
Thesaurus
anon: (adv) directly, immediately,
unholy; (adj, v) foul. ANTONYMS:
submissive, resigned.
(adj) devout, sacred, moral, religious,
early, readily, soon, instantly, again, impious: (adj) godless, ungodly,
forthwith, promptly, shortly, rath.
disrespectful, profane, unholy, sinful, reverent.
attaching: (n) fastening; (adj) adhesive. unhallowed, wicked, iniquitous,
solemnly: (adv) earnestly, gravely,
childishness: (n) youngness, navet,
irreligious, irreverent. ANTONYMS: majestically, stately, sternly, staidly,
(adj) reverent, devout, restrained,
boyhood, boyism, frivolity,
thoughtfully, soberly, formally,
puerilism, ridiculousness, stupidity,
good.
ceremoniously, importantly.
childhood. ANTONYMS: (n)
pocket-handkerchief: (n)
ANTONYMS: (adv) cheerfully,
maturity, sense.
handkerchief.
flippantly.
crouching: (adj) sneaking, huddled,
profane: (v) desecrate, abuse, violate, tying: (n) ligation, bundling,
defile, outrage, debauch; (adj)
attachment, knotting, lacing; (adj)
obsequious, squat, hunkered,
cowering, hunkered down; (v)
binding; (v) restrict.
irreverent, impious, sacrilegious,
20
Oliver Twist
to the wall, as if to feel even its cold hard surface were a protection in the gloom
and loneliness which surrounded him.%
Let it not be supposed by the enemies of 'the system,' that, during the period
of his solitary incarceration, Oliver was denied the benefit of exercise, the
pleasure of society, or the advantages of religious consolation. As for exercise, it
was nice cold weather, and he was allowed to perform his ablutions every
morning under the pump, in a stone yard, in the presence of Mr. Bumble, who
prevented his catching cold, and caused a tingling sensation to pervade his
frame, by repeated applications of the cane. As for society, he was carried every
other day into the hall where the boys dined, and there sociably flogged as a
public warning and example. And so for from being denied the advantages of
religious consolation, he was kicked into the same apartment every evening at
prayer-time, and there permitted to listen to, and console his mind with, a
general supplication of the boys, containing a special clause, therein inserted by
authority of the board, in which they entreated to be made good, virtuous,
contented, and obedient, and to be guarded from the sins and vices of Oliver
Twist: whom the supplication distinctly set forth to be under the exclusive
patronage and protection of the powers of wickedness, and an article direct from
the manufactory of the very Devil himself.
It chanced one morning, while Oliver's affairs were in this auspicious and
comfortable state, that Mr. Gamfield, chimney-sweep, went his way down the
High Street, deeply cogitating in his mind his ways and means of paying certain
arrears of rent, for which his landlord had become rather pressing. Mr.
Gamfield's most sanguine estimate of his finances could not raise them within
full five pounds of the desired amount; and, in a species of arthimetical
desperation, he was alternately cudgelling his brains and his donkey, when
passing the workhouse, his eyes encountered the bill on the gate.
'Wo--o!' said Mr. Gamfield to the donkey.
The donkey was in a state of profound abstraction: wondering, probably,
whether he was destined to be regaled with a cabbage-stalk or two when he had
Thesaurus
carried: (adj) conveyed, imported.
cogitating: (n) conception; (adj)
reflective.
incarceration: (n) imprisonment,
confinement, custody, immurement,
detention, durance, arrest,
mancipation, duress, apprehension,
limbo. ANTONYMS: (n) release,
freedom.
manufactory: (n) factory, mill, plant,
foundry, cannery, manufacture,
works, John mill, John Stuart mill,
grinder, industrial plant.
pervade: (adj, v) fill; (v) infiltrate,
penetrate, diffuse, imbue, percolate,
occupy, impregnate, saturate, pass
through, charge.
sanguine: (adj) hopeful, optimistic,
bloody, rubicund, confident, crimson,
cheerful, buoyant, sanguineous; (adj,
n) red, florid. ANTONYMS: (adj)
pessimistic, gloomy, doubtful.
sociably: (adv) socially, pleasantly,
warmly, kindly, entertainingly,
enjoyably, cordially, companionably,
convivially. ANTONYMS: (adv)
shyly, unsociably, inhospitably.
supplication: (n, v) entreaty,
solicitation; (n) petition, invocation,
appeal, request, rogation, plea,
orison, blessing, imploration.
therein: (adv) in this, in there.
tingling: (n) tingle, itch, thrill, pins
and needles, tickle, somesthesia,
somatic sensation; (adj) stinging,
tickling, tickly; (v) turn.
Charles Dickens
21
disposed of the two sacks of soot with which the little cart was laden; so, without
noticing the word of command, he jogged onward.%
Mr. Gamfield growled a fierce imprecation on the donkey generally, but
more particularly on his eyes; and, running after him, bestowed a blow on his
head, which would inevitably have beaten in any skull but a donkey's. Then,
catching hold of the bridle, he gave his jaw a sharp wrench, by way of gentle
reminder that he was not his own master; and by these means turned him round.
He then gave him another blow on the head, just to stun him till he came back
again. Having completed these arrangements, he walked up to the gate, to read
the bill.
The gentleman with the white waistcoat was standing at the gate with his
hands behind him, after having delivered himself of some profound sentiments
in the board-room. Having witnessed the little dispute between Mr. Gamfield
and the donkey, he smiled joyously when that person came up to read the bill,
for he saw at once that Mr. Gamfield was exactly the sort of master Oliver Twist
wanted. Mr. Gamfield smiled, too, as he perused the document; for five pounds
was just the sum he had been wishing for; and, as to the boy with which it was
encumbered, Mr. Gamfield, knowing what the dietary of the workhouse was,
well knew he would be a nice small pattern, just the very thing for register
stoves. So, he spelt the bill through again, from beginning to end; and then,
touching his fur cap in token of humility, accosted the gentleman in the white
waistcoat.
'This here boy, sir, wot the parish wants to 'prentis,' said Mr. Gamfield.
'Ay, my man,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat, with a
condescending smile. 'What of him?'
'If the parish vould like him to learn a right pleasant trade, in a good
'spectable chimbley-sweepin' bisness,' said Mr. Gamfield, 'I wants a 'prentis, and
I am ready to take him.'
'Walk in,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. Mr. Gamfield having
lingered behind, to give the donkey another blow on the head, and another
Thesaurus
bestowed: (adj) presented, conferred,
awarded, accurate.
condescending: (adj) arrogant,
snobbish, superior, haughty,
gracious, patronizing, supercilious,
arch, benign, affable, merciful.
ANTONYMS: (adj) humble,
unassuming, approachable,
unpretentious, friendly, admiring,
modest, respectful, deferential.
dietary: (n, v) diet; (adj) dietetic,
alimentary, eatable, dietetical; (n)
dietetics.
buoyantly, pleasantly. ANTONYM:
encumbered: (adj) burdened,
(adv) joylessly.
burdensome, weighed down, heavy, soot: (n) smut, lampblack, carbon
black, grime, carbon, crock, dirt; (adj)
deep, clayey, cloggy. ANTONYM:
(adj) unencumbered.
ink, ebony, coal pitch, jet.
imprecation: (n) curse, anathema,
stun: (v) amaze, bewilder, shock,
execration, cuss, blasphemy, bane,
baffle, daze, flabbergast, stagger;
(adv, v) startle, surprise; (adj, v)
ban, oath, prayer, malison,
astound; (n, v) deaden.
denunciation.
joyously: (adv, v) happily; (adv) gaily, wrench: (n, v) pull, jerk, strain, turn,
twist, tug, yank; (n) spanner; (v)
gleefully, mirthfully, cheerfully,
gladly, merrily, festively, brightly,
distort, contort, force.
22
Oliver Twist
wrench of the jaw, as a caution not to run away in his absence, followed the
gentleman with the white waistcoat into the room where Oliver had first seen
him.%
'It's a nasty trade,' said Mr. Limbkins, when Gamfield had again stated his
wish.
'Young boys have been smothered in chimneys before now,' said another
gentleman.
'That's acause they damped the straw afore they lit it in the chimbley to make
'em come down again,' said Gamfield; 'that's all smoke, and no blaze; vereas
smoke ain't o' no use at all in making a boy come down, for it only sinds him to
sleep, and that's wot he likes. Boys is wery obstinit, and wery lazy, Gen'l'men,
and there's nothink like a good hot blaze to make 'em come down vith a run. It's
humane too, gen'l'men, acause, even if they've stuck in the chimbley, roasting
their feet makes 'em struggle to hextricate theirselves.'
The gentleman in the white waistcoat appeared very much amused by this
explanation; but his mirth was speedily checked by a look from Mr. Limbkins.
The board then proceeded to converse among themselves for a few minutes, but
in so low a tone, that the words 'saving of expenditure,' 'looked well in the
accounts,' 'have a printed report published,' were alone audible. These only
chanced to be heard, indeed, or account of their being very frequently repeated
with great emphasis.
At length the whispering ceased; and the members of the board, having
resumed their seats and their solemnity, Mr. Limbkins said:
'We have considered your proposition, and we don't approve of it.'
'Not at all,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat.
'Decidedly not,' added the other members.
As Mr. Gamfield did happen to labour under the slight imputation of having
bruised three or four boys to death already, it occurred to him that the board
had, perhaps, in some unaccountable freak, taken it into their heads that this
extraneous circumstance ought to influence their proceedings. It was very unlike
Thesaurus
afore: (adv) ahead, along, before,
accusation, impeachment, attribution,
ascription; (adj, n) slur; (adj) blot,
forwards, formerly, beforehand,
previously; (adj) erewhile, aforehand, reproach, stain, spot.
roasting: (n) barbecuing, cookery,
theretofore, preceding.
extraneous: (adj) exterior, foreign,
cooking; (adj) broiling, baking,
exotic, external, adventitious, outer,
burning, boiling, airless, blazing,
close; (adj, n) scorching.
outside, irrelevant, unrelated,
ANTONYMS: (adj) airy, fresh.
extrinsic, immaterial. ANTONYMS:
(adj) relevant, intrinsic, necessary,
smothered: (adj) strangled, stifled,
essential, integral, native, needed,
smothers, pent-up, covered.
solemnity: (n) seriousness, sobriety,
basic, pertinent.
imputation: (n) blame, charge,
earnestness, formality, ceremony,
impressiveness, austerity, sedateness,
display, pomp, grandeur.
ANTONYMS: (n) humor, levity,
cheerfulness, understatement.
unaccountable: (adj)
incomprehensible, inexplicable,
strange, unintelligible, unexplainable,
mysterious, impenetrable,
undiscoverable, undecipherable,
unknowable, unnatural.
ANTONYMS: (adj) accountable,
explainable, responsible, explicable.
Charles Dickens
23
their general mode of doing business, if they had; but still, as he had no
particular wish to revive the rumour, he twisted his cap in his hands, and
walked slowly from the table.%
'So you won't let me have him, gen'l'men?' said Mr. Gamfield, pausing near
the door.
'No,' replied Mr. Limbkins; 'at least, as it's a nasty business, we think you
ought to take something less than the premium we offered.'
Mr. Gamfield's countenance brightened, as, with a quick step, he returned to
the table, and said,
'What'll you give, gen'l'men? Come! Don't be too hard on a poor man. What'll
you give?'
'I should say, three pound ten was plenty,' said Mr. Limbkins.
'Ten shillings too much,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat.
'Come!' said Gamfield; 'say four pound, gen'l'men. Say four pound, and
you've got rid of him for good and all. There!'
'Three pound ten,' repeated Mr. Limbkins, firmly.
'Come! I'll split the diff'erence, gen'l'men,' urged Gamfield. 'Three pound
fifteen.'
'Not a farthing more,' was the firm reply of Mr. Limbkins.
'You're desperate hard upon me, gen'l'men,' said Gamfield, wavering.
'Pooh! pooh! nonsense!' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. 'He'd be
cheap with nothing at all, as a premium. Take him, you silly fellow! He's just the
boy for you. He wants the stick, now and then: it'll do him good; and his board
needn't come very expensive, for he hasn't been overfed since he was born. Ha!
ha! ha!'
Mr. Gamfield gave an arch look at the faces round the table, and, observing a
smile on all of them, gradually broke into a smile himself. The bargain was made.
Mr. Bumble, was at once instructed that Oliver Twist and his indentures were to
Thesaurus
arch: (n, v) curve, bow, bend; (n)
dome, curvature, acute; (adj) wily,
shrewd, sly; (v) vault; (adj, n, v)
round. ANTONYMS: (adj) smallest,
petty, modest, minor, frank, least,
lesser, inferior, forthright, guileless,
humble.
farthing: (n) craps, faro, ante, chuck,
doit, small change; (adj) bulrush,
pinch of snuff, peppercorn, old son,
jot.
observing: (adj) observant, mindful,
watchful, commemorative, conscious,
observative, perceptive, thoughtful;
(n) investigation.
overfed: (adj) swollen, distended, full,
overstuffed, overweight, replete,
stuffed.
revive: (v) refresh, invigorate, quicken,
renew, renovate, restore, resuscitate,
animate, awake, repair, recreate.
ANTONYMS: (v) demoralize, kill,
slay, stagnate, abandon, die, drain.
rumour: (n, v) rumor; (n) hearsay,
fame, news, story, reputation,
scuttlebutt, tale; (v) bruit.
walked: (adj) exempt; (v) yode.
wants: (n) need, necessities.
wavering: (adj, v) vacillating; (n)
fluctuation, hesitation, vacillation;
(adj) irresolute, indecisive,
undecided, hesitant, uncertain,
variable, changeable. ANTONYMS:
(adj) decided, constant, resolute,
stable, decisive; (n) resolution,
stability.
24
Oliver Twist
be conveyed before the magistrate, for signature and approval, that very
afternoon.%
In pursuance of this determination, little Oliver, to his excessive
astonishment, was released from bondage, and ordered to put himself into a
clean shirt. He had hardly achieved this very unusual gymnastic performance,
when Mr. Bumble brought him, with his own hands, a basin of gruel, and the
holiday allowance of two ounces and a quarter of bread. At this tremendous
sight, Oliver began to cry very piteously: thinking, not unnaturally, that the
board must have determined to kill him for some useful purpose, or they never
would have begun to fatten him up in that way.
'Don't make your eyes red, Oliver, but eat your food and be thankful,' said
Mr. Bumble, in a tone of impressive pomposity. 'You're a going to be made a
'prentice of, Oliver.'
'A prentice, sir!' said the child, trembling.
'Yes, Oliver,' said Mr. Bumble. 'The kind and blessed gentleman which is so
many parents to you, Oliver, when you have none of your own: are a going to
'prentice' you: and to set you up in life, and make a man of you: although the
expense to the parish is three pound ten!--three pound ten, Oliver!--seventy
shillins--one hundred and forty sixpences!--and all for a naughty orphan which
nobody can't love.'
As Mr. Bumble paused to take breath, after delivering this address in an
awful voice, the tears rolled down the poor child's face, and he sobbed bitterly.
'Come,' said Mr. Bumble, somewhat less pompously, for it was gratifying to
his feelings to observe the effect his eloquence had produced; 'Come, Oliver!
Wipe your eyes with the cuffs of your jacket, and don't cry into your gruel; that's
a very foolish action, Oliver.' It certainly was, for there was quite enough water
in it already.
On their way to the magistrate, Mr. Bumble instructed Oliver that all he
would have to do, would be to look very happy, and say, when the gentleman
asked him if he wanted to be apprenticed, that he should like it very much
Thesaurus
bondage: (n) thrall, thraldom,
fatten: (adj, n) enrich; (adj, v) fat,
pomposity: (n) haughtiness,
elaborate; (v) fatten up, feed, fill out;
thralldom, slavery, captivity,
arrogance, glitter, conceit, pretension,
(adj) fructify, bloom, bear fruit,
enslavement, duress, restraint, yoke,
pompousness, strut, vanity,
vassalage; (adj, n) villenage.
blossom, blow. ANTONYMS: (v)
pretentiousness, dash,
ANTONYMS: (n) independence,
ostentatiousness. ANTONYMS: (n)
undernourish, starve.
gymnastic: (n) gymnastics, athletics,
emancipation, freedom.
modesty, informality.
conveyed: (v) borne, sent.
physical education; (adj) acrobatic,
pompously: (adv) ostentatiously,
eloquence: (n) style, fluency, oratory,
gymnical; (v) palestric, herculean.
turgidly, proudly, pretentiously,
piteously: (adj, adv) sadly; (adv)
rhetoric, articulateness, expression,
imperiously, conceitedly, affectedly,
volubility, persuasiveness, articulacy, pitifully, wretchedly, ruefully,
stiltedly, puffily, showily, haughtily.
facundity, way with words.
woefully, poorly, plaintively, sorrily, ANTONYMS: (adv) modestly,
ANTONYM: (n) inarticulateness.
grievously, sorrowfully, dolefully.
meekly.
Charles Dickens
25
indeed; both of which injunctions Oliver promised to obey: the rather as Mr.
Bumble threw in a gentle hint, that if he failed in either particular, there was no
telling what would be done to him. When they arrived at the office, he was shut
up in a little room by himself, and admonished by Mr. Bumble to stay there,
until he came back to fetch him.%
There the boy remained, with a palpitating heart, for half an hour. At the
expiration of which time Mr. Bumble thrust in his head, unadorned with the
cocked hat, and said aloud:
'Now, Oliver, my dear, come to the gentleman.' As Mr. Bumble said this, he
put on a grim and threatening look, and added, in a low voice, 'Mind what I told
you, you young rascal!'
Oliver stared innocently in Mr. Bumble's face at this somewhat contradictory
style of address; but that gentleman prevented his offering any remark
thereupon, by leading him at once into an adjoining room: the door of which
was open. It was a large room, with a great window. Behind a desk, sat two old
gentleman with powdered heads: one of whom was reading the newspaper;
while the other was perusing, with the aid of a pair of tortoise-shell spectacles, a
small piece of parchment which lay before him. Mr. Limbkins was standing in
front of the desk on one side; and Mr. Gamfield, with a partially washed face, on
the other; while two or three bluff-looking men, in top-boots, were lounging
about.
The old gentleman with the spectacles gradually dozed off, over the little bit
of parchment; and there was a short pause, after Oliver had been stationed by
Mr. Bumble in front of the desk.
'This is the boy, your worship,' said Mr. Bumble.
The old gentleman who was reading the newspaper raised his head for a
moment, and pulled the other old gentleman by the sleeve; whereupon, the lastmentioned old gentleman woke up.
'Oh, is this the boy?' said the old gentleman.
'This is him, sir,' replied Mr. Bumble. 'Bow to the magistrate, my dear.'
Thesaurus
adjoining: (adj) contiguous, neighbor,
near, abutting, touching,
conterminous, neighboring,
immediate, next, vicinal; (adj, v) close.
ANTONYMS: (adj) separate, divided,
detached, apart, far.
admonished: (adj) reprimanded,
reproved, chastened.
expiration: (n) ending, end,
conclusion, finish, close, exhalation,
termination, exit, death, lapse, expiry.
ANTONYM: (n) beginning.
palpitating: (adj) fluttering, throbbing, immediately, therefore, therewith, in
aflare, flittering, flying, unsteady,
the sequel, close upon, upon which,
vibrant, flaring.
whereupon, accordingly.
parchment: (n) vellum, sheepskin,
unadorned: (adj) plain, austere, bald,
lambskin, diploma, testament, will;
bare, severe, unembellished,
(v) foolscap, tablet, table, slate, pillar. unvarnished, harsh, mere, open,
perusing: (n) poring over, studying.
direct. ANTONYMS: (adj) adorned,
powdered: (adj) powdery, fine,
sumptuous, ornate, luxury, hidden,
crushed, milled, ground, broken up,
fussy, elaborate.
finer, minced, pulverised; (n)
whereupon: (adv) thereupon,
punctated, milk.
hereupon, upon which, at what, at
thereupon: (adv) hereupon, next, then, which.
26
Oliver Twist
Oliver roused himself, and made his best obeisance. He had been
wondering, with his eyes fixed on the magistrates' powder, whether all boards
were born with that white stuff on their heads, and were boards from
thenceforth on that account.%
'Well,' said the old gentleman, 'I suppose he's fond of chimney-sweeping?'
'He doats on it, your worship,' replied Bumble; giving Oliver a sly pinch, to
intimate that he had better not say he didn't.
'And he will be a sweep, will he?' inquired the old gentleman.
'If we was to bind him to any other trade to-morrow, he'd run away
simultaneous, your worship,' replied Bumble.
'And this man that's to be his master--you, sir--you'll treat him well, and feed
him, and do all that sort of thing, will you?' said the old gentleman.
'When I says I will, I means I will,' replied Mr. Gamfield doggedly.
'You're a rough speaker, my friend, but you look an honest, open-hearted
man,' said the old gentleman: turning his spectacles in the direction of the
candidate for Oliver's premium, whose villainous countenance was a regular
stamped receipt for cruelty. But the magistrate was half blind and half childish,
so he couldn't reasonably be expected to discern what other people did.
'I hope I am, sir,' said Mr. Gamfield, with an ugly leer.
'I have no doubt you are, my friend,' replied the old gentleman: fixing his
spectacles more firmly on his nose, and looking about him for the inkstand.
It was the critical moment of Oliver's fate. If the inkstand had been where the
old gentleman thought it was, he would have dipped his pen into it, and signed
the indentures, and Oliver would have been straightway hurried off. But, as it
chanced to be immediately under his nose, it followed, as a matter of course, that
he looked all over his desk for it, without finding it; and happening in the course
of his search to look straight before him, his gaze encountered the pale and
terrified face of Oliver Twist: who, despite all the admonitory looks and pinches
of Bumble, was regarding the repulsive countenance of his future master, with a
Thesaurus
admonitory: (adj) reproachful,
exemplary, monitory, hortatory,
cautionary, admonitive,
admonishing, dissuasive, hortative,
instructive, monitive.
dipped: (adj) immersed, unfit,
swaybacked, lordotic, curved in,
swayback.
doggedly: (adv) stubbornly, firmly,
tenaciously, persistently, resolutely,
pertinaciously, perseveringly,
obdurately, steadfastly, untiringly,
steadily. ANTONYM: (adv)
hesitantly.
inkstand: (n) inkhorn.
leer: (n, v) glance; (n) grin, wink,
smirk, look, gaze, nudge, shrug, tip
the wink; (v) simper, ogle.
obeisance: (n) homage, curtsy,
deference, bowing, reverence,
obedience, respect, courtesy; (v)
genuflexion, kowtow, genuflection.
roused: (adj) excited, awake,
susceptible, emotional, elated,
interested.
straightway: (adv) presently,
forthwith, directly, right, anon,
immediately, at once, straightforth,
promptly; (adj) straight, immediate.
thenceforth: (adv) thenceforward,
thence, elsewhere, absent, not there,
then.
villainous: (adj, v) base, infamous, vile,
black, shameful; (adj) heinous,
atrocious, depraved, wicked, evil,
vicious.
Charles Dickens
27
mingled expression of horror and fear, too palpable to be mistaken, even by a
half-blind magistrate.%
The old gentleman stopped, laid down his pen, and looked from Oliver to
Mr. Limbkins; who attempted to take snuff with a cheerful and unconcerned
aspect.
'My boy!' said the old gentleman, 'you look pale and alarmed. What is the
matter?'
'Stand a little away from him, Beadle,' said the other magistrate: laying aside
the paper, and leaning forward with an expression of interest. 'Now, boy, tell us
what's the matter: don't be afraid.'
Oliver fell on his knees, and clasping his hands together, prayed that they
would order him back to the dark room--that they would starve him--beat him-kill him if they pleased--rather than send him away with that dreadful man.
'Well!' said Mr. Bumble, raising his hands and eyes with most impressive
solemnity. 'Well! of all the artful and designing orphans that ever I see, Oliver,
you are one of the most bare-facedest.'
'Hold your tongue, Beadle,' said the second old gentleman, when Mr. Bumble
had given vent to this compound adjective.
'I beg your worship's pardon,' said Mr. Bumble, incredulous of having heard
aright. 'Did your worship speak to me?'
'Yes. Hold your tongue.'
Mr. Bumble was stupefied with astonishment. A beadle ordered to hold his
tongue! A moral revolution!
The old gentleman in the tortoise-shell spectacles looked at his companion, he
nodded significantly.
'We refuse to sanction these indentures,' said the old gentleman: tossing aside
the piece of parchment as he spoke.
Thesaurus
aright: (adv) correctly, right, well, true, recorder, archon, doge, chancellor.
mingled: (adj) miscellaneous, complex,
not Amis, satisfactorily, favorably,
justly, exactly, rightly, properly.
indiscriminate, heterogeneous,
artful: (adj) crafty, cunning, scheming, medley, confused, eclectic, motley,
different; (v) blended, blent.
wily, shrewd, insidious, designing,
palpable: (adj) tangible, obvious,
sly, adroit, subtle, disingenuous.
ANTONYMS: (adj) artless, unskillful, evident, apparent, clear, transparent,
inept, ingenuous, unskilled, open,
indubitable, noticeable, lucid, patent,
perceptible. ANTONYMS: (adj)
straight.
clasping: (adj) tendril.
imaginary, intangible, impalpable,
magistrate: (n) judge, jurist, justiciary, doubtful, furtive, imperceptible,
adjudicator, beak, official, provost,
insignificant, obscure, unclear.
snuff: (v) smell, kill, douse, slay, scent,
snuffle, bump off, smother, snort;
(adj) tobacco, nicotine.
tossing: (n) cast; (adj) moving.
unconcerned: (adj) apathetic,
detached, insouciant, casual, careless,
nonchalant, thoughtless, easygoing,
listless, carefree; (adj, n) cold.
ANTONYMS: (adj) caring, eager,
troubled, sensitive, uptight, craving,
involved, energetic, interested,
annoyed, strict.
28
Oliver Twist
'I hope,' stammered Mr. Limbkins: 'I hope the magistrates will not form the
opinion that the authorities have been guilty of any improper conduct, on the
unsupported testimony of a child.'
'The magistrates are not called upon to pronounce any opinion on the
matter,' said the second old gentleman sharply. 'Take the boy back to the
workhouse, and treat him kindly. He seems to want it.'
That same evening, the gentleman in the white waistcoat most positively and
decidedly affirmed, not only that Oliver would be hung, but that he would be
drawn and quartered into the bargain. Mr. Bumble shook his head with gloomy
mystery, and said he wished he might come to good; whereunto Mr. Gamfield
replied, that he wished he might come to him; which, although he agreed with
the beadle in most matters, would seem to be a wish of a totally opposite
description.%
The next morning, the public were once informed that Oliver Twist was again
To Let, and that five pounds would be paid to anybody who would take
possession of him.
Thesaurus
affirmed: (adj) acknowledged,
avowed, guaranteed.
decidedly: (adv) clearly, positively,
definitely, absolutely, emphatically,
decisively, resolutely, firmly,
markedly, surely, determinedly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) uncertainly,
equivocally, slightly, vaguely.
hung: (n) hanging; (v) Heng; (adj)
fatigued, puzzled, decorated.
improper: (adj) false, illicit,
illegitimate, unsuitable, wrong,
(n) declaration, proof, evidence,
indecent, bad, coarse, amiss, faulty;
(adj, v) indecorous. ANTONYMS:
testimonial, confirmation, statement,
(adj) suitable, fitting, polite,
affidavit, affirmation, profession.
acceptable, sensitive, moral, correct, unsupported: (v) unstrengthened; (adj)
dignified, lawful, clean, honest.
baseless, unwarranted,
magistrates: (n) bench, courts, judges. uncorroborated, unconfirmed,
pronounce: (v) articulate, declare,
unverified, unsupervised,
affirm, say, assert, express, vocalize,
unsubstantiated, unproven,
proclaim; (n, v) allege; (adj, v) deliver, unofficial, unendorsed.
utter. ANTONYM: (v) mumble.
ANTONYMS: (adj) supported,
quartered: (n) quartering, quarters.
dependable, sound.
testimony: (n, v) attestation, witness; whereunto: (adv) whither.
Charles Dickens
29
CHAPTER IV
OLIVER, BEING OFFERED ANOTHER PLACE,
MAKES HIS FIRST ENTRY INTO PUBLIC LIFE
In great families, when an advantageous place cannot be obtained, either in
possession, reversion, remainder, or expectancy, for the young man who is
growing up, it is a very general custom to send him to sea. The board, in
imitation of so wise and salutary an example, took counsel together on the
expediency of shipping off Oliver Twist, in some small trading vessel bound to a
good unhealthy port. This suggested itself as the very best thing that could
possibly be done with him: the probability being, that the skipper would flog
him to death, in a playful mood, some day after dinner, or would knock his
brains out with an iron bar; both pastimes being, as is pretty generally known,
very favourite and common recreations among gentleman of that class. The more
the case presented itself to the board, in this point of view, the more manifold
the advantages of the step appeared; so, they came to the conclusion that the
only way of providing for Oliver effectually, was to send him to sea without
delay.%
Mr. Bumble had been despatched to make various preliminary inquiries,
with the view of finding out some captain or other who wanted a cabin-boy
without any friends; and was returning to the workhouse to communicate the
Thesaurus
appeared: (n) appearing.
effectually: (adv) efficaciously,
effectively, validly, adequately,
potently, tellingly, strongly,
decisively; (adj) nicely, fully, head
and shoulders. ANTONYM: (adv)
ineffectually.
expediency: (n) utility, convenience,
advantage, fitness, advisability,
pertinence, expedient, benefit,
effectiveness, value, pertinency.
ANTONYMS: (n) impracticality,
inconvenience, inexpedience,
impish, naughty, merry, lighthearted,
unsuitability, uselessness.
frivolous, frolicsome. ANTONYMS:
flog: (v) lash, whip, chastise, lick,
(adj) serious, lethargic, solemn, staid,
trounce, flagellate, birch, castigate,
subdued, heavy.
reversion: (n) relapse, atavism,
cane, strap, wallop.
manifold: (adj) diverse, different,
regression, regress, return, reversal,
many, various, multiplex, multiplied, lapse, inheritance, inversion,
frequent; (v) duplicate, copy,
heritage, escheat.
multiply; (n) diversity.
salutary: (adj) beneficial, salubrious,
obtained: (adj) fulfilled, derivative.
good, healthful, healthy, wholesome,
playful: (adj) frisky, humorous,
helpful, curative, benign, useful,
kittenish, mischievous, skittish,
advantageous.
30
Oliver Twist
result of his mission; when he encountered at the gate, no less a person than Mr.
Sowerberry, the parochial undertaker.%
Mr. Sowerberry was a tall gaunt, large-jointed man, attired in a suit of
threadbare black, with darned cotton stockings of the same colour, and shoes to
answer. His features were not naturally intended to wear a smiling aspect, but he
was in general rather given to professional jocosity. His step was elastic, and his
face betokened inward pleasantry, as he advanced to Mr. Bumble, and shook
him cordially by the hand.
'I have taken the measure of the two women that died last night, Mr. Bumble,'
said the undertaker.
'You'll make your fortune, Mr. Sowerberry,' said the beadle, as he thrust his
thumb and forefinger into the proffered snuff-box of the undertaker: which was
an ingenious little model of a patent coffin. 'I say you'll make your fortune, Mr.
Sowerberry,' repeated Mr. Bumble, tapping the undertaker on the shoulder, in a
friendly manner, with his cane.
'Think so?' said the undertaker in a tone which half admitted and half
disputed the probability of the event. 'The prices allowed by the board are very
small, Mr. Bumble.'
'So are the coffins,' replied the beadle: with precisely as near an approach to a
laugh as a great official ought to indulge in.
Mr. Sowerberry was much tickled at this: as of course he ought to be; and
laughed a long time without cessation. 'Well, well, Mr. Bumble,' he said at
length, 'there's no denying that, since the new system of feeding has come in, the
coffins are something narrower and more shallow than they used to be; but we
must have some profit, Mr. Bumble. Well-seasoned timber is an expensive
article, sir; and all the iron handles come, by canal, from Birmingham.'
'Well, well,' said Mr. Bumble, 'every trade has its drawbacks. A fair profit is,
of course, allowable.'
Thesaurus
attired: (adj) clad, appareled, clothed,
garbed, habilimented, robed; (adj,
prep) garmented.
cordially: (adv) warmly, genially,
kindly, sincerely, heartfeltly,
ardently, friendly, jovially, earnestly,
affectionately, harmoniously.
ANTONYMS: (adv) disagreeably,
frostily.
darned: (adj) blasted, deuced, damn,
cursed, goddamned, aeonian,
goddamn, irritating, infernal, ageless,
annoying.
hackneyed, worn, banal, trite,
forefinger: (n) index finger, index,
tattered. ANTONYMS: (adj) new,
forefingers, paw, thumb, hand,
unused, reliable, fresh, unworn,
exponent, antenna, feeler.
pristine, original.
jocosity: (n) humorousness, jocularity, tickled: (adj) tickled pink, overjoyed,
fun, humour, humor, jest, play,
delighted, detective novel, ecstatic,
levity, jocundity, joke, sport.
elated, jubilant, happy, glad, excited.
pleasantry: (n) joke, wit, jocularity,
ANTONYM: (adj) disappointed.
jest, fancy, waggery, drollery, esprit, undertaker: (n) funeral director,
banter, sport, jocosity.
mortuary, embalmer, entrepreneur,
threadbare: (adj, v) stale, shabby,
contractor, skilled worker, funeral
dilapidated, bald, frayed, faded; (adj) undertaker, mute, trained worker.
Charles Dickens
31
'Of course, of course,' replied the undertaker; 'and if I don't get a profit upon
this or that particular article, why, I make it up in the long-run, you see--he! he!
he!'
'Just so,' said Mr. Bumble.%
'Though I must say,' continued the undertaker, resuming the current of
observations which the beadle had interrupted: 'though I must say, Mr. Bumble,
that I have to contend against one very great disadvantage: which is, that all the
stout people go off the quickest. The people who have been better off, and have
paid rates for many years, are the first to sink when they come into the house;
and let me tell you, Mr. Bumble, that three or four inches over one's calculation
makes a great hole in one's profits: especially when one has a family to provide
for, sir.'
As Mr. Sowerberry said this, with the becoming indignation of an ill-used
man; and as Mr. Bumble felt that it rather tended to convey a reflection on the
honour of the parish; the latter gentleman thought it advisable to change the
subject. Oliver Twist being uppermost in his mind, he made him his theme.
'By the bye,' said Mr. Bumble, 'you don't know anybody who wants a boy, do
you? A porochial 'prentis, who is at present a dead-weight; a millstone, as I may
say, round the porochial throat? Liberal terms, Mr. Sowerberry, liberal terms?' As
Mr. Bumble spoke, he raised his cane to the bill above him, and gave three
distinct raps upon the words 'five pounds': which were printed thereon in
Roman capitals of gigantic size.
'Gadso!' said the undertaker: taking Mr. Bumble by the gilt-edged lappel of
his official coat; 'that's just the very thing I wanted to speak to you about. You
know--dear me, what a very elegant button this is, Mr. Bumble! I never noticed it
before.'
'Yes, I think it rather pretty,' said the beadle, glancing proudly downwards at
the large brass buttons which embellished his coat. 'The die is the same as the
porochial seal--the Good Samaritan healing the sick and bruised man. The board
presented it to me on Newyear's morning, Mr. Sowerberry. I put it on, I
Thesaurus
bruised: (adj) wounded, hurt, raw,
baroque; (prep) beautied.
gigantic: (adj) colossal, enormous,
sore, livid, tender, sensitive, rotten,
surbet, sore to the touch, painful.
large, huge, giant, stupendous,
contend: (v) wrestle, compete, conflict, monstrous, vast, big, immense,
massive. ANTONYMS: (adj) small,
combat, argue, war, clash, altercate,
struggle, contest; (n, v) allege.
tiny, little, insignificant, short,
ANTONYMS: (v) retreat, harmonize, miniature.
gilt-edged: (adj) elite, fine.
abandon, deny, cede, agree,
indignation: (n) anger, resentment,
surrender, desert.
embellished: (adj) ornamented,
displeasure, grudge, umbrage, rage,
rhetorical, decorated, fancy, florid,
outrage, exasperation, choler,
dudgeon; (adj, n) wrath.
tall, rich, embroidered, elaborate,
ANTONYMS: (n) contentment,
pleasure.
millstone: (n) load, weight, tax,
liability, encumbrance, hindrance,
handicap, impediment, albatross,
Millstone grit; (adj) lead.
quickest: (adv) most quickly.
uppermost: (adj) top, upmost, upper,
highest, chief, maximum, supreme,
greatest, major, outermost; (n) main.
ANTONYMS: (adj) bottom, lowest,
trivial, lower.
32
Oliver Twist
remember, for the first time, to attend the inquest on that reduced tradesman,
who died in a doorway at midnight.'
'I recollect,' said the undertaker. 'The jury brought it in, "Died from exposure
to the cold, and want of the common necessaries of life," didn't they?'
Mr. Bumble nodded.%
'And they made it a special verdict, I think,' said the undertaker, 'by adding
some words to the effect, that if the relieving officer had--'
'Tush! Foolery!' interposed the beadle. 'If the board attended to all the
nonsense that ignorant jurymen talk, they'd have enough to do.'
'Very true,' said the undertaker; 'they would indeed.'
'Juries,' said Mr. Bumble, grasping his cane tightly, as was his wont when
working into a passion: 'juries is ineddicated, vulgar, grovelling wretches.'
'So they are,' said the undertaker.
'They haven't no more philosophy nor political economy about 'em than that,'
said the beadle, snapping his fingers contemptuously.
'No more they have,' acquiesced the undertaker.
'I despise 'em,' said the beadle, growing very red in the face.
'So do I,' rejoined the undertaker.
'And I only wish we'd a jury of the independent sort, in the house for a week
or two,' said the beadle; 'the rules and regulations of the board would soon bring
their spirit down for 'em.'
'Let 'em alone for that,' replied the undertaker. So saying, he smiled,
approvingly: to calm the rising wrath of the indignant parish officer.
Mr Bumble lifted off his cocked hat; took a handkerchief from the inside of
the crown; wiped from his forehead the perspiration which his rage had
engendered; fixed the cocked hat on again; and, turning to the undertaker, said
in a calmer voice:
'Well; what about the boy?'
Thesaurus
contemptuously: (adv) scornfully,
sneeringly, insultingly,
disparagingly, superciliously,
derisively, condescendingly,
disrespectfully, haughtily,
contumeliously, sardonically.
ANTONYM: (adv) approvingly.
despise: (v) disdain, loathe,
depreciate, abhor, dislike, detest,
slight, hate; (n, v) contemn; (n)
contempt, deride. ANTONYMS: (v)
respect, love, adore, appreciate,
cherish, like, praise, accept.
grovelling: (adj) groveling, base,
abject, menial, vulgar, slavish, servile,
obsequious, low, wormlike,
earthbred.
lifted: (adj) raised, elevated, lift, lofty,
upraised, steep.
necessaries: (n) necessary, necessaries
of life, necessity, must.
perspiration: (n) diaphoresis, hidrosis,
sudor, sweating, extravasation,
secretion, exertion, exudation, effort,
lather, water.
relieving: (adj) pertinent, comforting,
applicable; (n) encouragement.
snapping: (adj) noisy.
tradesman: (n) shopkeeper, dealer,
merchant, market keeper, cleaner,
florist, hosier, retailer, tradespeople,
businessman, retail dealer.
wont: (adj, n) use, custom, usage; (n)
practice, tradition, cleanliness,
assuetude, assuefaction, convention,
rut; (v) practise.
Charles Dickens
33
'Oh!' replied the undertaker; 'why, you know, Mr. Bumble, I pay a good deal
towards the poor's rates.'
'Hem!' said Mr. Bumble. 'Well?'
'Well,' replied the undertaker, 'I was thinking that if I pay so much towards
'em, I've a right to get as much out of 'em as I can, Mr. Bumble; and so--I think I'll
take the boy myself.'
Mr. Bumble grasped the undertaker by the arm, and led him into the
building. Mr. Sowerberry was closeted with the board for five minutes; and it
was arranged that Oliver should go to him that evening 'upon liking'--a phrase
which means, in the case of a parish apprentice, that if the master find, upon a
short trial, that he can get enough work out of a boy without putting too much
food into him, he shall have him for a term of years, to do what he likes with.%
When little Oliver was taken before 'the gentlemen' that evening; and
informed that he was to go, that night, as general house-lad to a coffin-maker's;
and that if he complained of his situation, or ever came back to the parish again,
he would be sent to sea, there to be drowned, or knocked on the head, as the case
might be, he evinced so little emotion, that they by common consent pronounced
him a hardened young rascal, and ordered Mr. Bumble to remove him forthwith.
Now, although it was very natural that the board, of all people in the world,
should feel in a great state of virtuous astonishment and horror at the smallest
tokens of want of feeling on the part of anybody, they were rather out, in this
particular instance. The simple fact was, that Oliver, instead of possessing too
little feeling, possessed rather too much; and was in a fair way of being reduced,
for life, to a state of brutal stupidity and sullenness by the ill usage he had
received. He heard the news of his destination, in perfect silence; and, having
had his luggage put into his hand--which was not very difficult to carry,
inasmuch as it was all comprised within the limits of a brown paper parcel,
about half a foot square by three inches deep--he pulled his cap over his eyes;
and once more attaching himself to Mr. Bumble's coat cuff, was led away by that
dignitary to a new scene of suffering.
Thesaurus
dignitary: (n) notable, celebrity, big
miscreant, knave, scoundrel, scamp,
gloom, doggedness, mumps.
ANTONYM: (n) cheeriness.
shot, dignity, officer, grandee, very
rogue, varlet, vagabond, brat.
stupidity: (n) foolishness, nonsense,
tokens: (n) decorations, discriminating
important person, public figure,
personage, person, panjandrum.
obtuseness, dullness, fatuity,
marks, indications, indicia, insignia,
hardened: (adj) hard, callous,
absurdity, stolidity, slowness,
signs, appearances, badges.
virtuous: (adj) upright, pure,
confirmed, tough, indurated,
denseness, idiocy, imbecility.
ANTONYMS: (n) sense, logic,
tempered, unfeeling, inured,
righteous, good, moral, just,
habitual, enured, veteran.
cleverness, shrewdness, wisdom,
honorable, honest, respectable,
ANTONYMS: (adj) inexperienced,
decent, pious. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ability.
smooth, unaccustomed, untempered, sullenness: (n) glumness, moroseness, bad, sinful, corrupt, impure,
feeling, mild.
moodiness, resentment, sourness,
unethical, decadent, degenerate,
rascal: (n) villain, rapscallion, monkey, gloominess, brusqueness, sulk,
irreverent.
34
Oliver Twist
For some time, Mr. Bumble drew Oliver along, without notice or remark; for
the beadle carried his head very erect, as a beadle always should: and, it being a
windy day, little Oliver was completely enshrouded by the skirts of Mr.
Bumble's coat as they blew open, and disclosed to great advantage his flapped
waistcoat and drab plush knee-breeches. As they drew near to their destination,
however, Mr. Bumble thought it expedient to look down, and see that the boy
was in good order for inspection by his new master: which he accordingly did,
with a fit and becoming air of gracious patronage.%
'Oliver!' said Mr. Bumble.
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver, in a low, tremulous voice.
'Pull that cap off your eyes, and hold up your head, sir.'
Although Oliver did as he was desired, at once; and passed the back of his
unoccupied hand briskly across his eyes, he left a tear in them when he looked
up at his conductor. As Mr. Bumble gazed sternly upon him, it rolled down his
cheek. It was followed by another, and another. The child made a strong effort,
but it was an unsuccessful one. Withdrawing his other hand from Mr. Bumble's
he covered his face with both; and wept until the tears sprung out from between
his chin and bony fingers.
'Well!' exclaimed Mr. Bumble, stopping short, and darting at his little charge
a look of intense malignity. 'Well! Of all the ungratefullest, and worst-disposed
boys as ever I see, Oliver, you are the--'
'No, no, sir,' sobbed Oliver, clinging to the hand which held the well-known
cane; 'no, no, sir; I will be good indeed; indeed, indeed I will, sir! I am a very little
boy, sir; and it is so--so--'
'So what?' inquired Mr. Bumble in amazement.
'So lonely, sir! So very lonely!' cried the child. 'Everybody hates me. Oh! sir,
don't, don't pray be cross to me!' The child beat his hand upon his heart; and
looked in his companion's face, with tears of real agony.
Mr. Bumble regarded Oliver's piteous and helpless look, with some
astonishment, for a few seconds; hemmed three or four times in a husky manner;
Thesaurus
darting: (adj) arrowy, moving; (v)
Sally.
drab: (adj) dreary, gloomy, dingy,
cheerless, somber, boring, dowdy,
dark, colorless, dull, depressing.
ANTONYMS: (adj) colorful, vivid,
brilliant, chic, flashy, interesting,
cheerful, distinctive, smart, strong.
malignity: (n) malevolence,
malignance, venom, animosity,
enmity, hatred, evil, rancor, spite,
malignancy, hate. ANTONYM: (n)
benignity.
piteous: (adj) miserable, pitiful,
pathetic, doleful, lamentable, abject,
compassionate, unfortunate, poor,
paltry, pitiable.
plush: (adj) lush, splendid, opulent,
sumptuous, luxuriant, luxurious,
rich, gorgeous, swish, deluxe,
magnificent. ANTONYMS: (adj)
meager, austere, shabby, Spartan,
cheap.
seconds: (n) merchandise, retrees,
goods; (adj) unacceptable, defective.
tremulous: (adj) shaky, trembling,
shaking, fearful, apprehensive,
quavering, fidgety, shivering; (n)
nervous, diffident, coy. ANTONYMS:
(adj) stable, confident, steady.
unoccupied: (adj) empty, vacant,
unemployed, free, desolate, void,
uninhabited, idle, inactive, deserted,
abandoned. ANTONYMS: (adj) full,
inhabited, overcrowded, solid,
working, busy.
Charles Dickens
35
and after muttering something about 'that troublesome cough,' bade Oliver dry
his eyes and be a good boy. Then once more taking his hand, he walked on with
him in silence.%
The undertaker, who had just putup the shutters of his shop, was making
some entries in his day-book by the light of a most appropriate dismal candle,
when Mr. Bumble entered.
'Aha!' said the undertaker; looking up from the book, and pausing in the
middle of a word; 'is that you, Bumble?'
'No one else, Mr. Sowerberry,' replied the beadle. 'Here! I've brought the boy.'
Oliver made a bow.
'Oh! that's the boy, is it?' said the undertaker: raising the candle above his
head, to get a better view of Oliver. 'Mrs. Sowerberry, will you have the
goodness to come here a moment, my dear?'
Mrs. Sowerberry emerged from a little room behind the shop, and presented
the form of a short, then, squeezed-up woman, with a vixenish countenance.
'My dear,' said Mr. Sowerberry, deferentially, 'this is the boy from the
workhouse that I told you of.' Oliver bowed again.
'Dear me!' said the undertaker's wife, 'he's very small.'
'Why, he is rather small,' replied Mr. Bumble: looking at Oliver as if it were
his fault that he was no bigger; 'he is small. There's no denying it. But he'll grow,
Mrs. Sowerberry--he'll grow.'
'Ah! I dare say he will,' replied the lady pettishly, 'on our victuals and our
drink. I see no saving in parish children, not I; for they always cost more to keep,
than they're worth. However, men always think they know best. There! Get
downstairs, little bag o' bones.' With this, the undertaker's wife opened a side
door, and pushed Oliver down a steep flight of stairs into a stone cell, damp and
dark: forming the ante-room to the coal-cellar, and denominated 'kitchen';
wherein sat a slatternly girl, in shoes down at heel, and blue worsted stockings
very much out of repair.
Thesaurus
bade: (v) bid, command, bad.
mumbling, faint.
deferentially: (adv) reverentially,
pettishly: (adv) testily, irritably,
submissively, reverently, dutifully,
crossly, tetchily, peevishly, techily,
regardfully, obsequiously, meekly,
huffily, touchily, fractiously, fretfully,
appreciatively, approvingly,
moodily.
flatteringly, positively. ANTONYMS: slatternly: (adj) blowzy, sluttish,
(adv) disapprovingly, irreverently,
untidy, dirty, blowsy, sordid, loose,
dowdy, squalid; (adv) dowdily,
disobediently.
muttering: (n) grumbling, mutter,
drably.
murmuring, grumble, murmuration, troublesome: (adj) difficult, hard,
murmur vowel, complaint, heart
arduous, bothersome, inconvenient,
murmur, cardiac murmur; (adj)
onerous, awkward, annoying,
laborious, tough, heavy.
ANTONYMS: (adj) nice, helpful,
useful, advantageous, convenient,
uncomplicated, delightful.
victuals: (n) food, fare, viands, victual,
edible, provender, grub, sustenance,
support, diet, nutriment.
vixenish: (adj) malicious, vixenly.
wherein: (adv) in what, in which,
where.
worsted: (adj) disappointed; (n) fabric,
knitting worsted, cloth.
36
Oliver Twist
'Here, Charlotte,' said Mr. Sowerberry, who had followed Oliver down, 'give
this boy some of the cold bits that were put by for Trip. He hasn't come home
since the morning, so he may go without 'em. I dare say the boy isn't too dainty
to eat 'em--are you, boy?'
Oliver, whose eyes had glistened at the mention of meat, and who was
trembling with eagerness to devour it, replied in the negative; and a plateful of
coarse broken victuals was set before him.%
I wish some well-fed philosopher, whose meat and drink turn to gall within
him; whose blood is ice, whose heart is iron; could have seen Oliver Twist
clutching at the dainty viands that the dog had neglected. I wish he could have
witnessed the horrible avidity with which Oliver tore the bits asunder with all
the ferocity of famine. There is only one thing I should like better; and that
would be to see the Philosopher making the same sort of meal himself, with the
same relish.
'Well,' said the undertaker's wife, when Oliver had finished his supper: which
she had regarded in silent horror, and with fearful auguries of his future
appetite: 'have you done?'
There being nothing eatable within his reach, Oliver replied in the
affirmative.
'Then come with me,' said Mrs. Sowerberry: taking up a dim and dirty lamp,
and leading the way upstairs; 'your bed's under the counter. You don't mind
sleeping among the coffins, I suppose? But it doesn't much matter whether you
do or don't, for you can't sleep anywhere else. Come; don't keep me here all
night!'
Oliver lingered no longer, but meekly followed his new mistress.
Thesaurus
asunder: (adj, v) separate; (adv) aside,
refined; (adj, n) tidbit; (n) luxury.
plateful: (n) helping, portion, home,
in two; (adj, adv) in Twain; (adj) loose, ANTONYMS: (adj) coarse, vulgar,
crustal plate, serving, collection plate,
distant, adrift, aloof; (v) discrete, far
rough, inelegant, harsh, gross,
catcher, photographic plate, home
between, free. ANTONYM: (adv)
awkward, accepting, heavy, careless, plate, containerful, denture.
relish: (n, v) enjoy, fancy, love; (n)
together.
thick.
avidity: (adj, n) greed, greediness; (n) eatable: (adj, n) comestible; (n)
gusto, liking, palate, enthusiasm,
enjoyment; (adj, n) flavor; (v) bask,
eagerness, ardor, covetousness, lust,
pabulum, victual, food, victuals,
aliment, viands, sustenance; (adj)
like. ANTONYM: (n) apathy.
desire, enthusiasm, rapacity,
viands: (n) provender, victuals,
cupidity, avidness.
palatable, esculent, good.
dainty: (adj, v) nice; (adj, n, v) delicacy; ANTONYMS: (adj) uneatable,
provisions, food, sustenance,
(adj) fastidious, savory, tasteful,
unpalatable, disgusting, indigestible, commissariat, larder, cates, diet,
squeamish, particular, mincing,
unappetizing, yucky.
nourishment, edible.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
37
%V
OLIVER MINGLES WITH NEW ASSOCIATES.
GOING TO A FUNERAL FOR THE FIRST
TIME, HE FORMS AN UNFAVOURABLE
NOTION OF HIS MASTER'S BUSINESS
Oliver, being left to himself in the undertaker's shop, set the lamp down on a
workman's bench, and gazed timidly about him with a feeling of awe and dread,
which many people a good deal older than he will be at no loss to understand.
An unfinished coffin on black tressels, which stood in the middle of the shop,
looked so gloomy and death-like that a cold tremble came over him, every time
his eyes wandered in the direction of the dismal object: from which he almost
expected to see some frightful form slowly rear its head, to drive him mad with
terror. Against the wall were ranged, in regular array, a long row of elm boards
cut in the same shape: looking in the dim light, like high-shouldered ghosts with
their hands in their breeches pockets. Coffin-plates, elm-chips, bright-headed
nails, and shreds of black cloth, lay scattered on the floor; and the wall behind
the counter was ornamented with a lively representation of two mutes in very
stiff neckcloths, on duty at a large private door, with a hearse drawn by four
black steeds, approaching in the distance. The shop was close and hot. The
Thesaurus
breeches: (n) knickers, inexpressibles, urn, shell, sarcophagus, pall, cinerary anxiously, nervously, shily, gingerly,
knickerbockers, brogues, short,
urn, auto, car, automobile.
modestly, apprehensively.
ANTONYMS: (adv) confidently,
smalls, overalls, small clothes, pants, ornamented: (adj) embellished,
trousers, pantaloons.
beautified, fancy, flowery, ornate,
bravely, daringly, brashly, fearlessly,
frightful: (adj, v) fearful; (adj)
adorned, bedecked, decked,
decisively, brazenly.
unfinished: (adj) rough, rude,
formidable, awful, fearsome,
festooned, feathered, florid.
scattered: (adj) dissipated, thin,
appalling, gruesome, horrible,
unaccomplished, imperfect,
terrible, dread, frightening, grim.
disordered, disconnected, confused,
incomplete, partial, immature,
ANTONYMS: (adj) wonderful,
unpolished, raw, undone; (v)
sparse, sporadic, distributed, rare,
diffuse; (v) disperse.
uncompleted. ANTONYMS: (adj)
calming, soothing, pleasant, lovely,
timidly: (adv) fearfully, timorously,
fair.
finished, complete, complex,
hearse: (n) catafalque, coffin, entomb,
cautiously, shyly, diffidently,
completed.
38
Oliver Twist
atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. The recess beneath the
counter in which his flock mattress was thrust, looked like a grave.%
Nor were these the only dismal feelings which depressed Oliver. He was
alone in a strange place; and we all know how chilled and desolate the best of us
will sometimes feel in such a situation. The boy had no friends to care for, or to
care for him. The regret of no recent separation was fresh in his mind; the
absence of no loved and well-remembered face sank heavily into his heart.
But his heart was heavy, notwithstanding; and he wished, as he crept into his
narrow bed, that that were his coffin, and that he could be lain in a calm and
lasting sleep in the churchyard ground, with the tall grass waving gently above
his head, and the sound of the old deep bell to soothe him in his sleep.
Oliver was awakened in the morning, by a loud kicking at the outside of the
shop-door: which, before he could huddle on his clothes, was repeated, in an
angry and impetuous manner, about twenty-five times. When he began to undo
the chain, the legs desisted, and a voice began.
'Open the door, will yer?' cried the voice which belonged to the legs which
had kicked at the door.
'I will, directly, sir,' replied Oliver: undoing the chain, and turning the key.
'I suppose yer the new boy, ain't yer?' said the voice through the key-hole.
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver.
'How old are yer?' inquired the voice.
'Ten, sir,' replied Oliver.
'Then I'll whop yer when I get in,' said the voice; 'you just see if I don't, that's
all, my work'us brat!' and having made this obliging promise, the voice began to
whistle.
Oliver had been too often subjected to the process to which the very
expressive monosyllable just recorded bears reference, to entertain the smallest
doubt that the owner of the voice, whoever he might be, would redeem his
Thesaurus
awakened: (adj) excited, aroused,
monosyllable: (n) word, polysyllable,
awakens, awoke, interested.
dissyllable.
huddle: (n, v) group; (v) crouch, flock, obliging: (adj, v) complaisant,
bunch, nestle, crowd, cower; (adj)
courteous; (adj) amiable, affable,
disarray; (n) cluster, conference,
gentle, kind, good, benign, pleasant,
meeting. ANTONYM: (v) disperse.
gracious, compliant. ANTONYMS:
impetuous: (adj) boisterous, hasty,
(adj) uncooperative, unkind, contrary,
fiery, headlong, heady, hot, brash,
reticent.
foolhardy, dashing, fierce; (adj, v)
redeem: (v) recover, deliver, atone,
impulsive. ANTONYMS: (adj)
recoup, expiate, ransom, reclaim,
considered, careful, slow, sensible,
save, free, extricate, refund.
ANTONYMS: (v) hock, pawn, lose.
patient.
tainted: (adj, v) rotten, rancid, bad,
musty, reasty, vitiated; (adj) rank,
contaminated, faulty, putrid, dirty.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unadulterated,
unchanged, untarnished, clean.
undoing: (n) ruin, destruction, loss,
curse, cancellation, reverse, bane,
doom, collapse, annulment, disaster.
ANTONYMS: (n) building, creation.
whop: (n, v) whap, bang, bat; (n) hit;
(v) wham, whack, bash, bop, sock,
bonk, strike.
Charles Dickens
39
pledge, most honourably. He drew back the bolts with a trembling hand, and
opened the door.%
For a second or two, Oliver glanced up the street, and down the street, and
over the way: impressed with the belief that the unknown, who had addressed
him through the key-hole, had walked a few paces off, to warm himself; for
nobody did he see but a big charity-boy, sitting on a post in front of the house,
eating a slice of bread and butter: which he cut into wedges, the size of his
mouth, with a clasp-knife, and then consumed with great dexterity.
'I beg your pardon, sir,' said Oliver at length: seeing that no other visitor
made his appearance; 'did you knock?'
'I kicked,' replied the charity-boy.
'Did you want a coffin, sir?' inquired Oliver, innocently.
At this, the charity-boy looked monstrous fierce; and said that Oliver would
want one before long, if he cut jokes with his superiors in that way.
'Yer don't know who I am, I suppose, Work'us?' said the charity-boy, in
continuation: descending from the top of the post, meanwhile, with edifying
gravity.
'No, sir,' rejoined Oliver.
'I'm Mister Noah Claypole,' said the charity-boy, 'and you're under me. Take
down the shutters, yer idle young ruffian!' With this, Mr. Claypole administered
a kick to Oliver, and entered the shop with a dignified air, which did him great
credit. It is difficult for a large-headed, small-eyed youth, of lumbering make
and heavy countenance, to look dignified under any circumstances; but it is more
especially so, when superadded to these personal attractions are a red nose and
yellow smalls.
Oliver, having taken down the shutters, and broken a pane of glass in his
effort to stagger away beneath the weight of the first one to a small court at the
side of the house in which they were kept during the day, was graciously
assisted by Noah: who having consoled him with the assurance that 'he'd catch
it,' condescended to help him. Mr. Sowerberry came down soon after. Shortly
Thesaurus
assisted: (adj) aided.
dexterity: (n) agility, cleverness,
ability, aptitude, skill, deftness,
expertise; (adj, n) art, cunning; (n, v)
adroitness, address. ANTONYMS: (n)
clumsiness, awkwardness,
ineptitude, inability, uselessness,
inexperience, ineptness, inaccuracy.
drew: (n) move, John Drew.
edifying: (adj) enlightening, didactic,
instructive, educational,
advantageous, rewarding, benignant,
improving, profitable, illuminating,
ungainly, ponderous, maladroit,
helpful. ANTONYM: (adj)
gruelling, hulking, accented, all
thumbs, unwieldy; (n) logging.
unedifying.
graciously: (adv) gracefully, mildly,
ANTONYMS: (adj) nimble, adroit,
politely, courteously, benevolently,
agile, graceful, elegant, dainty.
benignantly, civilly, sympathetically, smalls: (n) inexpressibles, breeches,
mercifully, leniently, suavely.
overalls, little, small, tiny, small
ANTONYMS: (adv) bitterly, coarsely, clothes, small coal.
stagger: (adj, adv, v) startle; (v)
poorly, ungraciously, harshly.
honourably: (adv) uprightly, worthily, astonish, reel, shock, hobble, shake,
flounder, totter; (n, v) lurch, pitch;
honestly, creditably, commendably.
lumbering: (adj) heavy, clumsy,
(adj, v) flabbergast.
40
Oliver Twist
afterwards, Mrs. Sowerberry appeared. Oliver having 'caught it,' in fulfilment of
Noah's prediction, followed that young gentleman down the stairs to breakfast.%
'Come near the fire, Noah,' said Charlotte. 'I saved a nice little bit of bacon for
you from master's breakfast. Oliver, shut that door at Mister Noah's back, and
take them bits that I've put out on the cover of the bread-pan. There's your tea;
take it away to that box, and drink it there, and make haste, for they'll want you
to mind the shop. D'ye hear?'
'D'ye hear, Work'us?' said Noah Claypole.
'Lor, Noah!' said Charlotte, 'what a rum creature you are! Why don't you let
the boy alone?'
'Let him alone!' said Noah. 'Why everybody lets him alone enough, for the
matter of that. Neither his father nor his mother will ever interfere with him. All
his relations let him have his own way pretty well. Eh, Charlotte? He! he! he!'
'Oh, you queer soul!' said Charlotte, bursting into a hearty laugh, in which
she was joined by Noah; after which they both looked scornfully at poor Oliver
Twist, as he sat shivering on the box in the coldest corner of the room, and ate
the stale pieces which had been specially reserved for him.
Noah was a charity-boy, but not a workhouse orphan. No chance-child was
he, for he could trace his genealogy all the way back to his parents, who lived
hard by; his mother being a washerwoman, and his father a drunken soldier,
discharged with a wooden leg, and a diurnal pension of twopence-halfpenny
and an unstateable fraction. The shop-boys in the neighbourhood had long been
in the habit of branding Noah in the public streets, with the ignominious
epithets of 'leathers,' 'charity,' and the like; and Noah had bourne them without
reply. But, now that fortune had cast in his way a nameless orphan, at whom
even the meanest could point the finger of scorn, he retorted on him with
interest. This affords charming food for contemplation. It shows us what a
beautiful thing human nature may be made to be; and how impartially the same
amiable qualities are developed in the finest lord and the dirtiest charity-boy.
Thesaurus
bourne: (n) bounds, boundary, limit,
goal.
branding: (n) roundup, stigmatization,
stigmatisation.
creature: (n) being, brute, animal, tool,
individual, person, body, entity,
human, puppet, somebody.
diurnal: (adj) journal, quotidian, diary,
everyday, cyclical, cyclic, ephemeral.
genealogy: (n) ancestry, descent,
family tree, lineage, birth, extraction,
parentage, derivation, stirps; (n, v)
family; (v) kindred.
ignominious: (adj) dishonorable,
shameful, disreputable, infamous,
base, discreditable, dishonourable,
inglorious, black, despicable,
degrading. ANTONYMS: (adj)
honorable, glorious.
impartially: (adv) justly,
dispassionately, neutrally, evenly,
disinterestedly, objectively,
unbiasedly, unprejudicedly,
indifferently, evenhandedly, rightly.
ANTONYM: (adv) unfairly.
master's: (n) postgraduate degree.
meanest: (adj) last, least.
nameless: (adj) unknown, unnamed,
unidentified, unsung,
undistinguished, unspecified,
inexpressible, strange, indescribable,
obscure, unspeakable. ANTONYM:
(adj) famous.
washerwoman: (n) laundrywoman,
washwoman, washer, washerman,
dhobi, launder, laundryman.
Charles Dickens
41
Oliver had been sojourning at the undertaker's some three weeks or a month.
Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry--the shop being shut up--were taking their supper in
the little back-parlour, when Mr. Sowerberry, after several deferential glances at
his wife, said,
'My dear--' He was going to say more; but, Mrs. Sowerberry looking up, with
a peculiarly unpropitious aspect, he stopped short.%
'Well,' said Mrs. Sowerberry, sharply.
'Nothing, my dear, nothing,' said Mr. Sowerberry.
'Ugh, you brute!' said Mrs. Sowerberry.
'Not at all, my dear,' said Mr. Sowerberry humbly. 'I thought you didn't want
to hear, my dear. I was only going to say--'
'Oh, don't tell me what you were going to say,' interposed Mrs. Sowerberry. 'I
am nobody; don't consult me, pray. I don't want to intrude upon your secrets.'
As Mrs. Sowerberry said this, she gave an hysterical laugh, which threatened
violent consequences.
'But, my dear,' said Sowerberry, 'I want to ask your advice.'
'No, no, don't ask mine,' replied Mrs. Sowerberry, in an affecting manner: 'ask
somebody else's.' Here, there was another hysterical laugh, which frightened Mr.
Sowerberry very much. This is a very common and much-approved matrimonial
course of treatment, which is often very effective. It at once reduced Mr.
Sowerberry to begging, as a special favour, to be allowed to say what Mrs.
Sowerberry was most curious to hear. After a short duration, the permission was
most graciously conceded.
'It's only about young Twist, my dear,' said Mr. Sowerberry. 'A very goodlooking boy, that, my dear.'
'He need be, for he eats enough,' observed the lady.
'There's an expression of melancholy in his face, my dear,' resumed Mr.
Sowerberry, 'which is very interesting. He would make a delightful mute, my
love.'
Thesaurus
deferential: (adj, v) respectful; (adj)
dutiful, deferent, reverential,
regardful, reverent, obedient,
submissive, subservient, complaisant,
humble. ANTONYMS: (adj)
disobedient, inconsiderate,
irreverent, patronizing, rude,
noncompliant, assertive,
uncomplimentary.
eats: (n) grub, chuck, food, meat, meal,
diet, nurture, eat, dinner, board, feed.
humbly: (adv) lowly, meanly,
gloom, melancholic; (adj) depressed,
modestly, submissively, low, shyly,
dejected, dismal, gloomy, doleful; (n,
lowlily, naturally, regretfully,
v) low spirits; (n) gloominess,
remorsefully, repentantly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) conceitedly,
depression. ANTONYMS: (n)
haughtily, pompously,
happiness, cheerfulness, hopefulness,
optimism; (adj) happy, bright, cheery,
ostentatiously, unrepentantly,
affluently, brashly, pretentiously.
satisfied.
intrude: (v) interfere, trespass,
unpropitious: (adj) inauspicious,
encroach, infringe, impose, obtrude,
adverse, unlucky, unfavorable,
disturb, interrupt, impinge, barge in, inopportune, evil, sinister, disastrous,
butt in. ANTONYM: (v) disregard.
infelicitous; (adj, v) cross, hostile.
melancholy: (adj, v) dreary; (adj, n)
42
Oliver Twist
Mrs. Sowerberry looked up with an expression of considerable wonderment.
Mr. Sowerberry remarked it and, without allowing time for any observation on
the good lady's part, proceeded.%
'I don't mean a regular mute to attend grown-up people, my dear, but only
for children's practice. It would be very new to have a mute in proportion, my
dear. You may depend upon it, it would have a superb effect.'
Mrs. Sowerberry, who had a good deal of taste in the undertaking way, was
much struck by the novelty of this idea; but, as it would have been
compromising her dignity to have said so, under existing circumstances, she
merely inquired, with much sharpness, why such an obvious suggestion had not
presented itself to her husband's mind before? Mr. Sowerberry rightly construed
this, as an acquiescence in his proposition; it was speedily determined, therefore,
that Oliver should be at once initiated into the mysteries of the trade; and, with
this view, that he should accompany his master on the very next occasion of his
services being required.
The occasion was not long in coming. Half an hour after breakfast next
morning, Mr. Bumble entered the shop; and supporting his cane against the
counter, drew forth his large leathern pocket-book: from which he selected a
small scrap of paper, which he handed over to Sowerberry.
'Aha!' said the undertaker, glancing over it with a lively countenance; 'an
order for a coffin, eh?'
'For a coffin first, and a porochial funeral afterwards,' replied Mr. Bumble,
fastening the strap of the leathern pocket-book: which, like himself, was very
corpulent.
'Bayton,' said the undertaker, looking from the scrap of paper to Mr. Bumble.
'I never heard the name before.'
Bumble shook his head, as he replied, 'Obstinate people, Mr. Sowerberry;
very obstinate. Proud, too, I'm afraid, sir.'
'Proud, eh?' exclaimed Mr. Sowerberry with a sneer. 'Come, that's too much.'
'Oh, it's sickening,' replied the beadle. 'Antimonial, Mr. Sowerberry!'
Thesaurus
antimonial: (adj) stibial, metal.
ANTONYMS: (adj) flexible,
attachment, lock, catch, link,
compromising: (adj) conciliatory,
bonding; (n, v) bond; (v) tie, bind.
amenable, irresolute, cooperative,
glancing: (adj) passing.
moderate, vulnerable, awkward,
easygoing, docile, biddable,
mute: (adj) dumb, silent, inarticulate,
intermediate, flexible, inculpatory;
agreeable, accommodating,
(adv) halfway.
dummy, tongueless; (v) muffle,
malleable, gentle.
corpulent: (adj, adv) portly; (adj) stout, dampen, deaden, hush; (adj, v) quiet, sneer: (n, v) deride, jeer, scorn, flout,
dull. ANTONYMS: (adj) talkative,
obese, overweight, fleshy, plump,
ridicule, scoff, mock, leer, grimace,
speaking, spoken; (v) amplify.
gird; (n) smirk.
lusty, tubby, chubby, beefy, bulky.
ANTONYMS: (adj) slight, bony,
obstinate: (adj) obdurate, inflexible,
wonderment: (n) wonder, admiration,
underweight, slender, anorexic, thin, intractable, determined, inveterate,
amazement, astonishment, surprise,
slim.
disobedient, willful, stubborn,
awe, bewilderment, marvel,
fastening: (n) clasp, clip, buckle,
contrary, wayward, dogged.
curiosity, annus Mirabilis, esteem.
Charles Dickens
43
'So it is,' asquiesced the undertaker.%
'We only heard of the family the night before last,' said the beadle; 'and we
shouldn't have known anything about them, then, only a woman who lodges in
the same house made an application to the porochial committee for them to send
the porochial surgeon to see a woman as was very bad. He had gone out to
dinner; but his 'prentice (which is a very clever lad) sent 'em some medicine in a
blacking-bottle, offhand.'
'Ah, there's promptness,' said the undertaker.
'Promptness, indeed!' replied the beadle. 'But what's the consequence; what's
the ungrateful behaviour of these rebels, sir? Why, the husband sends back word
that the medicine won't suit his wife's complaint, and so she shan't take it--says
she shan't take it, sir! Good, strong, wholesome medicine, as was given with
great success to two Irish labourers and a coal-heaver, only a week before--sent
'em for nothing, with a blackin'-bottle in,--and he sends back word that she shan't
take it, sir!'
As the atrocity presented itself to Mr. Bumble's mind in full force, he struck
the counter sharply with his cane, and became flushed with indignation.
'Well,' said the undertaker, 'I ne--ver--did--'
'Never did, sir!' ejaculated the beadle. 'No, nor nobody never did; but now
she's dead, we've got to bury her; and that's the direction; and the sooner it's
done, the better.'
Thus saying, Mr. Bumble put on his cocked hat wrong side first, in a fever of
parochial excitement; and flounced out of the shop.
'Why, he was so angry, Oliver, that he forgot even to ask after you!' said Mr.
Sowerberry, looking after the beadle as he strode down the street.
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver, who had carefully kept himself out of sight, during
the interview; and who was shaking from head to foot at the mere recollection of
the sound of Mr. Bumble's voice.
Thesaurus
atrocity: (adj, n) outrage, flagrancy; (n) topical, confined. ANTONYMS: (adj) unthankful, unappreciative,
brutality, abomination, barbarity,
cosmopolitan, broadminded.
unnatural, ingrate, unpleasant,
promptness: (n) promptitude, agility,
barbarism, violence, atrociousness,
distasteful, displeasing, unkind,
inhumaneness, crime, horror.
celerity, readiness, eagerness,
disagreeable, not kind. ANTONYMS:
ANTONYMS: (n) kindness,
(adj) grateful, thankful, appreciative.
expedition, dispatch, rapidity,
wholesome: (adj) healthy, beneficial,
humanity.
alacrity, punctuality, speed.
cane: (n, v) scourge, whip; (v) flog,
ANTONYMS: (n) slowness,
salubrious, healthful, salutary, sound,
beat, birch, thrash, lash; (n) stick, bat, sluggishness, tardiness, delay.
good, nutritious, nourishing, pure,
sight: (n, v) vision, glimpse, show,
hale. ANTONYMS: (adj)
rattan, twig.
parochial: (adj) insular, provincial,
aspect, appearance; (v) aim, spot, see; unwholesome, unhealthy, impure,
(n) view, prospect, scene.
local, limited, finite, conventional,
indecent, sordid, warped, tainted,
ungrateful: (adj) unmindful,
petty, narrow-minded, parish,
decadent, deadly, unsavory.
44
Oliver Twist
He needn't haven taken the trouble to shrink from Mr. Bumble's glance,
however; for that functionary, on whom the prediction of the gentleman in the
white waistcoat had made a very strong impression, thought that now the
undertaker had got Oliver upon trial the subject was better avoided, until such
time as he should be firmly bound for seven years, and all danger of his being
returned upon the hands of the parish should be thus effectually and legally
overcome.%
'Well,' said Mr. Sowerberry, taking up his hat, 'the sooner this job is done, the
better. Noah, look after the shop. Oliver, put on your cap, and come with me.'
Oliver obeyed, and followed his master on his professional mission.
They walked on, for some time, through the most crowded and densely
inhabited part of the town; and then, striking down a narrow street more dirty
and miserable than any they had yet passed through, paused to look for the
house which was the object of their search. The houses on either side were high
and large, but very old, and tenanted by people of the poorest class: as their
neglected appearance would have sufficiently denoted, without the concurrent
testimony afforded by the squalid looks of the few men and women who, with
folded arms and bodies half doubled, occasionally skulked along. A great many
of the tenements had shop-fronts; but these were fast closed, and mouldering
away; only the upper rooms being inhabited. Some houses which had become
insecure from age and decay, were prevented from falling into the street, by
huge beams of wood reared against the walls, and firmly planted in the road; but
even these crazy dens seemed to have been selected as the nightly haunts of
some houseless wretches, for many of the rough boards which supplied the
place of door and window, were wrenched from their positions, to afford an
aperture wide enough for the passage of a human body. The kennel was
stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which here and there lay putrefying in its
rottenness, were hideous with famine.
There was neither knocker nor bell-handle at the open door where Oliver
and his master stopped; so, groping his way cautiously through the dark
passage, and bidding Oliver keep close to him and not be afraid the undertaker
Thesaurus
aperture: (n) breach, slit, puncture,
opening, gap, cleft, perforation,
loophole, mouth, hiatus, outlet.
ANTONYM: (n) closure.
functionary: (n) officer, official, clerk,
employee, agent, Mandarin,
incumbent, appointee, bailiff, beadle,
bureaucrat.
groping: (adj) fumbling, gropingly,
investigative, incertain, blind,
probing, tentative, uncertain, unsure,
hesitant, exploratory.
houseless: (adj) unhoused.
kennel: (n) doghouse, ditch, gully,
fosse, dike, drain, culvert, sewer,
gutter, hutch, trough.
knocker: (n) boob, tit, breast,
doorknocker, nipple, knock, doorknocker, depreciator, disparager,
detractor, hatemonger.
mouldering: (adj) moldering,
becoming rotten, rotten, rotting.
putrefying: (adj) rotten.
rottenness: (n) decay, putrescence,
putridness, corruptness, putrefaction,
putridity, depravity, degeneracy,
filth, deterioration; (v) moldiness.
squalid: (adj) sordid, nasty, foul,
seedy, filthy, grimy, abject, dingy,
grubby, seamy, sleazy. ANTONYMS:
(adj) clean, reputable, smart,
respectable, fresh, comfortable,
wholesome, habitable.
tenanted: (adj) occupied, engaged,
having tenants, resided in.
wrenched: (adj) strained, weakened.
Charles Dickens
45
mounted to the top of the first flight of stairs. Stumbling against a door on the
landing, he rapped at it with his knuckles.%
It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen. The undertaker at once
saw enough of what the room contained, to know it was the apartment to which
he had been directed. He stepped in; Oliver followed him.
There was no fire in the room; but a man was crouching, mechanically, over
the empty stove. An old woman, too, had drawn a low stool to the cold hearth,
and was sitting beside him. There were some ragged children in another corner;
and in a small recess, opposite the door, there lay upon the ground, something
covered with an old blanket. Oliver shuddered as he cast his eyes toward the
place, and crept involuntarily closer to his master; for though it was covered up,
the boy felt that it was a corpse.
The man's face was thin and very pale; his hair and beard were grizzly; his
eyes were bloodshot. The old woman's face was wrinkled; her two remaining
teeth protruded over her under lip; and her eyes were bright and piercing.
Oliver was afraid to look at either her or the man. They seemed so like the rats he
had seen outside.
'Nobody shall go near her,' said the man, starting fiercely up, as the
undertaker approached the recess. 'Keep back! Damn you, keep back, if you've a
life to lose!'
'Nonsense, my good man,' said the undertaker, who was pretty well used to
misery in all its shapes. 'Nonsense!'
'I tell you,' said the man: clenching his hands, and stamping furiously on the
floor,--'I tell you I won't have her put into the ground. She couldn't rest there.
The worms would worry her--not eat her--she is so worn away.'
The undertaker offered no reply to this raving; but producing a tape from his
pocket, knelt down for a moment by the side of the body.
'Ah!' said the man: bursting into tears, and sinking on his knees at the feet of
the dead woman; 'kneel down, kneel down --kneel round her, every one of you,
and mark my words! I say she was starved to death. I never knew how bad she
Thesaurus
bloodshot: (n) inflamed.
unwillingly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
grizzly: (adj) grey, gray, grizzled,
voluntarily, consciously, willingly,
greyish, ashen, grayish, dull, hoary,
purposely.
leaden; (n) grizzly bear, silvertip.
kneel: (v) genuflect, cringe, stoop, bob,
hearth: (n) fire, oven, fireside, stove,
cry for quarter, dip, duck, humble
oneself; (n) kneeling, knee,
chimney, focus, furnace, dwelling,
kiln, home, abode.
movement.
involuntarily: (adv) unconsciously,
piercing: (adj, n) sharp, cutting; (adj, v)
unintentionally, inadvertently,
keen, penetrating, biting, bitter,
harsh, shrill; (adj) high, raw, loud.
automatically, forcedly,
ANTONYMS: (adj) quiet, dull, soft,
mechanically, unthinkingly,
reluctantly, accidentally, automaticly, hot.
protruded: (adj) extant, outstanding.
raving: (adj, v) wild; (adj) frantic,
delirious, furious, mad, insane; (adj,
n) madness, distraction, rage; (n)
rabid, delirium.
recess: (n) niche, pause, intermission,
holiday, nook, vacation, hollow,
alcove, interval, interruption; (n, v)
break. ANTONYM: (n) continuation.
stamping: (n) impression, blocking,
coin, postage, stamping of rail.
thirteen: (n) long dozen, large integer.
46
Oliver Twist
was, till the fever came upon her; and then her bones were starting through the
skin. There was neither fire nor candle; she died in the dark--in the dark! She
couldn't even see her children's faces, though we heard her gasping out their
names. I begged for her in the streets: and they sent me to prison. When I came
back, she was dying; and all the blood in my heart has dried up, for they starved
her to death. I swear it before the God that saw it! They starved her!' He twined
his hands in his hair; and, with a loud scream, rolled grovelling upon the floor:
his eyes fixed, and the foam covering his lips.%
The terrified children cried bitterly; but the old woman, who had hitherto
remained as quiet as if she had been wholly deaf to all that passed, menaced
them into silence. Having unloosened the cravat of the man who still remained
extended on the ground, she tottered towards the undertaker.
'She was my daughter,' said the old woman, nodding her head in the
direction of the corpse; and speaking with an idiotic leer, more ghastly than even
the presence of death in such a place. 'Lord, Lord! Well, it is strange that I who
gave birth to her, and was a woman then, should be alive and merry now, and
she lying there: so cold and stiff! Lord, Lord!--to think of it; it's as good as a play-as good as a play!'
As the wretched creature mumbled and chuckled in her hideous merriment,
the undertaker turned to go away.
'Stop, stop!' said the old woman in a loud whisper. 'Will she be buried tomorrow, or next day, or to-night? I laid her out; and I must walk, you know.
Send me a large cloak: a good warm one: for it is bitter cold. We should have
cake and wine, too, before we go! Never mind; send some bread--only a loaf of
bread and a cup of water. Shall we have some bread, dear?' she said eagerly:
catching at the undertaker's coat, as he once more moved towards the door.
'Yes, yes,' said the undertaker,'of course. Anything you like!' He disengaged
himself from the old woman's grasp; and, drawing Oliver after him, hurried
away.
Thesaurus
cravat: (n) neckerchief, neckcloth,
gruesome, macabre, hideous,
appalling, atrocious; (adv)
stock, ascot, collar, handkerchief,
gruesomely. ANTONYMS: (adj)
scarf, neckwear, necktie, ruff.
disengaged: (adj) vacant, unemployed, wonderful, lovely, attractive,
disentangled, free, freed,
delightful.
untrammelled, devoid, unreserved, idiotic: (adj) absurd, foolish, fatuous,
detached, liberated, loosened.
imbecile, crazy, stupid, ridiculous,
gasping: (adj) panting, winded, blown, mindless, silly, unwise, daft.
out of breath, thirsty, pursy; (v)
ANTONYMS: (adj) wise, genius,
spavined, touched in the wind.
clever.
ghastly: (adj) awful, fearful,
loaf: (adj, v) lounge; (v) hang around,
cadaverous, dreadful, grisly,
loiter, loll, linger, laze, mess about, be
idle; (adj, n) block; (adj) lump, poke.
ANTONYM: (v) work.
menaced: (adj) doomed, exposed.
merriment: (n) fun, amusement,
cheerfulness, hilarity, glee, jollity,
frolic, gaiety, happiness, festivity;
(adj, n) mirth. ANTONYMS: (n)
misery, gloom, seriousness,
despondency, boredom.
streets: (n) street.
twined: (adj) bent, coiled, contorted,
distorted, misrepresented, perverted.
Charles Dickens
47
The next day, (the family having been meanwhile relieved with a halfquartern loaf and a piece of cheese, left with them by Mr. Bumble himself,)
Oliver and his master returned to the miserable abode; where Mr. Bumble had
already arrived, accompanied by four men from the workhouse, who were to act
as bearers. An old black cloak had been thrown over the rags of the old woman
and the man; and the bare coffin having been screwed down, was hoisted on the
shoulders of the bearers, and carried into the street.%
'Now, you must put your best leg foremost, old lady!' whispered Sowerberry
in the old woman's ear; 'we are rather late; and it won't do, to keep the
clergyman waiting. Move on, my men,--as quick as you like!'
Thus directed, the bearers trotted on under their light burden; and the two
mourners kept as near them, as they could. Mr. Bumble and Sowerberry walked
at a good smart pace in front; and Oliver, whose legs were not so long as his
master's, ran by the side.
There was not so great a necessity for hurrying as Mr. Sowerberry had
anticipated, however; for when they reached the obscure corner of the
churchyard in which the nettles grew, and where the parish graves were made,
the clergyman had not arrived; and the clerk, who was sitting by the vestry-room
fire, seemed to think it by no means improbable that it might be an hour or so,
before he came. So, they put the bier on the brink of the grave; and the two
mourners waited patiently in the damp clay, with a cold rain drizzling down,
while the ragged boys whom the spectacle had attracted into the churchyard
played a noisy game at hide-and-seek among the tombstones, or varied their
amusements by jumping backwards and forwards over the coffin. Mr.
Sowerberry and Bumble, being personal friends of the clerk, sat by the fire with
him, and read the paper.
At length, after a lapse of something more than an hour, Mr. Bumble, and
Sowerberry, and the clerk, were seen running towards the grave. Immediately
afterwards, the clergyman appeared: putting on his surplice as he came along.
Mr. Bumble then thrashed a boy or two, to keep up appearances; and the
reverend gentleman, having read as much of the burial service as could be
Thesaurus
abode: (n) dwelling, house, residence,
place, domicile, lodge, abidance,
mansion, lodging, address, seat.
bier: (n) catafalque, urn, tomb,
sepulchre, cinerary urn, rack, stand,
casket, stretcher, hearse,
sarcophagus.
brink: (n, v) edge; (n) border, hem,
threshold, boundary, brim, shore,
periphery, lip, margin, limit.
ANTONYMS: (n) middle, interior,
end.
came: (v) arrive, come.
clergyman: (n) minister, chaplain,
priest, pastor, churchman, preacher,
parson, rector, dominie, vicar; (adj)
divine. ANTONYMS: (n) layman,
layperson.
drizzling: (adj) drizzle, sprinkle,
pouring, disgusting, drizzly, nasty,
disagreeable, rainy, showery, raining,
descending.
hurrying: (n) hastening, speed,
quickening, rushing, early, speeding,
speeding up, stepping up,
amphetamine, forward, eager.
lapse: (n, v) decline, drop, mistake;
(adj, n, v) fall; (v) expire, elapse,
collapse, go by; (n) oversight, error,
fault. ANTONYMS: (v) behave, start,
rise, renew, improve.
rags: (adj) refuse, rubble, scourings,
sweepings, trash, waste; (n) clothing,
tatter, orts, odds and ends, dress.
surplice: (n) robe, Geneva gown frock,
gown, pallium.
48
Oliver Twist
compressed into four minutes, gave his surplice to the clerk, and walked away
again.%
'Now, Bill!' said Sowerberry to the grave-digger. 'Fill up!'
It was no very difficult task, for the grave was so full, that the uppermost
coffin was within a few feet of the surface. The grave-digger shovelled in the
earth; stamped it loosely down with his feet: shouldered his spade; and walked
off, followed by the boys, who murmured very loud complaints at the fun being
over so soon.
'Come, my good fellow!' said Bumble, tapping the man on the back. 'They
want to shut up the yard.'
The man who had never once moved, since he had taken his station by the
grave side, started, raised his head, stared at the person who had addressed him,
walked forward for a few paces; and fell down in a swoon. The crazy old woman
was too much occupied in bewailing the loss of her cloak (which the undertaker
had taken off), to pay him any attention; so they threw a can of cold water over
him; and when he came to, saw him safely out of the churchyard, locked the
gate, and departed on their different ways.
'Well, Oliver,' said Sowerberry, as they walked home, 'how do you like it?'
'Pretty well, thank you, sir' replied Oliver, with considerable hesitation. 'Not
very much, sir.'
'Ah, you'll get used to it in time, Oliver,' said Sowerberry. 'Nothing when you
are used to it, my boy.'
Oliver wondered, in his own mind, whether it had taken a very long time to
get Mr. Sowerberry used to it. But he thought it better not to ask the question;
and walked back to the shop: thinking over all he had seen and heard.
Thesaurus
bewailing: (n) cry, grief, noise; (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) remaining, alive.
lamenting; (v) querulous.
locked: (adj) bolted, closed, fast,
churchyard: (n) graveyard, burial
barred, blocked, fixed, guaranteed,
ground, yard, necropolis, cloisters,
barricaded, safe, protected, fastened.
loosely: (adv) freely, vaguely,
kirkyard.
compressed: (adj) flat, condensed,
wantonly, broadly, softly, desultorily,
dense, concentrated, compacted,
laxly, relaxedly, lasciviously, baggily,
tight, pointed, packed, concise, close, flabbily. ANTONYMS: (adv) closely,
brief.
firmly, tight, strictly, narrowly,
departed: (adj) dead, bygone, late,
efficiently, densely, accurately,
former, bypast, defunct, past, left;
precisely, clearly.
(adj, v) gone, extinct; (n) decedent.
spade: (v) grub, delve, scoop, excavate;
(n) nigger, coon, nigra, jigaboo, boy,
black person, spit.
stamped: (adj) beaten, marked,
pressed, printed; (v) fixed, engraved.
swoon: (adj, n, v) faint; (adj, n)
collapse; (n) fainting, syncope,
prostration, deliquium; (v) conk,
black out, pass out, die; (adj) puff.
tapping: (n) draining of the furnace,
paracentesis, to tap, tick, tapotement,
sound, patter, drainage, clapping,
casting, restriking.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
49
%VI
OLIVER, BEING GOADED BY THE TAUNTS OF
NOAH, ROUSES INTO ACTION, AND RATHER
ASTONISHES HIM
The month's trial over, Oliver was formally apprenticed. It was a nice sickly
season just at this time. In commercial phrase, coffins were looking up; and, in
the course of a few weeks, Oliver acquired a great deal of experience. The success
of Mr. Sowerberry's ingenious speculation, exceeded even his most sanguine
hopes. The oldest inhabitants recollected no period at which measles had been so
prevalent, or so fatal to infant existence; and many were the mournful
processions which little Oliver headed, in a hat-band reaching down to his knees,
to the indescribable admiration and emotion of all the mothers in the town. As
Oliver accompanied his master in most of his adult expeditions too, in order that
he might acquire that equanimity of demeanour and full command of nerve
which was essential to a finished undertaker, he had many opportunities of
observing the beautiful resignation and fortitude with which some strongminded people bear their trials and losses.
For instance; when Sowerberry had an order for the burial of some rich old
lady or gentleman, who was surrounded by a great number of nephews and
nieces, who had been perfectly inconsolable during the previous illness, and
Thesaurus
apprenticed: (adj) articled, ignorant,
guts, spunk. ANTONYMS: (n)
termless. ANTONYMS: (adj)
indented, unfree, indentured.
cowardice, frailty, impatience.
explainable, conceivable, concrete.
equanimity: (n) aplomb, poise,
inconsolable: (adj) disconsolate,
mournful: (adj) sad, miserable,
calmness, calm, temper, peace,
desolate, forlorn, desperate,
melancholy, funereal, dolorous, dark,
imperturbability, temperament,
despairing, dejected, heartbroken,
pensive, gloomy, lugubrious,
serenity, tranquility; (adj, n) stoicism. sad, wretched, comfortless; (adj, v)
lamentable; (adj, n) plaintive.
ANTONYMS: (n) panic, anger,
unconsolable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) joyful, happy,
excitableness, fear, hysteria,
hopeful, euphoric, happy.
emotionless.
indescribable: (adj) indefinable,
oldest: (n) elder, doyen; (adj) older.
nervousness, agitation, anxiety.
fortitude: (n) bravery, endurance, grit, ineffable, unutterable, vague, beyond strong-minded: (adj) determined,
pluck, backbone, determination,
expression, nameless, inexpressible,
decisive, obstinate, hell-bent,
tenacity, firmness, strength; (adj, n)
nondescript, terrible, intangible,
headstrong.
50
Oliver Twist
whose grief had been wholly irrepressible even on the most public occasions,
they would be as happy among themselves as need be--quite cheerful and
contented--conversing together with as much freedom and gaiety, as if nothing
whatever had happened to disturb them. Husbands, too, bore the loss of their
wives with the most heroic calmness. Wives, again, put on weeds for their
husbands, as if, so far from grieving in the garb of sorrow, they had made up
their minds to render it as becoming and attractive as possible. It was observable,
too, that ladies and gentlemen who were in passions of anguish during the
ceremony of interment, recovered almost as soon as they reached home, and
became quite composed before the tea-drinking was over. All this was very
pleasant and improving to see; and Oliver beheld it with great admiration.%
That Oliver Twist was moved to resignation by the example of these good
people, I cannot, although I am his biographer, undertake to affirm with any
degree of confidence; but I can most distinctly say, that for many months he
continued meekly to submit to the domination and ill-treatment of Noah
Claypole: who used him far worse than before, now that his jealousy was roused
by seeing the new boy promoted to the black stick and hatband, while he, the old
one, remained stationary in the muffin-cap and leathers. Charlotte treated him
ill, because Noah did; and Mrs. Sowerberry was his decided enemy, because Mr.
Sowerberry was disposed to be his friend; so, between these three on one side,
and a glut of funerals on the other, Oliver was not altogether as comfortable as
the hungry pig was, when he was shut up, by mistake, in the grain department
of a brewery.
And now, I come to a very important passage in Oliver's history; for I have to
record an act, slight and unimportant perhaps in appearance, but which
indirectly produced a material change in all his future prospects and
proceedings.
One day, Oliver and Noah had descended into the kitchen at the usual
dinner-hour, to banquet upon a small joint of mutton--a pound and a half of the
worst end of the neck--when Charlotte being called out of the way, there ensued
a brief interval of time, which Noah Claypole, being hungry and vicious,
Thesaurus
beheld: (adj) visual.
calmness: (n) calm, composure,
quietness, poise, serenity, stillness,
quiet, silence, placidity, peace; (adj, n)
coolness. ANTONYMS: (n) anxiety,
nervousness, restlessness, panic, fury,
unrest, intensity, discomposure,
bustle, annoyance, noise.
descended: (v) extraught.
gaiety: (n) fun, cheerfulness,
exhilaration, mirth, glee, merriment,
hilarity, happiness, joy, joviality,
jollity. ANTONYMS: (n) seriousness,
misery, sadness.
garb: (n, v) dress, apparel, array,
garment; (n) attire, clothing, costume,
frock, outfit, clothes; (v) clothe.
glut: (v) fill, cloy, cram, stuff, deluge,
satiate; (n) excess, plethora; (n, v)
surfeit, flood, gorge. ANTONYMS:
(n, v) undersupply; (n) emptiness,
scarcity, lack, dearth, deficit; (v)
nibble, empty.
hatband: (n) stripe, banding, band.
ill-treatment: (n) hurt.
interment: (n) burial, sepulture,
entombment, funeral, sepulcher,
committal, obsequies, arenation,
burying, grave, humation.
irrepressible: (adj) uncontrollable,
uncontainable, unmanageable,
wanton, inextinguishable, rampant,
effervescent; (v) ungovernable,
volcanic, stanchless, simmering.
ANTONYM: (adj) orderly.
wives: (n) woman.
Charles Dickens
51
considered he could not possibly devote to a worthier purpose than aggravating
and tantalising young Oliver Twist.%
Intent upon this innocent amusement, Noah put his feet on the table-cloth;
and pulled Oliver's hair; and twitched his ears; and expressed his opinion that he
was a 'sneak'; and furthermore announced his intention of coming to see him
hanged, whenever that desirable event should take place; and entered upon
various topics of petty annoyance, like a malicious and ill-conditioned charityboy as he was. But, making Oliver cry, Noah attempted to be more facetious still;
and in his attempt, did what many sometimes do to this day, when they want to
be funny. He got rather personal.
'Work'us,' said Noah, 'how's your mother?'
'She's dead,' replied Oliver; 'don't you say anything about her to me!'
Oliver's colour rose as he said this; he breathed quickly; and there was a
curious working of the mouth and nostrils, which Mr. Claypole thought must be
the immediate precursor of a violent fit of crying. Under this impression he
returned to the charge.
'What did she die of, Work'us?' said Noah.
'Of a broken heart, some of our old nurses told me,' replied Oliver: more as if
he were talking to himself, than answering Noah. 'I think I know what it must be
to die of that!'
'Tol de rol lol lol, right fol lairy, Work'us,' said Noah, as a tear rolled down
Oliver's cheek. 'What's set you a snivelling now?'
'Not you,' replied Oliver, sharply. 'There; that's enough. Don't say anything
more to me about her; you'd better not!'
'Better not!' exclaimed Noah. 'Well! Better not! Work'us, don't be impudent.
Your mother, too! She was a nice 'un she was. Oh, Lor!' And here, Noah nodded
his head expressively; and curled up as much of his small red nose as muscular
action could collect together, for the occasion.
Thesaurus
aggravating: (adj, v) irritating,
movingly, vividly, suggestively,
annoying; (adj) bothersome, galling,
emphatically, evocatively, mobilely,
tellingly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
maddening, exacerbating, trying,
infuriating, vexatious; (v) provoking, unemotionally, inexpressively,
mortifying.
innocently, blandly.
curled: (adj) coiled, curling, having
facetious: (adj) humorous, comical,
curls, round, braided, twisted,
frivolous, funny, comic, whimsical,
laughable, jocose, jocular; (adj, n)
bowed, wreathy, Crull, curled up,
witty; (n) amusing. ANTONYMS:
tressed.
ears: (n) antenna.
(adj) grave, lugubrious, sober,
expressively: (adv) meaningfully,
somber, formal.
eloquently, indicatively, poignantly, impudent: (adj, n) bold, daring; (adj)
disrespectful, audacious, impertinent,
brassy, barefaced, brazen, insolent,
brash, cheeky. ANTONYMS: (adj)
polite, cowardly.
nostrils: (n) naris, nose.
precursor: (n) harbinger, herald,
messenger, predecessor, antecedent,
indication, ancestor, sign, forebear,
omen, leader. ANTONYM: (n)
successor.
tantalising: (adj) tantalizing, tempting,
inviting, enticing, beguiling, alluring.
52
Oliver Twist
'Yer know, Work'us,' continued Noah, emboldened by Oliver's silence, and
speaking in a jeering tone of affected pity: of all tones the most annoying: 'Yer
know, Work'us, it can't be helped now; and of course yer couldn't help it then;
and I am very sorry for it; and I'm sure we all are, and pity yer very much. But
yer must know, Work'us, yer mother was a regular right-down bad 'un.'
'What did you say?' inquired Oliver, looking up very quickly.%
'A regular right-down bad 'un, Work'us,' replied Noah, coolly. 'And it's a
great deal better, Work'us, that she died when she did, or else she'd have been
hard labouring in Bridewell, or transported, or hung; which is more likely than
either, isn't it?'
Crimson with fury, Oliver started up; overthrew the chair and table; seized
Noah by the throat; shook him, in the violence of his rage, till his teeth chattered
in his head; and collecting his whole force into one heavy blow, felled him to the
ground.
A minute ago, the boy had looked the quiet child, mild, dejected creature
that harsh treatment had made him. But his spirit was roused at last; the cruel
insult to his dead mother had set his blood on fire. His breast heaved; his attitude
was erect; his eye bright and vivid; his whole person changed, as he stood
glaring over the cowardly tormentor who now lay crouching at his feet; and
defied him with an energy he had never known before.
'He'll murder me!' blubbered Noah. 'Charlotte! missis! Here's the new boy a
murdering of me! Help! help! Oliver's gone mad! Char--lotte!'
Noah's shouts were responded to, by a loud scream from Charlotte, and a
louder from Mrs. Sowerberry; the former of whom rushed into the kitchen by a
side-door, while the latter paused on the staircase till she was quite certain that it
was consistent with the preservation of human life, to come further down.
'Oh, you little wretch!' screamed Charlotte: seizing Oliver with her utmost
force, which was about equal to that of a moderately strong man in particularly
good training. 'Oh, you little un-grate-ful, mur-de-rous, hor-rid villain!' And
Thesaurus
cowardly: (adj, adv) dastardly, scared,
shrinking; (adj) timid, afraid, craven,
gutless, sneaky, fainthearted, faint;
(adv) recreantly. ANTONYMS: (adj,
adv) brave, daring, bold, courageous;
(adj) intrepid, fearless, strong,
determined; (adv) dauntless, gutsy,
unafraid.
dejected: (adj) sad, depressed, low,
downhearted, gloomy, down,
unhappy, spiritless, sorrowful,
miserable, melancholy. ANTONYMS:
(adj) elated, happy, euphoric, joyous,
encouraged, positive, enthusiastic,
hopeful.
emboldened: (adj) bold.
jeering: (adj, n) mocking; (n) jeer,
scoffing, mockery, derision, scoff,
scorn, banter; (adj) taunting, gibelike;
(v) deride. ANTONYM: (n) clapping.
labouring: (adj) drudging, work,
working, busy, toiling.
missis: (n) wife, missus, lady, mistress,
matron, married woman.
scream: (n, v) shout, call, howl, yell,
screech, shriek, wail; (v) cry out, roar,
bellow, hollo. ANTONYM: (n) bore.
seizing: (v) seize; (n) seizure, clutches,
prehension, taking, apprehension,
capture, infection; (adj) catching,
galling, controlling.
shouts: (n) cries.
tormentor: (n) pest, tormenter,
torturer, pesterer, annoyer, teaser,
tease, tantalizer, persecutor, gadfly,
flat.
Charles Dickens
53
between every syllable, Charlotte gave Oliver a blow with all her might:
accompanying it with a scream, for the benefit of society.%
Charlotte's fist was by no means a light one; but, lest it should not be
effectual in calming Oliver's wrath, Mrs. Sowerberry plunged into the kitchen,
and assisted to hold him with one hand, while she scratched his face with the
other. In this favourable position of affairs, Noah rose from the ground, and
pommelled him behind.
This was rather too violent exercise to last long. When they were all wearied
out, and could tear and beat no longer, they dragged Oliver, struggling and
shouting, but nothing daunted, into the dust-cellar, and there locked him up.
This being done, Mrs. Sowerberry sunk into a chair, and burst into tears.
'Bless her, she's going off!' said Charlotte. 'A glass of water, Noah, dear. Make
haste!'
'Oh! Charlotte,' said Mrs. Sowerberry: speaking as well as she could, through
a deficiency of breath, and a sufficiency of cold water, which Noah had poured
over her head and shoulders. 'Oh! Charlotte, what a mercy we have not all been
murdered in our beds!'
'Ah! mercy indeed, ma'am,' was the reply. I only hope this'll teach master not
to have any more of these dreadful creatures, that are born to be murderers and
robbers from their very cradle. Poor Noah! He was all but killed, ma'am, when I
come in.'
'Poor fellow!' said Mrs. Sowerberry: looking piteously on the charity-boy.
Noah, whose top waistcoat-button might have been somewhere on a level
with the crown of Oliver's head, rubbed his eyes with the inside of his wrists
while this commiseration was bestowed upon him, and performed some
affecting tears and sniffs.
'What's to be done!' exclaimed Mrs. Sowerberry. 'Your master's not at home;
there's not a man in the house, and he'll kick that door down in ten minutes.'
Oliver's vigorous plunges against the bit of timber in question, rendered this
occurance highly probable.
Thesaurus
calming: (adj) sedative, reassuring,
sufficiency: (n) enough, fill,
disheartened, dismayed, afraid,
pacifying, lulling, assuasive,
abashed, bashful, discomposed.
ampleness, adequateness, fullness,
soporific, tranquilizing, restful; (n)
effectual: (adj, n) efficient, efficacious, capacity, competence, satisfaction,
pacification, appeasement; (v) soothe. able; (adj) forceful, telling,
affluence; (adj, n) plenty, abundance.
ANTONYMS: (adj) upsetting,
wearied: (adj) jaded, tired, spent,
authoritative, operative, potent,
stimulating, tense, irritating, painful. adequate, impressive, powerful.
fatigued, weary, prostrate, limp,
commiseration: (n) pity, compassion,
ANTONYMS: (adj) ineffectual,
haggard, shattered, worn, fatigate.
wrath: (n) rage, resentment, ire, fury,
sympathy, condolence, ruth, mercy,
incapable, weak, impotent,
commiserate, bowels, consolation,
ineffective, unproductive,
displeasure, indignation, passion,
madness, choler, irritation; (adj)
fellow feeling, acknowledgement.
unsuccessful, useless.
daunted: (adj) downcast, dispirited,
killed: (n) casualty; (adj) fallen.
angry. ANTONYMS: (n) happiness,
discouraged, frightened, intimidated, poured: (adj) concrete.
love, composure, serenity.
54
Oliver Twist
'Dear, dear! I don't know, ma'am,' said Charlotte, 'unless we send for the
police-officers.'
'Or the millingtary,' suggested Mr. Claypole.%
'No, no,' said Mrs. Sowerberry: bethinking herself of Oliver's old friend. 'Run
to Mr. Bumble, Noah, and tell him to come here directly, and not to lose a
minute; never mind your cap! Make haste! You can hold a knife to that black
eye, as you run along. It'll keep the swelling down.'
Noah stopped to make no reply, but started off at his fullest speed; and very
much it astonished the people who were out walking, to see a charity-boy
tearing through the streets pell-mell, with no cap on his head, and a clasp-knife
at his eye.
Thesaurus
astonished: (adj) astonish,
dumbfounded, flabbergasted,
stunned, aghast, bewildered,
astounded, taken aback,
thunderstruck, astonied; (v) amaze.
haste: (n, v) hurry, dash, dispatch,
rush; (n) celerity, expedition,
rapidity, speed, bustle, hastiness,
quickness. ANTONYMS: (n) delay,
patience, forethought, caution.
knife: (adj, n) blade; (adj) cutlery, edge
tool; (v) stab; (n) sword, cleaver,
whittle, cutter, tongue, pocketknife,
swell, intumescence, growth,
chopper.
projection, prominence, bulge,
pell-mell: (adv) helter-skelter, blindly; dropsy; (adj, v) inflated; (adj)
(adj, adv) posthaste.
growing. ANTONYM: (n) decline.
reply: (n) echo, response, reaction,
tearing: (adj) fierce, violent, vehement,
repay; (n, v) return, rejoinder; (v)
furious, ripping, ferocious; (n)
respond, react, rejoin, retort, counter. lachrymation, lacrimation, riving
ANTONYMS: (n, v) question; (v)
ahead, tear, lancination.
walking: (n) gait, ambulation, wading,
interrogate, ignore.
started: (adv) happening, in progress,
shuffling, shambling, marching,
ongoing; (v) stert, leaped.
noctambulism, traveling; (adv) afoot;
swelling: (n) protuberance, lump,
(adj) moving, active.
Charles Dickens
55
CHAPTER VII
OLIVER CONTINUES REFRACTORY
Noah Claypole ran along the streets at his swiftest pace, and paused not once
for breath, until he reached the workhouse-gate. Having rested here, for a minute
or so, to collect a good burst of sobs and an imposing show of tears and terror, he
knocked loudly at the wicket; and presented such a rueful face to the aged
pauper who opened it, that even he, who saw nothing but rueful faces about him
at the best of times, started back in astonishment.%
'Why, what's the matter with the boy!' said the old pauper.
'Mr. Bumble! Mr. Bumble!' cried Noah, with well-affected dismay: and in
tones so loud and agitated, that they not only caught the ear of Mr. Bumble
himself, who happened to be hard by, but alarmed him so much that he rushed
into the yard without his cocked hat,--which is a very curious and remarkable
circumstance: as showing that even a beadle, acted upon a sudden and powerful
impulse, may be afflicted with a momentary visitation of loss of self-possession,
and forgetfulness of personal dignity.
'Oh, Mr. Bumble, sir!' said Noah: 'Oliver, sir,--Oliver has--'
'What? What?' interposed Mr. Bumble: with a gleam of pleasure in his
metallic eyes. 'Not run away; he hasn't run away, has he, Noah?'
Thesaurus
afflicted: (adj) miserable, distressed,
stricken, pitiful, sorrowful, ill,
woeful, dejected, sorry; (v) afflict,
displeased.
agitated: (adj) upset, excited, nervous,
restive, tumultuous, distressed, tense,
jumpy, overwrought, anxious,
alarmed. ANTONYMS: (adj) calm,
lethargic, tranquil, relaxed, assured,
cool, still.
forgetfulness: (n) neglect, amnesia,
obliviousness, inattention, memory
loss, omission, unknowingness,
dismal, pitiful, grievous, lamentable,
unawareness, Lethe, carelessness,
contrite, sorry, piteous, penitent,
loss of memory. ANTONYMS: (n)
dolorous. ANTONYMS: (adj)
awareness, concentration,
unrepentant, unremorseful.
self-possession: (n) composure, poise,
remembering, attention.
momentary: (adj) brief, fugitive,
imperturbability, serenity, aplomb,
transient, short, instantaneous,
coolness, balance, restraint, selfephemeral, passing, momentaneous,
control, morale, presence.
temporary, impermanent, temporal. visitation: (v) visit, examination; (n)
ANTONYMS: (adj) lasting, lengthy,
tribulation, calamity, annoyance,
long.
misfortune, irritation, infliction,
rueful: (adj) doleful, remorseful,
inspection, test, ordeal.
56
Oliver Twist
'No, sir, no. Not run away, sir, but he's turned wicious,' replied Noah. 'He
tried to murder me, sir; and then he tried to murder Charlotte; and then missis.
Oh! what dreadful pain it is!
Such agony, please, sir!' And here, Noah writhed and twisted his body into
an extensive variety of eel-like positions; thereby giving Mr. Bumble to
understand that, from the violent and sanguinary onset of Oliver Twist, he had
sustained severe internal injury and damage, from which he was at that moment
suffering the acutest torture.%
When Noah saw that the intelligence he communicated perfectly paralysed
Mr. Bumble, he imparted additional effect thereunto, by bewailing his dreadful
wounds ten times louder than before; and when he observed a gentleman in a
white waistcoat crossing the yard, he was more tragic in his lamentations than
ever: rightly conceiving it highly expedient to attract the notice, and rouse the
indignation, of the gentleman aforesaid.
The gentleman's notice was very soon attracted; for he had not walked three
paces, when he turned angrily round, and inquired what that young cur was
howling for, and why Mr. Bumble did not favour him with something which
would render the series of vocular exclamations so designated, an involuntary
process?
'It's a poor boy from the free-school, sir,' replied Mr. Bumble, 'who has been
nearly murdered--all but murdered, sir,--by young Twist.'
'By Jove!' exclaimed the gentleman in the white waistcoat, stopping short. 'I
knew it! I felt a strange presentiment from the very first, that that audacious
young savage would come to be hung!'
'He has likewise attempted, sir, to murder the female servant,' said Mr.
Bumble, with a face of ashy paleness.
'And his missis,' interposed Mr. Claypole.
'And his master, too, I think you said, Noah?' added Mr. Bumble.
'No! he's out, or he would have murdered him,' replied Noah. 'He said he
wanted to.'
Thesaurus
aforesaid: (adj) aforenamed, said,
discreet, respectful.
conceiving: (n) fantasy, daydream;
foregoing, above-mentioned, same,
(adj) imaginant, original.
preceding, former, foresaid.
ashy: (adj) wan, ashen, pale, sallow,
howling: (n) howl, cry; (adj) fierce,
pallid, grey, livid, gray, cadaverous,
fantastic, gross, glaring, marvelous,
wonderful, wondrous; (adj, n)
pasty, white.
audacious: (adj) brash, arrogant,
weeping, sniveling.
paleness: (adj, n) pallor; (n) pallidness,
barefaced, bold, daring, impudent,
intrepid, brave, shameless,
wanness, whiteness, achromasia,
enterprising, insolent. ANTONYMS:
blondness, lividity, luridness,
(adj) modest, timid, cautious, polite,
lividness, fairness, pale. ANTONYM:
(n) strength.
reserved, meek, humble, fearful,
presentiment: (n) premonition, hunch,
apprehension, feeling, foreboding,
anticipation, intuition, boding,
suspicion; (v) augury; (n, v) omen.
sanguinary: (adj) gory, bloodthirsty,
murderous, butcherly, sanguineous,
slaughterous, cruel, ferocious, fell,
bloodstained; (v) sanguinolent.
thereby: (adv) whereby, hereby.
thereunto: (adv) thereto.
writhed: (adj) crooked, writhen,
distorted, twisted.
Charles Dickens
57
'Ah! Said he wanted to, did he, my boy?' inquired the gentleman in the white
waistcoat.%
'Yes, sir,' replied Noah. 'And please, sir, missis wants to know whether Mr.
Bumble can spare time to step up there, directly, and flog him--'cause master's
out.'
'Certainly, my boy; certainly,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat:
smiling benignly, and patting Noah's head, which was about three inches higher
than his own. 'You're a good boy--a very good boy. Here's a penny for you.
Bumble, just step up to Sowerberry's with your cane, and see what's best to be
done. Don't spare him, Bumble.'
'No, I will not, sir,' replied the beadle. And the cocked hat and cane having
been, by this time, adjusted to their owner's satisfaction, Mr. Bumble and Noah
Claypole betook themselves with all speed to the undertaker's shop.
Here the position of affairs had not at all improved. Sowerberry had not yet
returned, and Oliver continued to kick, with undiminished vigour, at the cellardoor. The accounts of his ferocity as related by Mrs. Sowerberry and Charlotte,
were of so startling a nature, that Mr. Bumble judged it prudent to parley, before
opening the door. With this view he gave a kick at the outside, by way of
prelude; and, then, applying his mouth to the keyhole, said, in a deep and
impressive tone:
'Oliver!'
'Come; you let me out!' replied Oliver, from the inside.
'Do you know this here voice, Oliver?' said Mr. Bumble.
'Yes,' replied Oliver.
'Ain't you afraid of it, sir? Ain't you a-trembling while I speak, sir?' said Mr.
Bumble.
'No!' replied Oliver, boldly.
An answer so different from the one he had expected to elicit, and was in the
habit of receiving, staggered Mr. Bumble not a little. He stepped back from the
Thesaurus
benignly: (adv) benignantly, genially,
nicely, graciously, goodly, mildly,
generously, complaisantly,
benevolently, obligingly, humanely.
ANTONYMS: (adv) malevolently,
cruelly, unkindly.
elicit: (v) educe, derive, cause, fetch,
evoke, extract, arouse, excite,
provoke, draw out, discover.
ANTONYMS: (v) cover, forgo, hide,
halt.
ferocity: (n) violence, cruelty,
ferociousness, fury, rage, truculence, startling: (adj) wonderful, shocking,
atrocity, fierceness, wildness,
surprising, striking, alarming,
vehemence, anger. ANTONYMS: (n) appalling, marvellous, dramatic,
meekness, friendliness, serenity.
frightful, sensational, lurid.
keyhole: (n) hole, mousehole,
ANTONYMS: (adj) unremarkable,
pigeonhole, porthole, loophole, free
soothing, comforting.
stepped: (v) advanced, gone, stopen.
throw line, peephole, knothole,
undiminished: (adj) unabated,
pinhole, small hole.
parley: (v) negotiate, converse, confer, unrestricted, unreduced, undying,
consult; (n, v) talk, treat; (n)
not deficient, morally whole, internal,
faithful, unrelieved, interior; (v) on
conversation, interview, colloquy,
meeting, consultation.
the increase.
58
Oliver Twist
keyhole; drew himself up to his full height; and looked from one to another of
the three bystanders, in mute astonishment.%
'Oh, you know, Mr. Bumble, he must be mad,' said Mrs. Sowerberry.
'No boy in half his senses could venture to speak so to you.'
'It's not Madness, ma'am,' replied Mr. Bumble, after a few moments of deep
meditation. 'It's Meat.'
'What?' exclaimed Mrs. Sowerberry.
'Meat, ma'am, meat,' replied Bumble, with stern emphasis. 'You've over-fed
him, ma'am. You've raised a artificial soul and spirit in him, ma'am unbecoming
a person of his condition: as the board, Mrs. Sowerberry, who are practical
philosophers, will tell you. What have paupers to do with soul or spirit? It's quite
enough that we let 'em have live bodies. If you had kept the boy on gruel, ma'am,
this would never have happened.'
'Dear, dear!' ejaculated Mrs. Sowerberry, piously raising her eyes to the
kitchen ceiling: 'this comes of being liberal!'
The liberality of Mrs. Sowerberry to Oliver, had consisted of a profuse
bestowal upon him of all the dirty odds and ends which nobody else would eat;
so there was a great deal of meekness and self-devotion in her voluntarily
remaining under Mr. Bumble's heavy accusation. Of which, to do her justice, she
was wholly innocent, in thought, word, or deed.
'Ah!' said Mr. Bumble, when the lady brought her eyes down to earth again;
'the only thing that can be done now, that I know of, is to leave him in the cellar
for a day or so, till he's a little starved down; and then to take him out, and keep
him on gruel all through the apprenticeship. He comes of a bad family. Excitable
natures, Mrs. Sowerberry! Both the nurse and doctor said, that that mother of his
made her way here, against difficulties and pain that would have killed any
well-disposed woman, weeks before.'
At this point of Mr. Bumble's discourse, Oliver, just hearing enough to know
that some allusion was being made to his mother, recommenced kicking, with a
violence that rendered every other sound inaudible. Sowerberry returned at this
Thesaurus
allusion: (n) innuendo, reference, cue, (adj) largesse, gift. ANTONYM: (n)
suggestion, mention, intimation,
illiberality.
meekness: (n) humbleness, modesty,
pointer, insinuation, implication,
indication, clue.
submission, obedience, compliance,
bestowal: (n) conferral, presentation,
gentleness, tameness,
gift, endowment, contribution,
submissiveness, docility, lowliness,
tractability. ANTONYMS: (n)
bestowment, conferment, delivery,
benefaction, gratuity, donation.
arrogance, ferocity, wildness.
liberality: (n, v) charity, almsgiving;
piously: (adv) religiously, reverently,
(adj, n) bounty; (n) largess,
godly, spiritually, devotedly,
munificence, benevolence,
righteously, sacredly, earnestly,
beneficence, generousness, tolerance; saintly, purely, devotionally.
unbecoming: (adj) indecorous,
unseemly, inappropriate, indecent,
indelicate, untoward, unworthy,
unsuitable, shameful, unbefitting,
incongruous. ANTONYMS: (adj)
dignified, becoming, fitting, proper,
seemly, correct, decent, suitable.
well-disposed: (adj) propitious,
friendly, favorable, good-natured,
agreeable, neighborly, good,
resigned, sympathetic, willing,
receptive.
Charles Dickens
59
juncture. Oliver's offence having been explained to him, with such exaggerations
as the ladies thought best calculated to rouse his ire, he unlocked the cellar-door
in a twinkling, and dragged his rebellious apprentice out, by the collar.%
Oliver's clothes had been torn in the beating he had received; his face was
bruised and scratched; and his hair scattered over his forehead. The angry flush
had not disappeared, however; and when he was pulled out of his prison, he
scowled boldly on Noah, and looked quite undismayed.
'Now, you are a nice young fellow, ain't you?' said Sowerberry; giving Oliver
a shake, and a box on the ear.
'He called my mother names,' replied Oliver.
'Well, and what if he did, you little ungrateful wretch?' said Mrs. Sowerberry.
'She deserved what he said, and worse.'
'She didn't' said Oliver.
'She did,' said Mrs. Sowerberry.
'It's a lie!' said Oliver.
Mrs. Sowerberry burst into a flood of tears.
This flood of tears left Mr. Sowerberry no alternative. If he had hesitated for
one instant to punish Oliver most severely, it must be quite clear to every
experienced reader that he would have been, according to all precedents in
disputes of matrimony established, a brute, an unnatural husband, an insulting
creature, a base imitation of a man, and various other agreeable characters too
numerous for recital within the limits of this chapter. To do him justice, he was,
as far as his power went--it was not very extensive--kindly disposed towards the
boy; perhaps, because it was his interest to be so; perhaps, because his wife
disliked him. The flood of tears, however, left him no resource; so he at once
gave him a drubbing, which satisfied even Mrs. Sowerberry herself, and
rendered Mr. Bumble's subsequent application of the parochial cane, rather
unnecessary. For the rest of the day, he was shut up in the back kitchen, in
company with a pump and a slice of bread; and at night, Mrs. Sowerberry, after
making various remarks outside the door, by no means complimentary to the
Thesaurus
according: (adj) pursuant, consonant,
equal, agreeable, harmonious,
conformable, consistent,
corresponding, respondent; (adv)
correspondingly, accordingly.
drubbing: (n) debacle, defeat,
walloping, slaughter, thrashing,
flogging, whipping, discomfiture,
rout, hiding, licking.
juncture: (n, v) joint; (adj, n) crisis; (n)
articulation, event, junction,
connection, affair, point, time,
conjuncture; (v) joining.
scratched: (adj) hurt, abraded,
matrimony: (n) wedding, union,
sgraffito, raw, dented, spoiled,
marriage ceremony, nuptials,
damaged, injured.
twinkling: (n) moment, jiffy, minute,
endogamy, bigamy, intermixture,
alloyage, exogamy, intermarriage; (n, second, flash, trice, twinkle, wink,
v) wedlock.
split second, breath; (adj) sparkling.
rouse: (v) provoke, excite, arouse,
ANTONYM: (adj) dull.
undismayed: (adj) unappalled,
kindle, awaken, instigate, actuate,
disturb, move, agitate, incite.
unshrinking, unflinching, unshaken,
ANTONYMS: (v) dampen,
valiant, unblanched, unawed,
dishearten, suppress, douse, inhibit,
unapprehensive, unabashed,
stifle, quench.
resolutely courageous, bold.
60
Oliver Twist
memory of his mother, looked into the room, and, amidst the jeers and pointings
of Noah and Charlotte, ordered him upstairs to his dismal bed.%
It was not until he was left alone in the silence and stillness of the gloomy
workshop of the undertaker, that Oliver gave way to the feelings which the day's
treatment may be supposed likely to have awakened in a mere child. He had
listened to their taunts with a look of contempt; he had borne the lash without a
cry: for he felt that pride swelling in his heart which would have kept down a
shriek to the last, though they had roasted him alive. But now, when there were
none to see or hear him, he fell upon his knees on the floor; and, hiding his face
in his hands, wept such tears as, God send for the credit of our nature, few so
young may ever have cause to pour out before him!
For a long time, Oliver remained motionless in this attitude. The candle was
burning low in the socket when he rose to his feet. Having gazed cautiously
round him, and listened intently, he gently undid the fastenings of the door, and
looked abroad.
It was a cold, dark night. The stars seemed, to the boy's eyes, farther from the
earth than he had ever seen them before; there was no wind; and the sombre
shadows thrown by the trees upon the ground, looked sepulchral and death-like,
from being so still. He softly reclosed the door. Having availed himself of the
expiring light of the candle to tie up in a handkerchief the few articles of wearing
apparel he had, sat himself down upon a bench, to wait for morning.
With the first ray of light that struggled through the crevices in the shutters,
Oliver arose, and again unbarred the door. One timid look around--one
moment's pause of hesitation--he had closed it behind him, and was in the open
street.
He looked to the right and to the left, uncertain whither to fly.
He remembered to have seen the waggons, as they went out, toiling up the
hill. He took the same route; and arriving at a footpath across the fields: which
he knew, after some distance, led out again into the road; struck into it, and
walked quickly on.
Thesaurus
apparel: (n, v) garb, attire, garment,
array, vesture; (n) clothing, finery,
costume, clothes; (v) adorn, clothe.
expiring: (adj) moribund, failing.
ANTONYM: (adj) well.
footpath: (n) track, walk, path, trail,
sidewalk, footway, walkway, trottoir,
way, lane, pavement.
lash: (n, v) beat, chastise, scourge,
goad; (v) flog, bind, batter; (adj, v)
strap, tie, lace; (n) hit. ANTONYMS:
(v) unlash, untie.
roasted: (adj) fried, baked.
apprehensive, modest; (adj, adv)
sepulchral: (adj, v) hollow, hoarse; (v)
cowardly; (adj, n) cautious.
mortuary, harsh, rough, horrisonous, ANTONYMS: (adj, n) brave; (adj)
grum; (adj) ghastly, raucous, husky;
confident, bold, fearless, resolute,
(n) funeral.
forward, daring, brazen, extrovert,
shriek: (n, v) screech, cry, shout, call,
brash, talkative.
howl, yell, yowl, screak; (v) bellow,
toiling: (adj) labouring, drudging,
caterwaul, shrill. ANTONYM: (v)
busy.
unbarred: (adj) unlocked, unlatched,
sigh.
taunts: (n) mocking, jeers.
unbolted, open.
timid: (adj) shy, afraid, diffident, coy, whither: (adv) hither, thither,
bashful, nervous, frightened,
whereunto, whereto, for.
Charles Dickens
61
Along this same footpath, Oliver well-remembered he had trotted beside Mr.
Bumble, when he first carried him to the workhouse from the farm. His way lay
directly in front of the cottage. His heart beat quickly when he bethought himself
of this; and he half resolved to turn back. He had come a long way though, and
should lose a great deal of time by doing so. Besides, it was so early that there
was very little fear of his being seen; so he walked on.%
He reached the house. There was no appearance of its inmates stirring at that
early hour. Oliver stopped, and peeped into the garden. A child was weeding
one of the little beds; as he stopped, he raised his pale face and disclosed the
features of one of his former companions. Oliver felt glad to see him, before he
went; for, though younger than himself, he had been his little friend and
playmate. They had been beaten, and starved, and shut up together, many and
many a time.
'Hush, Dick!' said Oliver, as the boy ran to the gate, and thrust his thin arm
between the rails to greet him. 'Is any one up?'
'Nobody but me,' replied the child.
'You musn't say you saw me, Dick,' said Oliver. 'I am running away. They
beat and ill-use me, Dick; and I am going to seek my fortune, some long way off.
I don't know where. How pale you are!'
'I heard the doctor tell them I was dying,' replied the child with a faint smile.
'I am very glad to see you, dear; but don't stop, don't stop!'
'Yes, yes, I will, to say good-b'ye to you,' replied Oliver. 'I shall see you again,
Dick. I know I shall! You will be well and happy!'
'I hope so,' replied the child. 'After I am dead, but not before. I know the
doctor must be right, Oliver, because I dream so much of Heaven, and Angels,
and kind faces that I never see when I am awake. Kiss me,' said the child,
climbing up the low gate, and flinging his little arms round Oliver's neck.
'Good-b'ye, dear! God bless you!'
Thesaurus
climbing: (n) climb, ascension,
mounting, mountain climbing,
mountaineering, rock climbing,
acclivity; (v) ascending, uprise, arise;
(adj) scandent.
companions: (n) circle, entourage,
people.
disclosed: (adj) exposed, open,
unconcealed, out of the closet, naked,
manifest, discovered, ascertained,
detailed.
flinging: (n) casting, cast.
greet: (n, v) receive; (v) address,
acknowledge, hail, welcome, cry,
salute, bid, weep, meet, recognize.
heard: (n) hearing.
hush: (adj, n, v) calm, silence, quiet,
still, lull; (n) peace; (v) shut up, gag,
quieten, muffle; (adj, v) soothe.
ANTONYMS: (n) noise, turmoil; (v)
Louden.
ill-use: (v) mistreat, maltreat, ill-treat.
playmate: (n) friend, chum,
companion, associate, fellow, partner,
comrade, pal, buddy, mate, familiar.
rails: (n) track, railroad, Gruiformes,
railing, railway, bustards, Coots,
course, gallinules, crakes, order
Gruiformes.
stirring: (adj) lively, exciting, alive,
rousing, spirited, touching, thrilling,
active; (n) agitation; (v) eventful,
brisk. ANTONYMS: (adj) depressing,
boring, inactive, dull, conciliatory,
asleep, uninspiring, unimpressive; (n)
suppression.
62
Oliver Twist
The blessing was from a young child's lips, but it was the first that Oliver
had ever heard invoked upon his head; and through the struggles and
sufferings, and troubles and changes, of his after life, he never once forgot it.%
Thesaurus
blessing: (n) benediction, approval,
lips: (n) lip, inlet, logical inference per troubles: (n) dilemma, evils, harms,
mercy, felicity, benison, benefit, luck, second, chops, porch, portal, portico, ills.
upon: (adv, prep) above; (prep) up,
advantage, boon, bless, godsend.
propylon, snout, door, orifice.
ANTONYMS: (n) curse, misfortune, never: (adv) ne'er, Nevers, always, not onto, against, towards; (adv) on, on
disaster, condemnation, adversity,
ever, by no means, at all times, not at that occasion, then, before, by; (n) at.
all, not, NE. ANTONYMS: (adv)
young: (n, v) offspring; (adj, n)
desecration, refusal, veto,
juvenile; (adj) immature, fresh,
disadvantage.
always, forever.
ever: (adj, adv) always, continually;
once: (adv, n) formerly; (adv) before,
adolescent, new, raw, baby, childish,
(adj) constantly, still, forever; (adv)
early; (n) progeny. ANTONYMS:
ever, previously, one time, at one
(adj) old, mature, adult, ripe, older,
never, e'er, before, once, perpetually; time, already, erst; (adj, adv)
(n) Evers. ANTONYM: (adv)
erstwhile; (adj) former; (n) whilom.
late; (adj, n) aged.
ANTONYM: (adv) future.
erratically.
Charles Dickens
63
CHAPTER VIII
OLIVER WALKS TO LONDON. HE
ENCOUNTERS ON THE ROAD A STRANGE
SORT OF YOUNG GENTLEMAN
Oliver reached the stile at which the by-path terminated; and once more
gained the high-road. It was eight o'clock now. Though he was nearly five miles
away from the town, he ran, and hid behind the hedges, by turns, till noon:
fearing that he might be pursued and overtaken. Then he sat down to rest by the
side of the milestone, and began to think, for the first time, where he had better
go and try to live.%
The stone by which he was seated, bore, in large characters, an intimation
that it was just seventy miles from that spot to London. The name awakened a
new train of ideas in the boy's mind.
London!--that great place!--nobody--not even Mr. Bumble--could ever find
him there! He had often heard the old men in the workhouse, too, say that no lad
of spirit need want in London; and that there were ways of living in that vast
city, which those who had been bred up in country parts had no idea of. It was
the very place for a homeless boy, who must die in the streets unless some one
Thesaurus
bore: (v) dig, tire, pierce, tap, annoy,
perforate; (n, v) bother, plague; (n)
auger, well, gimlet. ANTONYMS: (v)
fascinate, excite, hypnotize, engage,
entertain, stimulate; (n) charmer,
exciter, excitement, pleasure.
gained: (adj) extrinsic.
homeless: (adj, v) houseless; (adj)
dispossessed, friendless, destitute,
itinerant, unhoused, unsettled, stray,
evicted, ejected; (n) arse. ANTONYM:
(adj) rich.
intimation: (n) hint, inkling,
implication, insinuation, suggestion,
clue, allusion, indication, cue, notice,
innuendo.
miles: (adj) far.
milestone: (n) landmark, event,
marker, breakthrough, happening,
age, juncture, occasion, incident; (adj)
milliary.
noon: (n) high noon, noonday,
noontide, afternoon, hour,
dinnertime, crest, twelve noon; (adj)
meridian, meridional; (adj, n)
culmination.
o'clock: (n) period, hours.
pursued: (n) hunted person.
seated: (adj) sat, sedentary.
seventy: (n) large integer.
stile: (n) bar, flight of stairs, upright,
vertical, step, barrier, montant.
terminated: (adj) complete, all over,
over, extinct, accomplished, closed,
highly skilled; (adj, adv) ended,
finished, done; (adv) completed.
64
Oliver Twist
helped him. As these things passed through his thoughts, he jumped upon his
feet, and again walked forward.%
He had diminished the distance between himself and London by full four
miles more, before he recollected how much he must undergo ere he could hope
to reach his place of destination. As this consideration forced itself upon him, he
slackened his pace a little, and meditated upon his means of getting there. He
had a crust of bread, a coarse shirt, and two pairs of stockings, in his bundle. He
had a penny too--a gift of Sowerberry's after some funeral in which he had
acquitted himself more than ordinarily well--in his pocket. 'A clean shirt,'
thought Oliver, 'is a very comfortable thing; and so are two pairs of darned
stockings; and so is a penny; but they are small helps to a sixty-five miles' walk
in winter time.' But Oliver's thoughts, like those of most other people, although
they were extremely ready and active to point out his difficulties, were wholly at
a loss to suggest any feasible mode of surmounting them; so, after a good deal of
thinking to no particular purpose, he changed his little bundle over to the other
shoulder, and trudged on.
Oliver walked twenty miles that day; and all that time tasted nothing but the
crust of dry bread, and a few draughts of water, which he begged at the cottagedoors by the road-side. When the night came, he turned into a meadow; and,
creeping close under a hay-rick, determined to lie there, till morning. He felt
frightened at first, for the wind moaned dismally over the empty fields: and he
was cold and hungry, and more alone than he had ever felt before. Being very
tired with his walk, however, he soon fell asleep and forgot his troubles.
He felt cold and stiff, when he got up next morning, and so hungry that he
was obliged to exchange the penny for a small loaf, in the very first village
through which he passed. He had walked no more than twelve miles, when
night closed in again. His feet were sore, and his legs so weak that they trembled
beneath him. Another night passed in the bleak damp air, made him worse;
when he set forward on his journey next morning he could hardly crawl along.
He waited at the bottom of a steep hill till a stage-coach came up, and then
begged of the outside passengers; but there were very few who took any notice
Thesaurus
acquitted: (adj) not guilty, guiltless; (v) diminished: (adj) abated, weakened,
acquit, absolved.
lessened, atrophied, belittled,
crawl: (adv, v) grovel, lag; (n, v)
attenuate, reduced, lower,
clamber, climb; (v) sneak, fawn,
attenuated, cut, short.
cringe, teem, swarm, scramble, inch. dismally: (adv) gloomily, sadly,
ANTONYMS: (v) fly, rush, hurry,
unhappily, murkily, dolefully,
hasten, dart, dash, lead, soothe,
forbiddingly, darkly, somberly,
speed.
depressingly, cheerlessly, grimly.
creeping: (n) creep, crawl, locomotion, ANTONYMS: (adv) brightly, smartly.
spreading; (v) lentor; (adj) reptile,
draughts: (n) solitaire, go bang,
slow, reptant, reptatory, serpiginous, backgammon, misere chess, chess,
moving.
dominos, board game.
meadow: (n) hayfield, lea, mead,
grassland, plain, lawn, sward,
grazing land, greensward, pasturage,
paddock.
ordinarily: (adv) generally, usually,
regularly, normally, frequently,
customarily, habitually, routinely,
middlingly, plainly, familiarly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) unusually, rarely,
strangely, exceptionally.
slackened: (adj) leisurely.
surmounting: (n) triumph.
Charles Dickens
65
of him: and even those told him to wait till they got to the top of the hill, and
then let them see how far he could run for a halfpenny. Poor Oliver tried to keep
up with the coach a little way, but was unable to do it, by reason of his fatigue
and sore feet. When the outsides saw this, they put their halfpence back into their
pockets again, declaring that he was an idle young dog, and didn't deserve
anything; and the coach rattled away and left only a cloud of dust behind.%
In some villages, large painted boards were fixed up: warning all persons
who begged within the district, that they would be sent to jail. This frightened
Oliver very much, and made him glad to get out of those villages with all
possible expedition. In others, he would stand about the inn-yards, and look
mournfully at every one who passed: a proceeding which generally terminated
in the landlady's ordering one of the post-boys who were lounging about, to
drive that strange boy out of the place, for she was sure he had come to steal
something. If he begged at a farmer's house, ten to one but they threatened to set
the dog on him; and when he showed his nose in a shop, they talked about the
beadle--which brought Oliver's heart into his mouth,--very often the only thing
he had there, for many hours together.
In fact, if it had not been for a good-hearted turnpike-man, and a benevolent
old lady, Oliver's troubles would have been shortened by the very same process
which had put an end to his mother's; in other words, he would most assuredly
have fallen dead upon the king's highway. But the turnpike-man gave him a
meal of bread and cheese; and the old lady, who had a shipwrecked grandson
wandering barefoot in some distant part of the earth, took pity upon the poor
orphan, and gave him what little she could afford--and more--with such kind
and gentle words, and such tears of sympathy and compassion, that they sank
deeper into Oliver's soul, than all the sufferings he had ever undergone.
Early on the seventh morning after he had left his native place, Oliver limped
slowly into the little town of Barnet. The window-shutters were closed; the street
was empty; not a soul had awakened to the business of the day. The sun was
rising in all its splendid beauty; but the light only served to show the boy his
Thesaurus
assuredly: (adv) certainly, confidently, mournfully: (adv) sadly, sorrowfully,
positively, securely, indeed,
glumly, woefully, unhappily,
definitely, undoubtedly, admittedly,
plaintively, grievously, funereally,
safely, insuredly, decidedly.
dejectedly, dolorously, poignantly.
barefoot: (adj) shoeless, unshod, bare
ANTONYMS: (adv) cheerfully,
footed. ANTONYM: (adj) shoed.
joyfully.
declaring: (adj) affirming, predicant.
proceeding: (n) matter, transaction,
good-hearted: (adj) benign, goodaffair, procedure, lawsuit,
proceedings; (v) deed, act; (n, v)
natured, kindly, kindhearted.
halfpenny: (adj) feather, bulrush, old
measure; (adv, n) happening; (adj, adv,
v) going on.
son, jot, pinch of snuff, peppercorn,
rap; (n) bawbee, doit, farthing.
rattled: (adj) hot and bothered,
perturbed, upset, unsettled, puzzled,
disconcerted, discomposed,
bewildered, beside oneself, abashed,
addled. ANTONYM: (adj) calm.
shipwrecked: (adj, v) stranded; (adj)
castaway, stuck, rejected, high and
dry; (v) wrecked, cast away, capsized,
grounded, foundered, swamped.
shortened: (adj) abridged, cut, short,
condensed, curtailed, reduced, cut
short, scarce, unfinished, truncated,
telescoped.
66
Oliver Twist
own lonesomeness and desolation, as he sat, with bleeding feet and covered
with dust, upon a door-step.%
By degrees, the shutters were opened; the window-blinds were drawn up;
and people began passing to and fro. Some few stopped to gaze at Oliver for a
moment or two, or turned round to stare at him as they hurried by; but none
relieved him, or troubled themselves to inquire how he came there. He had no
heart to beg. And there he sat.
He had been crouching on the step for some time: wondering at the great
number of public-houses (every other house in Barnet was a tavern, large or
small), gazing listlessly at the coaches as they passed through, and thinking how
strange it seemed that they could do, with ease, in a few hours, what it had taken
him a whole week of courage and determination beyond his years to accomplish:
when he was roused by observing that a boy, who had passed him carelessly
some minutes before, had returned, and was now surveying him most earnestly
from the opposite side of the way. He took little heed of this at first; but the boy
remained in the same attitude of close observation so long, that Oliver raised his
head, and returned his steady look. Upon this, the boy crossed over; and walking
close up to Oliver, said,
'Hullo, my covey! What's the row?'
The boy who addressed this inquiry to the young wayfarer, was about his
own age: but one of the queerest looking boys that Oliver had even seen. He was
a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as
one would wish to see; but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man.
He was short of his age: with rather bow-legs, and little, sharp, ugly eyes. His hat
was stuck on the top of his head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every
moment--and would have done so, very often, if the wearer had not had a knack
of every now and then giving his head a sudden twitch, which brought it back to
its old place again. He wore a man's coat, which reached nearly to his heels. He
had turned the cuffs back, half-way up his arm, to get his hands out of the
sleeves: apparently with the ultimate view of thrusting them into the pockets of
his corduroy trousers; for there he kept them. He was, altogether, as roystering
Thesaurus
airs: (n, v) pretension; (n) affectation,
pride, pose, pretensions, attitude;
(adj, n) arrogance; (v) precisianism,
euphuism, purism, pedantry.
ANTONYMS: (n) humility,
personality, realness, truthfulness,
honesty.
corduroy: (n) fabric, cloth.
covey: (adj, n) bevy, shoal, herd; (n)
cluster, school, assemblage, group,
party; (adj) drove, flock, flight.
cuffs: (n) handcuffs, manacles,
manacle, handcuff, shackles, fetters,
bond, bonds, handlock, chains.
gazing: (adj) fixed.
inquire: (v) demand, ask, explore,
enquire, inspect, research, consult,
pry, request, wonder; (n, v) question.
ANTONYM: (v) answer.
listlessly: (adv) sluggishly, spiritlessly,
indifferently, languidly, slowly,
weakly, indolently, supinely, lazily,
inanimately, slackly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) brightly, nimbly.
lonesomeness: (n) solitude, loneliness,
temperament, desolation,
solitariness, disposition, forlornness,
isolation, being alone.
twitch: (n, v) twinge, pull, yank, pluck,
tug, tweak, wrench, pinch, start; (v)
draw, nip.
wayfarer: (n) traveler, passenger,
pilgrim, itinerant, wanderer,
traveller, walker, journeyer, rambler,
voyager, vagrant.
wearer: (n) enjoyer.
Charles Dickens
67
and swaggering a young gentleman as ever stood four feet six, or something less,
in the bluchers.%
'Hullo, my covey! What's the row?' said this strange young gentleman to
Oliver.
'I am very hungry and tired,' replied Oliver: the tears standing in his eyes as
he spoke. 'I have walked a long way. I have been walking these seven days.'
'Walking for sivin days!' said the young gentleman. 'Oh, I see. Beak's order,
eh? But,' he added, noticing Oliver's look of surprise, 'I suppose you don't know
what a beak is, my flash com-pan-i-on.'
Oliver mildly replied, that he had always heard a bird's mouth described by
the term in question.
'My eyes, how green!' exclaimed the young gentleman. 'Why, a beak's a
madgst'rate; and when you walk by a beak's order, it's not straight forerd, but
always agoing up, and niver a coming down agin. Was you never on the mill?'
'What mill?' inquired Oliver.
'What mill! Why, the mill--the mill as takes up so little room that it'll work
inside a Stone Jug; and always goes better when the wind's low with people, than
when it's high; acos then they can't get workmen. But come,' said the young
gentleman; 'you want grub, and you shall have it. I'm at low-water-mark myself-only one bob and a magpie; but, as far as it goes, I'll fork out and stump. Up
with you on your pins. There! Now then! 'Morrice!'
Assisting Oliver to rise, the young gentleman took him to an adjacent
chandler's shop, where he purchased a sufficiency of ready-dressed ham and a
half-quartern loaf, or, as he himself expressed it, 'a fourpenny bran!' the ham
being kept clean and preserved from dust, by the ingenious expedient of making
a hole in the loaf by pulling out a portion of the crumb, and stuffing it therein.
Taking the bread under his arm, the young gentlman turned into a small publichouse, and led the way to a tap-room in the rear of the premises. Here, a pot of
beer was brought in, by direction of the mysterious youth; and Oliver, falling to,
Thesaurus
agoing: (adv) agate, afoot; (v) set on
foot, set up.
beak: (n) neb, snout, bill, nose, prow,
snoot, rostrum, proboscis, nib,
pecker; (v) peck.
crumb: (adj, n) morsel, seed; (n)
fragment, speck, scrap, grain, atom,
trace, spot, iota; (adj) scantling.
ANTONYMS: (n) pile, mass, lot,
heap, chunk.
expedient: (adj) fit, advisable,
becoming, desirable, adequate, apt,
convenient, suitable; (n) contrivance, stuffing: (n) pad, filling, forcemeat,
resource, artifice. ANTONYMS: (adj) farce, dressing, filler, fill, wadding,
inappropriate, inexpedient,
contents, inside, tompion.
stump: (n) stub, end, pulpit; (v)
impractical, futile, detrimental,
inconvenient, foolish.
confuse, stamp, baffle, perplex,
grub: (n, v) drudge; (v) dig, feed,
nonplus, puzzle, bewilder, mystify.
delve, eat, scour; (n) food, eats,
ANTONYM: (v) explain.
swaggering: (adj) hectoring,
chuck, maggot, chow. ANTONYM:
(v) plant.
swashbuckling, supercilious, sniffy,
magpie: (n) pie, chatterbox, gossip,
boastful, lordly, disdainful, prideful;
(v) swagger; (n) boasting, bravado.
mag, babbler, chatterer, prater,
cotinga, accumulator; (v) parrot, poll. ANTONYM: (adj) insecure.
68
Oliver Twist
at his new friend's bidding, made a long and hearty meal, during the progress of
which the strange boy eyed him from time to time with great attention.%
'Going to London?' said the strange boy, when Oliver had at length
concluded.
'Yes.'
'Got any lodgings?'
'No.'
'Money?'
'No.'
The strange boy whistled; and put his arms into his pockets, as far as the big
coat-sleeves would let them go.
'Do you live in London?' inquired Oliver.
'Yes. I do, when I'm at home,' replied the boy. 'I suppose you want some
place to sleep in to-night, don't you?'
'I do, indeed,' answered Oliver. 'I have not slept under a roof since I left the
country.'
'Don't fret your eyelids on that score,' said the young gentleman. 'I've got to
be in London to-night; and I know a 'spectable old gentleman as lives there,
wot'll give you lodgings for nothink, and never ask for the change--that is, if any
genelman he knows interduces you. And don't he know me? Oh, no! Not in the
least! By no means. Certainly not!'
The young gentleman smiled, as if to intimate that the latter fragments of
discourse were playfully ironical; and finished the beer as he did so.
This unexpected offer of shelter was too tempting to be resisted; especially as
it was immediately followed up, by the assurance that the old gentleman
referred to, would doubtless provide Oliver with a comfortable place, without
loss of time. This led to a more friendly and confidential dialogue; from which
Oliver discovered that his friend's name was Jack Dawkins, and that he was a
peculiar pet and protege of the elderly gentleman before mentioned.
Thesaurus
doubtless: (adv) assuredly,
undoubtedly, probably,
unquestionably, clearly, without
doubt, presumably; (adj) sure; (adv, v)
questionless; (adj, adv) no doubt, to be
sure. ANTONYMS: (adj) improbably,
uncertain, unlikely, questionable.
fret: (n, v) gall, irritate, trouble, worry;
(v) agitate, chafe, rub, fray, upset,
annoy; (n) anxiety.
hearty: (adj) heartfelt, healthy, genial,
sturdy, cheering, fervent,
playfully: (adv) sportively, jocularly,
wholehearted, lusty, enthusiastic,
convivial; (adj, n) well. ANTONYMS: puckishly, impishly, merrily,
(adj) unhealthy, frail, old, weak,
naughtily, roguishly, frolicsomely,
sluggish, unwholesome, meager.
lightheartedly, archly, skittishly.
ironical: (adj) sarcastic, satirical, dry, protege: (n) creature, protegee,
burlesque, wry, sardonic, satiric,
puppet, ward, hireling, mercenary.
derisive, caustic, quizzical; (n)
tempting: (adj) seductive, alluring,
humorous.
attractive, enticing, tantalizing,
lodgings: (n) digs, accommodation,
charming, appealing, captivating,
domiciliation, lodging, billet,
beguiling, delicious, irresistible.
ANTONYMS: (adj) repulsive,
housing, quarters, residence, pad,
living quarters, launchpad.
revolting, unattractive, repellent.
Charles Dickens
69
Mr. Dawkin's appearance did not say a vast deal in favour of the comforts
which his patron's interest obtained for those whom he took under his
protection; but, as he had a rather flightly and dissolute mode of conversing, and
furthermore avowed that among his intimate friends he was better known by the
sobriquet of 'The Artful Dodger,' Oliver concluded that, being of a dissipated
and careless turn, the moral precepts of his benefactor had hitherto been thrown
away upon him. Under this impression, he secretly resolved to cultivate the good
opinion of the old gentleman as quickly as possible; and, if he found the Dodger
incorrigible, as he more than half suspected he should, to decline the honour of
his farther acquaintance.%
As John Dawkins objected to their entering London before nightfall, it was
nearly eleven o'clock when they reached the turnpike at Islington. They crossed
from the Angel into St. John's Road; struck down the small street which
terminates at Sadler's Wells Theatre; through Exmouth Street and Coppice Row;
down the little court by the side of the workhouse; across the classic ground
which once bore the name of Hockley-in-the-Hole; thence into Little Saffron Hill;
and so into Saffron Hill the Great: along which the Dodger scudded at a rapid
pace, directing Oliver to follow close at his heels.
Although Oliver had enough to occupy his attention in keeping sight of his
leader, he could not help bestowing a few hasty glances on either side of the
way, as he passed along. A dirtier or more wretched place he had never seen.
The street was very narrow and muddy, and the air was impregnated with filthy
odours.
There were a good many small shops; but the only stock in trade appeared to
be heaps of children, who, even at that time of night, were crawling in and out at
the doors, or screaming from the inside. The sole places that seemed to prosper
amid the general blight of the place, were the public-houses; and in them, the
lowest orders of Irish were wrangling with might and main. Covered ways and
yards, which here and there diverged from the main street, disclosed little knots
of houses, where drunken men and women were positively wallowing in filth;
and from several of the door-ways, great ill-looking fellows were cautiously
Thesaurus
avowed: (adj) acknowledged, attested, impregnated: (adj) fertilised, fertilized, sobriquet: (n) nickname, cognomen,
ostensible, sworn, stated, confirmed, full, saturated, made pregnant, sated, moniker, soubriquet, byname,
declared, pretended, known,
fertile, adequate, copious,
appellation, monicker, handle, name,
authenticated, apparent.
inseminated, ample.
title, surname.
dissolute: (adj, v) dissipated, fast,
incorrigible: (adj) hopeless,
turnpike: (n) superhighway,
wanton; (adj) abandoned, depraved,
irredeemable, confirmed, irreparable, motorway, freeway, expressway,
licentious, immoral, corrupt,
hardened, uncorrectable,
road, pike, highway, hayfork, pick,
profligate, degenerate; (adj, n)
insubordinate; (adj, n) incurable; (v)
royal road, state highway.
libertine. ANTONYMS: (adj) moral,
obdurate, past praying for, reprobate. wrangling: (n) quarrel, bickering,
ANTONYMS: (adj) corrigible,
upright, chaste, restrained, good,
controversy, polemics, discussion,
resolute, virtuous, pure, cautious,
repentant, mild.
haggle, haggling, dispute, strife,
places: (n) chairs, seating, spaces.
righteous, innocent.
altercation, jangle.
70
Oliver Twist
emerging, bound, to all appearance, on no very well-disposed or harmless
errands.%
Oliver was just considering whether he hadn't better run away, when they
reached the bottom of the hill. His conductor, catching him by the arm, pushed
open the door of a house near Field Lane; and drawing him into the passage,
closed it behind them.
'Now, then!' cried a voice from below, in reply to a whistle from the Dodger.
'Plummy and slam!' was the reply.
This seemed to be some watchword or signal that all was right; for the light
of a feeble candle gleamed on the wall at the remote end of the passage; and a
man's face peeped out, from where a balustrade of the old kitchen staircase had
been broken away.
'There's two on you,' said the man, thrusting the candle farther out, and
shielding his eyes with his hand. 'Who's the t'other one?'
'A new pal,' replied Jack Dawkins, pulling Oliver forward.
'Where did he come from?'
'Greenland. Is Fagin upstairs?'
'Yes, he's a sortin' the wipes. Up with you!' The candle was drawn back, and
the face disappeared.
Oliver, groping his way with one hand, and having the other firmly grasped
by his companion, ascended with much difficulty the dark and broken stairs:
which his conductor mounted with an ease and expedition that showed he was
well acquainted with them.
He threw open the door of a back-room, and drew Oliver in after him.
The walls and ceiling of the room were perfectly black with age and dirt.
There was a deal table before the fire: upon which were a candle, stuck in a
ginger-beer bottle, two or three pewter pots, a loaf and butter, and a plate. In a
frying-pan, which was on the fire, and which was secured to the mantelshelf by a
string, some sausages were cooking; and standing over them, with a toasting-
Thesaurus
acquainted: (adj) knowledgeable,
informed, aware, cognizant,
conversant, hand and glove, intimate,
thick; (adv) abreast; (v) inform,
acquaint.
balustrade: (n) fence, banisters,
banister, bannister, barrier, handrail,
pale, balusters, guardrail,
circumvallation, ring fence.
feeble: (adj) delicate, decrepit, ailing,
helpless, powerless, poor, mild, lax,
thin; (adj, v) faint, debilitated.
ANTONYMS: (adj) strong, vigorous,
hearty, tough, effective, powerful,
unrelenting, robust, potent,
persuasive, able.
pewter: (n) chowchow, solder, alloy.
plummy: (adj) desirable, profitable,
unnatural, affected.
sausages: (n) bond.
shielding: (adj) covering, protecting,
overspreading, caring, defending,
defensive, overhanging; (n)
screening, shadowing, protection,
bird strike armouring.
thrusting: (n) thrust, push, jab, poke,
jabbing, stab, driving force, scoke,
sack, punch, Phytolacca Americana.
toasting: (n) cookery, Elizabeth Barrett
browning, John Moses browning,
cooking, Robert browning, barbecue
manoeuvre.
watchword: (adj, n) countersign; (n)
slogan, parole, catchword, motto,
word, battle cry, cry, device,
shibboleth, war cry.
Charles Dickens
71
fork in his hand, was a very old shrivelled Jew, whose villainous-looking and
repulsive face was obscured by a quantity of matted red hair. He was dressed in
a greasy flannel gown, with his throat bare; and seemed to be dividing his
attention between the frying-pan and the clothes-horse, over which a great
number of silk handkerchiefs were hanging. Several rough beds made of old
sacks, were huddled side by side on the floor. Seated round the table were four
or five boys, none older than the Dodger, smoking long clay pipes, and drinking
spirits with the air of middle-aged men. These all crowded about their associate
as he whispered a few words to the Jew; and then turned round and grinned at
Oliver. So did the Jew himself, toasting-fork in hand.%
'This is him, Fagin,' said Jack Dawkins;'my friend Oliver Twist.'
The Jew grinned; and, making a low obeisance to Oliver, took him by the
hand, and hoped he should have the honour of his intimate acquaintance. Upon
this, the young gentleman with the pipes came round him, and shook both his
hands very hard--especially the one in which he held his little bundle. One
young gentleman was very anxious to hang up his cap for him; and another was
so obliging as to put his hands in his pockets, in order that, as he was very tired,
he might not have the trouble of emptying them, himself, when he went to bed.
These civilities would probably be extended much farther, but for a liberal
exercise of the Jew's toasting-fork on the heads and shoulders of the affectionate
youths who offered them.
'We are very glad to see you, Oliver, very,' said the Jew. 'Dodger, take off the
sausages; and draw a tub near the fire for Oliver. Ah, you're a-staring at the
pocket-handkerchiefs! eh, my dear. There are a good many of 'em, ain't there?
We've just looked 'em out, ready for the wash; that's all, Oliver; that's all. Ha! ha!
ha!'
The latter part of this speech, was hailed by a boisterous shout from all the
hopeful pupils of the merry old gentleman. In the midst of which they went to
supper.
Oliver ate his share, and the Jew then mixed him a glass of hot gin-and-water:
telling him he must drink it off directly, because another gentleman wanted the
Thesaurus
boisterous: (adj, n) rough; (adj) furious,
loud, noisy, fierce, raucous, wild,
rude, vociferous; (adj, v)
tempestuous, rampant. ANTONYMS:
(adj) restrained, orderly, calm,
dignified, silent, tranquil, gentle,
placid.
civilities: (n) propriety.
dodger: (n) cheat, slyboots, cheater,
deceiver, fox, wind shield, corn dab,
corn dodger, slicker, sharper, crook.
flannel: (n) washcloth, cloth, face
cloth, pants, trousers, flannelette,
intangible, unnoticed, ulterior, privy.
white, tweed, gabardine; (v) blanket, repulsive: (adj) offensive, detestable,
fur.
ugly, disagreeable, nauseous,
huddled: (adj) crouched, crouching,
hideous, loathsome, abhorrent; (adj,
v) abominable, hateful, obnoxious.
hunkered down, hunkered.
matted: (adj) entangled, tangled,
ANTONYMS: (adj) pleasant,
knotted, flat, matt, matte, knotty,
delightful, desirable, reputable,
fixed, kinky, twisted; (v) crossed.
lovely, lovable, humane, appealing,
ANTONYMS: (adj) tidy, straight,
laudable.
shrivelled: (adj) shriveled, withered,
free.
obscured: (adj) hidden, blind, covered, wizened, shrunken, sere, sear, thin,
clouded, darkened, covert, dim,
lean, dry, shrunk, dryer.
72
Oliver Twist
tumbler. Oliver did as he was desired. Immediately afterwards he felt himself
gently lifted on to one of the sacks; and then he sunk into a deep sleep.%
Thesaurus
afterwards: (adv) afterward,
desired: (adj) coveted, desirable,
violently, severely, roughly,
subsequently, later, thereafter, later
favorite, wanted, welcome, needed,
intensely, meanly, heavily.
on, next, behind, thereupon; (adj)
beloved, required, most wanted; (adj, himself: (pron) herself, themselves,
following, subsequent; (n)
v) chosen; (v) consenting.
yourself, itself; (adj) myself; (n)
felt: (v) mat, tangle, snarl, braid,
termination.
yourselves.
deep: (adj) thick, profound, strong,
entangle, lace, perceive; (adj) sensed, sunk: (adj) sunken, undone, finished,
rich, broad, sound, absorbed, wide,
perceived, conscious, sensible.
ruined, profound, immersed,
abstruse, dark; (adj, v) intense.
gently: (adv) tenderly, slowly, mildly,
damaged, lowed, lying flat; (v) cut
ANTONYMS: (adj) superficial, high,
soft, slow, kindly, delicately, softly,
up, dashed.
tumbler: (n) acrobat, beaker, turner,
weak, soft, light, open, frivolous,
lightly, meekly, quietly.
lightweight, narrow, straightforward, ANTONYMS: (adv) sharply, fiercely, mime, roller, buffoon, tumbler
switch, cup, bowl, flute; (v) glass.
simple.
forcefully, harshly, abruptly,
Charles Dickens
73
CHAPTER IX
CONTAINING FURTHER PARTICULARS
CONCERNING THE PLEASANT OLD
GENTLEMAN, AND HIS HOPEFUL PUPILS
It was late next morning when Oliver awoke, from a sound, long sleep. There
was no other person in the room but the old Jew, who was boiling some coffee in
a saucepan for breakfast, and whistling softly to himself as he stirred it round
and round, with an iron spoon. He would stop every now and then to listen
when there was the least noise below: and when he had satistified himself, he
would go on whistling and stirring again, as before.%
Although Oliver had roused himself from sleep, he was not thoroughly
awake. There is a drowsy state, between sleeping and waking, when you dream
more in five minutes with your eyes half open, and yourself half conscious of
everything that is passing around you, than you would in five nights with your
eyes fast closed, and your senses wrapt in perfect unconsciousness. At such time,
a mortal knows just enough of what his mind is doing, to form some glimmering
conception of its mighty powers, its bounding from earth and spurning time and
space, when freed from the restraint of its corporeal associate.
Thesaurus
awoke: (adj) awakened.
sluggish, dull, indolent, soporific,
bounding: (n) jumping, confinement;
listless. ANTONYMS: (adj) energetic,
(v) confine, salient; (adj) terminal,
awake, lively, vigorous, vivacious,
moving, subsultory.
refreshed.
corporeal: (adj) corporal, material,
glimmering: (n) inkling, ghost,
carnal, physical, substantial, animal,
luminosity, light, hint, apparition,
somatic, real, concrete, tangible; (adj, radiance; (adj) glittering, glimmery,
adv) fleshly. ANTONYMS: (adj)
crepusculous, sciolism.
mortal: (adj) deadly, fatal, lethal,
intangible, incorporeal, cerebral,
deathly, earthly; (n) man, individual,
spiritual, immortal.
drowsy: (adj, n) sleepy; (adj) lazy,
creature, person, human being, body.
comatose, somnolent, slow, lethargic, ANTONYMS: (adj, n) immortal; (adj)
eternal, heavenly, mild, perfect,
spiritual.
nights: (adj) nightly; (n) night.
saucepan: (n) pot, pan, stewpan,
casserole, boiler, basin, skillet, jorum,
rummer, tumbler, punch bowl.
spurning: (n) disbelief, renunciation.
waking: (adj) wakeful; (n) awakening,
wakefulness, consciousness.
whistling: (n) whistle, sound, tin
whistle, music, pennywhistle, sign,
signal, signaling.
74
Oliver Twist
Oliver was precisely in this condition. He saw the Jew with his half-closed
eyes; heard his low whistling; and recognised the sound of the spoon grating
against the saucepan's sides: and yet the self-same senses were mentally
engaged, at the same time, in busy action with almost everybody he had ever
known.%
When the coffee was done, the Jew drew the saucepan to the hob. Standing,
then in an irresolute attitude for a few minutes, as if he did not well know how
to employ himself, he turned round and looked at Oliver, and called him by his
name. He did not answer, and was to all appearances asleep.
After satisfying himself upon this head, the Jew stepped gently to the door:
which he fastened. He then drew forth: as it seemed to Oliver, from some trap in
the floor: a small box, which he placed carefully on the table. His eyes glistened
as he raised the lid, and looked in. Dragging an old chair to the table, he sat
down; and took from it a magnificent gold watch, sparkling with jewels.
'Aha!' said the Jew, shrugging up his shoulders, and distorting every feature
with a hideous grin. 'Clever dogs! Clever dogs! Staunch to the last! Never told
the old parson where they were. Never poached upon old Fagin! And why
should they? It wouldn't have loosened the knot, or kept the drop up, a minute
longer. No, no, no! Fine fellows! Fine fellows!'
With these, and other muttered reflections of the like nature, the Jew once
more deposited the watch in its place of safety. At least half a dozen more were
severally drawn forth from the same box, and surveyed with equal pleasure;
besides rings, brooches, bracelets, and other articles of jewellery, of such
magnificent materials, and costly workmanship, that Oliver had no idea, even of
their names.
Having replaced these trinkets, the Jew took out another: so small that it lay
in the palm of his hand. There seemed to be some very minute inscription on it;
for the Jew laid it flat upon the table, and shading it with his hand, pored over it,
long and earnestly. At length he put it down, as if despairing of success; and,
leaning back in his chair, muttered:
Thesaurus
bracelets: (n) trinkets, jewels,
necklaces, charms, costume jewelry,
ornaments.
despairing: (adj) hopeless, desperate,
despondent, forlorn, desolate,
dejected, pessimistic, sad,
brokenhearted, miserable,
inconsolable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
hopeful, optimistic, rosy, happy,
confident, cheerful.
fellows: (n) fellow, membership,
faculty.
grating: (adj) hoarse, strident, harsh,
discordant, gravelly, raspy, gruff,
raucous; (n, v) lattice; (n) grate, grid.
ANTONYMS: (adj) pleasing,
soothing, smooth, harmonious.
irresolute: (adj) hesitant, uncertain,
hesitating, infirm, spineless,
doubtful, weak, undecided, fickle,
fluctuating, inconstant. ANTONYMS:
(adj) resolute, firm, stubborn,
unyielding, determined, decided,
decisive, strong, confident.
poached: (adj) boiled, stewed.
self-same: (adj) uniform, twin.
severally: (adv) separately,
respectively, singly, variously,
sundrily, independently, particularly,
several, distinctly, apart; (adj, adv)
one by one.
shading: (n) crosshatch, hatch,
blending, hachure, shading
correction, shadowing, nuance,
eclipse, tinting, shade, adumbration.
trinkets: (n) finery, jewels.
Charles Dickens
75
'What a fine thing capital punishment is! Dead men never repent; dead men
never bring awkward stories to light. Ah, it's a fine thing for the trade! Five of
'em strung up in a row, and none left to play booty, or turn white-livered!'
As the Jew uttered these words, his bright dark eyes, which had been staring
vacantly before him, fell on Oliver's face; the boy's eyes were fixed on his in mute
curiousity; and although the recognition was only for an instant--for the briefest
space of time that can possibly be conceived--it was enough to show the old man
that he had been observed.%
He closed the lid of the box with a loud crash; and, laying his hand on a
bread knife which was on the table, started furiously up. He trembled very much
though; for, even in his terror, Oliver could see that the knife quivered in the air.
'What's that?' said the Jew. 'What do you watch me for? Why are you awake?
What have you seen? Speak out, boy! Quick--quick! for your life.
'I wasn't able to sleep any longer, sir,' replied Oliver, meekly. 'I am very sorry
if I have disturbed you, sir.'
'You were not awake an hour ago?' said the Jew, scowling fiercely on the boy.
'No! No, indeed!' replied Oliver.
'Are you sure?' cried the Jew: with a still fiercer look than before: and a
threatening attitude.
'Upon my word I was not, sir,' replied Oliver, earnestly. 'I was not, indeed,
sir.'
'Tush, tush, my dear!' said the Jew, abruptly resuming his old manner, and
playing with the knife a little, before he laid it down; as if to induce the belief that
he had caught it up, in mere sport. 'Of course I know that, my dear. I only tried
to frighten you. You're a brave boy. Ha! ha! you're a brave boy, Oliver.' The Jew
rubbed his hands with a chuckle, but glanced uneasily at the box,
notwithstanding.
'Did you see any of these pretty things, my dear?' said the Jew, laying his
hand upon it after a short pause.
Thesaurus
booty: (n) plunder, prize, loot, pillage,
stolen goods, spoil, spoils, swag,
haul, prey, trophy.
chuckle: (n, v) snicker, snigger, giggle,
chortle, titter, crow; (v) chuck, laugh,
cackle, exult; (n) laughter.
earnestly: (adj, adv) seriously; (adv)
eagerly, intently, zealously, solemnly,
ardently, fervently, heartily, gravely,
warmly, passionately. ANTONYMS:
(adv) indifferently, insincerely,
unconcernedly, jokingly.
meekly: (adv) humbly, submissively,
tamely, compliantly, obediently,
docilely, peacefully, lowly, modestly,
placidly, kindly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
haughtily, harshly, wildly,
arrogantly, assertively, brashly.
repent: (v) deplore, bewail, rue,
mourn, lament, atone, sorry, bemoan,
feel remorse, grieve, be sorry.
scowling: (adj) frowning, angry, dire,
frowny, grim, threatening, ugly,
unfriendly, dark.
stories: (n) tale.
tush: (n) buttocks, backside, posterior,
quarter, place, poop, John, pot, prat,
piece of ass, puke.
uttered: (adj) expressed, express,
verbalised, verbalized, vocal, explicit,
oral; (v) spoke, quoth, said.
vacantly: (adj, adv) vacuously,
expressionlessly, inanely; (adv)
voidly, emptily, unoccupiedly,
hollowly, unemployedly,
thoughtlessly, freely, barely.
76
Oliver Twist
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver.%
'Ah!' said the Jew, turning rather pale. 'They--they're mine, Oliver; my little
property. All I have to live upon, in my old age. The folks call me a miser, my
dear. Only a miser; that's all.'
Oliver thought the old gentleman must be a decided miser to live in such a
dirty place, with so many watches; but, thinking that perhaps his fondness for
the Dodger and the other boys, cost him a good deal of money, he only cast a
deferential look at the Jew, and asked if he might get up.
'Certainly, my dear, certainly,' replied the old gentleman. 'Stay. There's a
pitcher of water in the corner by the door. Bring it here; and I'll give you a basin
to wash in, my dear.'
Oliver got up; walked across the room; and stooped for an instant to raise the
pitcher. When he turned his head, the box was gone.
He had scarcely washed himself, and made everything tidy, by emptying the
basin out of the window, agreeably to the Jew's directions, when the Dodger
returned: accompanied by a very sprightly young friend, whom Oliver had seen
smoking on the previous night, and who was now formally introduced to him as
Charley Bates. The four sat down, to breakfast, on the coffee, and some hot rolls
and ham which the Dodger had brought home in the crown of his hat.
'Well,' said the Jew, glancing slyly at Oliver, and addressing himself to the
Dodger, 'I hope you've been at work this morning, my dears?'
'Hard,' replied the Dodger.
'As nails,' added Charley Bates.
'Good boys, good boys!' said the Jew. 'What have you got, Dodger?'
'A couple of pocket-books,' replied that young gentlman.
'Lined?' inquired the Jew, with eagerness.
'Pretty well,' replied the Dodger, producing two pocket-books; one green,
and the other red.
Thesaurus
agreeably: (adv) enjoyably, pleasantly, cathartic.
creamer, container, pail, bucket,
sympathetically, pleasingly, suitably, fondness: (n) affection, attachment,
flagon, tankard.
slyly: (adv) craftily, artfully, secretly,
well, melodically, accordingly,
love, taste, regard, appetite,
affably, genially; (adv, v) happily.
tenderness, partiality, endearment,
furtively, slily, cleverly,
ANTONYMS: (adv) disagreeably,
liking, relish. ANTONYMS: (n)
surreptitiously, astutely, foxily,
knavishly, sly. ANTONYM: (adv)
incongruously, uncooperatively,
aversion, indifference, neglect,
unhelpfully, badly, stubbornly,
antipathy, detachment, hatred.
brazenly.
miser: (n) stinginess, curmudgeon,
sprightly: (adj) spirited, cheerful, alive,
harshly.
emptying: (n) evacuation, draining,
blithe, agile, airy, keen; (adj, v)
hunks, muckworm, niggard,
nimble, active; (adj, n) brisk; (adj, adv)
discharge, voidance, drainage,
skinflint, cheapskate, parsimony,
jolly. ANTONYMS: (adj) inactive,
remotion, removal, voiding,
moneygrubber, Jew, miserliness.
elimination, unloading; (adj)
pitcher: (n) jar, ewer, mug, pot, hurler, slow, clumsy, sluggish.
Charles Dickens
77
'Not so heavy as they might be,' said the Jew, after looking at the insides
carefully; 'but very neat and nicely made. Ingenious workman, ain't he, Oliver?'
'Very indeed, sir,' said Oliver. At which Mr. Charles Bates laughed
uproariously; very much to the amazement of Oliver, who saw nothing to laugh
at, in anything that had passed.%
'And what have you got, my dear?' said Fagin to Charley Bates.
'Wipes,' replied Master Bates; at the same time producing four pockethandkerchiefs.
'Well,' said the Jew, inspecting them closely; 'they're very good ones, very.
You haven't marked them well, though, Charley; so the marks shall be picked
out with a needle, and we'll teach Oliver how to do it. Shall us, Oliver, eh? Ha!
ha! ha!'
'If you please, sir,' said Oliver.
'You'd like to be able to make pocket-handkerchiefs as easy as Charley Bates,
wouldn't you, my dear?' said the Jew.
'Very much, indeed, if you'll teach me, sir,' replied Oliver.
Master Bates saw something so exquisitely ludicrous in this reply, that he
burst into another laugh; which laugh, meeting the coffee he was drinking, and
carrying it down some wrong channel, very nearly terminated in his premature
suffocation.
'He is so jolly green!' said Charley when he recovered, as an apology to the
company for his unpolite behaviour.
The Dodger said nothing, but he smoothed Oliver's hair over his eyes, and
said he'd know better, by and by; upon which the old gentleman, observing
Oliver's colour mounting, changed the subject by asking whether there had been
much of a crowd at the execution that morning? This made him wonder more
and more; for it was plain from the replies of the two boys that they had both
been there; and Oliver naturally wondered how they could possibly have found
time to be so very industrious.
Thesaurus
exquisitely: (adv) excellently, finely,
magnificently, perfectly, beautifully,
gorgeously, superbly, keenly,
subtlely; (adj, adv) intensely,
exceedingly.
industrious: (adj) diligent, assiduous,
indefatigable, busy, energetic,
hardworking, laborious, tireless,
earnest, keen, enterprising.
ANTONYMS: (adj) indolent, idle,
destructive, weary, careless.
insides: (n) bowels, innards, entrails,
intestines, filling, belly, gut, viscera,
strangling, putting to death, apnoea,
stomach.
kill.
inspecting: (n) inspection; (v) inspect; unpolite: (adj) rude.
(adj) curious, inspective.
uproariously: (adv) hilariously,
mounting: (n, v) mount; (adj, n)
riotously, boisterously, tumultuously,
climbing; (n) ascent, setting, climb,
rowdily, turbulently, loudly, wildly,
frame, assembly, chassis, framework, hysterically, entertainingly,
ascension; (adj, adv) rising.
amusingly.
smoothed: (adj) round, smoothened,
workman: (n) laborer, working man,
curved. ANTONYM: (adj) sharp.
worker, employee, hand, operative,
suffocation: (n) asphyxiation,
artisan, working person, lather,
asphyxia, choking, killing, garrote,
mechanic, artificer.
78
Oliver Twist
When the breakfast was cleared away; the merry old gentlman and the two
boys played at a very curious and uncommon game, which was performed in
this way. The merry old gentleman, placing a snuff-box in one pocket of his
trousers, a note-case in the other, and a watch in his waistcoat pocket, with a
guard-chain round his neck, and sticking a mock diamond pin in his shirt:
buttoned his coat tight round him, and putting his spectacle-case and
handkerchief in his pockets, trotted up and down the room with a stick, in
imitation of the manner in which old gentlemen walk about the streets any hour
in the day. Sometimes he stopped at the fire-place, and sometimes at the door,
making believe that he was staring with all his might into shop-windows. At
such times, he would look constantly round him, for fear of thieves, and would
keep slapping all his pockets in turn, to see that he hadn't lost anything, in such a
very funny and natural manner, that Oliver laughed till the tears ran down his
face. All this time, the two boys followed him closely about: getting out of his
sight, so nimbly, every time he turned round, that it was impossible to follow
their motions. At last, the Dodger trod upon his toes, or ran upon his boot
accidently, while Charley Bates stumbled up against him behind; and in that one
moment they took from him, with the most extraordinary rapidity, snuff-box,
note-case, watch-guard, chain, shirt-pin, pocket-handkerchief, even the spectaclecase. If the old gentlman felt a hand in any one of his pockets, he cried out where
it was; and then the game began all over again.%
When this game had been played a great many times, a couple of young
ladies called to see the young gentleman; one of whom was named Bet, and the
other Nancy. They wore a good deal of hair, not very neatly turned up behind,
and were rather untidy about the shoes and stockings. They were not exactly
pretty, perhaps; but they had a great deal of colour in their faces, and looked
quite stout and hearty. Being remarkably free and agreeable in their manners,
Oliver thought them very nice girls indeed. As there is no doubt they were.
The visitors stopped a long time. Spirits were produced, in consequence of
one of the young ladies complaining of a coldness in her inside; and the
conversation took a very convivial and improving turn. At length, Charley Bates
Thesaurus
coldness: (n) chilliness, coolness,
indifference, distance, apathy, iciness,
reserve, frost, frigidity, unconcern;
(adj, n) cold. ANTONYMS: (n)
friendliness, sympathy, sensitivity,
hotness, heat, responsiveness,
concern, brightness, kindness.
convivial: (adj) companionable,
happy, friendly, frolicsome, genial,
social, sociable, pleasant, hospitable,
gregarious, jovial. ANTONYMS: (adj)
solemn, taciturn, sober, serious, grim,
rapidity: (n) expedition, quickness,
dull, unfriendly, antisocial,
unwelcoming, frosty, shy.
promptness, dispatch, celerity, haste,
merry: (adj) joyful, lively, cheerful,
velocity, pace, fleetness,
promptitude, speed. ANTONYM: (n)
glad, jolly, facetious, frolicsome,
lighthearted, festive; (adj, n)
tardiness.
convivial, jovial. ANTONYMS: (adj) slapping: (adj) slapper.
gloomy, miserable, serious, uptight. untidy: (adj) unkempt, disheveled,
nimbly: (adv) adroitly, alertly, lightly, disorderly, sloppy, messy,
energetically, cleverly, hastily, deftly, disordered, confused, disorganized,
rapidly, readily; (adj) dexterously;
sluttish, frowzy, scruffy.
(adj, adv) neatly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
ANTONYMS: (adj) tidy, neat,
lethargically, heavily, awkwardly.
elegant, orderly, smart, legible, clean.
Charles Dickens
79
expressed his opinion that it was time to pad the hoof. This, it occurred to Oliver,
must be French for going out; for directly afterwards, the Dodger, and Charley,
and the two young ladies, went away together, having been kindly furnished by
the amiable old Jew with money to spend.%
'There, my dear,' said Fagin. 'That's a pleasant life, isn't it? They have gone
out for the day.'
'Have they done work, sir?' inquired Oliver.
'Yes,' said the Jew; 'that is, unless they should unexpectedly come across any,
when they are out; and they won't neglect it, if they do, my dear, depend upon it.
Make 'em your models, my dear. Make 'em your models,' tapping the fire-shovel
on the hearth to add force to his words; 'do everything they bid you, and take
their advice in all matters--especially the Dodger's, my dear. He'll be a great man
himself, and will make you one too, if you take pattern by him.--Is my
handkerchief hanging out of my pocket, my dear?' said the Jew, stopping short.
'Yes, sir,' said Oliver.
'See if you can take it out, without my feeling it; as you saw them do, when
we were at play this morning.'
Oliver held up the bottom of the pocket with one hand, as he had seen the
Dodger hold it, and drew the handkerchief lightly out of it with the other.
'Is it gone?' cried the Jew.
'Here it is, sir,' said Oliver, showing it in his hand.
'You're a clever boy, my dear,' said the playful old gentleman, patting Oliver
on the head approvingly. 'I never saw a sharper lad. Here's a shilling for you. If
you go on, in this way, you'll be the greatest man of the time. And now come
here, and I'll show you how to take the marks out of the handkerchiefs.'
Oliver wondered what picking the old gentleman's pocket in play, had to do
with his chances of being a great man. But, thinking that the Jew, being so much
his senior, must know best, he followed him quietly to the table, and was soon
deeply involved in his new study.
Thesaurus
amiable: (adj) friendly, genial,
agreeable, benign, complaisant,
sweet, cordial, pleasant, likable, nice,
lovely. ANTONYMS: (adj)
disagreeable, argumentative,
aggressive, antisocial, unkind,
hateful, mean, quarrelsome, rude,
surly, cold.
furnished: (adj) fitted, arranged,
privileged, instruct, carrying
weapons, equipt, enlightened; (v)
provide, furnish, begone, beset.
handkerchief: (n) hankie, kerchief,
bandanna, cravat, hanky, wipe,
bandana, collar, shawl; (n, v) napkin;
(v) sudary.
hoof: (n) toe, sole, hooves, bottom,
keel, root, leg, ungula, unguis, animal
foot; (v) step.
sharper: (n, v) cheat; (n) rogue,
impostor, swindler, chiseler,
deceiver, cheater, welsher, sharpie;
(v) shark, fraud.
shilling: (n) York shilling, Tanzanian
shilling, British shilling, Kenyan
shilling, Ugandan shilling, Somalian
shilling, dock, cork, farthing, coin,
cheat.
unexpectedly: (adv) by chance,
suddenly, abruptly, casually,
unforeseenly, unawares, surprisingly,
unanticipatedly, hastily, strangely,
circumstantially. ANTONYMS: (adv)
intentionally, gradually, normally,
predictably.
went: (v) walked, proceeded.
Charles Dickens
81
CHAPTER X
OLIVER BECOMES BETTER ACQUAINTED
WITH THE CHARACTERS OF HIS NEW
ASSOCIATES; AND PURCHASES EXPERIENCE
AT A HIGH PRICE. BEING A SHORT, BUT
VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER, IN THIS
HISTORY
For many days, Oliver remained in the Jew's room, picking the marks out of
the pocket-handkerchief, (of which a great number were brought home,) and
sometimes taking part in the game already described: which the two boys and
the Jew played, regularly, every morning. At length, he began to languish for
fresh air, and took many occasions of earnestly entreating the old gentleman to
allow him to go out to work with his two companions.%
Oliver was rendered the more anxious to be actively employed, by what he
had seen of the stern morality of the old gentleman's character. Whenever the
Dodger or Charley Bates came home at night, empty-handed, he would expatiate
with great vehemence on the misery of idle and lazy habits; and would enforce
upon them the necessity of an active life, by sending them supperless to bed. On
Thesaurus
described: (adj) delineate, detailed,
idle: (adj) lazy, indolent, inactive, free, stern: (adj) rigid, rigorous, austere,
hard, strict, grim, solemn, rough; (adj,
delineated, alleged.
unfounded, fruitless, baseless,
entreating: (adj) beseeching,
v) harsh; (n) back; (adj, n) rear.
groundless, frivolous, empty,
disengaged. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) friendly,
imploring, suppliant, begging,
supplicant, imploratory, asking
active, employed, industrious,
approving, lenient, funny, genial,
submissively, pleading, piteous.
energetic, meaningful, productive,
gentle, kindly, lax, liberal, cheerful,
expatiate: (v) expand, dilate, enlarge,
worthwhile, diligent; (v) change, run, flexible.
vehemence: (n) force, violence, fury,
amplify, expound, elaborate, distend, work.
exemplify, exposit; (adj, v) inflate;
languish: (adj, v) flag, drop, fail; (adj,
passion, eagerness, strength,
(adj) descant.
n, v) droop; (v) decline, die, decay,
impetuosity, enthusiasm, fierceness,
habits: (n) behavior, decorum,
ache; (n, v) pine, yearn, wither.
heat, fervor. ANTONYMS: (n)
ANTONYMS: (v) thrive, change.
pratique.
indifference, meekness, serenity.
82
Oliver Twist
one occasion, indeed, he even went so far as to knock them both down a flight of
stairs; but this was carrying out his virtuous precepts to an unusual extent.%
At length, one morning, Oliver obtained the permission he had so eagerly
sought. There had been no handkerchiefs to work upon, for two or three days,
and the dinners had been rather meagre. Perhaps these were reasons for the old
gentleman's giving his assent; but, whether they were or no, he told Oliver he
might go, and placed him under the joint guardianship of Charley Bates, and his
friend the Dodger.
The three boys sallied out; the Dodger with his coat-sleeves tucked up, and
his hat cocked, as usual; Master Bates sauntering along with his hands in his
pockets; and Oliver between them, wondering where they were going, and what
branch of manufacture he would be instructed in, first.
The pace at which they went, was such a very lazy, ill-looking saunter, that
Oliver soon began to think his companions were going to deceive the old
gentleman, by not going to work at all. The Dodger had a vicious propensity,
too, of pulling the caps from the heads of small boys and tossing them down
areas; while Charley Bates exhibited some very loose notions concerning the
rights of property, by pilfering divers apples and onions from the stalls at the
kennel sides, and thrusting them into pockets which were so surprisingly
capacious, that they seemed to undermine his whole suit of clothes in every
direction. These things looked so bad, that Oliver was on the point of declaring
his intention of seeking his way back, in the best way he could; when his
thoughts were suddenly directed into another channel, by a very mysterious
change of behaviour on the part of the Dodger.
They were just emerging from a narrow court not far from the open square in
Clerkenwell, which is yet called, by some strange perversion of terms, 'The
Green': when the Dodger made a sudden stop; and, laying his finger on his lip,
drew his companions back again, with the greatest caution and circumspection.
'What's the matter?' demanded Oliver.
'Hush!' replied the Dodger. 'Do you see that old cove at the book-stall?'
Thesaurus
capacious: (adj) large, big, ample,
roomy, broad, extensive, vast,
commodious, voluminous, wide,
expansive. ANTONYMS: (adj) small,
confined, squeezed, tiny.
caps: (n) brevier, bourgeois, pica
boldface.
circumspection: (n) care, wariness,
chariness, cautiousness, calculation,
precaution, vigilance, discernment,
judgment; (adj, n) discretion,
prudence. ANTONYM: (n)
recklessness.
embezzlement, larceny, robbery,
cove: (n) bay, cave, harbor, bight, inlet, thievery, burglary, picking,
recess, creek, glen, man, fellow, guy.
shoplifting, appropriation,
guardianship: (n) custody, care,
overburned bricks.
propensity: (n) proclivity, leaning,
charge, keeping, safekeeping,
tutelage, conservation, protection,
disposition, bias, bent, aptitude,
wardship; (adj, n) ward; (adj) guard.
aptness, proneness, predisposition,
perversion: (n) misrepresentation,
predilection, penchant. ANTONYM:
(n) inability.
falsification, corruption, depravity,
misuse, casuistry, vice, buggery; (adj) saunter: (n, v) ramble, amble, walk,
wander, promenade, hike; (adv, v)
declension, hardening, backsliding.
pilfering: (adj, n) thieving; (n) stealing, loiter, linger, lag; (v) roam, meander.
Charles Dickens
83
'The old gentleman over the way?' said Oliver. 'Yes, I see him.'
'He'll do,' said the Doger.%
'A prime plant,' observed Master Charley Bates.
Oliver looked from one to the other, with the greatest surprise; but he was
not permitted to make any inquiries; for the two boys walked stealthily across
the road, and slunk close behind the old gentleman towards whom his attention
had been directed. Oliver walked a few paces after them; and, not knowing
whether to advance or retire, stood looking on in silent amazement.
The old gentleman was a very respectable-looking personage, with a
powdered head and gold spectacles. He was dressed in a bottle-green coat with a
black velvet collar; wore white trousers; and carried a smart bamboo cane under
his arm. He had taken up a book from the stall, and there he stood, reading
away, as hard as if he were in his elbow-chair, in his own study. It is very
possible that he fancied himself there, indeed; for it was plain, from his
abstraction, that he saw not the book-stall, nor the street, nor the boys, nor, in
short, anything but the book itself: which he was reading straight through:
turning over the leaf when he got to the bottom of a page, beginning at the top
line of the next one, and going regularly on, with the greatest interest and
eagerness.
What was Oliver's horror and alarm as he stood a few paces off, looking on
with his eyelids as wide open as they would possibly go, to see the Dodger
plunge his hand into the old gentleman's pocket, and draw from thence a
handkerchief! To see him hand the same to Charley Bates; and finally to behold
them, both running away round the corner at full speed!
In an instant the whole mystery of the hankerchiefs, and the watches, and the
jewels, and the Jew, rushed upon the boy's mind.
He stood, for a moment, with the blood so tingling through all his veins from
terror, that he felt as if he were in a burning fire; then, confused and frightened,
he took to his heels; and, not knowing what he did, made off as fast as he could
lay his feet to the ground.
Thesaurus
bamboo: (adj) wicker, basket weave,
readiness, passion, keenness,
character, being.
natural fiber, rush; (n) rattan,
slunk: (v) slink.
ambition, fervor, avidness.
stealthily: (adv) furtively, sneakily,
Poaceae, family Graminaceae, family ANTONYMS: (n) indifference,
Poaceae, Gramineae, grass family,
unwillingness, aloofness, disinterest, surreptitiously, covertly,
family Gramineae.
lethargy, listlessness, patience,
clandestinely, underhandly,
behold: (v) see, view, contemplate,
gloom, reluctance.
underhandedly, in secret, privately,
jewels: (n) jewelry, gems, wealth,
sneakingly; (adj, adv) noiselessly.
regard, perceive, observe, look,
ANTONYM: (adv) brazenly.
consider, discern, descry, watch.
hoops, Perrie, riches, studs, fortune,
ANTONYMS: (v) Miss, disregard,
thence: (adv) therefore, thus,
fineness, earrings, decoration.
personage: (n) person, notable,
ignore, overlook.
therefrom, thereof, consequently,
eagerness: (n, v) desire, aspiration; (n) celebrity, personality, individual,
then, so, thereafter, thenceforth,
enthusiasm, avidity, cupidity,
bigwig, figure, somebody, human,
since, on account of.
84
Oliver Twist
This was all done in a minute's space. In the very instant when Oliver began
to run, the old gentleman, putting his hand to his pocket, and missing his
handkerchief, turned sharp round. Seeing the boy scudding away at such a rapid
pace, he very naturally concluded him to be the depredator; and shouting 'Stop
thief!' with all his might, made off after him, book in hand.%
But the old gentleman was not the only person who raised the hue-and-cry.
The Dodger and Master Bates, unwilling to attract public attention by running
down the open street, had merely retired into the very first doorway round the
corner. They no sooner heard the cry, and saw Oliver running, than, guessing
exactly how the matter stood, they issued forth with great promptitude; and,
shouting 'Stop thief!' too, joined in the pursuit like good citizens.
Although Oliver had been brought up by philosophers, he was not
theoretically acquainted with the beautiful axiom that self-preservation is the
first law of nature. If he had been, perhaps he would have been prepared for this.
Not being prepared, however, it alarmed him the more; so away he went like the
wind, with the old gentleman and the two boys roaring and shouting behind
him.
'Stop thief! Stop thief!' There is a magic in the sound. The tradesman leaves
his counter, and the car-man his waggon; the butcher throws down his tray; the
baker his basket; the milkman his pail; the errand-boy his parcels; the school-boy
his marbles; the paviour his pickaxe; the child his battledore. Away they run,
pell-mell, helter-skelter, slap-dash: tearing, yelling, screaming, knocking down
the passengers as they turn the corners, rousing up the dogs, and astonishing the
fowls: and streets, squares, and courts, re-echo with the sound.
'Stop thief! Stop thief!' The cry is taken up by a hundred voices, and the
crowd accumulate at every turning. Away they fly, splashing through the mud,
and rattling along the pavements: up go the windows, out run the people,
onward bear the mob, a whole audience desert Punch in the very thickest of the
plot, and, joining the rushing throng, swell the shout, and lend fresh vigour to
the cry, 'Stop thief! Stop thief!'
Thesaurus
axiom: (n) maxim, adage, apothegm,
principle, proposition, truism, saying,
saw, proverb, truth, motto.
ANTONYMS: (n) foolishness,
paradox, absurdity.
battledore: (n) battledore and
shuttlecock, battleton, batter, racket,
badminton racket, badminton
racquet, badminton.
depredator: (n) spoiler, pillager,
marauder, pirate, plunderer.
fowls: (n) poultry.
helter-skelter: (adj, adv) recklessly;
(adj) chaotic, haphazard, capricious,
reckless, upside-down; (adv) anyhow,
irregularly.
marbles: (n) wit, sanity, mind, reason,
jackstones, jacks, cods.
milkman: (n) deliveryman, delivery
boy.
pail: (n) bucketful, jug, tub, pailful,
cannikin, pails, skeel, tankard, pot,
pipkin, vessel.
paviour: (n) paving machine, machine.
pickaxe: (n) pickax, mattock, option,
edge tool, cream, choice, filling.
promptitude: (n) expedition, speed,
readiness, promptness, velocity,
haste, agility, rapidity, celerity,
hurry, dispatch.
re-echo: (n) repercussion; (v) roll.
scudding: (n) hastening, hurrying.
waggon: (n) wagon, cart, lorry, wain,
dray, station wagon, beach wagon,
beach waggon, station waggon,
bandwagon, milkwagon.
Charles Dickens
85
'Stop thief! Stop thief!' There is a passion for hunting something deeply
implanted in the human breast. One wretched breathless child, panting with
exhaustion; terror in his looks; agony in his eyes; large drops of perspiration
streaming down his face; strains every nerve to make head upon his pursuers;
and as they follow on his track, and gain upon him every instant, they hail his
decreasing strength with joy. 'Stop thief!' Ay, stop him for God's sake, were it
only in mercy!
Stopped at last! A clever blow. He is down upon the pavement; and the
crowd eagerly gather round him: each new comer, jostling and struggling with
the others to catch a glimpse. 'Stand aside!' 'Give him a little air!' 'Nonsense! he
don't deserve it.' 'Where's the gentleman?' 'Here his is, coming down the street.'
'Make room there for the gentleman!' 'Is this the boy, sir!' 'Yes.'
Oliver lay, covered with mud and dust, and bleeding from the mouth,
looking wildly round upon the heap of faces that surrounded him, when the old
gentleman was officiously dragged and pushed into the circle by the foremost of
the pursuers.%
'Yes,' said the gentleman, 'I am afraid it is the boy.'
'Afraid!' murmured the crowd. 'That's a good 'un!'
'Poor fellow!' said the gentleman, 'he has hurt himself.'
'I did that, sir,' said a great lubberly fellow, stepping forward; 'and
preciously I cut my knuckle agin' his mouth. I stopped him, sir.'
The follow touched his hat with a grin, expecting something for his pains;
but, the old gentleman, eyeing him with an expression of dislike, look anxiously
round, as if he contemplated running away himself: which it is very possible he
might have attempted to do, and thus have afforded another chase, had not a
police officer (who is generally the last person to arrive in such cases) at that
moment made his way through the crowd, and seized Oliver by the collar.
'Come, get up,' said the man, roughly.
'It wasn't me indeed, sir. Indeed, indeed, it was two other boys,' said Oliver,
clasping his hands passionately, and looking round. 'They are here somewhere.'
Thesaurus
comer: (n) newcomer, arriver, traveler, salute; (n, v) call; (n) greeting.
panting: (adj) gasping, breathless,
ANTONYMS: (v) ignore, criticize.
blown, winded, puffed; (v)
traveller, contender, competitor,
palpitation; (n) heaving, gasp,
competition, visitor, whiz kid, Young jostling: (v) jarring; (adj) bustling; (n)
Turk; (adj) fresh.
elbowing.
asthma, heave, puff.
decreasing: (v) diminish, lessen,
knuckle: (n) articulation, knee, elbow, preciously: (adv) expensively,
dwindle, abate; (n) lessening,
fist, ankle, sickle, zigzag, scythe; (v)
precious, rarely, pricelessly,
contraction; (adj) diminishing, falling, submit, succumb, surrender.
belovedly, goldenly, finely, richly,
lubberly: (adj, v) awkward; (adj)
abating, decrescent, amortizing.
darlingly, petly, artificially.
ANTONYMS: (adj) rising, increasing, gauche, landlubberly, spanking,
streaming: (adj) flowing, flapping,
burgeoning.
thumping, whopping, whacking,
detached, incoherent, baggy, slack,
hail: (v) address, cry, acclaim,
thundering; (v) unhandy; (n) lubber;
relaxed, loose, lax; (n) cyclosis; (v)
applaud, summon, accost, fall, cheer, (adv) clodly.
disheveled.
86
Oliver Twist
'Oh no, they ain't,' said the officer. He meant this to be ironical, but it was true
besides; for the Dodger and Charley Bates had filed off down the first
convenient court they came to.%
'Come, get up!'
'Don't hurt him,' said the old gentleman, compassionately.
'Oh no, I won't hurt him,' replied the officer, tearing his jacket half off his
back, in proof thereof. 'Come, I know you; it won't do. Will you stand upon your
legs, you young devil?'
Oliver, who could hardly stand, made a shift to raise himself on his feet, and
was at once lugged along the streets by the jacket-collar, at a rapid pace. The
gentleman walked on with them by the officer's side; and as many of the crowd
as could achieve the feat, got a little ahead, and stared back at Oliver from time
to time. The boys shouted in triumph; and on they went.
Thesaurus
besides: (adv) as well, moreover, too,
furthermore, again, as well as,
anyway, additionally; (prep) apart
from, beside; (adj, adv) more.
compassionately: (adv) kindly,
humanely, mercifully, pityingly,
benevolently, graciously, tenderly,
clemently, caringly, humanitarianly,
indulgently. ANTONYMS: (adv)
severely, unkindly, malevolently,
meanly, roughly, inhumanely.
convenient: (adj) comfortable,
commodious, handy, appropriate,
expedient, timely, fit, useful, nearby,
opportune; (adj, n) advantageous.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unwieldy, fixed,
useless, distant, troublesome,
unsuited, remote, unsuitable,
unadaptable, unuseful,
inappropriate.
feat: (n) deed, accomplishment,
achievement, act, effort, performance,
action, triumph, attainment, trick;
(adj) fetis . ANTONYM: (n) inaction.
shouted: (adj) screamed, loud.
thereof: (adv) thence, therefrom,
therefore, hence; (adj) casual,
intelligence, observer, occasional,
prearranged, premeditated,
fortuitous.
triumph: (v) exult, prevail, crow,
rejoice, succeed; (n, v) glory, win, joy;
(n) victory, conquest, exultation.
ANTONYMS: (n) failure, defeat,
sorrow, unhappiness, dud, sadness,
loss, flop; (v) fail, lose, forfeit.
Charles Dickens
87
CHAPTER XI
TREATS OF MR. FANG THE POLICE
MAGISTRATE; AND FURNISHES A SLIGHT
SPECIMEN OF HIS MODE OF
ADMINISTERING JUSTICE
The offence had been committed within the district, and indeed in the
immediate neighborhood of, a very notorious metropolitan police office. The
crowd had only the satisfaction of accompanying Oliver through two or three
streets, and down a place called Mutton Hill, when he was led beneath a low
archway, and up a dirty court, into this dispensary of summary justice, by the
back way. It was a small paved yard into which they turned; and here they
encountered a stout man with a bunch of whiskers on his face, and a bunch of
keys in his hand.%
'What's the matter now?' said the man carelessly.
'A young fogle-hunter,' replied the man who had Oliver in charge.
'Are you the party that's been robbed, sir?' inquired the man with the keys.
'Yes, I am,' replied the old gentleman; 'but I am not sure that this boy actually
took the handkerchief. I--I would rather not press the case.'
Thesaurus
archway: (n) arcade, entry,
entranceway, entryway, entree,
doorway, entrance.
called: (adj) named, titled, chosen,
known as; (v) nempt, ycleped.
carelessly: (adv) incautiously, hastily,
recklessly, heedlessly, casually,
sloppily, imprudently,
inconsiderately, rashly, negligently,
unwarily. ANTONYMS: (adv)
thoroughly, diligently, carefully,
warily, laboriously, thoughtfully,
robbed: (adj) plundered, rubato,
attentively, daintily, methodically,
discreetly, economically.
fleeced, borrowed, bereft.
dispensary: (n) sick bay, dispensatory, stout: (adj, n) sturdy, stocky, hearty;
(adj) hardy, strong, robust, obese,
clinic, drugstore, pharmacy, booth.
fang: (n) tooth, sting, eyetooth,
husky, bold, corpulent, fleshy.
dogtooth, canine tooth, thorn, nettle, ANTONYMS: (adj) thin, slim, flimsy,
claw, tang, cuspid; (adj) laniary.
cowardly, slight, skinny, fragile,
neighborhood: (n) vicinity, district,
weak.
whiskers: (n) fuzz, goatee, hair,
area, community, locality, place,
quarter, environs, section; (adj)
imperial, face fungus, beaver,
neighboring, local.
mustache, moustache, sideburns,
paved: (adj) cobbled.
facial hair, sideboards.
88
Oliver Twist
'Must go before the magistrate now, sir,' replied the man. 'His worship will be
disengaged in half a minute. Now, young gallows!'
This was an invitation for Oliver to enter through a door which he unlocked
as he spoke, and which led into a stone cell. Here he was searched; and nothing
being found upon him, locked up.%
This cell was in shape and size something like an area cellar, only not so light.
It was most intolerably dirty; for it was Monday morning; and it had been
tenanted by six drunken people, who had been locked up, elsewhere, since
Saturday night. But this is little. In our station-houses, men and women are every
night confined on the most trivial charges--the word is worth noting--in
dungeons, compared with which, those in Newgate, occupied by the most
atrocious felons, tried, found guilty, and under sentence of death, are palaces. Let
any one who doubts this, compare the two.
The old gentleman looked almost as rueful as Oliver when the key grated in
the lock. He turned with a sigh to the book, which had been the innocent cause of
all this disturbance.
'There is something in that boy's face,' said the old gentleman to himself as he
walked slowly away, tapping his chin with the cover of the book, in a thoughtful
manner; 'something that touches and interests me. Can he be innocent? He
looked like--Bye the bye,' exclaimed the old gentleman, halting very abruptly,
and staring up into the sky, 'Bless my soul!--where have I seen something like
that look before?'
After musing for some minutes, the old gentleman walked, with the same
meditative face, into a back anteroom opening from the yard; and there, retiring
into a corner, called up before his mind's eye a vast amphitheatre of faces over
which a dusky curtain had hung for many years. 'No,' said the old gentleman,
shaking his head; 'it must be imagination.
He wandered over them again. He had called them into view, and it was not
easy to replace the shroud that had so long concealed them. There were the faces
of friends, and foes, and of many that had been almost strangers peering
Thesaurus
amphitheatre: (n) amphitheater, arena,
stadium, gallery, bowl, coliseum,
colosseum.
anteroom: (n) foyer, vestibule,
antechamber, lobby, waiting room,
room, hallway, sitting area, alcove,
entrance hall.
dusky: (adj) dark, cloudy, gloomy,
black, swarthy, dull, murky, obscure,
dingy, sooty, somber. ANTONYMS:
(adj) light, bright, sunny, radiant,
clear.
halting: (adj) halt, hesitant, broken,
crude, grotesque, barbarous; (adj, v)
lame, crippled; (adv) haltingly; (v)
drooping, flagging. ANTONYMS:
(adj) easy, firm.
intolerably: (adv) excruciatingly,
unbearably, insufferably,
unendurably, insupportably,
unfeasibly, impossibly, horribly,
unpardonably, inexcusably,
unforgivably. ANTONYMS: (adv)
tolerably, excusably, bearably,
acceptably, pleasantly,
understandably.
meditative: (adj, v) thoughtful,
pensive; (adj) wistful, reflective,
broody, museful, ruminative,
musing, brooding; (v) philosophical,
sedate.
musing: (adj) contemplative,
meditative, thoughtful, pensive; (n)
meditation, consideration, reflection,
rumination, reverie, thought,
cogitation.
Charles Dickens
89
intrusively from the crowd; there were the faces of young and blooming girls
that were now old women; there were faces that the grave had changed and
closed upon, but which the mind, superior to its power, still dressed in their old
freshness and beauty, calling back the lustre of the eyes, the brightness of the
smile, the beaming of the soul through its mask of clay, and whispering of
beauty beyond the tomb, changed but to be heightened, and taken from earth
only to be set up as a light, to shed a soft and gentle glow upon the path to
Heaven.%
But the old gentleman could recall no one countenance of which Oliver's
features bore a trace. So, he heaved a sigh over the recollections he awakened;
and being, happily for himself, an absent old gentleman, buried them again in
the pages of the musty book.
He was roused by a touch on the shoulder, and a request from the man with
the keys to follow him into the office. He closed his book hastily; and was at once
ushered into the imposing presence of the renowned Mr. Fang.
The office was a front parlour, with a panelled wall. Mr. Fang sat behind a
bar, at the upper end; and on one side the door was a sort of wooden pen in
which poor little Oliver was already deposited; trembling very much at the
awfulness of the scene.
Mr. Fang was a lean, long-backed, stiff-necked, middle-sized man, with no
great quantity of hair, and what he had, growing on the back and sides of his
head. His face was stern, and much flushed. If he were really not in the habit of
drinking rather more than was exactly good for him, he might have brought
action against his countenance for libel, and have recovered heavy damages.
The old gentleman bowed respectfully; and advancing to the magistrate's
desk, said, suiting the action to the word, 'That is my name and address, sir.' He
then withdrew a pace or two; and, with another polite and gentlemanly
inclination of the head, waited to be questioned.
Now, it so happened that Mr. Fang was at that moment perusing a leading
article in a newspaper of the morning, adverting to some recent decision of his,
Thesaurus
awfulness: (n) terribleness, horridness,
frightfulness, atrociousness,
fearfulness, gravity, solemnity,
ghastliness, horror, horribleness,
terror. ANTONYMS: (n)
insignificance, delight.
gentlemanly: (adj) courteous, polite,
chivalrous, refined, gallant, suave,
mannerly, genteel, gentle, well-bred;
(n) gentleman. ANTONYMS: (adj)
rude, unbecoming.
heightened: (adj) excited, intense,
irritate, keen, resonant, sensitive.
antiquated, stuffy, threadbare, trite.
intrusively: (adv) meddlesomely,
ANTONYMS: (adj) airy, modern.
obtrusively, impertinently, pryingly, stiff-necked: (adj) willful, obstinate,
meddlingly, curiously, busily,
self-willed, pigheaded, headstrong,
untowardly, nosily, unbefittingly,
obdurate, mulish, unyielding,
unfortunately.
uncompromising, pig-headed,
lustre: (n) brilliance, gloss, brilliancy,
dogged.
suiting: (n) cloth, fabric, fitting,
grandeur, splendour, effulgence,
splendor, shininess, shine, sheen,
disposition, settlement, regulation,
adaptation, adjustment; (adj)
brightness.
musty: (adj) fusty, rancid, stale,
corresponding, conformable,
mouldy, rank, bad, obsolete,
answering.
90
Oliver Twist
and commending him, for the three hundred and fiftieth time, to the special and
particular notice of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. He was out
of temper; and he looked up with an angry scowl.%
'Who are you?' said Mr. Fang.
The old gentleman pointed, with some surprise, to his card.
'Officer!' said Mr. Fang, tossing the card contemptuously away with the
newspaper. 'Who is this fellow?'
'My name, sir,' said the old gentleman, speaking like a gentleman, 'my name,
sir, is Brownlow. Permit me to inquire the name of the magistrate who offers a
gratuitous and unprovoked insult to a respectable person, under the protection
of the bench.' Saying this, Mr. Brownlow looked around the office as if in search
of some person who would afford him the required information.
'Officer!' said Mr. Fang, throwing the paper on one side, 'what's this fellow
charged with?'
'He's not charged at all, your worship,' replied the officer. 'He appears against
this boy, your worship.'
His worship knew this perfectly well; but it was a good annoyance, and a safe
one.
'Appears against the boy, does he?' said Mr. Fang, surveying Mr. Brownlow
contemptuously from head to foot. 'Swear him!'
'Before I am sworn, I must beg to say one word,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'and
that is, that I really never, without actual experience, could have believed--'
'Hold your tongue, sir!' said Mr. Fang, peremptorily.
'I will not, sir!' replied the old gentleman.
'Hold your tongue this instant, or I'll have you turned out of the office!' said
Mr. Fang. 'You're an insolent impertinent fellow. How dare you bully a
magistrate!'
'What!' exclaimed the old gentleman, reddening.
Thesaurus
charged: (adj) laden, loaded, replete,
impertinent: (adj) fresh, pert, saucy,
positively, imperatively, flatly,
aerated, tense, strained, full, filled,
forward, audacious, brash, brazen,
dogmatically, magisterially,
emotional, abounding, deferred.
extraneous, discourteous,
commandingly, imperiously,
commending: (adj) good, plauditory,
disrespectful, flippant. ANTONYMS: authoritatively, decidedly, decisively.
(adj) respectful, polite, courteous.
reddening: (n) flush, rubescence; (v)
favorable, applauding,
insolent: (adj) impertinent, abusive,
commendatory, approving.
redden.
gratuitous: (adj) complimentary,
unprovoked: (adj) wanton, motiveless,
disrespectful, impudent, fresh,
unnecessary, needless, superfluous,
arrogant, brazen, defiant, offensive,
unwarranted, gratuitous, sluttish,
brassy, bold. ANTONYMS: (adj)
for nothing, gratis, unwarranted,
groundless, light, loose, meaningless,
needless, reckless. ANTONYMS: (adj)
costless, free of charge, unfounded;
respectful, modest, gracious, meek,
(adj, v) voluntary. ANTONYMS: (adj) submissive.
provoked, reasonable, necessary,
necessary, paid, provoked, justified. peremptorily: (adv) absolutely,
justifiable.
Charles Dickens
91
'Swear this person!' said Fang to the clerk. 'I'll not hear another word. Swear
him.'
Mr. Brownlow's indignation was greatly roused; but reflecting perhaps, that
he might only injure the boy by giving vent to it, he suppressed his feelings and
submitted to be sworn at once.%
'Now,' said Fang, 'what's the charge against this boy? What have you got to
say, sir?'
'I was standing at a bookstall--' Mr. Brownlow began.
'Hold your tongue, sir,' said Mr. Fang. 'Policeman! Where's the policeman?
Here, swear this policeman. Now, policeman, what is this?'
The policeman, with becoming humility, related how he had taken the
charge; how he had searched Oliver, and found nothing on his person; and how
that was all he knew about it.
'Are there any witnesses?' inquired Mr. Fang.
'None, your worship,' replied the policeman.
Mr. Fang sat silent for some minutes, and then, turning round to the
prosecutor, said in a towering passion.
'Do you mean to state what your complaint against this boy is, man, or do
you not? You have been sworn. Now, if you stand there, refusing to give
evidence, I'll punish you for disrespect to the bench; I will, by--'
By what, or by whom, nobody knows, for the clerk and jailor coughed very
loud, just at the right moment; and the former dropped a heavy book upon the
floor, thus preventing the word from being heard--accidently, of course.
With many interruptions, and repeated insults, Mr. Brownlow contrived to
state his case; observing that, in the surprise of the moment, he had run after the
boy because he had saw him running away; and expressing his hope that, if the
magistrate should believe him, although not actually the thief, to be connected
with the thieves, he would deal as leniently with him as justice would allow.
Thesaurus
contrived: (adj) affected, unnatural,
decency, seriousness.
humility: (n) diffidence, modesty,
false, forced, labored, spurious,
feigned, unreal, strained, built,
submission, shyness, meekness,
artificially formal. ANTONYM: (adj)
lowliness, timidity, trait, humiliation,
resignation; (adj) veneration.
sincere.
disrespect: (n) contempt, cheek,
ANTONYMS: (n) haughtiness,
impertinence, neglect, blasphemy,
affectation, conceit, arrogance.
impudence, disdain, insolence; (n, v) injure: (n, v) damage, harm, impair;
insult, slight; (v) disesteem.
(v) contuse, disfigure, maim, bruise,
ANTONYMS: (n, v) respect; (n)
blemish, wound, insult; (adj, v) abuse.
admiration, regard, value, reverence, ANTONYMS: (v) heal, enable, repair,
politeness, civility, approval,
protect, help.
insults: (adj) insulting; (n) abuse,
swearing.
jailor: (n) jailer, gaoler, warden, prison
guard, screw, fuck, ass, fucking.
leniently: (adv) indulgently, tolerantly,
mildly, kindly, mercifully, blandly,
softly, easygoingly, generously,
easily, compliantly.
sworn: (adj) extreme, mortal,
implacable, engaged, dedicated,
committed, betrothed, bespoken,
affianced, inveterate.
92
Oliver Twist
'He has been hurt already,' said the old gentleman in conclusion. 'And I fear,'
he added, with great energy, looking towards the bar, 'I really fear that he is ill.'
'Oh! yes, I dare say!' said Mr. Fang, with a sneer. 'Come, none of your tricks
here, you young vagabond; they won't do. What's your name?'
Oliver tried to reply but his tongue failed him. He was deadly pale; and the
whole place seemed turning round and round.%
'What's your name, you hardened scoundrel?' demanded Mr. Fang. 'Officer,
what's his name?'
This was addressed to a bluff old fellow, in a striped waistcoat, who was
standing by the bar. He bent over Oliver, and repeated the inquiry; but finding
him really incapable of understanding the question; and knowing that his not
replying would only infuriate the magistrate the more, and add to the severity
of his sentence; he hazarded a guess.
'He says his name's Tom White, your worship,' said the kind-hearted thieftaker.
'Oh, he won't speak out, won't he?' said Fang. 'Very well, very well. Where
does he live?'
'Where he can, your worship,' replied the officer; again pretending to receive
Oliver's answer.
'Has he any parents?' inquired Mr. Fang.
'He says they died in his infancy, your worship,' replied the officer:
hazarding the usual reply.
At this point of the inquiry, Oliver raised his head; and, looking round with
imploring eyes, murmured a feeble prayer for a draught of water.
'Stuff and nonsense!' said Mr. Fang: 'don't try to make a fool of me.'
'I think he really is ill, your worship,' remonstrated the officer.
'I know better,' said Mr. Fang.
'Take care of him, officer,' said the old gentleman, raising his hands
instinctively; 'he'll fall down.'
Thesaurus
bluff: (v) beguile, delude, blague; (n)
bravado, cheat, hill; (adj) rough,
direct, blunt, candid; (adj, n) peak.
ANTONYMS: (n) truth, honesty; (v)
reveal, guide; (adj) roundabout,
suave, subtle, hesitant.
demanded: (adj) urgent, popular,
requisitory.
draught: (n, v) draft, sketch, design,
potation, plan; (n) dose, air current,
wind, gulp, outline; (v) blueprint.
hazarding: (n) exacta, gaming, daily
double; (adj) wagering.
imploring: (adj) appealing, begging,
suppliant, pleading, entreating,
piteous, importunate, entreating
urgently; (v) supplicate, plead; (n)
prayer.
infuriate: (v) enrage, incense, anger,
irritate, rile, provoke, outrage,
furious, inflame; (adj, v) aggravate,
exacerbate. ANTONYMS: (v) please,
pacify, soothe, placate.
kind-hearted: (adj) good-natured,
good, kindly, clement, benevolent,
humane, kindhearted, philanthropic,
sympathetic, tolerant, warm.
replying: (adj) respondent, responsive.
striped: (adj) stripy, brindled,
variegated, lined, banded, virgated,
zoned, paled, with stripes.
vagabond: (n, v) tramp; (adj, n)
vagrant; (v) roam, stray, wander,
range, ramble; (n) outcast, bum,
wanderer, nomad. ANTONYMS: (n)
inhabitant, resident; (adj) settled.
Charles Dickens
93
'Stand away, officer,' cried Fang; 'let him, if he likes.'
Oliver availed himself of the kind permission, and fell to the floor in a
fainting fit. The men in the office looked at each other, but no one dared to stir.%
'I knew he was shamming,' said Fang, as if this were incontestable proof of
the fact. 'Let him lie there; he'll soon be tired of that.'
'How do you propose to deal with the case, sir?' inquired the clerk in a low
voice.
'Summarily,' replied Mr. Fang. 'He stands committed for three months--hard
labour of course. Clear the office.'
The door was opened for this purpose, and a couple of men were preparing
to carry the insensible boy to his cell; when an elderly man of decent but poor
appearance, clad in an old suit of black, rushed hastily into the office, and
advanced towards the bench.
'Stop, stop! don't take him away! For Heaven's sake stop a moment!' cried the
new comer, breathless with haste.
Although the presiding Genii in such an office as this, exercise a summary
and arbitrary power over the liberties, the good name, the character, almost the
lives, of Her Majesty's subjects, especially of the poorer class; and although,
within such walls, enough fantastic tricks are daily played to make the angels
blind with weeping; they are closed to the public, save through the medium of
the daily press.[Footnote: Or were virtually, then.] Mr. Fang was consequently
not a little indignant to see an unbidden guest enter in such irreverent disorder.
'What is this? Who is this? Turn this man out. Clear the office!' cried Mr.
Fang.
'I will speak,' cried the man; 'I will not be turned out. I saw it all. I keep the
book-stall. I demand to be sworn. I will not be put down. Mr. Fang, you must
hear me. You must not refuse, sir.'
The man was right. His manner was determined; and the matter was
growing rather too serious to be hushed up.
Thesaurus
clad: (adj) dressed, attired, clothed,
positive, irrefragable. ANTONYMS:
irreligious, impertinent, impudent,
coated, garbed; (n) cladding; (prep)
(adj) contestable, dubious,
pert, saucy, aweless, godless,
gowned; (v) costume, shod, dress,
irreverend. ANTONYMS: (adj) pious,
questionable, debatable.
attire. ANTONYMS: (adj) undressed, insensible: (adj) imperceptible, numb, reverent, deferential, mature, devout,
unclothed.
unconscious, callous, dull, unaware,
approving, respectful.
fainting: (n) swoon, syncope,
liberties: (n) freedoms, familiarity,
apathetic, impassive, indiscernible,
deliquium, lipothymy, prostration,
comatose, impassible. ANTONYMS:
intimacy.
stupor; (adj) lipothymic.
(adj) sensible, conscious, sensitive,
presiding: (adj) president, dominant,
incontestable: (adj) undeniable,
awake, alive, compassionate,
administrative.
unbidden: (adj) unbid, uninvited,
indubitable, unquestionable,
concerned, aware.
irrefutable, incontrovertible, certain, irreverent: (adj, v) profane; (adj)
spontaneous, voluntary, willing,
sure, watertight, unarguable,
blasphemous, disrespectful,
unwanted.
94
Oliver Twist
'Swear the man,' growled Mr. Fang. with a very ill grace. 'Now, man, what
have you got to say?'
'This,' said the man: 'I saw three boys: two others and the prisoner here:
loitering on the opposite side of the way, when this gentleman was reading. The
robbery was committed by another boy. I saw it done; and I saw that this boy
was perfectly amazed and stupified by it.' Having by this time recovered a little
breath, the worthy book-stall keeper proceeded to relate, in a more coherent
manner the exact circumstances of the robbery.%
'Why didn't you come here before?' said Fang, after a pause.
'I hadn't a soul to mind the shop,' replied the man. 'Everybody who could
have helped me, had joined in the pursuit. I could get nobody till five minutes
ago; and I've run here all the way.'
'The prosecutor was reading, was he?' inquired Fang, after another pause.
'Yes,' replied the man. 'The very book he has in his hand.'
'Oh, that book, eh?' said Fang. 'Is it paid for?'
'No, it is not,' replied the man, with a smile.
'Dear me, I forgot all about it!' exclaimed the absent old gentleman,
innocently.
'A nice person to prefer a charge against a poor boy!' said Fang, with a
comical effort to look humane. 'I consider, sir, that you have obtained possession
of that book, under very suspicious and disreputable circumstances; and you
may think yourself very fortunate that the owner of the property declines to
prosecute. Let this be a lesson to you, my man, or the law will overtake you yet.
The boy is discharged. Clear the office!'
'D--n me!' cried the old gentleman, bursting out with the rage he had kept
down so long, 'd--n me! I'll--'
'Clear the office!' said the magistrate. 'Officers, do you hear? Clear the office!'
The mandate was obeyed; and the indignant Mr. Brownlow was conveyed
out, with the book in one hand, and the bamboo cane in the other: in a perfect
Thesaurus
comical: (adj) funny, comic, laughable, pleasant, admirable, famous, honest. indecently, immorally, illicitly,
absurd, humorous, ridiculous, zany, indignant: (adj) angry, incensed,
intentionally, knowingly, unkindly,
droll, jocose, grotesque, jocular.
furious, enraged, wrathful, hurt,
suspiciously, offensively,
ANTONYMS: (adj) tragic, sad, grave, rage, provoked, hot, anger, irate.
deliberately.
ANTONYMS: (adj) cool, content,
loitering: (n) delay, dalliance; (adj)
solemn, unfunny, dull, sensible.
disreputable: (adj, n, v) discreditable;
unaffected.
slow, dilatory, delaying, inactive,
(adj) base, dishonorable, doubtful,
innocently: (adv) innocuously,
truant, trifling, tardy; (v) loiter; (adv)
sordid, infamous, shameful,
ingenuously, inoffensively, naively,
loiteringly.
officers: (n) executive committee, staff.
dishonourable, dishonest, despicable, purely, simplely, artlessly,
notorious. ANTONYMS: (adj)
overtake: (v) catch, attain, catch up
unsophisticatedly, blamelessly,
honorable, respected, ethical, noble,
spotlessly, cleanly. ANTONYMS:
with, exceed, overpower, overcome,
(adv) artfully, meaningfully,
decent, respectable, sporting,
go by, gain, devastate, outstrip, beat.
Charles Dickens
95
phrenzy of rage and defiance. He reached the yard; and his passion vanished in
a moment. Little Oliver Twist lay on his back on the pavement, with his shirt
unbuttoned, and his temples bathed with water; his face a deadly white; and a
cold tremble convulsing his whole frame.%
'Poor boy, poor boy!' said Mr. Brownlow, bending over him. 'Call a coach,
somebody, pray. Directly!'
A coach was obtained, and Oliver having been carefully laid on the seat, the
old gentleman got in and sat himself on the other.
'May I accompany you?' said the book-stall keeper, looking in.
'Bless me, yes, my dear sir,' said Mr. Brownlow quickly. 'I forgot you. Dear,
dear! I have this unhappy book still! Jump in. Poor fellow! There's no time to
lose.'
The book-stall keeper got into the coach; and away they drove.
Thesaurus
bathed: (adj) sweaty.
exciting.
bending: (n) bow, bend, deflection,
defiance: (n) challenge, opposition,
deflexion, refraction, flexure, crook;
rebellion, insubordination,
(adj) flexible, supple, winding, pliant. rebelliousness, disobedience,
ANTONYM: (adj) stiff.
resistance, contempt, intractableness,
deadly: (adj, adv) deathly; (adj)
mutiny, contradiction. ANTONYMS:
(n) acceptance, surrender, deference,
baneful, lethal, fatal, destructive,
mortal, pernicious, virulent, toxic;
conformance, submission,
(adv) lifelessly, lethally.
acquiescence, cooperation, loyalty,
ANTONYMS: (adj) interesting,
meekness, support, agreement.
keeper: (n) curator, guardian, guard,
uplifting, readable, mild, healthy,
healthful, benign, innocuous,
warden, janitor, jailer, gaoler, warder,
caretaker, sentry, conservator.
temples: (n) brow.
unbuttoned: (adj) unobstructed,
untrammeled, unchecked,
unconfined, unprevented,
unhindered, uncaught, unrestrained,
unlaced, unfastened, unconstrained.
vanished: (adj, v) extinct, lost; (adj)
disappeared, departed, missing, died
out, absent, dead, wiped out, bygone;
(v) exhausted. ANTONYMS: (adj)
found, living.
Charles Dickens
97
CHAPTER XII
IN WHICH OLIVER IS TAKEN BETTER CARE
OF THAN HE EVER WAS BEFORE. AND IN
WHICH THE NARRATIVE REVERTS TO THE
MERRY OLD GENTLEMAN AND HIS
YOUTHFUL FRIENDS
The coach rattled away, over nearly the same ground as that which Oliver
had traversed when he first entered London in company with the Dodger; and,
turning a different way when it reached the Angel at Islington, stopped at length
before a neat house, in a quiet shady street near Pentonville. Here, a bed was
prepared, without loss of time, in which Mr. Brownlow saw his young charge
carefully and comfortably deposited; and here, he was tended with a kindness
and solicitude that knew no bounds.%
But, for many days, Oliver remained insensible to all the goodness of his new
friends. The sun rose and sank, and rose and sank again, and many times after
that; and still the boy lay stretched on his uneasy bed, dwindling away beneath
the dry and wasting heat of fever. The worm does not work more surely on the
dead body, than does this slow creeping fire upon the living frame.
Thesaurus
dwindling: (adj) decreasing, declining,
abating, diminishing, waning; (n)
lessening, narrowing, dwindlement,
shrinking; (v) dwindle; (adv)
diminishingly. ANTONYMS: (n)
growth; (adj) burgeoning, high.
kindness: (n) generosity, clemency,
compassion, grace, good will,
graciousness, humanity, goodness,
affection; (adj, n) courtesy, gentleness.
ANTONYMS: (n) miserliness, spite,
nastiness, callousness, cruelty,
unfriendliness, maliciousness,
regard, attention, fear, disquietude,
heed, fret. ANTONYMS: (n)
thoughtlessness, sourness, severity,
disservice.
negligence, serenity, thoughtlessness.
knew: (adj) known; (v) recognize, wist. wasting: (n) homicide, atrophy,
shady: (adj) questionable, dark, fishy,
slaughter, slaying, cachexia,
doubtful, queer, suspicious, dim,
assassination, cachexy, amyotrophy,
carnage; (adj) consuming,
uncertain, obscure, disreputable,
dishonest. ANTONYMS: (adj) sunny, consumptive.
worm: (v) squirm, wriggle, twist,
trustworthy, bright, reputable,
spiral, helix, writhe; (n) helminth,
aboveboard.
solicitude: (n) care, consideration,
maggot; (adj) emmet, midge, fly.
anxiety, thought, apprehension,
98
Oliver Twist
Weak, and thin, and pallid, he awoke at last from what seemed to have been
a long and troubled dream. Feebly raising himself in the bed, with his head
resting on his trembling arm, he looked anxiously around.%
'What room is this? Where have I been brought to?' said Oliver. 'This is not
the place I went to sleep in.'
He uttered these words in a feeble voice, being very faint and weak; but they
were overheard at once. The curtain at the bed's head was hastily drawn back,
and a motherly old lady, very neatly and precisely dressed, rose as she undrew
it, from an arm-chair close by, in which she had been sitting at needle-work.
'Hush, my dear,' said the old lady softly. 'You must be very quiet, or you will
be ill again; and you have been very bad,--as bad as bad could be, pretty nigh.
Lie down again; there's a dear!' With those words, the old lady very gently
placed Oliver's head upon the pillow; and, smoothing back his hair from his
forehead, looked so kindly and loving in his face, that he could not help placing
his little withered hand in hers, and drawing it round his neck.
'Save us!' said the old lady, with tears in her eyes. 'What a grateful little dear
it is. Pretty creetur! What would his mother feel if she had sat by him as I have,
and could see him now!'
'Perhaps she does see me,' whispered Oliver, folding his hands together;
'perhaps she has sat by me. I almost feel as if she had.'
'That was the fever, my dear,' said the old lady mildly.
'I suppose it was,' replied Oliver, 'because heaven is a long way off; and they
are too happy there, to come down to the bedside of a poor boy. But if she knew I
was ill, she must have pitied me, even there; for she was very ill herself before
she died. She can't know anything about me though,' added Oliver after a
moment's silence. 'If she had seen me hurt, it would have made her sorrowful;
and her face has always looked sweet and happy, when I have dreamed of her.'
The old lady made no reply to this; but wiping her eyes first, and her
spectacles, which lay on the counterpane, afterwards, as if they were part and
parcel of those features, brought some cool stuff for Oliver to drink; and then,
Thesaurus
counterpane: (n) bedspread, coverlet,
erotic. ANTONYM: (adj) paternal.
nigh: (adj, adv, prep) near; (adj, adv)
bedcover, blanket, spread, bed
covering, bed cover, tarpaulin,
close, nearly, almost, nearby, most,
all but, about, adjacent; (prep) by; (adj)
drugget, rug, sheet.
folding: (n) foldaway, plication,
approximate.
pallid: (adj) ghastly, wan, bloodless,
foldable, bend, crease, bending,
flexure, pleating, collapsable,
lurid, cadaverous, sickly, ashen,
collapsible, doubling.
white, pasty, livid, watery.
hers: (pron) she, his; (adj) own.
ANTONYMS: (adj) healthy, rosy,
motherly: (adj) tender, fatherly, warm, vivid.
sisterly, loving, affectionate; (adv)
smoothing: (n) fine cutting,
maternally; (v) ardent, fond, devoted, smoothness, sleeking; (adj) sleek,
even, not harsh, smooth porcelain,
bland, not rough, moving equably,
mild.
sorrowful: (adj) melancholy, doleful,
sad, rueful, lugubrious, gloomy,
dreary, grievous, piteous, unhappy,
mournful. ANTONYMS: (adj)
cheerful, content, joyful, successful.
withered: (adj) wizened, sear,
shriveled, thin, shrunken, dry, dried
up, wilted, faded, wizen; (v) lame.
ANTONYM: (adj) plump.
Charles Dickens
99
patting him on the cheek, told him he must lie very quiet, or he would be ill
again.%
So, Oliver kept very still; partly because he was anxious to obey the kind old
lady in all things; and partly, to tell the truth, because he was completely
exhausted with what he had already said. He soon fell into a gentle doze, from
which he was awakened by the light of a candle: which, being brought near the
bed, showed him a gentleman with a very large and loud-ticking gold watch in
his hand, who felt his pulse, and said he was a great deal better.
'You are a great deal better, are you not, my dear?' said the gentleman.
'Yes, thank you, sir,' replied Oliver.
'Yes, I know you are,' said the gentleman: 'You're hungry too, an't you?'
'No, sir,' answered Oliver.
'Hem!' said the gentleman. 'No, I know you're not. He is not hungry, Mrs.
Bedwin,' said the gentleman: looking very wise.
The old lady made a respectful inclination of the head, which seemed to say
that she thought the doctor was a very clever man. The doctor appeared much of
the same opinion himself.
'You feel sleepy, don't you, my dear?' said the doctor.
'No, sir,' replied Oliver.
'No,' said the doctor, with a very shrewd and satisfied look. 'You're not
sleepy. Nor thirsty. Are you?'
'Yes, sir, rather thirsty,' answered Oliver.
'Just as I expected, Mrs. Bedwin,' said the doctor. 'It's very natural that he
should be thirsty. You may give him a little tea, ma'am, and some dry toast
without any butter. Don't keep him too warm, ma'am; but be careful that you
don't let him be too cold; will you have the goodness?'
The old lady dropped a curtsey. The doctor, after tasting the cool stuff, and
expressing a qualified approval of it, hurried away: his boots creaking in a very
important and wealthy manner as he went downstairs.
Thesaurus
candle: (n) candela, light, taper,
dutiful, courteous, attentive,
innocent, guileless, obtuse,
bougie, CD, candlepower, lamp, wax obedient, reverential, regardful,
indiscriminate.
light, Standard candle; (v) examine,
sleepy: (adj) drowsy, dozy, slow, lazy,
reverent, polite, humble.
ANTONYMS: (adj) cheeky,
illuminate.
hypnotic, inactive, comatose, dull,
creaking: (adj, v) creaky; (adj)
heavy, dreamy; (adv) asleep.
impudent, insolent, rude,
squeaking, harsh, screaky, noisy,
contemptuous, disobedient, scornful, ANTONYMS: (adj) awake, energetic,
arthritic; (v) rickety; (n) screak.
nasty, sneering, irreverent, impolite.
vigorous, clear, lively, refreshed.
doze: (n, v) snooze, sleep, slumber,
shrewd: (adj) sharp, astute, keen,
thirsty: (adj) eager, arid, parched, avid,
drowse, siesta, forty winks, rest; (v)
piercing, clever, cunning, bright; (adj, keen, athirst, greedy, absorbent,
v) sagacious, knowing, crafty,
ambitious; (v) craving, hungry.
catnap, nod, coma, nod off.
ANTONYM: (v) wake.
prudent. ANTONYMS: (adj) foolish,
ANTONYMS: (adj) quenched,
respectful: (adj) deferential, mannerly, gullible, naive, soft, candid, dim,
satisfied, disinterested, wet.
100
Oliver Twist
Oliver dozed off again, soon after this; when he awoke, it was nearly twelve
o'clock. The old lady tenderly bade him good-night shortly afterwards, and left
him in charge of a fat old woman who had just come: bringing with her, in a
little bundle, a small Prayer Book and a large nightcap. Putting the latter on her
head and the former on the table, the old woman, after telling Oliver that she had
come to sit up with him, drew her chair close to the fire and went off into a series
of short naps, chequered at frequent intervals with sundry tumblings forward,
and divers moans and chokings. These, however, had no worse effect than
causing her to rub her nose very hard, and then fall asleep again.%
And thus the night crept slowly on. Oliver lay awake for some time, counting
the little circles of light which the reflection of the rushlight-shade threw upon
the ceiling; or tracing with his languid eyes the intricate pattern of the paper on
the wall. The darkness and the deep stillness of the room were very solemn; as
they brought into the boy's mind the thought that death had been hovering
there, for many days and nights, and might yet fill it with the gloom and dread
of his awful presence, he turned his face upon the pillow, and fervently prayed
to Heaven.
Gradually, he fell into that deep tranquil sleep which ease from recent
suffering alone imparts; that calm and peaceful rest which it is pain to wake
from. Who, if this were death, would be roused again to all the struggles and
turmoils of life; to all its cares for the present; its anxieties for the future; more
than all, its weary recollections of the past!
It had been bright day, for hours, when Oliver opened his eyes; he felt
cheerful and happy. The crisis of the disease was safely past. He belonged to the
world again.
In three days' time he was able to sit in an easy-chair, well propped up with
pillows; and, as he was still too weak to walk, Mrs. Bedwin had him carried
downstairs into the little housekeeper's room, which belonged to her. Having
him set, here, by the fire-side, the good old lady sat herself down too; and, being
in a state of considerable delight at seeing him so much better, forthwith began to
cry most violently.
Thesaurus
bringing: (n) delivery, consignment,
serving, service, passage, post.
chequered: (adj) checkered.
fervently: (adv) fierily, fervidly,
zealously, passionately, intensely,
eagerly, enthusiastically, warmly,
vehemently, seriously, fiercely.
ANTONYMS: (adv) mildly,
apathetically, unenthusiastically,
impassively, halfheartedly,
flippantly.
hovering: (adj) suspended, poised,
impending, flying, high.
languid: (adj) lazy, dull, indolent,
feeble, lethargic, lackadaisical,
sluggish, faint, torpid, inert,
apathetic. ANTONYMS: (adj) active,
lively, exciting, vigorous.
moans: (adj) moaning.
nightcap: (n) drink, dram, game, cap,
mobcap, drop.
propped: (adj) fulcrate.
recollections: (n) memories,
reminiscences, recollection,
biography.
sundry: (adj) several, different,
diverse, assorted, miscellaneous,
many, varied, mixed, divers, various;
(n) sundries. ANTONYMS: (adj)
uniform, homogeneous.
tenderly: (adv) softly, kindly,
delicately, affectionately, fondly,
warmly, painfully, sensitively,
caringly, sympathetically, gently.
ANTONYMS: (adv) roughly,
severely, disapprovingly, harshly.
Charles Dickens
101
'Never mind me, my dear,' said the old lady; 'I'm only having a regular good
cry. There; it's all over now; and I'm quite comfortable.'
'You're very, very kind to me, ma'am,' said Oliver.%
'Well, never you mind that, my dear,' said the old lady; 'that's got nothing to
do with your broth; and it's full time you had it; for the doctor says Mr.
Brownlow may come in to see you this morning; and we must get up our best
looks, because the better we look, the more he'll be pleased.' And with this, the
old lady applied herself to warming up, in a little saucepan, a basin full of broth:
strong enough, Oliver thought, to furnish an ample dinner, when reduced to the
regulation strength, for three hundred and fifty paupers, at the lowest
computation.
'Are you fond of pictures, dear?' inquired the old lady, seeing that Oliver had
fixed his eyes, most intently, on a portrait which hung against the wall; just
opposite his chair.
'I don't quite know, ma'am,' said Oliver, without taking his eyes from the
canvas; 'I have seen so few that I hardly know. What a beautiful, mild face that
lady's is!'
'Ah!' said the old lady, 'painters always make ladies out prettier than they
are, or they wouldn't get any custom, child. The man that invented the machine
for taking likenesses might have known that would never succeed; it's a deal too
honest. A deal,' said the old lady, laughing very heartily at her own acuteness.
'Is--is that a likeness, ma'am?' said Oliver.
'Yes,' said the old lady, looking up for a moment from the broth; 'that's a
portrait.'
'Whose, ma'am?' asked Oliver.
'Why, really, my dear, I don't know,' answered the old lady in a goodhumoured manner. 'It's not a likeness of anybody that you or I know, I expect. It
seems to strike your fancy, dear.'
'It is so pretty,' replied Oliver.
Thesaurus
acuteness: (n) acuity, sharpness,
acumen, discrimination, gravity,
insight, sensitivity, perspicacity,
penetration, keenness, intensity.
ANTONYMS: (n) faintness,
insignificance, dullness.
broth: (n) bouillon, gravy, consomm,
beef tea, stock, brew; (n, v) liquor,
puree; (v) pottage, potage, beverage.
computation: (n, v) calculation,
estimation, reckoning; (n) compute,
estimate, account, arithmetic,
figuring, count, computing; (v)
enthusiastically, warmly, strongly,
enumeration. ANTONYMS: (n)
earnestly, vigorously, ardently,
guesswork, guessing, conjecture,
soundly, devoutly, eagerly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) feebly,
estimation.
eyes: (n) sight, eye, vision, view, baby languorously.
likeness: (n) resemblance, copy, effigy,
blues, guard, propensity, eyen.
furnish: (v) afford, provide,
image, affinity, similarity,
correspondence, facsimile; (adj, n)
contribute, render, offer,
accommodate, supply, outfit, yield,
figure, form, semblance.
decorate; (n, v) give. ANTONYM: (v) ANTONYMS: (n) difference,
divest.
diversity, dissimilarity, unlikeness,
heartily: (adv) cordially, sincerely,
contrast.
102
Oliver Twist
'Why, sure you're not afraid of it?' said the old lady: observing in great
surprise, the look of awe with which the child regarded the painting.%
'Oh no, no,' returned Oliver quickly; 'but the eyes look so sorrowful; and
where I sit, they seem fixed upon me. It makes my heart beat,' added Oliver in a
low voice, 'as if it was alive, and wanted to speak to me, but couldn't.'
'Lord save us!' exclaimed the old lady, starting; 'don't talk in that way, child.
You're weak and nervous after your illness. Let me wheel your chair round to the
other side; and then you won't see it. There!' said the old lady, suiting the action
to the word; 'you don't see it now, at all events.'
Oliver did see it in his mind's eye as distinctly as if he had not altered his
position; but he thought it better not to worry the kind old lady; so he smiled
gently when she looked at him; and Mrs. Bedwin, satisfied that he felt more
comfortable, salted and broke bits of toasted bread into the broth, with all the
bustle befitting so solemn a preparation. Oliver got through it with
extraordinary expedition. He had scarcely swallowed the last spoonful, when
there came a soft rap at the door. 'Come in,' said the old lady; and in walked Mr.
Brownlow.
Now, the old gentleman came in as brisk as need be; but, he had no sooner
raised his spectacles on his forehead, and thrust his hands behind the skirts of his
dressing-gown to take a good long look at Oliver, than his countenance
underwent a very great variety of odd contortions. Oliver looked very worn and
shadowy from sickness, and made an ineffectual attempt to stand up, out of
respect to his benefactor, which terminated in his sinking back into the chair
again; and the fact is, if the truth must be told, that Mr. Brownlow's heart, being
large enough for any six ordinary old gentlemen of humane disposition, forced a
supply of tears into his eyes, by some hydraulic process which we are not
sufficiently philosophical to be in a condition to explain.
'Poor boy, poor boy!' said Mr. Brownlow, clearing his throat. 'I'm rather
hoarse this morning, Mrs. Bedwin. I'm afraid I have caught cold.'
Thesaurus
befitting: (adj) apt, becoming, suitable, bustle: (adj, n, v) hurry; (n, v) flurry,
ado, fuss, hustle; (adj, n) stir,
apropos, decent, condign, fitting, fit;
(adj, v) proper; (n) feat; (v) meet.
movement; (n) bother, commotion,
ANTONYMS: (adj) improper,
disorder; (adj, v) hasten.
ANTONYMS: (n) inactivity, stillness,
unbecoming, unfitting, unsuitable.
benefactor: (n) sponsor, patron,
idleness; (v) laziness, relaxation.
ineffectual: (adj) ineffective, futile,
backer, supporter, giver, Good
Samaritan, contributor, benefactress, useless, feeble, abortive, powerless,
philanthropist, helper, humanitarian. idle, weak, unable, void, vain.
ANTONYMS: (n) antagonist,
ANTONYMS: (adj) strong, effectual,
opposer, detractor.
effective, useful, viable, competent,
bits: (n) odds and ends, scraps, debris. invulnerable, helpful, decisive.
regarded: (adj) reputed.
salted: (adj) salty, corned, saline; (n)
salt grass, lustful, lecherous, leap,
flavor, corrective, saltcellar, bitter.
spoonful: (n) mouthful, handful,
armful, cochleare, tablespoonful,
dose, containerful, blob, capful, taste;
(adj) thimbleful.
toasted: (adj) heated.
underwent: (v) endure, tolerate.
Charles Dickens
103
'I hope not, sir,' said Mrs. Bedwin. 'Everything you have had, has been well
aired, sir.'
'I don't know, Bedwin. I don't know,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'I rather think I had
a damp napkin at dinner-time yesterday; but never mind that. How do you feel,
my dear?'
'Very happy, sir,' replied Oliver. 'And very grateful indeed, sir, for your
goodness to me.'
'Good by,' said Mr. Brownlow, stoutly. 'Have you given him any
nourishment, Bedwin? Any slops, eh?'
'He has just had a basin of beautiful strong broth, sir,' replied Mrs. Bedwin:
drawing herself up slightly, and laying strong emphasis on the last word: to
intimate that between slops, and broth will compounded, there existed no
affinity or connection whatsoever.%
'Ugh!' said Mr. Brownlow, with a slight shudder; 'a couple of glasses of port
wine would have done him a great deal more good. Wouldn't they, Tom White,
eh?'
'My name is Oliver, sir,' replied the little invalid: with a look of great
astonishment.
'Oliver,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'Oliver what? Oliver White, eh?'
'No, sir, Twist, Oliver Twist.'
'Queer name!' said the old gentleman. 'What made you tell the magistrate
your name was White?'
'I never told him so, sir,' returned Oliver in amazement.
This sounded so like a falsehood, that the old gentleman looked somewhat
sternly in Oliver's face. It was impossible to doubt him; there was truth in every
one of its thin and sharpened lineaments.
'Some mistake,' said Mr. Brownlow. But, although his motive for looking
steadily at Oliver no longer existed, the old idea of the resemblance between his
Thesaurus
aired: (adj) airy, broadcast, aery,
handkerchief, serviette, table napkin,
aeriform, aerial.
nappy, dinner napkin, duster,
compounded: (adj) combined,
malkin, maukin; (v) sudary.
complex, compositive; (v) mingle.
sharpened: (adj) acute, pointed,
falsehood: (n) fable, fabrication,
acuate, sharper, better, sensual.
shudder: (adj, n, v) shake, quake,
deception, untruth, lie, fib, fiction,
invention, dishonesty; (adj, n) deceit,
tremble; (n, v) quiver, twitch, thrill;
falsity. ANTONYMS: (n) fact,
(n) quivering, shivering, chill, frisson;
(v) flutter.
honesty, reality.
lineaments: (v) exposition, tract,
slops: (n) swill, gear, rigging, pigwash,
length, expanse, area, extent; (n) face. pigswill, harness, caparison,
napkin: (n) diaper, cloth,
accouterment, livery, toggery, togs.
sounded: (adj) measured, oral.
sternly: (adv) severely, strictly,
austerely, harshly, rigidly, grimly,
rigorously, stringently, seriously,
relentlessly, solemnly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) leniently, lightheartedly, kindly,
warmly, cheerfully.
stoutly: (adv) sturdily, robustly,
strongly, solidly, lustily, vigorously,
toughly, resolutely, stockily, portly,
obstinately. ANTONYM: (adv) feebly.
104
Oliver Twist
features and some familiar face came upon him so strongly, that he could not
withdraw his gaze.
'I hope you are not angry with me, sir?' said Oliver, raising his eyes
beseechingly.%
'No, no,' replied the old gentleman. 'Why! what's this? Bedwin, look there!'
As he spoke, he pointed hastily to the picture over Oliver's head, and then to
the boy's face. There was its living copy. The eyes, the head, the mouth; every
feature was the same. The expression was, for the instant, so precisely alike, that
the minutest line seemed copied with startling accuracy!
Oliver knew not the cause of this sudden exclamation; for, not being strong
enough to bear the start it gave him, he fainted away. A weakness on his part,
which affords the narrative an opportunity of relieving the reader from suspense,
in behalf of the two young pupils of the Merry Old Gentleman; and of recordingThat when the Dodger, and his accomplished friend Master Bates, joined in
the hue-and-cry which was raised at Oliver's heels, in consequence of their
executing an illegal conveyance of Mr. Brownlow's personal property, as has
been already described, they were actuated by a very laudable and becoming
regard for themselves; and forasmuch as the freedom of the subject and the
liberty of the individual are among the first and proudest boasts of a truehearted Englishman, so, I need hardly beg the reader to observe, that this action
should tend to exalt them in the opinion of all public and patriotic men, in
almost as great a degree as this strong proof of their anxiety for their own
preservation and safety goes to corroborate and confirm the little code of laws
which certain profound and sound-judging philosophers have laid down as the
main-springs of all Nature's deeds and actions: the said philosophers very wisely
reducing the good lady's proceedings to matters of maxim and theory: and, by a
very neat and pretty compliment to her exalted wisdom and understanding,
putting entirely out of sight any considerations of heart, or generous impulse and
feeling. For, these are matters totally beneath a female who is acknowledged by
Thesaurus
actuated: (adj) motivated, actuate.
corroborate: (v) validate, bear out,
verify, establish, authenticate,
substantiate, prove, affirm,
demonstrate, support, attest.
ANTONYMS: (v) contradict, reject,
negate, disprove, disclaim, deny,
undermine, cancel.
deeds: (n) works, activity, actions,
conduct, background, events,
happenings, performance, activities.
exalt: (v) glorify, celebrate, animate,
raise, advance, promote, elevate,
praise; (n, v) dignify, adore, ennoble.
ANTONYMS: (v) degrade, ridicule,
debase, condemn, criticize, deprecate,
desecrate, disparage.
exalted: (adj) elevated, eminent, noble,
high, August, elated, dignified, great,
sublime, grand, big. ANTONYMS:
(adj) belittled, condemned, criticized,
debased, humble, humiliated, low,
lowly, minor, ridiculed, base.
executing: (n) performing, execution,
decapitation, capital punishment,
electrocution, death penalty,
crucifixion, implementation, corporal
punishment; (v) perform, execute.
laudable: (adj) commendable,
creditable, admirable, praiseworthy,
worthy, deserving, good, honorable,
meritorious, applaudable, estimable.
ANTONYMS: (adj) shameful,
regrettable, unimpressive,
lamentable, poor, despicable.
true-hearted: (adj) true.
Charles Dickens
105
universal admission to be far above the numerous little foibles and weaknesses
of her sex.
If I wanted any further proof of the strictly philosophical nature of the
conduct of these young gentlemen in their very delicate predicament, I should at
once find it in the fact (also recorded in a foregoing part of this narrative), of
their quitting the pursuit, when the general attention was fixed upon Oliver; and
making immediately for their home by the shortest possible cut. Although I do
not mean to assert that it is usually the practice of renowned and learned sages,
to shorten the road to any great conclusion (their course indeed being rather to
lengthen the distance, by various circumlocutions and discursive staggerings,
like unto those in which drunken men under the pressure of a too mighty flow of
ideas, are prone to indulge); still, I do mean to say, and do say distinctly, that it is
the invariable practice of many mighty philosophers, in carrying out their
theories, to evince great wisdom and foresight in providing against every
possible contingency which can be supposed at all likely to affect themselves.
Thus, to do a great right, you may do a little wrong; and you may take any
means which the end to be attained, will justify; the amount of the right, or the
amount of the wrong, or indeed the distinction between the two, being left
entirely to the philosopher concerned, to be settled and determined by his clear,
comprehensive, and impartial view of his own particular case.%
It was not until the two boys had scoured, with great rapidity, through a
most intricate maze of narrow streets and courts, that they ventured to halt
beneath a low and dark archway. Having remained silent here, just long enough
to recover breath to speak, Master Bates uttered an exclamation of amusement
and delight; and, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, flung himself
upon a doorstep, and rolled thereon in a transport of mirth.
'What's the matter?' inquired the Dodger.
'Ha! ha! ha!' roared Charley Bates.
'Hold your noise,' remonstrated the Dodger, looking cautiously round. 'Do
you want to be grabbed, stupid?'
Thesaurus
evince: (v) show, display, evidence,
argue, indicate, manifest, mark,
express, prove, establish, exhibit.
foregoing: (adj) previous, anterior,
antecedent, prior, past, above,
preceding, aforegoing, earlier.
ANTONYM: (adj) following.
foresight: (n) prevision, forecast,
caution, prospicience, calculation,
prescience, prediction, precaution,
vision, foresightedness; (n, v)
expectation. ANTONYM: (n)
hindsight.
invariable: (adj) fixed, consistent,
even, immutable, steady,
unchanging, stable, uniform, set,
undeviating, unchanged.
ANTONYMS: (adj) changing,
dynamic, erratic, irregular, varied.
lengthen: (adj, v) elongate; (v) enlarge,
prolong, draw, draw out, increase,
expand, stretch, protract, continue,
drag out. ANTONYMS: (v) clip,
curtail.
mirth: (adj, n) merriment, jollity; (n)
amusement, happiness, delight, joy,
hilarity, cheerfulness, festivity,
gladness, exhilaration. ANTONYMS:
(n) gloom, sadness, misery.
quitting: (n) departure, resignation.
scoured: (adj) worn, windswept,
wrinkled, weathered, tough, gnarled,
battered, craggy.
shortest: (adj) direct, brusk, brusque,
choleric, curt, directer, hotheaded,
least, irascible, lowest, most direct.
106
Oliver Twist
'I can't help it,' said Charley, 'I can't help it! To see him splitting away at that
pace, and cutting round the corners, and knocking up again' the posts, and
starting on again as if he was made of iron as well as them, and me with the
wipe in my pocket, singing out arter him--oh, my eye!' The vivid imagination of
Master Bates presented the scene before him in too strong colours. As he arrived
at this apostrophe, he again rolled upon the door-step, and laughed louder than
before.%
'What'll Fagin say?' inquired the Dodger; taking advantage of the next
interval of breathlessness on the part of his friend to propound the question.
'What?' repeated Charley Bates.
'Ah, what?' said the Dodger.
'Why, what should he say?' inquired Charley: stopping rather suddenly in his
merriment; for the Dodger's manner was impressive. 'What should he say?'
Mr. Dawkins whistled for a couple of minutes; then, taking off his hat,
scratched his head, and nodded thrice.
'What do you mean?' said Charley.
'Toor rul lol loo, gammon and spinnage, the frog he wouldn't, and high
cockolorum,' said the Dodger: with a slight sneer on his intellectual countenance.
This was explanatory, but not satisfactory. Master Bates felt it so; and again
said, 'What do you mean?'
The Dodger made no reply; but putting his hat on again, and gathering the
skirts of his long-tailed coat under his arm, thrust his tongue into his cheek,
slapped the bridge of his nose some half-dozen times in a familiar but expressive
manner, and turning on his heel, slunk down the court. Master Bates followed,
with a thoughtful countenance.
The noise of footsteps on the creaking stairs, a few minutes after the
occurrence of this conversation, roused the merry old gentleman as he sat over
the fire with a saveloy and a small loaf in his hand; a pocket-knife in his right;
and a pewter pot on the trivet. There was a rascally smile on his white face as he
Thesaurus
apostrophe: (n) address,
tosh, flimflam, ham, bacon,
balderdash; (v) bilk, hoax, stuff up.
interpellation, invocation,
punctuation, salutation, monologue, heel: (n) blackguard, dog, counter,
stream of consciousness, soliloquy,
cad, villain, scoundrel, shoe, sole,
bounder, tree rest; (v) lean.
motion, appeal, digression.
breathlessness: (n) shortness of
propound: (v) offer, suggest, present,
breath, dyspnea, bastard, asshole.
pose, enunciate, proffer, move, put;
frog: (n) frogs, toad, chamois, epaulet, (n, v) propose; (n) advance, allege.
crapaud, batrachian, anuran, aigulet, rascally: (adj) dirty, contemptible,
grasshopper, Frenchman, shoulder
abject, mean, mischievous,
knot.
scoundrelly, roguish, scabby, scurvy,
gammon: (n) nonsense, fraud, deceit,
shabby, paltry.
slapped: (adj) mistreated.
splitting: (adj) ripping; (n) fission,
partition, division, schism, crack,
breakup, disunion, dissociation,
cleavage; (v) to split.
thrice: (adv) three times, thirdly.
trivet: (n) bracket, stand, board, shelf,
ledge, poker, tongs, hob, shovel,
tripod, support.
wipe: (n, v) rub; (v) mop, clean, towel,
brush, scour, scrub, clear, dry, wash;
(adj) sponge. ANTONYM: (v) dirty.
Charles Dickens
107
turned round, and looking sharply out from under his thick red eyebrows, bent
his ear towards the door, and listened.
'Why, how's this?' muttered the Jew: changing countenance; 'only two of 'em?
Where's the third? They can't have got into trouble. Hark!'
The footsteps approached nearer; they reached the landing. The door was
slowly opened; and the Dodger and Charley Bates entered, closing it behind
them.%
Thesaurus
bent: (adj) curved, arched, deformed,
crooked; (n) propensity, inclination,
fancy, leaning, flair, gift, curvature.
ANTONYMS: (n) weakness, inability,
aversion; (adj) undetermined,
undecided, uncurved, uncaring,
rigid, unbent.
closing: (n) end, finish, conclusion,
close, ending, shutting, finishing;
(adj) ultimate, last, final, terminal.
ANTONYMS: (adj, n) opening; (adj)
first.
footsteps: (n) road, footprints, way,
trail, path, track, footpath.
landing: (n) disembarkation, land,
dock, touchdown, debarkation,
disembarkment, floor, platform,
landing place, bank, banking-ground.
muttered: (adj) garbled, incoherent,
broken, inarticulate.
nearer: (adj) adjacent, narre, hither;
(adv) more rapidly, sooner, quicker,
nigher, NER, faster, earlier, Neer.
sharply: (adj, adv) piercingly, harshly,
penetratingly; (adv) keenly, severely,
abruptly, trenchantly, shrewdly,
bitingly, cuttingly, bitterly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) gently, kindly,
sweetly, politely, gradually,
pleasantly.
thick: (adj) compact, stupid, crowded,
slow, opaque, dull, heavy, stocky,
deep, close, familiar. ANTONYMS:
(adj) thin, intelligent, sparse, bright,
slight, clever, transparent, diluted,
fine, clear, runny.
Charles Dickens
109
CHAPTER XIII
SOME NEW ACQUAINTANCES ARE
INTRODUCED TO THE INTELLIGENT READER,
CONNECTED WITH WHOM VARIOUS
PLEASANT MATTERS ARE RELATED,
APPERTAINING TO THIS HISTORY
'Where's Oliver?' said the Jew, rising with a menacing look. 'Where's the
boy?'
The young thieves eyed their preceptor as if they were alarmed at his
violence; and looked uneasily at each other. But they made no reply.%
'What's become of the boy?' said the Jew, seizing the Dodger tightly by the
collar, and threatening him with horrid imprecations. 'Speak out, or I'll throttle
you!'
Mr. Fagin looked so very much in earnest, that Charley Bates, who deemed it
prudent in all cases to be on the safe side, and who conceived it by no means
improbable that it might be his turn to be throttled second, dropped upon his
knees, and raised a loud, well-sustained, and continuous roar--something
between a mad bull and a speaking trumpet.
Thesaurus
alarmed: (adj) afraid, scared,
frightened, apprehensive, horrified,
anxious, uneasy, agitated, shocked,
terrified, concerned. ANTONYM:
(adj) carefree.
conceived: (adj) formed.
horrid: (adj) grisly, ghastly, ugly,
gruesome, grim, fearful, dreadful,
direful, dire, horrible, fearsome.
ANTONYMS: (adj) lovely, nice,
appealing, attractive, kind.
knees: (n) knee.
menacing: (adj) threatening, sinister,
strangulate, smother, scrag,
ominous, imminent, impending,
constrain, stifle, suffocate, restrain,
cumber; (n) accelerator.
minatory, ugly, frightening,
tightly: (adv) closely, steadily, tautly,
minacious, dangerous, formidable.
ANTONYMS: (adj) auspicious,
strictly, securely, densely, stiffly,
approachable, promising, reassuring, solidly, tipsily, stably,
parsimoniously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
soothing, favorable.
preceptor: (n) master, schoolmaster,
loosely, insecurely, sparsely.
don, pedagogue, instructor, teacher, trumpet: (n) horn, cornet, bugle,
educator, principal, mentor, monitor, clarion, trump, brass, trombone; (v)
guide.
proclaim, promulgate, show off,
throttle: (v) choke, asphyxiate,
blare.
110
Oliver Twist
'Will you speak?' thundered the Jew: shaking the Dodger so much that his
keeping in the big coat at all, seemed perfectly miraculous.
'Why, the traps have got him, and that's all about it,' said the Dodger,
sullenly. 'Come, let go o' me, will you!' And, swinging himself, at one jerk, clean
out of the big coat, which he left in the Jew's hands, the Dodger snatched up the
toasting fork, and made a pass at the merry old gentleman's waistcoat; which, if
it had taken effect, would have let a little more merriment out than could have
been easily replaced.%
The Jew stepped back in this emergency, with more agility than could have
been anticipated in a man of his apparent decrepitude; and, seizing up the pot,
prepared to hurl it at his assailant's head. But Charley Bates, at this moment,
calling his attention by a perfectly terrific howl, he suddenly altered its
destination, and flung it full at that young gentleman.
'Why, what the blazes is in the wind now!' growled a deep voice. 'Who
pitched that 'ere at me? It's well it's the beer, and not the pot, as hit me, or I'd
have settled somebody. I might have know'd, as nobody but an infernal, rich,
plundering, thundering old Jew could afford to throw away any drink but
water--and not that, unless he done the River Company every quarter. Wot's it
all about, Fagin? D--me, if my neck-handkercher an't lined with beer! Come in,
you sneaking warmint; wot are you stopping outside for, as if you was ashamed
of your master! Come in!'
The man who growled out these words, was a stoutly-built fellow of about
five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half
boots, and grey cotton stockings which inclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large
swelling calves;--the kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an
unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them. He had
a brown hat on his head, and a dirty belcher handkerchief round his neck: with
the long frayed ends of which he smeared the beer from his face as he spoke. He
disclosed, when he had done so, a broad heavy countenance with a beard of
three days' growth, and two scowling eyes; one of which displayed various
parti-coloured symptoms of having been recently damaged by a blow.
Thesaurus
decrepitude: (n) debility, weakness,
fling; (n) casting. ANTONYM: (v)
sneaking: (adj) hangdog, furtive,
cachexia, dotage, feebleness, frailty,
hold.
contemptible, abject, clandestine,
infirmity, disrepair; (v) caducity; (adj) inclosed: (adj) confined, entrails,
confidential, dirty, shabby; (n)
creeping, crawling; (adj, n) sneaky.
anility, declining years.
included, internal, intestine.
displayed: (adj) extendant, expanded, infernal: (adj) devilish, fiendish,
sullenly: (adv) sulkily, sourly,
splay.
diabolical, demonic, damned, cursed, grumpily, morosely, moodily,
fetters: (n) chains, captivity, bond,
blasted, unholy, wicked; (adj, v)
dourly, somberly, peevishly, surly,
restraint, irons, handcuffs, iron,
diabolic, satanic.
crossly, petulantly. ANTONYMS:
enduring; (v) confine, fee, embellish. plundering: (n) rape, pillage,
(adv) graciously, contentedly, gladly,
ANTONYM: (n) liberation.
depredation, despoliation, rapine,
cheerily.
hurl: (v) chuck, dash, pitch, throw,
velveteen: (adj) velumen, textile,
spoliation, despoilment, plunder,
dart, pelt, toss, heave, send; (n, v)
looting; (adj) predatory, marauding.
material, fabric, cloth.
Charles Dickens
111
'Come in, d'ye hear?' growled this engaging ruffian.
A white shaggy dog, with his face scratched and torn in twenty different
places, skulked into the room.%
'Why didn't you come in afore?' said the man. 'You're getting too proud to
own me afore company, are you? Lie down!'
This command was accompanied with a kick, which sent the animal to the
other end of the room. He appeared well used to it, however; for he coiled
himself up in a corner very quietly, without uttering a sound, and winking his
very ill-looking eyes twenty times in a minute, appeared to occupy himself in
taking a survey of the apartment.
'What are you up to? Ill-treating the boys, you covetous, avaricious, in-sa-tia-ble old fence?' said the man, seating himself deliberately. 'I wonder they don't
murder you! I would if I was them. If I'd been your 'prentice, I'd have done it
long ago, and--no, I couldn't have sold you afterwards, for you're fit for nothing
but keeping as a curiousity of ugliness in a glass bottle, and I suppose they don't
blow glass bottles large enough.'
'Hush! hush! Mr. Sikes,' said the Jew, trembling; 'don't speak so loud!'
'None of your mistering,' replied the ruffian; 'you always mean mischief
when you come that. You know my name: out with it! I shan't disgrace it when
the time comes.'
'Well, well, then--Bill Sikes,' said the Jew, with abject humility. 'You seem out
of humour, Bill.'
'Perhaps I am,' replied Sikes; 'I should think you was rather out of sorts too,
unless you mean as little harm when you throw pewter pots about, as you do
when you blab and--'
'Are you mad?' said the Jew, catching the man by the sleeve, and pointing
towards the boys.
Mr. Sikes contented himself with tying an imaginary knot under his left ear,
and jerking his head over on the right shoulder; a piece of dumb show which the
Thesaurus
abject: (adj) contemptible, pitiful, low, clack, talk, prattle, gabble, reveal,
miscreant, villain, rogue, roughneck.
ugliness: (n) eyesore, offensiveness,
wretched, despicable, sordid, base,
gossip, twaddle.
mean, vile; (n) ignominious, dirty.
covetous: (adj) avid, envious, greedy,
hideousness, garishness, gaudiness,
ANTONYMS: (adj) honorable,
grasping, acquisitive, miserly,
grotesqueness, grotesquery,
hungry, jealous; (adj, n) desirous; (adj, repulsiveness, homeliness,
hopeful, magnificent, esteemed,
v) sordid, mercenary. ANTONYMS:
unsightliness; (adj, n) unpleasantness.
proud, dignified, commendable,
(adj) giving, benevolent, sharing.
ANTONYMS: (n) beauty,
noble, exalted, worthy, happy.
avaricious: (adj) greedy, grasping,
jerking: (adj) arrhythmic,
attractiveness, pleasantness.
arrhythmical, jerky, unsteady; (n)
winking: (n) twinkling, wink, blink,
acquisitive, avid, miserly, grabby,
parsimonious, penurious; (adj, v)
movement, jolt, dork, jar.
New York minute, jiffy, instant,
ruffian: (n) rowdy, rascal, hooligan,
mercenary, sordid, extortionate.
nictation, nictitation, trice, blink of an
blab: (v) tattle, chatter, tell on, mouth, bully, brute, hoodlum, tough,
eye; (adj) pink ribbons.
112
Oliver Twist
Jew appeared to understand perfectly. He then, in cant terms, with which his
whole conversation was plentifully besprinkled, but which would be quite
unintelligible if they were recorded here, demanded a glass of liquor.%
'And mind you don't poison it,' said Mr. Sikes, laying his hat upon the table.
This was said in jest; but if the speaker could have seen the evil leer with
which the Jew bit his pale lip as he turned round to the cupboard, he might have
thought the caution not wholly unnecessary, or the wish (at all events) to
improve upon the distiller's ingenuity not very far from the old gentleman's
merry heart.
After swallowing two of three glasses of spirits, Mr. Sikes condescended to
take some notice of the young gentlemen; which gracious act led to a
conversation, in which the cause and manner of Oliver's capture were
circumstantially detailed, with such alterations and improvements on the truth,
as to the Dodger appeared most advisable under the circumstances.
'I'm afraid,' said the Jew, 'that he may say something which will get us into
trouble.'
'That's very likely,' returned Sikes with a malicious grin. 'You're blowed
upon, Fagin.'
'And I'm afraid, you see,' added the Jew, speaking as if he had not noticed the
interruption; and regarding the other closely as he did so,--'I'm afraid that, if the
game was up with us, it might be up with a good many more, and that it would
come out rather worse for you than it would for me, my dear.'
The man started, and turned round upon the Jew. But the old gentleman's
shoulders were shrugged up to his ears; and his eyes were vacantly staring on
the opposite wall.
There was a long pause. Every member of the respectable coterie appeared
plunged in his own reflections; not excepting the dog, who by a certain malicious
licking of his lips seemed to be meditating an attack upon the legs of the first
gentleman or lady he might encounter in the streets when he went out.
Thesaurus
blowed: (n) blowen, blowzy.
cant: (n) jargon, lingo, slang,
vernacular, argot; (n, v) bank, tilt,
bias, incline; (adj, n) bevel; (v) list.
circumstantially: (adv) minutely,
detailedly, particularly, by chance,
incidentally, fortuitously,
contingently, precisely,
presumptively, specifically,
specificly.
coterie: (n) clique, band, faction,
company, clan, ring, party, junta,
pack, group, gang.
excepting: (conj, prep) but, bar; (n, prep)
except for, exclusive of; (prep) aside
from, besides, apart from, barring,
excluding, with the exception of; (v)
saving. ANTONYM: (prep) including.
jest: (n) gag, gibe, quip, game; (n, v)
jape; (v) banter, jeer, deride, gird,
sneer, clown.
meditating: (n) conception.
plentifully: (adv) plenteously,
bountifully, bounteously,
abundantly, profusely, richly, fully,
liberally, opulently, amply,
prolifically. ANTONYM: (adv)
meagerly.
unintelligible: (adj) opaque,
inarticulate, unfathomable,
impenetrable, unaccountable,
ambiguous, not clear, obscure,
indistinct, inconceivable, secret.
ANTONYMS: (adj) understandable,
clear, comprehensible, intelligible,
obvious.
Charles Dickens
113
'Somebody must find out wot's been done at the office,' said Mr. Sikes in a
much lower tone than he had taken since he came in.
The Jew nodded assent.%
'If he hasn't peached, and is committed, there's no fear till he comes out
again,' said Mr. Sikes, 'and then he must be taken care on. You must get hold of
him somehow.'
Again the Jew nodded.
The prudence of this line of action, indeed, was obvious; but, unfortunately,
there was one very strong objection to its being adopted. This was, that the
Dodger, and Charley Bates, and Fagin, and Mr. William Sikes, happened, one
and all, to entertain a violent and deeply-rooted antipathy to going near a policeoffice on any ground or pretext whatever.
How long they might have sat and looked at each other, in a state of
uncertainty not the most pleasant of its kind, it is difficult to guess. It is not
necessary to make any guesses on the subject, however; for the sudden entrance
of the two young ladies whom Oliver had seen on a former occasion, caused the
conversation to flow afresh.
'The very thing!' said the Jew. 'Bet will go; won't you, my dear?'
'Wheres?' inquired the young lady.
'Only just up to the office, my dear,' said the Jew coaxingly.
It is due to the young lady to say that she did not positively affirm that she
would not, but that she merely expressed an emphatic and earnest desire to be
'blessed' if she would; a polite and delicate evasion of the request, which shows
the young lady to have been possessed of that natural good breeding which
cannot bear to inflict upon a fellow-creature, the pain of a direct and pointed
refusal.
The Jew's countenance fell. He turned from this young lady, who was gaily,
not to say gorgeously attired, in a red gown, green boots, and yellow curlpapers, to the other female.
Thesaurus
affirm: (v) prove, assert, declare,
repugnance, repulsion. ANTONYMS:
(n) love, attraction, liking, like,
protest, avow, maintain, approve,
accept, assure, profess, promise.
leaning, regard, appeal, appreciation,
ANTONYMS: (v) negate, veto,
admiration, affection, friendliness.
coaxingly: (adv) coax, coaxing.
nullify, refute, repress.
afresh: (adv) again, newly, over again, gorgeously: (adv) splendidly,
new, once again, freshly, once more,
magnificently, grandly, stunningly,
often; (adj) the other day, just now,
sumptuously, wonderfully, superbly,
only yesterday.
exquisitely, resplendently,
antipathy: (n) animosity, aversion,
attractively, delightfully.
ANTONYM: (adv) horribly.
abomination, abhorrence, dislike,
pretext: (n) pretense, pretension, color,
hatred, distaste, enmity, odium,
pretence, mask, plea, guise, sham,
appearance; (n, v) excuse, cloak.
prudence: (n) foresight, economy,
frugality, caution, care, forethought,
providence, circumspection,
judgment, deliberation; (adj, n)
wisdom. ANTONYMS: (n)
imprudence, profligacy, generosity,
hindsight, recklessness,
extravagance.
114
Oliver Twist
'Nancy, my dear,' said the Jew in a soothing manner, 'what do YOU say?'
'That it won't do; so it's no use a-trying it on, Fagin,' replied Nancy.
'What do you mean by that?' said Mr. Sikes, looking up in a surly manner.%
'What I say, Bill,' replied the lady collectedly.
'Why, you're just the very person for it,' reasoned Mr. Sikes: 'nobody about
here knows anything of you.'
'And as I don't want 'em to, neither,' replied Nancy in the same composed
manner, 'it's rather more no than yes with me, Bill.'
'She'll go, Fagin,' said Sikes.
'No, she won't, Fagin,' said Nancy.
'Yes, she will, Fagin,' said Sikes.
And Mr. Sikes was right. By dint of alternate threats, promises, and bribes,
the lady in question was ultimately prevailed upon to undertake the commission.
She was not, indeed, withheld by the same considerations as her agreeable
friend; for, having recently removed into the neighborhood of Field Lane from
the remote but genteel suburb of Ratcliffe, she was not under the same
apprehension of being recognised by any of her numerous acquaintances.
Accordingly, with a clean white apron tied over her gown, and her curlpapers tucked up under a straw bonnet,--both articles of dress being provided
from the Jew's inexhaustible stock,--Miss Nancy prepared to issue forth on her
errand.
'Stop a minute, my dear,' said the Jew, producing, a little covered basket.
'Carry that in one hand. It looks more respectable, my dear.'
'Give her a door-key to carry in her t'other one, Fagin,' said Sikes; 'it looks real
and genivine like.'
'Yes, yes, my dear, so it does,' said the Jew, hanging a large street-door key on
the forefinger of the young lady's right hand.
'There; very good! Very good indeed, my dear!' said the Jew, rubbing his
hands.
Thesaurus
acquaintances: (n) associates.
genteel: (adj) elegant, polite, cultured, ANTONYMS: (adj) limited,
collectedly: (adv) coolly, calmly,
refined, graceful, courtly, courteous,
unproductive.
soothing: (adj) calming, soft, smooth,
quietly, placidly, serenely, soberly,
fashionable, nice, civil, ladylike.
ANTONYMS: (adj) uncouth,
steadily, tranquilly, sedately, stilly,
pacifying, quiet, restful, bland, calm,
assuasive; (adj, n) softening; (n)
levelheadedly.
improper, vulgar.
dint: (v) indent; (n) indentation, blow, having: (n) estate, possession,
alleviation. ANTONYMS: (adj)
strength, percussion, agency, hollow, acceptance, enjoyment.
upsetting, disturbing, hostile, scary,
depression, might, impression; (adj) inexhaustible: (adj) indefatigable,
worrying, stimulating, exasperating,
delve.
immeasurable, unfailing, infinite,
annoying, invigorating, painful,
errand: (n) chore, mission, job, task,
boundless, illimitable, unlimited,
intimidating.
withheld: (adj) hidden, uncommitted.
assignment, embassy, duty, charge,
incalculable, unexhaustible,
ANTONYM: (adj) ongoing.
messenger, communication, work.
unapproachable, unfathomable.
Charles Dickens
115
'Oh, my brother! My poor, dear, sweet, innocent little brother!' exclaimed
Nancy, bursting into tears, and wringing the little basket and the street-door key
in an agony of distress. 'What has become of him! Where have they taken him to!
Oh, do have pity, and tell me what's been done with the dear boy, gentlemen; do,
gentlemen, if you please, gentlemen!'
Having uttered those words in a most lamentable and heart-broken tone: to
the immeasurable delight of her hearers: Miss Nancy paused, winked to the
company, nodded smilingly round, and disappeared.%
'Ah, she's a clever girl, my dears,' said the Jew, turning round to his young
friends, and shaking his head gravely, as if in mute admonition to them to
follow the bright example they had just beheld.
'She's a honour to her sex,' said Mr. Sikes, filling his glass, and smiting the
table with his enormous fist. 'Here's her health, and wishing they was all like
her!'
While these, and many other encomiums, were being passed on the
accomplished Nancy, that young lady made the best of her way to the policeoffice; whither, notwithstanding a little natural timidity consequent upon
walking through the streets alone and unprotected, she arrived in perfect safety
shortly afterwards.
Entering by the back way, she tapped softly with the key at one of the celldoors, and listened. There was no sound within: so she coughed and listened
again. Still there was no reply: so she spoke.
'Nolly, dear?' murmured Nancy in a gentle voice; 'Nolly?'
There was nobody inside but a miserable shoeless criminal, who had been
taken up for playing the flute, and who, the offence against society having been
clearly proved, had been very properly committed by Mr. Fang to the House of
Correction for one month; with the appropriate and amusing remark that since
he had so much breath to spare, it would be more wholesomely expended on the
treadmill than in a musical instrument. He made no answer: being occupied
Thesaurus
admonition: (n) advice, caution,
admonishment, reproof, exhortation,
lesson, counsel, monition, caveat,
censure, rebuke. ANTONYM: (n)
approval.
immeasurable: (adj) endless, immense,
infinite, huge, enormous, illimitable,
unmeasurable, incalculable,
inestimable, innumerable,
interminable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
limited, minute, finite, shallow,
slight, negligible, tiny, few, minor,
small.
shoeless: (adj) barefooted, unshod,
unshoed.
smilingly: (adv, v) happily; (adv)
brightly, cheerfully, jolly, joyfully,
laughingly.
timidity: (n) shyness, fear,
bashfulness, nervousness, reserve,
cowardice, fearfulness, timidness,
modesty, humility, coyness.
ANTONYMS: (n) confidence,
boastfulness, swagger, brashness,
security.
wholesomely: (adv) salubriously,
healthfully, salutarily, soundly,
beneficially, goodly, nourishingly,
hygienically, helpfully, sanely,
rightly.
wringing: (adj) saturated, soaked,
soaked to the skin, soaking wet,
sodden, sopping, sopping wet, wet,
wet through, wringing wet, soaking.
ANTONYM: (adj) dry.
116
Oliver Twist
mentally bewailing the loss of the flute, which had been confiscated for the use
of the county: so Nancy passed on to the next cell, and knocked there.
'Well!' cried a faint and feeble voice.
'Is there a little boy here?' inquired Nancy, with a preliminary sob.%
'No,' replied the voice; 'God forbid.'
This was a vagrant of sixty-five, who was going to prison for not playing the
flute; or, in other words, for begging in the streets, and doing nothing for his
livelihood. In the next cell was another man, who was going to the same prison
for hawking tin saucepans without license; thereby doing something for his
living, in defiance of the Stamp-office.
But, as neither of these criminals answered to the name of Oliver, or knew
anything about him, Nancy made straight up to the bluff officer in the striped
waistcoat; and with the most piteous wailings and lamentations, rendered more
piteous by a prompt and efficient use of the street-door key and the little basket,
demanded her own dear brother.
'I haven't got him, my dear,' said the old man.
'Where is he?' screamed Nancy, in a distracted manner.
'Why, the gentleman's got him,' replied the officer.
'What gentleman! Oh, gracious heavens! What gentleman?' exclaimed Nancy.
In reply to this incoherent questioning, the old man informed the deeply
affected sister that Oliver had been taken ill in the office, and discharged in
consequence of a witness having proved the robbery to have been committed by
another boy, not in custody; and that the prosecutor had carried him away, in an
insensible condition, to his own residence: of and concerning which, all the
informant knew was, that it was somewhere in Pentonville, he having heard that
word mentioned in the directions to the coachman.
In a dreadful state of doubt and uncertainty, the agonised young woman
staggered to the gate, and then, exchanging her faltering walk for a swift run,
Thesaurus
agonised: (adj) painful.
basket: (n) cage, hamper, basketful,
creel, Corf, coop, bucket, spinner
basket, bassinet, containerful, cradle.
coachman: (n) teamster, cabman,
charioteer, carter, carman, Jehu,
postboy, drayman, wagoner,
postilion; (v) whip.
confiscated: (adj) seized, appropriated,
condemned, forfeit, censured, taken,
taken over.
faltering: (n) falter, pause, vacillation;
(adj) tentative, vacillating, doubtful,
wandering, muddled, inconsistent,
contradictory. ANTONYMS: (adj)
irresolute, hesitant, uncertain,
unsure; (adv) falteringly.
clear, articulate, eloquent, intelligible,
ANTONYMS: (adj) decided, firm,
lucid, sound, concise, consistent.
informant: (n) betrayer, sneak,
eloquent, decisive, sure.
hawking: (v) angling, fishing, peddle, informer, squealer, deponent, author,
shooting; (n) Stephen hawking,
attestant, communicator, fink; (v)
colportage, peddlery, vendition,
mouthpiece, teller.
Stephen William hawking, vending. vagrant: (adj, v) stray, roving, itinerant,
incoherent: (adj) disjointed,
Peripatetic, rambling; (n) tramp,
hobo, drifter, wanderer; (v) unsettled,
disconnected, delirious, rambling,
erratic. ANTONYM: (n) resident.
confused, disordered, incompatible,
Charles Dickens
117
returned by the most devious and complicated route she could think of, to the
domicile of the Jew.
Mr. Bill Sikes no sooner heard the account of the expedition delivered, than
he very hastily called up the white dog, and, putting on his hat, expeditiously
departed: without devoting any time to the formality of wishing the company
good-morning.%
'We must know where he is, my dears; he must be found,' said the Jew
greatly excited. 'Charley, do nothing but skulk about, till you bring home some
news of him! Nancy, my dear, I must have him found. I trust to you, my dear,--to
you and the Artful for everything! Stay, stay,' added the Jew, unlocking a drawer
with a shaking hand; 'there's money, my dears. I shall shut up this shop to-night.
You'll know where to find me! Don't stop here a minute. Not an instant, my
dears!'
With these words, he pushed them from the room: and carefully doublelocking and barring the door behind them, drew from its place of concealment
the box which he had unintentionally disclosed to Oliver. Then, he hastily
proceeded to dispose the watches and jewellery beneath his clothing.
A rap at the door startled him in this occupation. 'Who's there?' he cried in a
shrill tone.
'Me!' replied the voice of the Dodger, through the key-hole.
'What now?' cried the Jew impatiently.
'Is he to be kidnapped to the other ken, Nancy says?' inquired the Dodger.
'Yes,' replied the Jew, 'wherever she lays hands on him. Find him, find him
out, that's all. I shall know what to do next; never fear.'
The boy murmured a reply of intelligence: and hurried downstairs after his
companions.
'He has not peached so far,' said the Jew as he pursued his occupation. 'If he
means to blab us among his new friends, we may stop his mouth yet.'
Thesaurus
barring: (prep) besides; (n) except for,
openness, uncovering, revelation.
excepting, except, with the exception domicile: (n) dwelling, abode,
of, without, with a reservation,
residence, home, house, address,
lodging, place, habitat; (v) lodge; (n,
ejection, save and except, riddance,
expulsion. ANTONYMS: (n)
v) sojourn.
entitlement; (prep) including.
expeditiously: (adv) swiftly, rapidly,
concealment: (n) suppression,
fleetly, quickly, efficiently, hastily,
confidentiality, concealing, secrecy,
agilely, speedily, fast, expeditely,
screen, disguise, hiding, privacy,
fastly.
shrill: (adj) piercing, penetrating,
camouflage, blind, covering.
ANTONYMS: (n) discovery,
strident, keen, shrewd; (v) shriek,
screech, scream, yell; (adj, v) high,
disclosure, exposure, expression,
sharp. ANTONYMS: (adj) low, quiet,
resonant.
skulk: (v) prowl, sneak, creep, lie in
wait, steal, malinger, shirk, conceal,
slink; (adj) hide; (n, v) cower.
unintentionally: (adv) unwittingly, by
chance, inadvertently, by accident,
unexpectedly, involuntarily,
unconsciously, fortuitously, by
mistake, unintendedly, unplannedly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) deliberately,
purposely, knowingly.
Charles Dickens
119
CHAPTER XIV
COMPRISING FURTHER PARTICULARS OF
OLIVER'S STAY AT MR. BROWNLOW'S, WITH
THE REMARKABLE PREDICTION WHICH ONE
MR. GRIMWIG UTTERED CONCERNING HIM,
WHEN HE WENT OUT ON AN ERRAND
Oliver soon recovering from the fainting-fit into which Mr. Brownlow's
abrupt exclamation had thrown him, the subject of the picture was carefully
avoided, both by the old gentleman and Mrs. Bedwin, in the conversation that
ensued: which indeed bore no reference to Oliver's history or prospects, but was
confined to such topics as might amuse without exciting him. He was still too
weak to get up to breakfast; but, when he came down into the housekeeper's
room next day, his first act was to cast an eager glance at the wall, in the hope of
again looking on the face of the beautiful lady. His expectations were
disappointed, however, for the picture had been removed.%
'Ah!' said the housekeeper, watching the direction of Oliver's eyes. 'It is gone,
you see.'
'I see it is ma'am,' replied Oliver. 'Why have they taken it away?'
Thesaurus
abrupt: (adj) sudden, brusque, sharp,
precipitous, steep, instantaneous,
unexpected, swift, instant, hasty; (n)
bold. ANTONYMS: (adj) gentle,
gradual, rambling, gracious,
courteous, polite, anticipated, kind,
calm, protracted, deliberate.
amuse: (v) please, beguile, absorb,
entertain, enjoy, disport, distract,
delight, occupy, recreate, rejoice.
ANTONYMS: (v) bore, dull, tire,
annoy, anger, cloy, depress, weary,
disappoint.
avoided: (adj) unpopular.
eager: (adj) avid, ardent, agog, acute,
zealous, enthusiastic, keen,
ambitious, industrious, studious; (adj,
n) earnest. ANTONYMS: (adj)
indifferent, unconcerned, apathetic,
disinterested, unwilling,
unenthusiastic, lukewarm, patient,
reluctant, listless, bored.
exclamation: (n) clamor, ejaculation,
exclaiming, utterance, whoop,
interjection, shout, expletive, deuce,
Dickens, ecphonesis.
housekeeper: (n) factotum, mistress,
shepherd, householder, housewife,
domestic, cleaning woman, croupier,
domestic help, seneschal, house
servant.
recovering: (v) recover, regain, restore;
(adj) better; (n) rehabilitation,
recovery, rescue, relaxation; (adv)
getting better, on the road to
recovery, improving.
120
Oliver Twist
'It has been taken down, child, because Mr. Brownlow said, that as it seemed
to worry you, perhaps it might prevent your getting well, you know,' rejoined
the old lady.%
'Oh, no, indeed. It didn't worry me, ma'am,' said Oliver. 'I liked to see it. I
quite loved it.'
'Well, well!' said the old lady, good-humouredly; 'you get well as fast as ever
you can, dear, and it shall be hung up again. There! I promise you that! Now, let
us talk about something else.'
This was all the information Oliver could obtain about the picture at that
time. As the old lady had been so kind to him in his illness, he endeavoured to
think no more of the subject just then; so he listened attentively to a great many
stories she told him, about an amiable and handsome daughter of hers, who was
married to an amiable and handsome man, and lived in the country; and about a
son, who was clerk to a merchant in the West Indies; and who was, also, such a
good young man, and wrote such dutiful letters home four times a-year, that it
brought the tears into her eyes to talk about them. When the old lady had
expatiated, a long time, on the excellences of her children, and the merits of her
kind good husband besides, who had been dead and gone, poor dear soul! just
six-and-twenty years, it was time to have tea. After tea she began to teach Oliver
cribbage: which he learnt as quickly as she could teach: and at which game they
played, with great interest and gravity, until it was time for the invalid to have
some warm wine and water, with a slice of dry toast, and then to go cosily to
bed.
They were happy days, those of Oliver's recovery. Everything was so quiet,
and neat, and orderly; everybody so kind and gentle; that after the noise and
turbulence in the midst of which he had always lived, it seemed like Heaven
itself. He was no sooner strong enough to put his clothes on, properly, than Mr.
Brownlow caused a complete new suit, and a new cap, and a new pair of shoes,
to be provided for him. As Oliver was told that he might do what he liked with
the old clothes, he gave them to a servant who had been very kind to him, and
asked her to sell them to a Jew, and keep the money for herself. This she very
Thesaurus
attentively: (adv) carefully, mindfully, dutiful: (adj) duteous, good, faithful,
watchfully, observantly, heedfully,
docile, devoted, deferential,
vigilantly, cautiously, considerately,
compliant, loyal, pious, meek,
constant. ANTONYMS: (adj)
diligently, alertly, obligingly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) unhelpfully,
unfaithful, undutiful, disrespectful,
neglectfully, abruptly, carelessly,
irresponsible, negligent, assertive,
hastily, casually.
impious, irreverent, neglectful,
cosily: (adv) snugly, comfortably,
thoughtful, uncaring.
informally, intimately, swimmingly. orderly: (adj) neat, tidy, exact, regular,
cribbage: (n) reverse, ecarte, quadrille, ordered, systematic, logical, coherent,
businesslike; (adv) systematically; (n)
euchre, picquet, drole, card game,
attendant. ANTONYMS: (adj)
cards, commit, cot, loo.
unmanageable, rowdy, wild,
disorganized, untidy, disorderly,
confused, lawless, messy, defiant,
haphazard.
slice: (n, v) share, part, slash, gash,
chip; (n) section, piece, bit, morsel,
slab; (v) carve.
turbulence: (n) disorder, confusion,
agitation, commotion, fury, turmoil,
upheaval, uproar, turbulency,
hubbub, violence. ANTONYMS: (n)
peace, calmness, order.
Charles Dickens
121
readily did; and, as Oliver looked out of the parlour window, and saw the Jew
roll them up in his bag and walk away, he felt quite delighted to think that they
were safely gone, and that there was now no possible danger of his ever being
able to wear them again. They were sad rags, to tell the truth; and Oliver had
never had a new suit before.%
One evening, about a week after the affair of the picture, as he was sitting
talking to Mrs. Bedwin, there came a message down from Mr. Brownlow, that if
Oliver Twist felt pretty well, he should like to see him in his study, and talk to
him a little while.
'Bless us, and save us! Wash your hands, and let me part your hair nicely for
you, child,' said Mrs. Bedwin. 'Dear heart alive! If we had known he would have
asked for you, we would have put you a clean collar on, and made you as smart
as sixpence!'
Oliver did as the old lady bade him; and, although she lamented grievously,
meanwhile, that there was not even time to crimp the little frill that bordered his
shirt-collar; he looked so delicate and handsome, despite that important personal
advantage, that she went so far as to say: looking at him with great complacency
from head to foot, that she really didn't think it would have been possible, on the
longest notice, to have made much difference in him for the better.
Thus encouraged, Oliver tapped at the study door. On Mr. Brownlow calling
to him to come in, he found himself in a little back room, quite full of books, with
a window, looking into some pleasant little gardens. There was a table drawn up
before the window, at which Mr. Brownlow was seated reading. When he saw
Oliver, he pushed the book away from him, and told him to come near the table,
and sit down. Oliver complied; marvelling where the people could be found to
read such a great number of books as seemed to be written to make the world
wiser. Which is still a marvel to more experienced people than Oliver Twist,
every day of their lives.
'There are a good many books, are there not, my boy?' said Mr. Brownlow,
observing the curiosity with which Oliver surveyed the shelves that reached
from the floor to the ceiling.
Thesaurus
bordered: (adj) fringed, edged,
delimited, surrounded.
complacency: (n) contentment,
conceit, satisfaction, self-satisfaction,
comfort, entire satisfaction, peace of
mind, gratification; (adj) amiability,
soft tongue, mansuetude.
crimp: (n, v) fold, bend, kink, curl,
crape; (adj, v) scollop, scallop; (n)
obstacle, hindrance; (v) crinkle,
corrugate. ANTONYMS: (v) flatten,
smooth.
frill: (n) flounce, adornment,
embellishment, frills, luxury,
furbelow, fringe, trimming, frame; (n,
v) ruffle, disturbance.
grievously: (adv) seriously, heavily,
sorrowfully, gravely, severely,
mortally, mournfully, heinously,
weightily; (adj, adv) painfully,
bitterly.
lamented: (adj) mourned, bewailed.
longest: (adj) best, lengest, fastest, top,
record, best ever, greatest.
marvel: (n, v) wonder; (n) prodigy,
curiosity, phenomenon, amazement,
miracle, portent, marl, surprise,
admiration; (v) admire. ANTONYMS:
(v) disregard; (n) nightmare.
parlour: (n) living room, parlor, sitting
room, front room, livingroom, room
to meet guests, parlours, parlors,
salon, reception room, room.
shelves: (n) shelf, rack, shelving.
tapped: (adj) poor, powerless, helpless.
ANTONYM: (adj) untapped.
122
Oliver Twist
'A great number, sir,' replied Oliver. 'I never saw so many.'
'You shall read them, if you behave well,' said the old gentleman kindly; 'and
you will like that, better than looking at the outsides,--that is, some cases;
because there are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.'
'I suppose they are those heavy ones, sir,' said Oliver, pointing to some large
quartos, with a good deal of gilding about the binding.%
'Not always those,' said the old gentleman, patting Oliver on the head, and
smiling as he did so; 'there are other equally heavy ones, though of a much
smaller size. How should you like to grow up a clever man, and write books, eh?'
'I think I would rather read them, sir,' replied Oliver.
'What! wouldn't you like to be a book-writer?' said the old gentleman.
Oliver considered a little while; and at last said, he should think it would be a
much better thing to be a book-seller; upon which the old gentleman laughed
heartily, and declared he had said a very good thing. Which Oliver felt glad to
have done, though he by no means knew what it was.
'Well, well,' said the old gentleman, composing his features. 'Don't be afraid!
We won't make an author of you, while there's an honest trade to be learnt, or
brick-making to turn to.'
'Thank you, sir,' said Oliver. At the earnest manner of his reply, the old
gentleman laughed again; and said something about a curious instinct, which
Oliver, not understanding, paid no very great attention to.
'Now,' said Mr. Brownlow, speaking if possible in a kinder, but at the same
time in a much more serious manner, than Oliver had ever known him assume
yet, 'I want you to pay great attention, my boy, to what I am going to say. I shall
talk to you without any reserve; because I am sure you are well able to
understand me, as many older persons would be.'
'Oh, don't tell you are going to send me away, sir, pray!' exclaimed Oliver,
alarmed at the serious tone of the old gentleman's commencement! 'Don't turn
me out of doors to wander in the streets again. Let me stay here, and be a
Thesaurus
behave: (n, v) conduct, exercise; (v)
composition, arranging,
bear, deal, deport, operate, perform,
arrangement, placement, makeup,
acquit, walk, react, go. ANTONYMS: constitution, manufacturing.
(v) misdemean, malfunction.
earnest: (adj, v) devout; (adj) eager,
commencement: (n) opening, start,
solemn, heartfelt, diligent, studious,
sincere, intense, ardent, staid; (n)
origin, birth, kickoff, inauguration,
guarantee. ANTONYMS: (adj)
inception, onset, outset, origination,
source. ANTONYMS: (n) middle,
flippant, halfhearted, uncertain,
termination, finishing, finish, ending, insincere, unimportant, nonchalant,
conclusion, culmination.
lethargic, apathetic, unenthusiastic,
composing: (v) compose, comprise,
indifferent, frivolous.
constitute; (adj, v) component; (n)
gilding: (n) embellishment, ormolu,
plating, beautification, cosmetics,
decoration, enamel, adornment,
prettification, coat, gold plating.
instinct: (n) impulse, urge, aptitude,
gift, feeling, sixth sense, inherent
aptitude, knack, inspiration, talent,
genius.
wander: (n, v) stroll, saunter, tramp,
drift; (v) stray, digress, err, travel,
roam, deviate; (adj, v) rave.
ANTONYMS: (v) settle, stay, think,
converge.
Charles Dickens
123
servant. Don't send me back to the wretched place I came from. Have mercy
upon a poor boy, sir!'
'My dear child,' said the old gentleman, moved by the warmth of Oliver's
sudden appeal; 'you need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me
cause.'
'I never, never will, sir,' interposed Oliver.%
'I hope not,' rejoined the old gentleman. 'I do not think you ever will. I have
been deceived, before, in the objects whom I have endeavoured to benefit; but I
feel strongly disposed to trust you, nevertheless; and I am more interested in
your behalf than I can well account for, even to myself. The persons on whom I
have bestowed my dearest love, lie deep in their graves; but, although the
happiness and delight of my life lie buried there too, I have not made a coffin of
my heart, and sealed it up, forever, on my best affections. Deep affliction has
but strengthened and refined them.'
As the old gentleman said this in a low voice: more to himself than to his
companion: and as he remained silent for a short time afterwards: Oliver sat
quite still.
'Well, well!' said the old gentleman at length, in a more cheerful tone, 'I only
say this, because you have a young heart; and knowing that I have suffered great
pain and sorrow, you will be more careful, perhaps, not to wound me again. You
say you are an orphan, without a friend in the world; all the inquiries I have been
able to make, confirm the statement. Let me hear your story; where you come
from; who brought you up; and how you got into the company in which I found
you. Speak the truth, and you shall not be friendless while I live.'
Oliver's sobs checked his utterance for some minutes; when he was on the
point of beginning to relate how he had been brought up at the farm, and carried
to the workhouse by Mr. Bumble, a peculiarly impatient little double-knock was
heard at the street-door: and the servant, running upstairs, announced Mr.
Grimwig.
'Is he coming up?' inquired Mr. Brownlow.
Thesaurus
affections: (n) bosom.
inclined, fain, likely, minded.
affliction: (n, v) adversity; (n) distress, ANTONYMS: (adj) ailing,
regret, martyrdom, torment, curse,
indisposed, unlikely, disinclined,
trial, bane, misadventure, sorrow,
reluctant, impervious.
agony. ANTONYMS: (n) gift,
friendless: (adj) alone, lonely,
godsend, solace, blessing.
abandoned, solitary, helpless,
dearest: (n) dear, darling, love, honey, lonesome, forsaken, unfriended,
lover, sweetheart, loved one, baby;
deserted, introverted, unwanted.
(adj) precious, intimate, sweet.
ANTONYM: (adj) sociable.
deceived: (adj) mistaken, misguided. peculiarly: (adj, adv) particularly,
disposed: (adj) prone, apt, ready,
curiously, unusually, uncommonly,
singularly; (adv) especially, oddly,
subject, prepared, liable, game,
strangely, specifically, weirdly,
specially. ANTONYMS: (adv)
typically, ordinarily, slightly.
sorrow: (n, v) regret, lament, grieve;
(v) mourn; (n) mourning, heartache,
repentance, remorse; (adj, n) sadness,
misery; (adj, n, v) distress.
ANTONYMS: (n) joy, delight,
happiness, peace, hopefulness,
cheerfulness, shamelessness, calm,
content; (v) rejoice.
suffered: (adj) permitted, permissive.
124
Oliver Twist
'Yes, sir,' replied the servant. 'He asked if there were any muffins in the
house; and, when I told him yes, he said he had come to tea.'
Mr. Brownlow smiled; and, turning to Oliver, said that Mr. Grimwig was an
old friend of his, and he must not mind his being a little rough in his manners;
for he was a worthy creature at bottom, as he had reason to know.%
'Shall I go downstairs, sir?' inquired Oliver.
'No,' replied Mr. Brownlow, 'I would rather you remained here.'
At this moment, there walked into the room: supporting himself by a thick
stick: a stout old gentleman, rather lame in one leg, who was dressed in a blue
coat, striped waistcoat, nankeen breeches and gaiters, and a broad-brimmed
white hat, with the sides turned up with green. A very small-plaited shirt frill
stuck out from his waistcoat; and a very long steel watch-chain, with nothing but
a key at the end, dangled loosely below it. The ends of his white neckerchief
were twisted into a ball about the size of an orange; the variety of shapes into
which his countenance was twisted, defy description. He had a manner of
screwing his head on one side when he spoke; and of looking out of the corners
of his eyes at the same time: which irresistibly reminded the beholder of a
parrot. In this attitude, he fixed himself, the moment he made his appearance;
and, holding out a small piece of orange-peel at arm's length, exclaimed, in a
growling, discontented voice.
'Look here! do you see this! Isn't it a most wonderful and extraordinary thing
that I can't call at a man's house but I find a piece of this poor surgeon's friend on
the staircase? I've been lamed with orange-peel once, and I know orange-peel
will be my death, or I'll be content to eat my own head, sir!'
This was the handsome offer with which Mr. Grimwig backed and confirmed
nearly every assertion he made; and it was the more singular in his case, because,
even admitting for the sake of argument, the possibility of scientific
improvements being brought to that pass which will enable a gentleman to eat
his own head in the event of his being so disposed, Mr. Grimwig's head was such
a particularly large one, that the most sanguine man alive could hardly entertain
Thesaurus
beholder: (n) witness, looker,
churlish, brutal, guttural, hoarse,
husky, peevish; (n) scowling,
observer, onlooker, viewer,
eyewitness, bystander, auditor,
glowering.
irresistibly: (adv) charmingly,
audile, passer by, watcher.
discontented: (adj, v) querulous,
necessarily, overwhelmingly,
complaining; (adj) disaffected,
charismatically, fiercely, temptingly,
disgruntled, malcontent, unsatisfied, overpoweringly, appealingly,
dissatisfied, displeased, miserable,
beguilingly.
lame: (adj) crippled, disabled, halting,
put out, ungratified. ANTONYMS:
(adj) pleased, satisfied, happy,
feeble, halt, weak, paralytic; (adj, n)
game; (adj, v) paralyze, maim,
content.
growling: (adj) grunting, doggish,
becripple.
lamed: (adj) lame, impeded, injured,
disabled.
nankeen: (n) cloth, fabric.
neckerchief: (n) kerchief, neckcloth,
scarf, shawl.
parrot: (n, v) mimic; (n) popinjay, poll,
parakeet, macaw, copycat, cockateel,
Amazon, cockatiel, cockatoo; (v) ape.
screwing: (n) piece of ass, fucking, ass,
screw, roll in the hay, injustice,
intercourse, jailer, arse, prison guard,
nookie.
Charles Dickens
125
a hope of being able to get through it at a sitting--to put entirely out of the
question, a very thick coating of powder.%
'I'll eat my head, sir,' repeated Mr. Grimwig, striking his stick upon the
ground. 'Hallo! what's that!' looking at Oliver, and retreating a pace or two.
'This is young Oliver Twist, whom we were speaking about,' said Mr.
Brownlow.
Oliver bowed.
'You don't mean to say that's the boy who had the fever, I hope?' said Mr.
Grimwig, recoiling a little more. 'Wait a minute! Don't speak! Stop--' continued
Mr. Grimwig, abruptly, losing all dread of the fever in his triumph at the
discovery; 'that's the boy who had the orange! If that's not the boy, sir, who had
the orange, and threw this bit of peel upon the staircase, I'll eat my head, and his
too.'
'No, no, he has not had one,' said Mr. Brownlow, laughing. 'Come! Put down
your hat; and speak to my young friend.'
'I feel strongly on this subject, sir,' said the irritable old gentleman, drawing
off his gloves. 'There's always more or less orange-peel on the pavement in our
street; and I know it's put there by the surgeon's boy at the corner. A young
woman stumbled over a bit last night, and fell against my garden-railings;
directly she got up I saw her look towards his infernal red lamp with the
pantomime-light. "Don't go to him," I called out of the window, "he's an assassin!
A man-trap!" So he is. If he is not--' Here the irascible old gentleman gave a great
knock on the ground with his stick; which was always understood, by his
friends, to imply the customary offer, whenever it was not expressed in words.
Then, still keeping his stick in his hand, he sat down; and, opening a double eyeglass, which he wore attached to a broad black riband, took a view of Oliver:
who, seeing that he was the object of inspection, coloured, and bowed again.
'That's the boy, is it?' said Mr. Grimwig, at length.
'That's the boy,' replied Mr. Brownlow.
'How are you, boy?' said Mr. Grimwig.
Thesaurus
assassin: (n) assassinator, liquidator,
bravo, assassinate, cutthroat, thug,
killer; (v) slayer, butcher, Cain,
sabreur.
coating: (n) skin, painting, facing,
covering, finish, application,
sheathing, envelope, mantle,
overcoat, cover. ANTONYM: (n)
middle.
coloured: (adj) colorful, biased, black,
partial, painted, dyed, unfair, blue,
hued, color, artificial.
hallo: (n) hi, hullo.
irascible: (adj) angry, choleric,
irritable, crabby, hot, excitable, testy,
touchy, passionate, hotheaded, hasty.
ANTONYMS: (adj) easygoing,
patient.
irritable: (adj) fractious, irascible,
edgy, cantankerous, touchy, petulant,
excitable, cross, sensitive, grumpy,
disagreeable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
calm, happy, cheerful, amiable,
patient, pleasant, stable, courteous;
(n) cheeriness.
peel: (n, v) hull, bark, flake; (n) hide;
(v) flay, pare, decorticate, excoriate,
husk, flake off, strip.
recoiling: (adv) recoilingly; (adj)
resilient, bashful, leaping back,
rebounding; (n) return.
retreating: (n) flight; (adj) moving
back.
riband: (n) ribbon, fascia, band,
ribband, spill, slip, shred, strip,
wreath, medal, list.
126
Oliver Twist
'A great deal better, thank you, sir,' replied Oliver.%
Mr. Brownlow, seeming to apprehend that his singular friend was about to
say something disagreeable, asked Oliver to step downstairs and tell Mrs.
Bedwin they were ready for tea; which, as he did not half like the visitor's
manner, he was very happy to do.
'He is a nice-looking boy, is he not?' inquired Mr. Brownlow.
'I don't know,' replied Mr. Grimwig, pettishly.
'Don't know?'
'No. I don't know. I never see any difference in boys. I only knew two sort of
boys. Mealy boys, and beef-faced boys.'
'And which is Oliver?'
'Mealy. I know a friend who has a beef-faced boy; a fine boy, they call him;
with a round head, and red cheeks, and glaring eyes; a horrid boy; with a body
and limbs that appear to be swelling out of the seams of his blue clothes; with the
voice of a pilot, and the appetite of a wolf. I know him! The wretch!'
'Come,' said Mr. Brownlow, 'these are not the characteristics of young Oliver
Twist; so he needn't excite your wrath.'
'They are not,' replied Mr. Grimwig. 'He may have worse.'
Here, Mr. Brownlow coughed impatiently; which appeared to afford Mr.
Grimwig the most exquisite delight.
'He may have worse, I say,' repeated Mr. Grimwig. 'Where does he come
from! Who is he? What is he? He has had a fever. What of that? Fevers are not
peculiar to good people; are they? Bad people have fevers sometimes; haven't
they, eh? I knew a man who was hung in Jamaica for murdering his master. He
had had a fever six times; he wasn't recommended to mercy on that account.
Pooh! nonsense!'
Now, the fact was, that in the inmost recesses of his own heart, Mr. Grimwig
was strongly disposed to admit that Oliver's appearance and manner were
unusually prepossessing; but he had a strong appetite for contradiction,
Thesaurus
apprehend: (v) arrest, comprehend,
desirable, easygoing, happy,
grasp, catch, understand, fathom,
pleasing, sweet, nice.
realize, sense, follow, nail; (adj, v)
excite: (v) arouse, enliven, disturb,
conceive. ANTONYMS: (v)
agitate, awaken, incite, inspire, rouse,
electrify; (n, v) energize; (adj, v)
misunderstand, discharge, free,
quicken. ANTONYMS: (v) calm,
liberate.
disagreeable: (adj) nasty, offensive,
pacify, bore, soothe, stifle,
uncomfortable, distasteful,
tranquilize, placate, quiet, dampen.
inmost: (adj) innermost, inward, deep,
cantankerous, cross, ungrateful,
abhorrent, horrible, bad, painful.
intimate, private, inner, interior,
ANTONYMS: (adj) pleasant, friendly, internal, personal, secret, intrinsic.
ANTONYM: (adj) outermost.
amiable, inoffensive, acceptable,
mealy: (adj) farinaceous, powdery,
floury, granular, dusty, pulverulent,
gritty, grainy, granulose; (adv)
powderily, farinaceously.
nice-looking: (adj) neat, attractive,
handsome.
prepossessing: (adj) engaging,
winning, handsome, appealing,
lovely, captivating, charming, nice,
graceful, winsome; (v) inviting.
recesses: (n) penetralia, bowels, inside.
Charles Dickens
127
sharpened on this occasion by the finding of the orange-peel; and, inwardly
determining that no man should dictate to him whether a boy was well-looking
or not, he had resolved, from the first, to oppose his friend. When Mr. Brownlow
admitted that on no one point of inquiry could he yet return a satisfactory
answer; and that he had postponed any investigation into Oliver's previous
history until he thought the boy was strong enough to hear it; Mr. Grimwig
chuckled maliciously. And he demanded, with a sneer, whether the housekeeper
was in the habit of counting the plate at night; because if she didn't find a tablespoon or two missing some sunshiny morning, why, he would be content to-and so forth.%
All this, Mr. Brownlow, although himself somewhat of an impetuous
gentleman: knowing his friend's peculiarities, bore with great good humour; as
Mr. Grimwig, at tea, was graciously pleased to express his entire approval of the
muffins, matters went on very smoothly; and Oliver, who made one of the party,
began to feel more at his ease than he had yet done in the fierce old gentleman's
presence.
'And when are you going to hear a full, true, and particular account of the life
and adventures of Oliver Twist?' asked Grimwig of Mr. Brownlow, at the
conclusion of the meal; looking sideways at Oliver, as he resumed his subject.
'To-morrow morning,' replied Mr. Brownlow. 'I would rather he was alone
with me at the time. Come up to me to-morrow morning at ten o'clock, my dear.'
'Yes, sir,' replied Oliver. He answered with some hesitation, because he was
confused by Mr. Grimwig's looking so hard at him.
'I'll tell you what,' whispered that gentleman to Mr. Brownlow; 'he won't
come up to you to-morrow morning. I saw him hesitate. He is deceiving you,
my good friend.'
'I'll swear he is not,' replied Mr. Brownlow, warmly.
'If he is not,' said Mr. Grimwig, 'I'll--' and down went the stick.
'I'll answer for that boy's truth with my life!' said Mr. Brownlow, knocking
the table.
Thesaurus
adventures: (n) experiences, fortunes,
record; (n, v) obey.
confessions, journal, life, biography, hesitate: (adj, n, v) pause, delay; (adj, v)
linger; (v) fluctuate, halt, waver,
autobiography, personal narrative.
deceiving: (adj) deceptive, deceitful,
vacillate, demur, boggle,
cheating, fallacious, dishonest, lying, procrastinate; (n, v) doubt.
ANTONYMS: (v) rush, decide.
treacherous, imposing, delusive,
inwardly: (adv) inside, interiorly,
sanctimonious, mistaken.
ANTONYM: (adj) correct.
innerly, within, secretly, intrinsically,
dictate: (n, v) command, charge, order, intimately, privately, spiritually,
decree; (n) bidding, behest, edict; (v)
incomingly; (adj) inwards.
ANTONYM: (adv) openly.
bid, prescribe, rule, ordain.
ANTONYMS: (v) request, ask,
maliciously: (adv) malevolently,
malignly, viciously, nastily,
malignantly, rancorously,
venomously, vindictively, bitterly,
meanly, virulently. ANTONYMS:
(adv) kindly, harmlessly,
benevolently, friendly, genially,
mercifully.
postponed: (adj) delayed, late, belated,
off, later than usual, put off.
sunshiny: (adj) bright, shining, shiny,
clear, glazed, brilliant, sunshine,
cheery, clearer, fair, gay.
128
Oliver Twist
'And I for his falsehood with my head!' rejoined Mr. Grimwig, knocking the
table also.%
'We shall see,' said Mr. Brownlow, checking his rising anger.
'We will,' replied Mr. Grimwig, with a provoking smile; 'we will.'
As fate would have it, Mrs. Bedwin chanced to bring in, at this moment, a
small parcel of books, which Mr. Brownlow had that morning purchased of the
identical bookstall-keeper, who has already figured in this history; having laid
them on the table, she prepared to leave the room.
'Stop the boy, Mrs. Bedwin!' said Mr. Brownlow; 'there is something to go
back.'
'He has gone, sir,' replied Mrs. Bedwin.
'Call after him,' said Mr. Brownlow; 'it's particular. He is a poor man, and
they are not paid for. There are some books to be taken back, too.'
The street-door was opened. Oliver ran one way; and the girl ran another;
and Mrs. Bedwin stood on the step and screamed for the boy; but there was no
boy in sight. Oliver and the girl returned, in a breathless state, to report that
there were no tidings of him.
'Dear me, I am very sorry for that,' exclaimed Mr. Brownlow; 'I particularly
wished those books to be returned to-night.'
'Send Oliver with them,' said Mr. Grimwig, with an ironical smile; 'he will be
sure to deliver them safely, you know.'
'Yes; do let me take them, if you please, sir,' said Oliver. 'I'll run all the way,
sir.'
The old gentleman was just going to say that Oliver should not go out on any
account; when a most malicious cough from Mr. Grimwig determined him that
he should; and that, by his prompt discharge of the commission, he should prove
to him the injustice of his suspicions: on this head at least: at once.
'You shall go, my dear,' said the old gentleman. 'The books are on a chair by
my table. Fetch them down.'
Thesaurus
breathless: (adj, adv) out of breath;
tempting, agitating; (adj, v) irritating,
fairness, evenhandedness,
(adj) panting, inanimate,
insulting. ANTONYMS: (adj)
reasonableness, goodness, tolerance.
malicious: (adj) evil, vicious,
breathtaking, winded, choking,
conciliatory, courteous, satisfying.
puffing; (v) all agog, aghast; (adj, n)
suspicions: (adj) entertain doubts,
venomous, spiteful, unkind, cruel,
eager; (n) in hysterics. ANTONYMS: poisonous, mean, mischievous,
have doubts; (n) doubts, misgivings,
(adj) dull, expected, boring.
pernicious, nasty. ANTONYMS: (adj) reservations, qualms, worries, fears,
figured: (adj) figurative, glyptic,
kind, harmless, kindhearted, loving,
uncertainties.
tidings: (n) intelligence, information,
conjectural, implied.
unmalicious, compassionate, good,
injustice: (n) iniquity, wrong,
merciful, pleasant, provoked.
message, report, word, advice,
provoking: (adj) provocative,
unfairness, bigotry, wickedness,
communication, dispute, wind,
prejudice, crime; (adj, n) injury, evil,
annoying, aggravating, galling,
statement, tiding.
harm, damage. ANTONYMS: (n)
maddening, vexatious, agitative,
Charles Dickens
129
Oliver, delighted to be of use, brought down the books under his arm in a
great bustle; and waited, cap in hand, to hear what message he was to take.%
'You are to say,' said Mr. Brownlow, glancing steadily at Grimwig; 'you are to
say that you have brought those books back; and that you have come to pay the
four pound ten I owe him. This is a five-pound note, so you will have to bring
me back, ten shillings change.'
'I won't be ten minutes, sir,' said Oliver, eagerly. Having buttoned up the
bank-note in his jacket pocket, and placed the books carefully under his arm, he
made a respectful bow, and left the room. Mrs. Bedwin followed him to the
street-door, giving him many directions about the nearest way, and the name of
the bookseller, and the name of the street: all of which Oliver said he clearly
understood. Having superadded many injunctions to be sure and not take cold,
the old lady at length permitted him to depart.
'Bless his sweet face!' said the old lady, looking after him. 'I can't bear,
somehow, to let him go out of my sight.'
At this moment, Oliver looked gaily round, and nodded before he turned the
corner. The old lady smilingly returned his salutation, and, closing the door,
went back to her own room.
'Let me see; he'll be back in twenty minutes, at the longest,' said Mr.
Brownlow, pulling out his watch, and placing it on the table. 'It will be dark by
that time.'
'Oh! you really expect him to come back, do you?' inquired Mr. Grimwig.
'Don't you?' asked Mr. Brownlow, smiling.
The spirit of contradiction was strong in Mr. Grimwig's breast, at the
moment; and it was rendered stronger by his friend's confident smile.
'No,' he said, smiting the table with his fist, 'I do not. The boy has a new suit
of clothes on his back, a set of valuable books under his arm, and a five-pound
note in his pocket. He'll join his old friends the thieves, and laugh at you. If ever
that boy returns to this house, sir, I'll eat my head.'
Thesaurus
bank-note: (n) greenback.
bookseller: (n) bookshop, bookstore,
owner, proprietor, publisher.
contradiction: (n) antithesis, denial,
repugnance, clash, disproof, contrast,
opposite, disagreement, paradox,
inconsistency, reverse. ANTONYMS:
(n) correspondence, confirmation,
consistency, reinforcement, concord.
depart: (v) go, deviate, decease,
diverge, start, stray, wander, leave,
die, vary, part. ANTONYMS: (v) stay,
arrive, enter, come, abide, conform,
continue, remain, appear, converge,
return.
eagerly: (adv) zealously, readily,
keenly, fervently, avidly, greedily,
enthusiastically, intently, earnestly,
impatiently, actively. ANTONYMS:
(adv) apathetically, nonchalantly,
grudgingly, patiently, halfheartedly,
reluctantly, unenthusiastically.
fist: (n, v) hand; (n) duke, clenched
fist, feist, manus, grip, index; (v)
finger, paw, neif, neaf.
gaily: (adv, v) happily; (adv) gladly,
jovially, joyfully, cheerfully,
mirthfully, joyously, gleefully,
sunnily, blithely, lively.
ANTONYMS: (adv) sadly, anxiously,
dully, despondently.
placing: (n) placement, arrangement,
disposition, installation, allocation,
ordering, disposal, borrowing,
composition.
130
Oliver Twist
With these words he drew his chair closer to the table; and there the two
friends sat, in silent expectation, with the watch between them.%
It is worthy of remark, as illustrating the importance we attach to our own
judgments, and the pride with which we put forth our most rash and hasty
conclusions, that, although Mr. Grimwig was not by any means a bad-hearted
man, and though he would have been unfeignedly sorry to see his respected
friend duped and deceived, he really did most earnestly and strongly hope at
that moment, that Oliver Twist might not come back.
It grew so dark, that the figures on the dial-plate were scarcely discernible;
but there the two old gentlemen continued to sit, in silence, with the watch
between them.
Thesaurus
attach: (v) append, adhere, add, affix,
bind, link, associate, assign, nail,
apply, annex. ANTONYMS: (v) undo,
separate, unfasten, disconnect, free,
deflect, dissociate, loosen, quit, take,
unscrew.
conclusions: (n) data.
discernible: (adj) observable,
apparent, visible, appreciable,
conspicuous, detectable, evident,
noticeable, obvious, audible,
palpable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
indiscernible, unrecognizable,
indistinguishable, obscure, obscured,
unnoticeable, invisible, undetectable.
duped: (adj) mistaken.
hasty: (adj) fast, abrupt, cursory, fleet,
sudden, rash, impetuous, careless,
speedy, hurried, quick. ANTONYMS:
(adj) deliberate, considered, leisurely,
sensible, gradual, thorough, cautious,
careful, roundabout, prudent,
patient.
rash: (adj, n) foolhardy, hasty,
precipitate, eruption; (adj) imprudent,
reckless, impetuous, heedless,
audacious, sudden; (adj, adv)
thoughtless. ANTONYMS: (adj)
cautious, careful, sensible, wise,
considered, deliberate, prudent,
modest, slow, responsible, patient.
unfeignedly: (adv) sincerely, truely,
honestly, straightly, really, frankly,
truly, heartily, authentically,
authenticly, naturally.
Charles Dickens
131
CHAPTER XV
SHOWING HOW VERY FOND OF OLIVER
TWIST, THE MERRY OLD JEW AND MISS
NANCY WERE
In the obscure parlour of a low public-house, in the filthiest part of Little
Saffron Hill; a dark and gloomy den, where a flaring gas-light burnt all day in
the winter-time; and where no ray of sun ever shone in the summer: there sat,
brooding over a little pewter measure and a small glass, strongly impregnated
with the smell of liquor, a man in a velveteen coat, drab shorts, half-boots and
stockings, whom even by that dim light no experienced agent of the police
would have hesitated to recognise as Mr. William Sikes. At his feet, sat a whitecoated, red-eyed dog; who occupied himself, alternately, in winking at his
master with both eyes at the same time; and in licking a large, fresh cut on one
side of his mouth, which appeared to be the result of some recent conflict.%
'Keep quiet, you warmint! Keep quiet!' said Mr. Sikes, suddenly breaking
silence. Whether his meditations were so intense as to be disturbed by the dog's
winking, or whether his feelings were so wrought upon by his reflections that
they required all the relief derivable from kicking an unoffending animal to
allay them, is matter for argument and consideration. Whatever was the cause,
the effect was a kick and a curse, bestowed upon the dog simultaneously.
Thesaurus
allay: (n, v) ease; (adj, v) still, quell, lay, contemplative, hatching, meditative, whipping, lacing, lick, hiding,
appease, quiet; (v) abate, mitigate,
pensive, wistful; (v) brewing,
reverse. ANTONYM: (n) victory.
batching; (n) chick management,
meditations: (n) contemplation,
moderate, quench, alleviate.
ANTONYMS: (v) arouse, excite,
parturition. ANTONYMS: (adj)
consideration, cogitation.
unoffending: (adj) innocent, harmless,
heighten, intensify, magnify,
shallow, cheerful.
provoke, stir, exacerbate, aggravate. derivable: (adj) inferable, dogmatic,
innocuous, offenseless, blameless,
alternately: (adv) alternatively, by
inducible, obtainable, traductive.
innoxious, unharmed, unhurt,
flaring: (adj) flared, flaming, burning,
turns, in turn, secondarily,
uninjured, uncontroversial, savoury.
reciprocally, mutually, off-and-on,
blazing, tawdry, ablaze, garish, fiery; ANTONYMS: (adj) offending,
rather, anthemwise, secondly; (adj,
(v) glaring; (n) flare; (adv) flaringly.
offensive.
adv) on and off.
licking: (n) thrashing, rout, debacle,
wrought: (adj) shaped, done, worked,
brooding: (adj) pondering, thoughtful, beating, drubbing, discomfiture,
worked up, formed.
132
Oliver Twist
Dogs are not generally apt to revenge injuries inflicted upon them by their
masters; but Mr. Sikes's dog, having faults of temper in common with his owner,
and labouring, perhaps, at this moment, under a powerful sense of injury, made
no more ado but at once fixed his teeth in one of the half-boots. Having given in
a hearty shake, he retired, growling, under a form; just escaping the pewter
measure which Mr. Sikes levelled at his head.%
'You would, would you?' said Sikes, seizing the poker in one hand, and
deliberately opening with the other a large clasp-knife, which he drew from his
pocket. 'Come here, you born devil! Come here! D'ye hear?'
The dog no doubt heard; because Mr. Sikes spoke in the very harshest key of
a very harsh voice; but, appearing to entertain some unaccountable objection to
having his throat cut, he remained where he was, and growled more fiercely
than before: at the same time grasping the end of the poker between his teeth,
and biting at it like a wild beast.
This resistance only infuriated Mr. Sikes the more; who, dropping on his
knees, began to assail the animal most furiously. The dog jumped from right to
left, and from left to right; snapping, growling, and barking; the man thrust and
swore, and struck and blasphemed; and the struggle was reaching a most critical
point for one or other; when, the door suddenly opening, the dog darted out:
leaving Bill Sikes with the poker and the clasp-knife in his hands.
There must always be two parties to a quarrel, says the old adage. Mr. Sikes,
being disappointed of the dog's participation, at once transferred his share in the
quarrel to the new comer.
'What the devil do you come in between me and my dog for?' said Sikes, with
a fierce gesture.
'I didn't know, my dear, I didn't know,' replied Fagin, humbly; for the Jew
was the new comer.
'Didn't know, you white-livered thief!' growled Sikes. 'Couldn't you hear the
noise?'
'Not a sound of it, as I'm a living man, Bill,' replied the Jew.
Thesaurus
adage: (n) aphorism, proverb, saying,
byword, dictum, maxim, saw,
locution, truism, expression, motto.
assail: (n, v) assault; (v) invade,
bombard, molest, raid, hit, beset,
besiege, strike, storm, impugn.
ANTONYMS: (v) withdraw,
champion, support, protect.
barking: (adj) latrant; (n) abay,
latration.
beast: (n) animal, monster, swine,
fiend, creature, scavenger, savage,
critter, animate being, barbarian; (adj) acquisitive, greedy, avid, voracious,
bear. ANTONYM: (n) man.
rapacious, grabby, mercenary, stingy;
biting: (adj, v) acute, acrid, sarcastic,
(n) seizing. ANTONYMS: (adj)
sharp, acrimonious, pungent, severe, generous, altruistic.
cutting; (adj) acid, bitter, barbed.
infuriated: (adj, v) enraged; (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) mild, blunt, kind, furious, incensed, angered, mad,
bland, nice, soothing, sweet, hot,
exasperated, provoked, boiling, livid,
wrathful, annoyed. ANTONYM: (adj)
complimentary, faint, sympathetic.
escaping: (n) evasion, getaway, break, pleased.
breakout, running away, running off, poker: (n) draw, lotto, nap, fire hook,
run-around; (adj) fugitive.
monte, reversis, shovel, squeezers,
grasping: (adj) avaricious, covetous,
tongs, trivet, rake.
Charles Dickens
133
'Oh no! You hear nothing, you don't,' retorted Sikes with a fierce sneer.
'Sneaking in and out, so as nobody hears how you come or go! I wish you had
been the dog, Fagin, half a minute ago.'
'Why?' inquired the Jew with a forced smile.%
'Cause the government, as cares for the lives of such men as you, as haven't
half the pluck of curs, lets a man kill a dog how he likes,' replied Sikes, shutting
up the knife with a very expressive look; 'that's why.'
The Jew rubbed his hands; and, sitting down at the table, affected to laugh at
the pleasantry of his friend. He was obviously very ill at ease, however.
'Grin away,' said Sikes, replacing the poker, and surveying him with savage
contempt; 'grin away. You'll never have the laugh at me, though, unless it's
behind a nightcap. I've got the upper hand over you, Fagin; and, d--me, I'll keep
it. There! If I go, you go; so take care of me.'
'Well, well, my dear,' said the Jew, 'I know all that; we--we--have a mutual
interest, Bill,--a mutual interest.'
'Humph,' said Sikes, as if he thought the interest lay rather more on the Jew's
side than on his. 'Well, what have you got to say to me?'
'It's all passed safe through the melting-pot,' replied Fagin, 'and this is your
share. It's rather more than it ought to be, my dear; but as I know you'll do me a
good turn another time, and--'
'Stow that gammon,' interposed the robber, impatiently. 'Where is it? Hand
over!'
'Yes, yes, Bill; give me time, give me time,' replied the Jew, soothingly. 'Here
it is! All safe!' As he spoke, he drew forth an old cotton handkerchief from his
breast; and untying a large knot in one corner, produced a small brown-paper
packet. Sikes, snatching it from him, hastily opened it; and proceeded to count
the sovereigns it contained.
'This is all, is it?' inquired Sikes.
'All,' replied the Jew.
Thesaurus
hears: (v) hear.
impatiently: (adv) petulantly,
restlessly, keenly, intolerantly,
hastily, avidly, uneasily,
enthusiastically, edgily, fidgetily,
restively. ANTONYMS: (adv)
uncomplainingly, calmly,
unenthusiastically, lightly.
pluck: (adj, n) nerve; (v) cull, jerk,
gather, pick, fleece, grab; (n) grit,
courage, boldness; (n, v) pull.
ANTONYMS: (n) cowardice,
gutlessness; (v) undercharge.
kindly, blandly, calmly,
robber: (n) highwayman, bandit,
comfortingly, sedatively.
mugger, outlaw, plunderer, pillager, sovereigns: (n) crowned heads, royals,
burglar, pirate, crook, filcher, spoiler. royalty.
shutting: (n) closing, conclusion, end, surveying: (n) mensuration,
closure, ending, finish, mop up,
measurement, investigation,
culmination, closedown; (adj)
triangulation; (v) inspect, examine;
confining, claudent. ANTONYM: (n) (adj) observant.
untying: (n) undoing, unfastening,
opening.
snatching: (n) capture.
unraveling, loosening,
soothingly: (adv) softly, quietly,
disentanglement, unscrambling,
calmingly, lullingly, lightly, tenderly, opening.
134
Oliver Twist
'You haven't opened the parcel and swallowed one or two as you come along,
have you?' inquired Sikes, suspiciously. 'Don't put on an injured look at the
question; you've done it many a time. Jerk the tinkler.'
These words, in plain English, conveyed an injunction to ring the bell. It was
answered by another Jew: younger than Fagin, but nearly as vile and repulsive
in appearance.%
Bill Sikes merely pointed to the empty measure. The Jew, perfectly
understanding the hint, retired to fill it: previously exchanging a remarkable look
with Fagin, who raised his eyes for an instant, as if in expectation of it, and shook
his head in reply; so slightly that the action would have been almost
imperceptible to an observant third person. It was lost upon Sikes, who was
stooping at the moment to tie the boot-lace which the dog had torn. Possibly, if
he had observed the brief interchange of signals, he might have thought that it
boded no good to him.
'Is anybody here, Barney?' inquired Fagin; speaking, now that that Sikes was
looking on, without raising his eyes from the ground.
'Dot a shoul,' replied Barney; whose words: whether they came from the
heart or not: made their way through the nose.
'Nobody?' inquired Fagin, in a tone of surprise: which perhaps might mean
that Barney was at liberty to tell the truth.
'Dobody but Biss Dadsy,' replied Barney.
'Nancy!' exclaimed Sikes. 'Where? Strike me blind, if I don't honour that 'ere
girl, for her native talents.'
'She's bid havid a plate of boiled beef id the bar,' replied Barney.
'Send her here,' said Sikes, pouring out a glass of liquor. 'Send her here.'
Barney looked timidly at Fagin, as if for permission; the Jew remaining silent,
and not lifting his eyes from the ground, he retired; and presently returned,
ushering in Nancy; who was decorated with the bonnet, apron, basket, and
street-door key, complete.
Thesaurus
bonnet: (n) cap, protection, chapeau,
tile, wimple, beret, lid, cowling,
castor, poke bonnet, sunbonnet.
imperceptible: (adj) invisible,
intangible, insensible, faint,
evanescent, inaudible, negligible,
indiscernible, unseen, unnoticeable,
gentle. ANTONYMS: (adj) obvious,
overwhelming, clear, visible,
perceptible, heavy, noticeable,
definite, considerable, conspicuous,
strong.
interchange: (n, v) change, barter; (v)
commute, switch, alternate,
substitute, convert, replace,
counterchange, transpose; (n) traffic.
jerk: (n, v) jump, yank, shake, twitch,
jar, tug, bump, heave, pull; (v) fling,
flip. ANTONYM: (v) ease.
observant: (adj) mindful, watchful,
alert, cautious, circumspect, careful,
aware, heedful, vigilant, awake, keen.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unobservant,
dreaming, insensitive, unprepared,
oblivious.
stooping: (adj) hunched, crooked,
asymmetrical, not erect, not straight,
corrupt; (n) patronage.
vile: (adj, n) contemptible, dirty, low;
(adj, v) base; (adj) despicable, ignoble,
evil, sorry, revolting, offensive, nasty.
ANTONYMS: (adj) attractive, kind,
nice, lovely, lovable, gentle,
honorable, good, delightful,
admirable, noble.
Charles Dickens
135
'You are on the scent, are you, Nancy?' inquired Sikes, proffering the glass.%
'Yes, I am, Bill,' replied the young lady, disposing of its contents; 'and tired
enough of it I am, too. The young brat's been ill and confined to the crib; and--'
'Ah, Nancy, dear!' said Fagin, looking up.
Now, whether a peculiar contraction of the Jew's red eye-brows, and a half
closing of his deeply-set eyes, warned Miss Nancy that she was disposed to be
too communicative, is not a matter of much importance. The fact is all we need
care for here; and the fact is, that she suddenly checked herself, and with several
gracious smiles upon Mr. Sikes, turned the conversation to other matters. In
about ten minutes' time, Mr. Fagin was seized with a fit of coughing; upon
which Nancy pulled her shawl over her shoulders, and declared it was time to
go. Mr. Sikes, finding that he was walking a short part of her way himself,
expressed his intention of accompanying her; they went away together, followed,
at a little distant, by the dog, who slunk out of a back-yard as soon as his master
was out of sight.
The Jew thrust his head out of the room door when Sikes had left it; looked
after him as we walked up the dark passage; shook his clenched fist; muttered a
deep curse; and then, with a horrible grin, reseated himself at the table; where he
was soon deeply absorbed in the interesting pages of the Hue-and-Cry.
Meanwhile, Oliver Twist, little dreaming that he was within so very short a
distance of the merry old gentleman, was on his way to the book-stall. When he
got into Clerkenwell, he accidently turned down a by-street which was not
exactly in his way; but not discovering his mistake until he had got half-way
down it, and knowing it must lead in the right direction, he did not think it
worth while to turn back; and so marched on, as quickly as he could, with the
books under his arm.
He was walking along, thinking how happy and contented he ought to feel;
and how much he would give for only one look at poor little Dick, who, starved
and beaten, might be weeping bitterly at that very moment; when he was
startled by a young woman screaming out very loud. 'Oh, my dear brother!' And
Thesaurus
clenched: (adj) tight, clinched.
disposing: (adv) disposingly; (v)
contented: (adj) content, happy,
dispose; (adj) decretive, dispositive;
(n) distribution.
comfortable, quiet, cheerful, smug,
dreaming: (n) reverie, ambition,
complacent, satisfied, easy, proud,
delighted. ANTONYMS: (adj)
nightmare, conception, castle in the
air; (adj) absent-minded, asleep,
discontented, unhappy, depressed,
unsatisfied, sad, anxious.
visionary, vacant, wistful, rapt.
coughing: (n) coughs, breathing out.
gracious: (adj) genial, benign, good,
crib: (n) pony, cot, bed, trough, cradle, courteous, compassionate, kind,
cribbing; (v) pilfer, steal, bag, lift,
accommodating, civil; (adj, n)
purloin.
benevolent, congenial, gentle.
discovering: (adj) observant, oracular. ANTONYMS: (adj) ungracious,
boorish, discourteous, reserved, rude,
abrupt, critical, unkind, hardhearted,
harsh, poor.
proffering: (n) bidding, oblation.
shawl: (n) wrap, mantle, cape, muffler,
scarf, pall, mantlet Mantua, wrapper,
kerchief, headscarf, stole.
weeping: (adj) tearful, lachrymose,
dolourous, dolorous; (n, v) lament,
lamentation; (v) wailing; (n) sobbing,
tears, cry; (adj, n) howling.
ANTONYM: (n) celebration.
136
Oliver Twist
he had hardly looked up, to see what the matter was, when he was stopped by
having a pair of arms thrown tight round his neck.%
'Don't,' cried Oliver, struggling. 'Let go of me. Who is it? What are you
stopping me for?'
The only reply to this, was a great number of loud lamentations from the
young woman who had embraced him; and who had a little basket and a streetdoor key in her hand.
'Oh my gracious!' said the young woman, 'I have found him! Oh! Oliver!
Oliver! Oh you naughty boy, to make me suffer such distress on your account!
Come home, dear, come. Oh, I've found him. Thank gracious goodness heavins,
I've found him!' With these incoherent exclamations, the young woman burst
into another fit of crying, and got so dreadfully hysterical, that a couple of
women who came up at the moment asked a butcher's boy with a shiny head of
hair anointed with suet, who was also looking on, whether he didn't think he
had better run for the doctor. To which, the butcher's boy: who appeared of a
lounging, not to say indolent disposition: replied, that he thought not.
'Oh, no, no, never mind,' said the young woman, grasping Oliver's hand; 'I'm
better now. Come home directly, you cruel boy! Come!'
'Oh, ma'am,' replied the young woman, 'he ran away, near a month ago, from
his parents, who are hard-working and respectable people; and went and joined
a set of thieves and bad characters; and almost broke his mother's heart.'
'Young wretch!' said one woman.
'Go home, do, you little brute,' said the other.
'I am not,' replied Oliver, greatly alarmed. 'I don't know her. I haven't any
sister, or father and mother either. I'm an orphan; I live at Pentonville.'
'Only hear him, how he braves it out!' cried the young woman.
'Why, it's Nancy!' exclaimed Oliver; who now saw her face for the first time;
and started back, in irrepressible astonishment.
Thesaurus
anointed: (adj) hallowed, divine,
greasy; (v) anoint.
astonishment: (n) admiration,
wonder, wonderment, surprise,
marvel, stupefaction, confusion,
consternation, awe, alarm, startle.
ANTONYMS: (n) calmness, belief,
contempt.
dreadfully: (adj, adv) frightfully,
shockingly; (adv) fearfully,
appallingly, hideously, horrendously,
horribly, atrociously, ghastly,
tremendously, horridly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) pleasantly,
wonderfully, happily, hardly,
superbly, well.
embraced: (adj) popular.
hard-working: (adj) studious,
industrious, painstaking, active,
dedicated, tireless.
hysterical: (adj, n) feverish; (adj) wild,
violent, eccentric, frenzied,
emotional, fitful, febrile, erratic; (n)
fanatical, hysterics. ANTONYMS:
(adj) relaxed, composed, restrained.
indolent: (adj) idle, lazy, slothful,
sluggish, careless, slow, dull, torpid,
inert, drowsy, listless. ANTONYMS:
(adj) active, industrious, vigorous,
diligent.
pair: (n, v) match; (adj, n) brace; (n)
duet, duo, dyad; (v) join, mate, link,
copulate, equate, marry.
suet: (n) tallow, grease, oil, lard,
blubber, cream, dripping, butter,
edible fat.
Charles Dickens
137
'You see he knows me!' cried Nancy, appealing to the bystanders. 'He can't
help himself. Make him come home, there's good people, or he'll kill his dear
mother and father, and break my heart!'
'What the devil's this?' said a man, bursting out of a beer-shop, with a white
dog at his heels; 'young Oliver! Come home to your poor mother, you young
dog! Come home directly.'
'I don't belong to them. I don't know them. Help! help!' cried Oliver,
struggling in the man's powerful grasp.%
'Help!' repeated the man. 'Yes; I'll help you, you young rascal!
What books are these? You've been a stealing 'em, have you? Give 'em here.'
With these words, the man tore the volumes from his grasp, and struck him on
the head.
'That's right!' cried a looker-on, from a garret-window. 'That's the only way
of bringing him to his senses!'
'To be sure!' cried a sleepy-faced carpenter, casting an approving look at the
garret-window.
'It'll do him good!' said the two women.
'And he shall have it, too!' rejoined the man, administering another blow,
and seizing Oliver by the collar. 'Come on, you young villain! Here, Bull's-eye,
mind him, boy! Mind him!'
Weak with recent illness; stupified by the blows and the suddenness of the
attack; terrified by the fierce growling of the dog, and the brutality of the man;
overpowered by the conviction of the bystanders that he really was the hardened
little wretch he was described to be; what could one poor child do! Darkness had
set in; it was a low neighborhood; no help was near; resistance was useless. In
another moment he was dragged into a labyrinth of dark narrow courts, and
was forced along them at a pace which rendered the few cries he dared to give
utterance to, unintelligible. It was of little moment, indeed, whether they were
intelligible or no; for there was nobody to care for them, had they been ever so
plain.
Thesaurus
administering: (adj) administrative;
(n) administration.
approving: (n) adoption, appreciation,
admiration, acceptance; (adj) good,
approbative, approbatory,
sympathetic, favourable; (adv)
approvingly; (v) approve.
ANTONYMS: (adj) against, mocking,
scornful, critical, negative,
uncomplimentary; (n) disapproval.
carpenter: (n) woodman, woodsman,
woodworker, Joseph; (v) build.
intelligible: (adj) clear,
inundated, engulfed, flooded, routed,
understandable, articulate, luminous, vanquished, subdued, subjugated,
apprehensible, graspable, simple,
overflowing, mild.
lucid, definite, distinct, perspicuous. suddenness: (n) steepness, hastiness,
ANTONYMS: (adj) difficult, illegible. precipitance, precipitancy,
labyrinth: (n) inner ear, tangle,
precipitateness, sudden, craggedness,
confusion, complication, internal ear, surprise, precipitousness,
web, unit, system; (adj, n) network;
brusqueness, curtness.
(v) eel, labyrinthian.
wretch: (n) victim, villain, scoundrel,
looker-on: (n) bystander, spectator,
reprobate, reptile, miscreant, martyr,
eyewitness, witness.
object of compassion, poor devil,
overpowered: (adj) beaten, conquered, prey, wreak.
138
Oliver Twist
*********
The gas-lamps were lighted; Mrs. Bedwin was waiting anxiously at the open
door; the servant had run up the street twenty times to see if there were any
traces of Oliver; and still the two old gentlemen sat, perseveringly, in the dark
parlour, with the watch between them.%
Thesaurus
anxiously: (adv) uneasily, restlessly,
carefully, worriedly, fearfully,
nervously, concernedly, solicitously,
timidly, keenly, enthusiastically.
ANTONYMS: (adv) calmly,
confidently, merrily, indifferently,
fearlessly, nonchalantly, patiently,
unconcernedly.
dark: (adj) dismal, black, cheerless,
obscure, dim, mysterious, murky,
gloomy; (n) evening, night, shadow.
ANTONYMS: (adj) bright, sunny,
twenty: (adj) vigesimal; (n) large
fair, sunlit, clear, pallid, pale,
cheerful, white, versed; (n) day.
integer, twenty dollar bill.
perseveringly: (adv) patiently,
waiting: (n) abeyance, suspense,
doggedly, tenaciously, persistently,
expectancy, hold, time lag,
determinedly, constantly, resolutely, postponement; (adj) ready and
waiting, ready, expectant; (adv) to
steadily, insistently, busily,
stubbornly.
come, in the making.
servant: (n) manservant, domestic,
watch: (n, v) view, sentinel, clock,
wake, regard, care; (v) observe, look,
lackey, maid, employee, flunkey,
see; (n) sentry; (adj, n) surveillance.
retainer, boy, footman, flunky,
menial. ANTONYMS: (n) master,
ANTONYMS: (v) neglect, overlook,
mistress.
harm, hurt, glance.
Charles Dickens
139
CHAPTER XVI
RELATES WHAT BECAME OF OLIVER TWIST,
AFTER HE HAD BEEN CLAIMED BY NANCY
The narrow streets and courts, at length, terminated in a large open space;
scattered about which, were pens for beasts, and other indications of a cattlemarket. Sikes slackened his pace when they reached this spot: the girl being quite
unable to support any longer, the rapid rate at which they had hitherto walked.
Turning to Oliver, he roughly commanded him to take hold of Nancy's hand.%
'Do you hear?' growled Sikes, as Oliver hesitated, and looked round.
They were in a dark corner, quite out of the track of passengers.
Oliver saw, but too plainly, that resistance would be of no avail. He held out
his hand, which Nancy clasped tight in hers.
'Give me the other,' said Sikes, seizing Oliver's unoccupied hand. 'Here,
Bull's-Eye!'
The dog looked up, and growled.
'See here, boy!' said Sikes, putting his other hand to Oliver's throat; 'if he
speaks ever so soft a word, hold him! D'ye mind!'
Thesaurus
avail: (n, v) advantage, assist, aid,
(adv, prep) about; (adj, adv, prep) just
indicia, chance.
profit, benefit, help; (adj, n) service;
plainly: (adv) evidently, manifestly,
about. ANTONYMS: (adv) softly,
(n) good, assistance, utility; (v) do.
clearly, distinctly, openly, obviously, gently, smoothly, exactly, finely,
ANTONYMS: (v) useless, hurt,
patently, overtly, definitely; (adj, adv) lovingly, precisely, well, evenly.
hinder, harm; (n) inappropriateness.
frankly, honestly. ANTONYMS: (adv) speaks: (n) talks.
beasts: (n) stock.
tight: (adj, v) narrow, parsimonious,
imperceptibly, vaguely, obscurely,
commanded: (adj) lawful.
compact, stingy; (adj, adv, v) fast,
figuratively, unclearly, politely,
courts: (n) judges.
firm; (adj) mean, taut, secure, snug,
incoherently, implicitly, finely,
hitherto: (adv) as yet, yet, so far, up to ambiguously, covertly.
tense. ANTONYMS: (adj) generous,
roughly: (adv) coarsely, harshly,
now, until now, thus far, before,
baggy, slack, wide, easy, open, leaky,
giving, free, floppy; (adv) loosely.
hereunto, to date, still, all the same.
violently, rudely, unevenly, hardly,
indications: (n) discriminating marks, severely, crudely; (adj, adv) nearly;
140
Oliver Twist
The dog growled again; and licking his lips, eyed Oliver as if he were anxious
to attach himself to his windpipe without delay.%
'He's as willing as a Christian, strike me blind if he isn't!' said Sikes, regarding
the animal with a kind of grim and ferocious approval. 'Now, you know what
you've got to expect, master, so call away as quick as you like; the dog will soon
stop that game. Get on, young'un!'
Bull's-eye wagged his tail in acknowledgment of this unusually endearing
form of speech; and, giving vent to another admonitory growl for the benefit of
Oliver, led the way onward.
It was Smithfield that they were crossing, although it might have been
Grosvenor Square, for anything Oliver knew to the contrary. The night was dark
and foggy. The lights in the shops could scarecely struggle through the heavy
mist, which thickened every moment and shrouded the streets and houses in
gloom; rendering the strange place still stranger in Oliver's eyes; and making his
uncertainty the more dismal and depressing.
They had hurried on a few paces, when a deep church-bell struck the hour.
With its first stroke, his two conductors stopped, and turned their heads in the
direction whence the sound proceeded.
'Eight o' clock, Bill,' said Nancy, when the bell ceased.
'What's the good of telling me that; I can hear it, can't I!' replied Sikes.
'I wonder whether THEY can hear it,' said Nancy.
'Of course they can,' replied Sikes. 'It was Bartlemy time when I was shopped;
and there warn't a penny trumpet in the fair, as I couldn't hear the squeaking on.
Arter I was locked up for the night, the row and din outside made the
thundering old jail so silent, that I could almost have beat my brains out against
the iron plates of the door.'
'Poor fellow!' said Nancy, who still had her face turned towards the quarter
in which the bell had sounded. 'Oh, Bill, such fine young chaps as them!'
Thesaurus
acknowledgment: (n) admission,
acknowledgement, acceptance,
confession, greeting, credit,
allowance, declaration, agreement,
thanks, gratitude. ANTONYMS: (n)
rejection, ungratefulness, oversight,
snub, ignoring, invoice, blame,
defiance.
ceased: (adj) finished.
chaps: (n) chops, fauces, crack.
endearing: (adj) adorable, lovable,
lovely, charming, sweet, attractive,
(n) squeak.
engaging, pretty, winning, pleasant,
cute. ANTONYMS: (adj) despicable, thickened: (adj) calloused,
repellent, detestable, unpleasant.
concentrated, incrassated, spissated,
foggy: (adj) hazy, misty, brumous,
stiff, tough, becoming thicker,
murky, blurred, bleary, fuzzy,
inspissated.
thundering: (adj) thumping,
opaque, thick, indefinite, nebulous.
ANTONYMS: (adj) precise, sunny.
whopping, lumpish, gaunt, hulky,
growl: (adj, n, v) snarl; (n, v) roar, bark, lubberly, spanking, big, loud, striking
howl, yap, moan, thunder; (v) gnarl,
terror; (n) thunder.
windpipe: (n) tonsils, larynx, throat,
mutter, complain, croak.
squeaking: (adj) creaking, screaky,
throttle, spiracle, thrapple,
screechy, squeaky, squealing, creaky; cartilaginous tube.
Charles Dickens
141
'Yes; that's all you women think of,' answered Sikes. 'Fine young chaps! Well,
they're as good as dead, so it don't much matter.'
With this consolation, Mr. Sikes appeared to repress a rising tendency to
jealousy, and, clasping Oliver's wrist more firmly, told him to step out again.%
'Wait a minute!' said the girl: 'I wouldn't hurry by, if it was you that was
coming out to be hung, the next time eight o'clock struck, Bill. I'd walk round
and round the place till I dropped, if the snow was on the ground, and I hadn't a
shawl to cover me.'
'And what good would that do?' inquired the unsentimental Mr. Sikes.
'Unless you could pitch over a file and twenty yards of good stout rope, you
might as well be walking fifty mile off, or not walking at all, for all the good it
would do me. Come on, and don't stand preaching there.'
The girl burst into a laugh; drew her shawl more closely round her; and they
walked away. But Oliver felt her hand tremble, and, looking up in her face as
they passed a gas-lamp, saw that it had turned a deadly white.
They walked on, by little-frequented and dirty ways, for a full half-hour:
meeting very few people, and those appearing from their looks to hold much the
same position in society as Mr. Sikes himself. At length they turned into a very
filthy narrow street, nearly full of old-clothes shops; the dog running forward, as
if conscious that there was no further occasion for his keeping on guard, stopped
before the door of a shop that was closed and apparently untenanted; the house
was in a ruinous condition, and on the door was nailed a board, intimating that
it was to let: which looked as if it had hung there for many years.
'All right,' cried Sikes, glancing cautiously about.
Nancy stooped below the shutters, and Oliver heard the sound of a bell. They
crossed to the opposite side of the street, and stood for a few moments under a
lamp. A noise, as if a sash window were gently raised, was heard; and soon
afterwards the door softly opened. Mr. Sikes then seized the terrified boy by the
collar with very little ceremony; and all three were quickly inside the house.
Thesaurus
consolation: (n) comfort, relief, balm,
succor, ease, cheer, solacement,
encouragement, sympathy,
alleviation, express sympathy.
ANTONYMS: (n) grief, sorrow,
distress, discouragement,
aggravation.
nailed: (adj) fixed, tight, stationary,
stable, secure, decided, firm,
immobile.
nancy: (n) Nanchang.
preaching: (n) sermon, lecture,
subversive. ANTONYMS: (adj)
homily, preachment, baccalaureate,
speech, pulpit, exhortation, kerygma; beneficial, fortunate, harmless.
(v) preach; (adj) hence.
sash: (n) girdle, cincture, band,
repress: (v) inhibit, crush, quash,
cummerbund, baldric, framing,
control, suppress, put down, bridle,
waistband, framework, frame, fillet,
keep down, subdue, restrain, reduce. fascia.
ANTONYMS: (v) declare, liberate,
unsentimental: (adj) realistic, downincite.
to-earth, toughened, sober, practical,
ruinous: (adj) harmful, baleful,
matter-of-fact, graphic, cynical,
disastrous, calamitous, injurious,
hardheaded.
untenanted: (adj) vacant, uninhabited.
deleterious, dilapidated, blasting,
baneful, pernicious; (adj, n)
ANTONYM: (adj) occupied.
142
Oliver Twist
The passage was perfectly dark. They waited, while the person who had let
them in, chained and barred the door.%
'Anybody here?' inquired Sikes.
'No,' replied a voice, which Oliver thought he had heard before.
'Is the old 'un here?' asked the robber.
'Yes,' replied the voice, 'and precious down in the mouth he has been. Won't
he be glad to see you? Oh, no!'
The style of this reply, as well as the voice which delivered it, seemed
familiar to Oliver's ears: but it was impossible to distinguish even the form of the
speaker in the darkness.
'Let's have a glim,' said Sikes, 'or we shall go breaking our necks, or treading
on the dog. Look after your legs if you do!'
'Stand still a moment, and I'll get you one,' replied the voice. The receding
footsteps of the speaker were heard; and, in another minute, the form of Mr. John
Dawkins, otherwise the Artful Dodger, appeared. He bore in his right hand a
tallow candle stuck in the end of a cleft stick.
The young gentleman did not stop to bestow any other mark of recognition
upon Oliver than a humourous grin; but, turning away, beckoned the visitors to
follow him down a flight of stairs. They crossed an empty kitchen; and, opening
the door of a low earthy-smelling room, which seemed to have been built in a
small back-yard, were received with a shout of laughter.
'Oh, my wig, my wig!' cried Master Charles Bates, from whose lungs the
laughter had proceeded: 'here he is! oh, cry, here he is! Oh, Fagin, look at him!
Fagin, do look at him! I can't bear it; it is such a jolly game, I cant' bear it. Hold
me, somebody, while I laugh it out.'
With this irrepressible ebullition of mirth, Master Bates laid himself flat on
the floor: and kicked convulsively for five minutes, in an ecstasy of facetious joy.
Then jumping to his feet, he snatched the cleft stick from the Dodger; and,
advancing to Oliver, viewed him round and round; while the Jew, taking off his
Thesaurus
bestow: (v) give, confer, grant, impart, paroxysmally, spasticly, with
contribute, donate, apply, award;
convulsions.
(adj, v) accord, allow, present.
ebullition: (n) boiling, ferment, choler,
ANTONYMS: (v) deprive, refuse,
bile, dander; (adj, n) effervescence; (v)
seethe, coction; (adj) seething, stir,
withhold, retrieve, withdraw.
chained: (adj) in chains, enchained,
splutter.
ecstasy: (n) delight, rapture, joy, bliss,
bound.
cleft: (adj, n) split; (n) fissure, cleavage, delirium, happiness, trance,
enthusiasm, exaltation, elation; (n, v)
crevice, rift, fracture, aperture,
transport. ANTONYMS: (n)
breach, chap, chink, crack.
ANTONYM: (adj) united.
desolation, gloom, downheartedness,
convulsively: (adv) spasmodically,
melancholy, depression, dejection,
anguish, sadness, despair, agony,
bore.
humourous: (adj) humorous.
receding: (n) disappearance, fadeout,
recession, niche; (adj) moving back,
low, hairless, balding, going out,
recessive, retiring.
tallow: (n) grease, lard, oil, suet,
cream, butter, cicatrix, beef tallow,
dubbin, animal oil, scar.
visitors: (n) visitation.
Charles Dickens
143
nightcap, made a great number of low bows to the bewildered boy. The Artful,
meantime, who was of a rather saturnine disposition, and seldom gave way to
merriment when it interfered with business, rifled Oliver's pockets with steady
assiduity.%
'Look at his togs, Fagin!' said Charley, putting the light so close to his new
jacket as nearly to set him on fire. 'Look at his togs! Superfine cloth, and the
heavy swell cut! Oh, my eye, what a game! And his books, too! Nothing but a
gentleman, Fagin!'
'Delighted to see you looking so well, my dear,' said the Jew, bowing with
mock humility. 'The Artful shall give you another suit, my dear, for fear you
should spoil that Sunday one. Why didn't you write, my dear, and say you were
coming? We'd have got something warm for supper.'
At his, Master Bates roared again: so loud, that Fagin himself relaxed, and
even the Dodger smiled; but as the Artful drew forth the five-pound note at that
instant, it is doubtful whether the sally of the discovery awakened his merriment.
'Hallo, what's that?' inquired Sikes, stepping forward as the Jew seized the
note. 'That's mine, Fagin.'
'No, no, my dear,' said the Jew. 'Mine, Bill, mine. You shall have the books.'
'If that ain't mine!' said Bill Sikes, putting on his hat with a determined air;
'mine and Nancy's that is; I'll take the boy back again.'
The Jew started. Oliver started too, though from a very different cause; for he
hoped that the dispute might really end in his being taken back.
'Come! Hand over, will you?' said Sikes.
'This is hardly fair, Bill; hardly fair, is it, Nancy?' inquired the Jew.
'Fair, or not fair,' retorted Sikes, 'hand over, I tell you! Do you think Nancy
and me has got nothing else to do with our precious time but to spend it in
scouting arter, and kidnapping, every young boy as gets grabbed through you?
Give it here, you avaricious old skeleton, give it here!'
Thesaurus
bewildered: (adj) bemused, confused, kidnapping: (n) kidnap, kidnaping,
superfine: (adj) refined, fine, finer,
confounded, perplexed, befuddled,
snatch, seizure, hijack, rape, catch,
fineer, best, superexcellent.
puzzled, dumbfounded, taken aback, abduction by force menace or fraud, swell: (n, v) rise, heave, increase,
addled, disoriented; (adj, v) lost.
wave, billow; (v) enlarge, expand,
grab, bit, capture.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unimpressed,
saturnine: (adj) dour, moody, morose, puff, grow, bloat; (adj, n) dandy.
ANTONYMS: (v) deflate, desiccate,
clear, oriented, precise,
sullen, dark, glum, gloomy, heavy,
dismal; (v) melancholic, bilious.
understanding, alert.
shrink, compress, concentrate, wane;
bowing: (n) obeisance, playing,
scouting: (n) reconnaissance,
(n, v) decline; (adj) bad, horrible,
gesticulation, capitulation,
reconnoitering, exploratory survey,
shabby, awful.
togs: (n) threads, duds, gear, suit,
genuflection, scraping, submission;
inspection, patrol, investigation,
(adj) bowed, bent, fawning,
exploration, labour scouting,
livery, apparel, clothes, clothing,
reconnoitring; (adj) disdainful.
submissive.
toggery, accouterment, caparison.
144
Oliver Twist
With this gentle remonstrance, Mr. Sikes plucked the note from between the
Jew's finger and thumb; and looking the old man coolly in the face, folded it up
small, and tied it in his neckerchief.%
'That's for our share of the trouble,' said Sikes; 'and not half enough, neither.
You may keep the books, if you're fond of reading. If you ain't, sell 'em.'
'They're very pretty,' said Charley Bates: who, with sundry grimaces, had
been affecting to read one of the volumes in question; 'beautiful writing, isn't is,
Oliver?' At sight of the dismayed look with which Oliver regarded his
tormentors, Master Bates, who was blessed with a lively sense of the ludicrous,
fell into another ecstasy, more boisterous than the first.
'They belong to the old gentleman,' said Oliver, wringing his hands; 'to the
good, kind, old gentleman who took me into his house, and had me nursed,
when I was near dying of the fever. Oh, pray send them back; send him back the
books and money. Keep me here all my life long; but pray, pray send them back.
He'll think I stole them; the old lady: all of them who were so kind to me: will
think I stole them. Oh, do have mercy upon me, and send them back!'
With these words, which were uttered with all the energy of passionate grief,
Oliver fell upon his knees at the Jew's feet; and beat his hands together, in perfect
desperation.
'The boy's right,' remarked Fagin, looking covertly round, and knitting his
shaggy eyebrows into a hard knot. 'You're right, Oliver, you're right; they WILL
think you have stolen 'em. Ha! ha!' chuckled the Jew, rubbing his hands, 'it
couldn't have happened better, if we had chosen our time!'
'Of course it couldn't,' replied Sikes; 'I know'd that, directly I see him coming
through Clerkenwell, with the books under his arm. It's all right enough. They're
soft-hearted psalm-singers, or they wouldn't have taken him in at all; and they'll
ask no questions after him, fear they should be obliged to prosecute, and so get
him lagged. He's safe enough.'
Oliver had looked from one to the other, while these words were being
spoken, as if he were bewildered, and could scarecely understand what passed;
Thesaurus
covertly: (adv) surreptitiously,
furtively, privately, clandestinely,
stealthily, privily, underhandedly,
undercoverly, mysteriously,
obscurely, quietly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) blatantly, overtly, publicly,
brazenly.
dismayed: (adj) aghast, shocked,
horrified, startled, discouraged,
disheartened, upset, downhearted,
afraid, downcast, dejected.
ANTONYMS: (adj) composed,
enthusiastic, happy, unabashed,
cheerful.
ludicrous: (adj) absurd, ridiculous,
farcical, foolish, laughable, comical,
grotesque, derisory, droll,
preposterous, jocular. ANTONYMS:
(adj) sane, impressive.
nursed: (adj) care, suckled.
plucked: (v) ploughed; (adj) pulled,
unfeathered, featherless, moulting,
pilled.
prosecute: (v) pursue, persecute,
follow, chase, engage, indict, litigate,
drive, execute, accuse; (n, v) sue.
ANTONYM: (v) pardon.
shaggy: (adj) bushy, hirsute, hairy,
bearded, shagged, pilous, brushy,
unkempt, hispid; (adj, n) ragged; (n)
rugged. ANTONYMS: (adj) sleek,
tidy.
soft-hearted: (adj) sympathetic, tender,
warm, lenient, compassionate,
merciful, clement, sentimental.
took: (adj) taken; (v) receive.
Charles Dickens
145
but when Bill Sikes concluded, he jumped suddenly to his feet, and tore wildly
from the room: uttering shrieks for help, which made the bare old house echo to
the roof.%
'Keep back the dog, Bill!' cried Nancy, springing before the door, and closing
it, as the Jew and his two pupils darted out in pursuit. 'Keep back the dog; he'll
tear the boy to pieces.'
'Serve him right!' cried Sikes, struggling to disengage himself from the girl's
grasp. 'Stand off from me, or I'll split your head against the wall.'
'I don't care for that, Bill, I don't care for that,' screamed the girl, struggling
violently with the man, 'the child shan't be torn down by the dog, unless you kill
me first.'
'Shan't he!' said Sikes, setting his teeth. 'I'll soon do that, if you don't keep off.'
The housebreaker flung the girl from him to the further end of the room, just
as the Jew and the two boys returned, dragging Oliver among them.
'What's the matter here!' said Fagin, looking round.
'The girl's gone mad, I think,' replied Sikes, savagely.
'No, she hasn't,' said Nancy, pale and breathless from the scuffle; 'no, she
hasn't, Fagin; don't think it.'
'Then keep quiet, will you?' said the Jew, with a threatening look.
'No, I won't do that, neither,' replied Nancy, speaking very loud. 'Come!
What do you think of that?'
Mr. Fagin was sufficiently well acquainted with the manners and customs of
that particular species of humanity to which Nancy belonged, to feel tolerably
certain that it would be rather unsafe to prolong any conversation with her, at
present. With the view of diverting the attention of the company, he turned to
Oliver.
'So you wanted to get away, my dear, did you?' said the Jew, taking up a
jagged and knotted club which law in a corner of the fireplace; 'eh?'
Thesaurus
disengage: (v) discharge, detach,
extricate, release, disconnect,
enfranchise; (adj, v) disentangle, clear,
disembarrass, free; (adj) disencumber.
ANTONYMS: (v) fasten, engage,
attach, connect, tighten, obstruct,
unite, couple, join, activate, lock.
diverting: (adj, v) entertaining; (adj)
comical, fun, amusive, droll, comic,
laughable, funny, humorous,
recreative, intriguing.
housebreaker: (n) thief, robber, cat
burglar, wrecker, intruder,
housewrecker, second-story man.
knotted: (adj) knotty, gnarled, gnarly,
involved, entangled, complicated,
tangled, matted, knobbed, fastened;
(adj, v) kinky. ANTONYMS: (adj)
straight, tidy, relaxed.
savagely: (adv) brutally, ferociously,
barbarously, wildly, barbarianly,
viciously, uncivilizedly, violently,
felly, untamedly, roughly.
scuffle: (n, v) tussle, fight, scrap,
struggle, disturbance, encounter; (v)
grapple, shuffle; (n) melee, scramble,
fighting.
tolerably: (adv) well enough, passably,
acceptably, reasonably, enough,
moderately, to a tolerable degree,
pretty, to an adequate degree; (adj,
adv) somewhat; (adj) pretty well.
ANTONYMS: (adv) unbearably,
intolerably, unacceptably,
unreasonably, insufficiently,
inadequately.
146
Oliver Twist
Oliver made no reply. But he watched the Jew's motions, and breathed
quickly.%
'Wanted to get assistance; called for the police; did you?' sneered the Jew,
catching the boy by the arm. 'We'll cure you of that, my young master.'
The Jew inflicted a smart blow on Oliver's shoulders with the club; and was
raising it for a second, when the girl, rushing forward, wrested it from his hand.
She flung it into the fire, with a force that brought some of the glowing coals
whirling out into the room.
'I won't stand by and see it done, Fagin,' cried the girl. 'You've got the boy,
and what more would you have?--Let him be--let him be--or I shall put that mark
on some of you, that will bring me to the gallows before my time.'
The girl stamped her foot violently on the floor as she vented this threat; and
with her lips compressed, and her hands clenched, looked alternately at the Jew
and the other robber: her face quite colourless from the passion of rage into
which she had gradually worked herself.
'Why, Nancy!' said the Jew, in a soothing tone; after a pause, during which he
and Mr. Sikes had stared at one another in a disconcerted manner; 'you,--you're
more clever than ever to-night. Ha! ha! my dear, you are acting beautifully.'
'Am I!' said the girl. 'Take care I don't overdo it. You will be the worse for it,
Fagin, if I do; and so I tell you in good time to keep clear of me.'
There is something about a roused woman: especially if she add to all her
other strong passions, the fierce impulses of recklessness and despair; which few
men like to provoke. The Jew saw that it would be hopeless to affect any further
mistake regarding the reality of Miss Nancy's rage; and, shrinking involuntarily
back a few paces, cast a glance, half imploring and half cowardly, at Sikes: as if to
hint that he was the fittest person to pursue the dialogue.
Mr. Sikes, thus mutely appealed to; and possibly feeling his personal pride
and influence interested in the immediate reduction of Miss Nancy to reason;
gave utterance to about a couple of score of curses and threats, the rapid
production of which reflected great credit on the fertility of his invention. As
Thesaurus
breathed: (adj) unvoiced, inaudible,
bemused. ANTONYMS: (adj)
overcharge, overdraw, overplay,
breathing, aphonic.
composed, soothed, unabashed,
embroider, overburden, fatigue,
coals: (n) ashes, fire, residue, embers.
overtax, overwhelm; (adj) overshoot
relaxed.
colourless: (adj) colorless, drab, pale, gallows: (n) gibbet, gallous, gallowsthe mark. ANTONYMS: (v)
neutral, wan, pallid, ashen, clear,
bitts, hanging, noose, scaffold, halter, understate, minimize, fast.
whirling: (adj) rotary, revolving,
white, washy, bloodless.
tree, rope, gallowstree, bough.
ANTONYM: (adj) colorful.
mutely: (adv) dumbly, wordlessly,
dizzy, giddy, lightheaded, rotating,
curses: (n) abuse.
vortical; (n) rotation, gyration,
stilly, speechlessly, taciturnly,
disconcerted: (adj) confused,
revolution; (adj, n) swirling.
unspokenly, quietly, noiselessly,
worked: (adj) elaborated, beaten.
confounded, bewildered, blank,
dully, soundlessly, dummily.
ANTONYM: (adv) noisily.
wrested: (adj) perverted, distorted,
embarrassed, disturbed, troubled,
worried, ashamed, discombobulated, overdo: (v) magnify, overact,
twisted, wry.
Charles Dickens
147
they produced no visible effect on the object against whom they were
discharged, however, he resorted to more tangible arguments.%
'What do you mean by this?' said Sikes; backing the inquiry with a very
common imprecation concerning the most beautiful of human features: which, if
it were heard above, only once out of every fifty thousand times that it is uttered
below, would render blindness as common a disorder as measles: 'what do you
mean by it? Burn my body! Do you know who you are, and what you are?'
'Oh, yes, I know all about it,' replied the girl, laughing hysterically; and
shaking her head from side to side, with a poor assumption of indifference.
'Well, then, keep quiet,' rejoined Sikes, with a growl like that he was
accustomed to use when addressing his dog, 'or I'll quiet you for a good long
time to come.'
The girl laughed again: even less composedly than before; and, darting a
hasty look at Sikes, turned her face aside, and bit her lip till the blood came.
'You're a nice one,' added Sikes, as he surveyed her with a contemptuous air,
'to take up the humane and gen--teel side! A pretty subject for the child, as you
call him, to make a friend of!'
'God Almighty help me, I am!' cried the girl passionately; 'and I wish I had
been struck dead in the street, or had changed places with them we passed so
near to-night, before I had lent a hand in bringing him here. He's a thief, a liar, a
devil, all that's bad, from this night forth. Isn't that enough for the old wretch,
without blows?'
'Come, come, Sikes,' said the Jew appealing to him in a remonstratory tone,
and motioning towards the boys, who were eagerly attentive to all that passed;
'we must have civil words; civil words, Bill.'
'Civil words!' cried the girl, whose passion was frightful to see. 'Civil words,
you villain! Yes, you deserve 'em from me. I thieved for you when I was a child
not half as old as this!' pointing to Oliver. 'I have been in the same trade, and in
the same service, for twelve years since. Don't you know it? Speak out! Don't you
know it?'
Thesaurus
attentive: (adj) assiduous, diligent,
composedly: (adv) serenely, calmly,
heedful, watchful, observant,
quietly, placidly, coolly, sedately,
advertent, mindful, careful, aware,
steadily, soberly, unperturbedly,
alert, respectful. ANTONYMS: (adj)
staidly, relaxedly. ANTONYM: (adv)
unfocused, negligent, neglectful,
nervously.
contemptuous: (adj) scornful,
forgetful, heedless, unobservant,
rude, unprepared, unconscious,
disdainful, insulting, arrogant,
uncaring, inconsiderate.
proud, haughty, derisive, cynical,
blindness: (n) cecity, sightlessness,
sarcastic, disrespectful; (adj, v)
supercilious. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ablepsy, ignorance, prestriction,
excecation, cataract, fog, anopia; (adj, approving, complimentary,
n) darkness; (adj) anopsy.
deferential, humble, polite, respected,
admiring.
hysterically: (adv) feverishly,
frantically, agitatedly, worriedly,
wildly, violently, turbulently,
excitedly, emotionally, passionately,
stormily. ANTONYM: (adv)
peacefully.
lent: (n) Quadragesima, Lententide.
measles: (n) morbilli, rubeola, rubella,
leprosy, contagion, contagious
disease; (adj) polio, mumps.
148
Oliver Twist
'Well, well,' replied the Jew, with an attempt at pacification; 'and, if you
have, it's your living!'
'Aye, it is!' returned the girl; not speaking, but pouring out the words in one
continuous and vehement scream. 'It is my living; and the cold, wet, dirty streets
are my home; and you're the wretch that drove me to them long ago, and that'll
keep me there, day and night, day and night, till I die!'
'I shall do you a mischief!' interposed the Jew, goaded by these reproaches; 'a
mischief worse than that, if you say much more!'
The girl said nothing more; but, tearing her hair and dress in a transport of
passion, made such a rush at the Jew as would probably have left signal marks of
her revenge upon him, had not her wrists been seized by Sikes at the right
moment; upon which, she made a few ineffectual struggles, and fainted.%
'She's all right now,' said Sikes, laying her down in a corner. 'She's
uncommon strong in the arms, when she's up in this way.'
The Jew wiped his forehead: and smiled, as if it were a relief to have the
disturbance over; but neither he, nor Sikes, nor the dog, nor the boys, seemed to
consider it in any other light than a common occurance incidental to business.
'It's the worst of having to do with women,' said the Jew, replacing his club;
'but they're clever, and we can't get on, in our line, without 'em. Charley, show
Oliver to bed.'
'I suppose he'd better not wear his best clothes tomorrow, Fagin, had he?'
inquired Charley Bates.
'Certainly not,' replied the Jew, reciprocating the grin with which Charley
put the question.
Master Bates, apparently much delighted with his commission, took the cleft
stick: and led Oliver into an adjacent kitchen, where there were two or three of
the beds on which he had slept before; and here, with many uncontrollable
bursts of laughter, he produced the identical old suit of clothes which Oliver had
so much congratulated himself upon leaving off at Mr. Brownlow's; and the
Thesaurus
goaded: (adj) provoked, forced,
devilry, caper, devilment,
motivated, unvoluntary, aggravated, maleficence. ANTONYMS: (n)
compulsive, determined,
obedience, beneficence, help.
pacification: (n) appeasement, peace,
involuntary.
incidental: (adj) fortuitous, accidental, conciliation, mollification, peace
treaty, reconciliation, sedation; (v)
contingent, adventitious, collateral,
chance, occasional, incident,
assuagement, mitigation, remission,
tranquilization. ANTONYM: (n)
attendant, concomitant, episodic.
ANTONYMS: (adj) basic, direct,
provocation.
reciprocating: (adj) reciprocatory.
intended, significant.
mischief: (adj, n) evil, hurt, harm; (n) uncontrollable: (adj) unruly,
damage, ill, detriment, disadvantage, incontrollable, ungovernable,
unmanageable, intractable,
undisciplined, disobedient, indocile,
overwhelming, boisterous; (adj, v)
uncontrolled. ANTONYMS: (adj)
controllable, imperceptible, orderly,
biddable, weak.
vehement: (adj) fierce, intense, violent,
strong, furious, passionate, ferocious,
eager, hot, fervent, fervid.
ANTONYMS: (adj) impassionate,
indifferent, mild, calm.
Charles Dickens
149
accidental display of which, to Fagin, by the Jew who purchased them, had been
the very first clue received, of his whereabout.%
'Put off the smart ones,' said Charley, 'and I'll give 'em to Fagin to take care
of. What fun it is!'
Poor Oliver unwillingly complied. Master Bates rolling up the new clothes
under his arm, departed from the room, leaving Oliver in the dark, and locking
the door behind him.
The noise of Charley's laughter, and the voice of Miss Betsy, who
opportunely arrived to throw water over her friend, and perform other feminine
offices for the promotion of her recovery, might have kept many people awake
under more happy circumstances than those in which Oliver was placed. But he
was sick and weary; and he soon fell sound asleep.
Thesaurus
accidental: (adj) casual, unintentional,
adventitious, unintended, incidental,
chance, random, unforeseen,
unexpected, contingent, haphazard.
ANTONYMS: (adj) deliberate,
designed, intended, planned,
premeditated.
feminine: (adj) effeminate, womanly,
maidenly, delicate, not male,
pistillate, wifely, mild; (n) girl, lady,
gender. ANTONYMS: (adj) male,
unwomanly, neuter.
locking: (n) lockup, bolting,
aversely, unenthusiastically,
interlocking, engagement, cordoning indisposedly, resentfully,
off, closing off, binding, guarding.
involuntarily, recalcitrantly,
opportunely: (adv) conveniently,
refractorily, lothly, hesitatingly.
ANTONYM: (adv) wholeheartedly.
expediently, handily, auspiciously,
advantageously, fortunately, luckily, weary: (adj, n, v) fatigue; (v) exhaust,
tire out; (adj) tired, exhausted,
aproposly, favorably, appropriately,
happily. ANTONYMS: (adv)
fatigued, aweary, beat, languid; (n, v)
jade, bore. ANTONYMS: (adj)
inconveniently, unfortunately.
purchased: (adj) boughten, not
energetic, fresh, lively, untiring,
homemade; (prep) bribed.
hopeful, refreshed; (v) refresh,
unwillingly: (adv) grudgingly, loathly, enliven, energize, activate, rally.
Charles Dickens
151
CHAPTER XVII
OLIVER'S DESTINY CONTINUING
UNPROPITIOUS, BRINGS A GREAT MAN TO
LONDON TO INJURE HIS REPUTATION
It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas, to present
the tragic and the comic scenes, in as regular alternation, as the layers of red and
white in a side of streaky bacon. The hero sinks upon his straw bed, weighed
down by fetters and misfortunes; in the next scene, his faithful but unconscious
squire regales the audience with a comic song. We behold, with throbbing
bosoms, the heroine in the grasp of a proud and ruthless baron: her virtue and
her life alike in danger, drawing forth her dagger to preserve the one at the cost
of the other; and just as our expectations are wrought up to the highest pitch, a
whistle is heard, and we are straightway transported to the great hall of the
castle; where a grey-headed seneschal sings a funny chorus with a funnier body
of vassals, who are free of all sorts of places, from church vaults to palaces, and
roam about in company, carolling perpetually.%
Such changes appear absurd; but they are not so unnatural as they would
seem at first sight. The transitions in real life from well-spread boards to deathbeds, and from mourning-weeds to holiday garments, are not a whit less
startling; only, there, we are busy actors, instead of passive lookers-on, which
Thesaurus
alternation: (n) interchange, variation, ANTONYM: (adj) easy.
roam: (adj, v) stray; (v) wander,
variety, alteration, vicissitude,
alternateness, alternate, turnover,
gallivant, meander, range, gad, walk,
transition, transformation,
drift, tramp, journey, stroll.
ANTONYMS: (v) rush, settle.
alternativeness.
dagger: (n) bodkin, sword, blade,
seneschal: (n) burgomaster, bailiff,
obelisk, knife, stiletto, dirk, cutlass,
Corregidor, castellan, factotum,
grapheme, saber, skean.
warden, servant, shepherd,
misfortunes: (n) misfortune.
portreeve, retainer, alderman.
murderous: (adj) cutthroat, homicidal, squire: (n, v) escort; (n) landlord,
gory, bloodthirsty, cruel, brutal,
gallant, attendant, beau, gentleman,
fierce, mortal, deadly, lethal, killing.
esquire, landowner, landholder,
armiger; (v) attend.
streaky: (adj) striate.
throbbing: (adj, n) beating; (n)
pounding, pulsation, pulse, ache,
palpitation, sting; (adj) painful,
pulsatile, palpitating, palpitant.
ANTONYM: (n) pleasure.
weighed: (adj) determined, deliberate,
tared.
whit: (n) iota, atom, shred, scintilla,
smidgen, tittle, jot, bit, particle,
smidgin; (adj) dab.
152
Oliver Twist
makes a vast difference. The actors in the mimic life of the theatre, are blind to
violent transitions and abrupt impulses of passion or feeling, which, presented
before the eyes of mere spectators, are at once condemned as outrageous and
preposterous.%
As sudden shiftings of the scene, and rapid changes of time and place, are not
only sanctioned in books by long usage, but are by many considered as the great
art of authorship: an author's skill in his craft being, by such critics, chiefly
estimated with relation to the dilemmas in which he leaves his characters at the
end of every chapter: this brief introduction to the present one may perhaps be
deemed unnecessary. If so, let it be considered a delicate intimation on the part
of the historian that he is going back to the town in which Oliver Twist was born;
the reader taking it for granted that there are good and substantial reasons for
making the journey, or he would not be invited to proceed upon such an
expedition.
Mr. Bumble emerged at early morning from the workhouse-gate, and walked
with portly carriage and commanding steps, up the High Street. He was in the
full bloom and pride of beadlehood; his cocked hat and coat were dazzling in the
morning sun; he clutched his cane with the vigorous tenacity of health and
power. Mr. Bumble always carried his head high; but this morning it was higher
than usual. There was an abstraction in his eye, an elevation in his air, which
might have warned an observant stranger that thoughts were passing in the
beadle's mind, too great for utterance.
Mr. Bumble stopped not to converse with the small shopkeepers and others
who spoke to him, deferentially, as he passed along. He merely returned their
salutations with a wave of his hand, and relaxed not in his dignified pace, until
he reached the farm where Mrs. Mann tended the infant paupers with parochial
care.
'Drat that beadle!' said Mrs. Mann, hearing the well-known shaking at the
garden-gate. 'If it isn't him at this time in the morning! Lauk, Mr. Bumble, only
think of its being you! Well, dear me, it IS a pleasure, this is! Come into the
parlour, sir, please.'
Thesaurus
authorship: (n) source, paternity,
writing, pencraft, fatherhood, origin,
authorism, bookcraft, drafting; (n, v)
composition; (v) publication.
clutched: (adj) tense, worried, anxious,
neurotic.
converse: (n, v) chat, discourse, argue;
(v) confer, confabulate, speak; (n)
conversation, colloquy, contrast; (adj,
n) opposite; (adj) counter.
ANTONYMS: (adj, n) equal; (adj)
similar, complementary; (n)
similarity.
mann: (n) Horace Mann.
mimic: (adj, v) mock; (v) imitate,
mime, copy, impersonate, parody,
emulate; (n, v) counterfeit; (n)
imitator, mimicker, ape.
portly: (adj) plump, stout, corpulent,
heavy, obese, chubby, fleshy,
overweight; (adj, adv) burly, stately;
(adv) plumply. ANTONYMS: (adj,
adv) thin, slim; (adj) skinny.
salutations: (n) respects.
sanctioned: (adj) approved, legitimate,
authorized, canonical, official, legal,
accepted, canonic, orthodox; (v)
allowed; (adj, v) privileged.
tenacity: (n) persistence,
determination, resolution,
doggedness, resolve, pertinacity,
strength, persistency, fortitude,
firmness; (adj) obstinacy.
ANTONYMS: (n) indifference,
slackness, weakness, cowardice,
flexibility, indecision.
Charles Dickens
153
The first sentence was addressed to Susan; and the exclamations of delight
were uttered to Mr. Bumble: as the good lady unlocked the garden-gate: and
showed him, with great attention and respect, into the house.%
'Mrs. Mann,' said Mr. Bumble; not sitting upon, or dropping himself into a
seat, as any common jackanapes would: but letting himself gradually and slowly
down into a chair; 'Mrs. Mann, ma'am, good morning.'
'Well, and good morning to you, sir,' replied Mrs. Mann, with many smiles;
'and hoping you find yourself well, sir!'
'So-so, Mrs. Mann,' replied the beadle. 'A porochial life is not a bed of roses,
Mrs. Mann.'
'Ah, that it isn't indeed, Mr. Bumble,' rejoined the lady. And all the infant
paupers might have chorussed the rejoinder with great propriety, if they had
heard it.
'A porochial life, ma'am,' continued Mr. Bumble, striking the table with his
cane, 'is a life of worrit, and vexation, and hardihood; but all public characters,
as I may say, must suffer prosecution.'
Mrs. Mann, not very well knowing what the beadle meant, raised her hands
with a look of sympathy, and sighed.
'Ah! You may well sigh, Mrs. Mann!' said the beadle.
Finding she had done right, Mrs. Mann sighed again: evidently to the
satisfaction of the public character: who, repressing a complacent smile by
looking sternly at his cocked hat, said,
'Mrs. Mann, I am going to London.'
'Lauk, Mr. Bumble!' cried Mrs. Mann, starting back.
'To London, ma'am,' resumed the inflexible beadle, 'by coach. I and two
paupers, Mrs. Mann! A legal action is a coming on, about a settlement; and the
board has appointed me--me, Mrs. Mann--to dispose to the matter before the
quarter-sessions at Clerkinwell.
Thesaurus
hardihood: (v) audacity; (n) courage,
(n) impropriety, rudeness,
daring, boldness, temerity,
unsuitableness, indecorum,
fearlessness, fortitude, brass; (adj, n)
decadence, tactlessness, corruption,
face, guts; (n, v) assurance.
vulgarity, indecency.
ANTONYMS: (n) frailty, timidity.
rejoinder: (n) reply, comeback,
jackanapes: (n) saucebox, brat, minx,
response, riposte, return, reaction,
nobody, nonentity, coxcomb, ape,
demurrer, plea, replication, retort,
monkey, cypher, lightweight, cipher. objection.
propriety: (adj, n) decency, modesty,
repressing: (adj) inhibiting, insolent,
correctness, aptitude; (n) decorum,
discouraging, aggressively haughty,
fitness, etiquette, civility, grace,
overbearing, arrogant, dictatorial,
politeness, manners. ANTONYMS:
domineering, restrictive, repressive,
overpowering.
sigh: (n, v) groan, suspire, murmur; (v)
breathe, languish, pine; (n) breath,
wail, whimper, whine, suspiration.
unlocked: (adj) unbarred, unlatched,
unbolted, not closed, loose,
unsecured, ajar, wide open,
unguaranteed.
vexation: (adj, n) annoyance, nuisance;
(n) irritation, worry, aggravation,
displeasure, chagrin, chafe, anger,
frustration, botheration.
154
Oliver Twist
And I very much question,' added Mr. Bumble, drawing himself up, 'whether
the Clerkinwell Sessions will not find themselves in the wrong box before they
have done with me.'
'Oh! you mustn't be too hard upon them, sir,' said Mrs. Mann, coaxingly.%
'The Clerkinwell Sessions have brought it upon themselves, ma'am,' replied
Mr. Bumble; 'and if the Clerkinwell Sessions find that they come off rather worse
than they expected, the Clerkinwell Sessions have only themselves to thank.'
There was so much determination and depth of purpose about the menacing
manner in which Mr. Bumble delivered himself of these words, that Mrs. Mann
appeared quite awed by them. At length she said,
'You're going by coach, sir? I thought it was always usual to send them
paupers in carts.'
'That's when they're ill, Mrs. Mann,' said the beadle. 'We put the sick paupers
into open carts in the rainy weather, to prevent their taking cold.'
'Oh!' said Mrs. Mann.
'The opposition coach contracts for these two; and takes them cheap,' said Mr.
Bumble. 'They are both in a very low state, and we find it would come two
pound cheaper to move 'em than to bury 'em--that is, if we can throw 'em upon
another parish, which I think we shall be able to do, if they don't die upon the
road to spite us. Ha! ha! ha!'
When Mr. Bumble had laughed a little while, his eyes again encountered the
cocked hat; and he became grave.
'We are forgetting business, ma'am,' said the beadle; 'here is your porochial
stipend for the month.'
Mr. Bumble produced some silver money rolled up in paper, from his
pocket-book; and requested a receipt: which Mrs. Mann wrote.
'It's very much blotted, sir,' said the farmer of infants; 'but it's formal enough,
I dare say. Thank you, Mr. Bumble, sir, I am very much obliged to you, I'm sure.'
Thesaurus
awed: (adj) frightened, groveling,
reverential, reverent, overwhelmed,
overcome, intimidated, worshipful,
impressed, fearful, abominable.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unawed,
irreverent.
bury: (v) inter, overwhelm, lay to rest,
hide, mask, secrete, conceal, cloak,
entomb, suppress; (n) burial.
ANTONYMS: (v) exhume, unearth,
uncover, dig, disclose, distract,
expose, ignore, reveal, air, remember.
forgetting: (v) forget; (adj) oblivious;
rejection, invoice.
(n) disregard.
requested: (adj) demanded.
infants: (n) brood.
rolled: (adj) rolling, furled, involute,
rainy: (adj) moist, pluvial, damp,
scroll, coiled, resonant, trilled,
pluvious, stormy, juicy, dirty, soppy, reverberative, reverberating,
raining, drizzly; (adj, v) showery.
resounding, spiral.
ANTONYM: (adj) pleasant.
spite: (n) malice, grudge, hatred,
receipt: (n) acknowledgment,
malevolence, rancour, venom, rancor,
maliciousness, ill will, animosity; (n,
acknowledgement, acceptance,
v) pique. ANTONYMS: (v) please; (n)
acquittance, ticket, check, recipe,
revenue, certificate, profit; (v)
benevolence, goodwill, love,
acknowledge. ANTONYMS: (n)
affection, harmony.
Charles Dickens
155
Mr. Bumble nodded, blandly, in acknowledgment of Mrs. Mann's curtsey;
and inquired how the children were.%
'Bless their dear little hearts!' said Mrs. Mann with emotion, 'they're as well as
can be, the dears! Of course, except the two that died last week. And little Dick.'
'Isn't that boy no better?' inquired Mr. Bumble.
Mrs. Mann shook her head.
'He's a ill-conditioned, wicious, bad-disposed porochial child that,' said Mr.
Bumble angrily. 'Where is he?'
'I'll bring him to you in one minute, sir,' replied Mrs. Mann. 'Here, you Dick!'
After some calling, Dick was discovered. Having had his face put under the
pump, and dried upon Mrs. Mann's gown, he was led into the awful presence of
Mr. Bumble, the beadle.
The child was pale and thin; his cheeks were sunken; and his eyes large and
bright. The scanty parish dress, the livery of his misery, hung loosely on his
feeble body; and his young limbs had wasted away, like those of an old man.
Such was the little being who stood trembling beneath Mr. Bumble's glance;
not daring to lift his eyes from the floor; and dreading even to hear the beadle's
voice.
'Can't you look at the gentleman, you obstinate boy?' said Mrs. Mann.
The child meekly raised his eyes, and encountered those of Mr. Bumble.
'What's the matter with you, porochial Dick?' inquired Mr. Bumble, with
well-timed jocularity.
'Nothing, sir,' replied the child faintly.
'I should think not,' said Mrs. Mann, who had of course laughed very much
at Mr. Bumble's humour.
'You want for nothing, I'm sure.'
'I should like--' faltered the child.
Thesaurus
blandly: (adv) dully, insipidly, mildly,
suavely, flatly, uninterestingly,
tamely, weakly, boringly,
flavorlessly, oily. ANTONYMS: (adv)
meaningfully, interestingly,
admirably.
dreading: (adj) anxious.
gown: (n) robe, clothing, cassock,
vestment, wrapper, overclothes,
outerwear, uniform, tunic, clothes; (v)
clothe.
jocularity: (n) jest, jocosity, waggery,
narrow, scant, light; (adj, v) spare,
humorousness, joke, pleasantry,
lean. ANTONYMS: (adj) generous,
facetiousness, drollery, play,
recreation, jocoseness.
abundant, ample, strong.
livery: (adj) liverish, bilious; (n)
sunken: (adj) concave, depressed,
clothing, accouterment, uniform,
submerged, empty, underwater,
complexion, legal transfer, color, hue, cavernous, recessed, gaunt, low,
dye, bailment.
depression, submarine. ANTONYM:
pump: (n, v) interrogate, question; (v)
(adj) convex.
well-timed: (adj) timely, seasonable,
draw, milk, examine, squirt, push,
wield; (n) ticker, pumps, aspirator.
opportune, happy, auspicious,
scanty: (adj) insufficient, few,
favorable, felicitous, appropriate,
inadequate, bare, deficient, poor,
prosperous, propitious, ripe.
156
Oliver Twist
'Hey-day!' interposed Mr. Mann, 'I suppose you're going to say that you DO
want for something, now? Why, you little wretch--'
'Stop, Mrs. Mann, stop!' said the beadle, raising his hand with a show of
authority. 'Like what, sir, eh?'
'I should like,' faltered the child, 'if somebody that can write, would put a few
words down for me on a piece of paper, and fold it up and seal it, and keep it for
me, after I am laid in the ground.'
'Why, what does the boy mean?' exclaimed Mr. Bumble, on whom the earnest
manner and wan aspect of the child had made some impression: accustomed as
he was to such things. 'What do you mean, sir?'
'I should like,' said the child, 'to leave my dear love to poor Oliver Twist; and
to let him know how often I have sat by myself and cried to think of his
wandering about in the dark nights with nobody to help him. And I should like
to tell him,' said the child pressing his small hands together, and speaking with
great fervour, 'that I was glad to die when I was very young; for, perhaps, if I
had lived to be a man, and had grown old, my little sister who is in Heaven,
might forget me, or be unlike me; and it would be so much happier if we were
both children there together.'
Mr. Bumble surveyed the little speaker, from head to foot, with indescribable
astonishment; and, turning to his companion, said, 'They're all in one story, Mrs.
Mann. That out-dacious Oliver had demogalized them all!'
'I couldn't have believed it, sir' said Mrs Mann, holding up her hands, and
looking malignantly at Dick. 'I never see such a hardened little wretch!'
'Take him away, ma'am!' said Mr. Bumble imperiously. 'This must be stated
to the board, Mrs. Mann.%
'I hope the gentleman will understand that it isn't my fault, sir?' said Mrs.
Mann, whimpering pathetically.
'They shall understand that, ma'am; they shall be acquainted with the true
state of the case,' said Mr. Bumble. 'There; take him away, I can't bear the sight on
him.'
Thesaurus
accustomed: (adj, n) habitual; (adj)
familiar, normal, wonted, usual,
natural, everyday, ordinary,
habituated, common, traditional.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unusual, green,
unseasoned, unconventional,
untrained, abnormal,
uncharacteristic, exceptional.
fervour: (n) ardour, fervidness,
fervency, fervor, ardor, enthusiasm,
eagerness, zest, elan, ardency, fire.
imperiously: (adv) overbearingly,
pathetically: (adv) pitifully, piteously,
arrogantly, commandingly,
magisterially, dictatorially,
sorrily, wretchedly, pitiably,
masterfully, haughtily, imperatively, touchingly, sadly, poorly, miserably,
authoritatively, domineeringly,
plaintively, distressingly.
insolently. ANTONYMS: (adv)
ANTONYMS: (adv) intelligently,
meekly, feebly.
convincingly.
malignantly: (adv) maliciously,
stated: (adj) set, declared, explicit,
spitefully, evilly, malevolently,
regular, certain, established, settled,
avowed, alleged, definite; (adv) given.
hatefully, perniciously, nastily,
malefically, viciously, pestilentially, whimpering: (adj) whining, puling,
noisomely. ANTONYM: (adv)
childish, querulous; (n) sniveling, cry,
benevolently.
tear.
Charles Dickens
157
Dick was immediately taken away, and locked up in the coal-cellar. Mr.
Bumble shortly afterwards took himself off, to prepare for his journey.%
At six o'clock next morning, Mr. Bumble: having exchanged his cocked hat
for a round one, and encased his person in a blue great-coat with a cape to it:
took his place on the outside of the coach, accompanied by the criminals whose
settlement was disputed; with whom, in due course of time, he arrived in
London.
He experienced no other crosses on the way, than those which originated in
the perverse behaviour of the two paupers, who persisted in shivering, and
complaining of the cold, in a manner which, Mr. Bumble declared, caused his
teeth to chatter in his head, and made him feel quite uncomfortable; although he
had a great-coat on.
Having disposed of these evil-minded persons for the night, Mr. Bumble sat
himself down in the house at which the coach stopped; and took a temperate
dinner of steaks, oyster sauce, and porter. Putting a glass of hot gin-and-water on
the chimney-piece, he drew his chair to the fire; and, with sundry moral
reflections on the too-prevalent sin of discontent and complaining, composed
himself to read the paper.
The very first paragraph upon which Mr. Bumble's eye rested, was the
following advertisement.
FIVE GUINEAS REWARD
'Whereas a young boy, named Oliver Twist, absconded, or was enticed, on
Thursday evening last, from his home, at Pentonville; and has not since been
heard of. The above reward will be paid to any person who will give such
information as will lead to the discovery of the said Oliver Twist, or tend to
throw any light upon his previous history, in which the advertiser is, for many
reasons, warmly interested.'
Thesaurus
advertiser: (n) booster, adman,
publicist, publicizer, sponsor,
promoter, advocate, forerunner,
plugger, tout, touter.
chatter: (n, v) babble, gossip, prattle,
gab, cackle, natter; (adj, n, v) jabber;
(adj, v) prate, palaver; (v) blabber,
patter. ANTONYM: (v) drawl.
discontent: (n) disapproval,
discontentment, disaffection,
displeasure, disappointment,
discontentedness, unrest; (adj)
melancholy, dissatisfied, disgruntled, bluepoint.
discontented. ANTONYMS: (n)
perverse: (adj) fractious, obstinate,
contentment, pleasure, accord,
obdurate, bad, corrupt, headstrong,
happiness; (v) content; (adj, n) happy; disobedient, intractable, willful,
(adj) contented.
sinister, wayward. ANTONYMS:
encased: (adj) incased, sheathed.
(adj) wholesome, obliging, agreeable,
enticed: (adj) interested.
accommodating, malleable, good.
evil-minded: (adj) malevolent,
shivering: (adj) quivering, shaking,
lascivious.
trembling, shaky, quaking,
oyster: (v) clam, ostracize, frumenty,
tremulous, shuddering, chilled; (n)
oatmeal, chowder, damper; (n)
chill, cold, shiver. ANTONYM: (adj)
huitre, shellfish, blue point, capiz,
composed.
158
Oliver Twist
And then followed a full description of Oliver's dress, person, appearance,
and disappearance: with the name and address of Mr. Brownlow at full length.%
Mr. Bumble opened his eyes; read the advertisement, slowly and carefully,
three several times; and in something more than five minutes was on his way to
Pentonville: having actually, in his excitement, left the glass of hot gin-andwater, untasted.
'Is Mr. Brownlow at home?' inquired Mr. Bumble of the girl who opened the
door.
To this inquiry the girl returned the not uncommon, but rather evasive reply
of 'I don't know; where do you come from?'
Mr. Bumble no sooner uttered Oliver's name, in explanation of his errand,
than Mrs. Bedwin, who had been listening at the parlour door, hastened into the
passage in a breathless state.
'Come in, come in,' said the old lady: 'I knew we should hear of him. Poor
dear! I knew we should! I was certain of it. Bless his heart! I said so all along.'
Having heard this, the worthy old lady hurried back into the parlour again;
and seating herself on a sofa, burst into tears. The girl, who was not quite so
susceptible, had run upstairs meanwhile; and now returned with a request that
Mr. Bumble would follow her immediately: which he did.
He was shown into the little back study, where sat Mr. Brownlow and his
friend Mr. Grimwig, with decanters and glasses before them. The latter
gentleman at once burst into the exclamation:
'A beadle. A parish beadle, or I'll eat my head.'
'Pray don't interrupt just now,' said Mr. Brownlow. 'Take a seat, will you?'
Mr. Bumble sat himself down; quite confounded by the oddity of Mr.
Grimwig's manner. Mr. Brownlow moved the lamp, so as to obtain an
uninterrupted view of the beadle's countenance; and said, with a little
impatience,
'Now, sir, you come in consequence of having seen the advertisement?'
Thesaurus
confounded: (adj) bemused, accursed,
execrable, baffled, cursed, befuddled,
confused, puzzled, aghast, perplexed;
(adj, v) abashed.
evasive: (adj) shifty, oblique,
ambiguous, devious, elusory,
shuffling, roundabout, deceitful,
equivocal, indefinite, furtive.
ANTONYMS: (adj) forthright, direct,
unambiguous, straightforward,
honest, candid, straight, clear,
careless.
hastened: (adj) careless.
interrupt: (v) disturb, break, hinder,
intermit, stop, cut, break in, arrest,
check; (n, v) suspend; (adj, v) pause.
ANTONYMS: (v) cheer, respect,
restore.
oddity: (n) curiosity, peculiarity,
crotchet, curio, novelty, original,
quirk, eccentric, character, aberration;
(adj, n) idiosyncrasy. ANTONYMS:
(n) normality, conformist, regularity.
seating: (n) room, circle, parterre,
parquet, orchestra, service, way, base,
footing, housing, stand.
uninterrupted: (adj) ceaseless,
continuous, continual, unbroken,
incessant, perpetual, constant,
unceasing, endless; (adj, adv) straight,
nonstop. ANTONYMS: (adj)
intermittent, temporary, broken,
alternate, noisy, sporadic; (adv)
indirectly.
untasted: (adj) fuller, full, still full,
untouched, unswayed.
Charles Dickens
159
'Yes, sir,' said Mr. Bumble.%
'And you ARE a beadle, are you not?' inquired Mr. Grimwig.
'I am a porochial beadle, gentlemen,' rejoined Mr. Bumble proudly.
'Of course,' observed Mr. Grimwig aside to his friend, 'I knew he was. A
beadle all over!'
Mr. Brownlow gently shook his head to impose silence on his friend, and
resumed:
'Do you know where this poor boy is now?'
'No more than nobody,' replied Mr. Bumble.
'Well, what DO you know of him?' inquired the old gentleman. 'Speak out,
my friend, if you have anything to say. What DO you know of him?'
'You don't happen to know any good of him, do you?' said Mr. Grimwig,
caustically; after an attentive perusal of Mr. Bumble's features.
Mr. Bumble, catching at the inquiry very quickly, shook his head with
portentous solemnity.
'You see?' said Mr. Grimwig, looking triumphantly at Mr. Brownlow.
Mr. Brownlow looked apprehensively at Mr. Bumble's pursed-up
countenance; and requested him to communicate what he knew regarding
Oliver, in as few words as possible.
Mr. Bumble put down his hat; unbuttoned his coat; folded his arms; inclined
his head in a retrospective manner; and, after a few moments' reflection,
commenced his story.
It would be tedious if given in the beadle's words: occupying, as it did, some
twenty minutes in the telling; but the sum and substance of it was, that Oliver
was a foundling, born of low and vicious parents. That he had, from his birth,
displayed no better qualities than treachery, ingratitude, and malice. That he had
terminated his brief career in the place of his birth, by making a sanguinary and
cowardly attack on an unoffending lad, and running away in the night-time from
his master's house. In proof of his really being the person he represented himself,
Thesaurus
apprehensively: (adv) uneasily,
fearfully, worriedly, solicitously,
timidly, restlessly, nervously,
timorously, suspiciously, uncertainly,
hesitantly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
calmly, fearlessly, trustingly,
unconcernedly.
caustically: (adv) mordantly, sharply,
corrosively, severely, cuttingly,
bitterly, acidly, harshly, virulently,
bitingly, stingingly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) kindly, mildly, sweetly.
foundling: (adj, n) wastrel; (n)
abandoned infant, infant, waifs and
estrays, vagrant, refugee, babe,
scatterling; (v) find, trouvaille; (adj)
wilding.
ingratitude: (n) oblivion of benefits,
thanklessness, ungratefulness,
feeling. ANTONYM: (n) gratitude.
perusal: (n) examination, scrutiny,
study, survey, inspection, poring
over, studying, literary scholarship,
perusing, lection, look.
portentous: (adj) fateful,
extraordinary, pompous, amazing,
pontifical, prodigious, grandiloquent,
sinister, unusual, foreboding,
astonishing. ANTONYMS: (adj)
modest, promising.
triumphantly: (adv) exultantly,
winningly, jubilantly, elatedly,
proudly, successfully, triumphally,
conqueringly, gleefully, delightedly,
gloriously.
160
Oliver Twist
Mr. Bumble laid upon the table the papers he had brought to town. Folding his
arms again, he then awaited Mr. Brownlow's observations.%
'I fear it is all too true,' said the old gentleman sorrowfully, after looking over
the papers. 'This is not much for your intelligence; but I would gladly have given
you treble the money, if it had been favourable to the boy.'
It is not improbable that if Mr. Bumble had been possessed of this
information at an earlier period of the interview, he might have imparted a very
different colouring to his little history. It was too late to do it now, however; so
he shook his head gravely, and, pocketing the five guineas, withdrew.
Mr. Brownlow paced the room to and fro for some minutes; evidently so
much disturbed by the beadle's tale, that even Mr. Grimwig forbore to vex him
further.
At length he stopped, and rang the bell violently.
'Mrs. Bedwin,' said Mr. Brownlow, when the housekeeper appeared; 'that
boy, Oliver, is an imposter.'
'It can't be, sir. It cannot be,' said the old lady energetically.
'I tell you he is,' retorted the old gentleman. 'What do you mean by can't be?
We have just heard a full account of him from his birth; and he has been a
thorough-paced little villain, all his life.'
'I never will believe it, sir,' replied the old lady, firmly. 'Never!'
'You old women never believe anything but quack-doctors, and lying storybooks,' growled Mr. Grimwig. 'I knew it all along. Why didn't you take my
advise in the beginning; you would if he hadn't had a fever, I suppose, eh? He
was interesting, wasn't he? Interesting! Bah!' And Mr. Grimwig poked the fire
with a flourish.
'He was a dear, grateful, gentle child, sir,' retorted Mrs. Bedwin, indignantly.
'I know what children are, sir; and have done these forty years; and people who
can't say the same, shouldn't say anything about them. That's my opinion!'
Thesaurus
energetically: (adv) vigorously,
strongly, actively, briskly, lustily,
forcefully, lively, forcibly,
powerfully, spiritedly, strenuously.
ANTONYMS: (adv) idly, quietly,
lifelessly, resignedly, indifferently,
feebly, wearily, languorously, lazily,
sluggishly, passively.
gladly: (adv, v) happily; (adv) gleefully,
contentedly, cheerfully, fain, joyfully,
jovially, cheerily, delightedly,
gladsomely, readily. ANTONYMS:
(adv) reluctantly, unwillingly, sadly,
resentfully, miserably.
indignantly: (adv) irately, angrily,
wrathfully, enragedly, sorely,
acrimoniously, cynically, sulkily,
hotly, exasperatedly, furiously.
pocketing: (n) pilfering, pinching,
robbery, shoplifting, theft, thieving,
burglary.
rang: (n) rung.
sorrowfully: (adv) dolefully,
mournfully, gloomily, woefully,
unhappily, sorrily, ruefully,
dejectedly, grievously, forlornly,
contritely. ANTONYMS: (adv)
happily, unrepentantly, joyfully,
cheerfully.
treble: (adj) threefold, ternary, triplex,
thribble, double, dual, high, voce di
testa, shrill; (adj, v) triple; (v) sing.
villain: (n) rascal, scoundrel, rogue,
knave, miscreant, criminal, bandit,
crook, reprobate, varlet, rapscallion.
ANTONYMS: (n) heroine, hero.
Charles Dickens
161
This was a hard hit at Mr. Grimwig, who was a bachelor. As it extorted
nothing from that gentleman but a smile, the old lady tossed her head, and
smoothed down her apron preparatory to another speech, when she was stopped
by Mr. Brownlow.%
'Silence!' said the old gentleman, feigning an anger he was far from feeling.
'Never let me hear the boy's name again. I rang to tell you that. Never. Never, on
any pretence, mind! You may leave the room, Mrs. Bedwin. Remember! I am in
earnest.'
There were sad hearts at Mr. Brownlow's that night.
Oliver's heart sank within him, when he thought of his good friends; it was
well for him that he could not know what they had heard, or it might have
broken outright.
Thesaurus
anger: (n) fury, rage, displeasure,
(n) husband.
preparatory: (adj, v) preparative; (adj)
resentment, indignation; (v) incense, feigning: (v) feign; (n) pretending,
introductory, preceding,
offend, irritate, exasperate; (adj)
pretense, dissimulation, dissembling, propaedeutic, prefatory, initial,
angry; (n, v) wrath. ANTONYMS: (v) deceit, appearance, acting, deception, precedent, opening, antecedent; (n)
placate, pacify, tickle; (n) pleasure,
preparation, prior. ANTONYM: (adj)
misrepresentation, pretension.
composure, glee, affection, serenity, hearts: (n) Black Maria, spades.
final.
goodwill, forbearance; (n, v) calm.
outright: (adj) straight, absolute,
pretence: (n) deceit, pretext,
bachelor: (adj) single, unmarried,
entire, perfect, altogether, total,
dissimulation, pretense, affectation,
unattached; (n) unmarried man,
downright; (adv) wholly,
falsehood, deception, hypocrisy,
graduate, knight bachelor, widower,
instantaneously, instantly, fully.
bluff, appearance, pretension.
ANTONYMS: (adv) hardly,
old bachelor, spinster, adult male,
agamist. ANTONYMS: (adj) married; indirectly; (adj) partial, qualified.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
163
%XVIII
HOW OLIVER PASSED HIS TIME IN THE
IMPROVING SOCIETY OF HIS REPUTABLE
FRIENDS
About noon next day, when the Dodger and Master Bates had gone out to
pursue their customary avocations, Mr. Fagin took the opportunity of reading
Oliver a long lecture on the crying sin of ingratitude; of which he clearly
demonstrated he had been guilty, to no ordinary extent, in wilfully absenting
himself from the society of his anxious friends; and, still more, in endeavouring
to escape from them after so much trouble and expense had been incurred in his
recovery. Mr. Fagin laid great stress on the fact of his having taken Oliver in, and
cherished him, when, without his timely aid, he might have perished with
hunger; and he related the dismal and affecting history of a young lad whom, in
his philanthropy, he had succoured under parallel circumstances, but who,
proving unworthy of his confidence and evincing a desire to communicate with
the police, had unfortunately come to be hanged at the Old Bailey one morning.
Mr. Fagin did not seek to conceal his share in the catastrophe, but lamented with
tears in his eyes that the wrong-headed and treacherous behaviour of the young
person in question, had rendered it necessary that he should become the victim
of certain evidence for the crown: which, if it were not precisely true, was
Thesaurus
catastrophe: (n) disaster, adversity,
clamant, imperative, blatant; (n)
tragedy, cataclysm, misfortune, bale, weeping; (v) weep; (adj, n) sniveling.
denouement, misery, misadventure, perished: (adj) decayed, emperished,
woe, finale. ANTONYMS: (n) joy,
rotting, annihilated, fallen, lost,
miracle, wonder, success.
moldy, nonexistent, putrefied, dead,
cherished: (adj) dear, precious, loved,
decomposed.
treasured, prized, intimate, wanted, philanthropy: (n) charity, generosity,
valued, pet, valuable, close.
humanity, kindness, philanthropic
ANTONYMS: (adj) unremarkable,
gift, beneficence, altruism,
hated, distant.
charitableness, humanitarianism,
crying: (adj, v) exigent, instant,
largesse, gift. ANTONYMS: (n)
pressing, urgent; (adj) insistent,
nastiness, selfishness.
unworthy: (adj) undeserving, base,
disgraceful, ignoble, low,
contemptible, despicable, ugly,
unmerited, unseemly, shameful.
ANTONYMS: (adj) deserving,
valuable, honorable, estimable,
reputable.
wilfully: (adv) willfully, designedly,
deliberately, knowingly, frowardly,
headstrongly, consciously,
stubbornly, purposefully,
persistently, on purpose.
164
Oliver Twist
indispensably necessary for the safety of him (Mr. Fagin) and a few select
friends. Mr. Fagin concluded by drawing a rather disagreeable picture of the
discomforts of hanging; and, with great friendliness and politeness of manner,
expressed his anxious hopes that he might never be obliged to submit Oliver
Twist to that unpleasant operation.%
Little Oliver's blood ran cold, as he listened to the Jew's words, and
imperfectly comprehended the dark threats conveyed in them. That it was
possible even for justice itself to confound the innocent with the guilty when
they were in accidental companionship, he knew already; and that deeply-laid
plans for the destruction of inconveniently knowing or over-communicative
persons, had been really devised and carried out by the Jew on more occasions
than one, he thought by no means unlikely, when he recollected the general
nature of the altercations between that gentleman and Mr. Sikes: which seemed
to bear reference to some foregone conspiracy of the kind. As he glanced timidly
up, and met the Jew's searching look, he felt that his pale face and trembling
limbs were neither unnoticed nor unrelished by that wary old gentleman.
The Jew, smiling hideously, patted Oliver on the head, and said, that if he
kept himself quiet, and applied himself to business, he saw they would be very
good friends yet. Then, taking his hat, and covering himself with an old patched
great-coat, he went out, and locked the room-door behind him.
And so Oliver remained all that day, and for the greater part of many
subsequent days, seeing nobody, between early morning and midnight, and left
during the long hours to commune with his own thoughts. Which, never failing
to revert to his kind friends, and the opinion they must long ago have formed of
him, were sad indeed.
After the lapse of a week or so, the Jew left the room-door unlocked; and he
was at liberty to wander about the house.
It was a very dirty place. The rooms upstairs had great high wooden
chimney-pieces and large doors, with panelled walls and cornices to the ceiling;
which, although they were black with neglect and dust, were ornamented in
various ways. From all of these tokens Oliver concluded that a long time ago,
Thesaurus
comprehended: (adj) understood,
awfully, loathsomely, horrendously,
incommodiously, troublesomely,
apprehended.
fearfully, odiously, gruesomely,
inappropriately, disadvantageously,
confound: (v) bewilder, baffle,
shockingly, repulsively, heinously.
difficultly, annoyingly, unsuitably,
ANTONYMS: (adv) pleasantly,
nonplus, perplex, astonish, puzzle,
inexpediently, inaptly, unhandily.
amaze, astound, mistake; (adj, v)
ANTONYMS: (adv) handily,
wonderfully, appealingly.
confuse, stupefy. ANTONYMS: (v)
imperfectly: (adv) faultily, defectively, expediently.
indispensably: (adv) needs, by
explain, clarify, comfort, lose,
badly, deficiently, incompletely,
distinguish; (n) understanding.
partially, poorly, inadequately,
necessity, very, elementally,
foregone: (adj) past, bypast, departed, sketchily, incorrectly, halfway.
fundamentally, essentially, basically.
midnight: (n) dark, noon, hour.
gone, previous, preceding, precedent, ANTONYMS: (adv) perfectly,
patched: (adj) mean, besmirched, old,
former, dead, deceased, decided.
flawlessly, correctly, well.
hideously: (adv) dreadfully, ghastly,
inconveniently: (adv) awkwardly,
damaged, ragged, flyblown.
Charles Dickens
165
before the old Jew was born, it had belonged to better people, and had perhaps
been quite gay and handsome: dismal and dreary as it looked now.%
Spiders had built their webs in the angles of the walls and ceilings; and
sometimes, when Oliver walked softly into a room, the mice would scamper
across the floor, and run back terrified to their holes. With these exceptions, there
was neither sight nor sound of any living thing; and often, when it grew dark,
and he was tired of wandering from room to room, he would crouch in the
corner of the passage by the street-door, to be as near living people as he could;
and would remain there, listening and counting the hours, until the Jew or the
boys returned.
In all the rooms, the mouldering shutters were fast closed: the bars which
held them were screwed tight into the wood; the only light which was admitted,
stealing its way through round holes at the top: which made the rooms more
gloomy, and filled them with strange shadows. There was a back-garret window
with rusty bars outside, which had no shutter; and out of this, Oliver often gazed
with a melancholy face for hours together; but nothing was to be descried from it
but a confused and crowded mass of housetops, blackened chimneys, and
gable-ends. Sometimes, indeed, a grizzly head might be seen, peering over the
parapet-wall of a distant house; but it was quickly withdrawn again; and as the
window of Oliver's observatory was nailed down, and dimmed with the rain
and smoke of years, it was as much as he could do to make out the forms of the
different objects beyond, without making any attempt to be seen or heard,-which he had as much chance of being, as if he had lived inside the ball of St.
Paul's Cathedral.
One afternoon, the Dodger and Master Bates being engaged out that evening,
the first-named young gentleman took it into his head to evince some anxiety
regarding the decoration of his person (to do him justice, this was by no means
an habitual weakness with him); and, with this end and aim, he
condescendingly commanded Oliver to assist him in his toilet, straightway.
Oliver was but too glad to make himself useful; too happy to have some
faces, however bad, to look upon; too desirous to conciliate those about him
Thesaurus
blackened: (adj) sulphured,
scornfully, loftily, snobbishly.
blackening, colored, coloured, filthy, ANTONYM: (adv) humbly.
crouch: (v) bend, couch, cringe, squat,
achromatic, colorful.
chimneys: (n) chimney.
sneak, bow, huddle, stoop, lie down,
conciliate: (v) appease, reconcile,
crawl, hunch.
assuage, propitiate, placate, mollify, desirous: (adj) wistful, avid,
pacify, calm, accommodate, mediate, ambitious, greedy, longing, eager,
allay. ANTONYM: (v) enrage.
hungry, covetous, envious, agog; (adj,
condescendingly: (adv) arrogantly,
v) willing. ANTONYMS: (adj)
haughtily, contemptuously,
undesirous, reluctant, undesiring,
patronisingly, superciliously,
unconcerned.
dimmed: (adj) wan, soft, blurred,
disdainfully, snootily, proudly,
vague, faint, dull, bleak, black, dense.
observatory: (n) observation tower,
lookout station, structure, tower,
outlook, observation post, lookout
cupola, edifice, lookout man,
construction, building.
scamper: (v) dash, sprint, dart, scuttle,
skitter, skip, bustle, hasten, bolt; (n, v)
run; (n) haste.
shutter: (n, v) close, shade; (n) curtain,
shut, blind, window, skylight,
deadlight, lid, louver, jalousie.
166
Oliver Twist
when he could honestly do so; to throw any objection in the way of this proposal.
So he at once expressed his readiness; and, kneeling on the floor, while the
Dodger sat upon the table so that he could take his foot in his laps, he applied
himself to a process which Mr. Dawkins designated as 'japanning his trottercases.' The phrase, rendered into plain English, signifieth, cleaning his boots.%
Whether it was the sense of freedom and independence which a rational
animal may be supposed to feel when he sits on a table in an easy attitude
smoking a pipe, swinging one leg carelessly to and fro, and having his boots
cleaned all the time, without even the past trouble of having taken them off, or
the prospective misery of putting them on, to disturb his reflections; or whether
it was the goodness of the tobacco that soothed the feelings of the Dodger, or the
mildness of the beer that mollified his thoughts; he was evidently tinctured, for
the nonce, with a spice of romance and enthusiasm, foreign to his general nature.
He looked down on Oliver, with a thoughtful countenance, for a brief space; and
then, raising his head, and heaving a gentle sign, said, half in abstraction, and
half to Master Bates:
'What a pity it is he isn't a prig!'
'Ah!' said Master Charles Bates; 'he don't know what's good for him.'
The Dodger sighed again, and resumed his pipe: as did Charley Bates. They
both smoked, for some seconds, in silence.
'I suppose you don't even know what a prig is?' said the Dodger mournfully.
'I think I know that,' replied Oliver, looking up. 'It's a the--; you're one, are
you not?' inquired Oliver, checking himself.
'I am,' replied the Doger. 'I'd scorn to be anything else.' Mr. Dawkins gave his
hat a ferocious cock, after delivering this sentiment, and looked at Master Bates,
as if to denote that he would feel obliged by his saying anything to the contrary.
'I am,' repeated the Dodger. 'So's Charley. So's Fagin. So's Sikes. So's Nancy.
So's Bet. So we all are, down to the dog. And he's the downiest one of the lot!'
'And the least given to peaching,' added Charley Bates.
Thesaurus
cleaned: (adj) purified, spick-andnonviolent, kind, calm.
span; (n) cleaner, curried.
heaving: (v) tremor, twitter; (adj)
denote: (adj, n, v) declare; (adj, v)
swelling, full, full up, jammed; (n)
express; (v) indicate, imply, mean,
murmur, forcing out, groan, grumble,
mutter. ANTONYM: (adj) deserted.
point, demonstrate, stand for, spell;
(n, v) betoken, signify. ANTONYM: kneeling: (n) homage, kowtow,
(v) connote.
kneelingly, prostration, genuflexion,
ferocious: (adj) cruel, brutal,
genuflection, curtsy, courtesy,
barbarous, feral, truculent, atrocious, obeisance.
fell, bloodthirsty, brutish; (adj, v)
mildness: (adj, n) gentleness, kindness,
fierce, savage. ANTONYMS: (adj)
benignity, compassion, goodness; (n)
gentle, mild, tender, tame,
lenity, mercy, meekness, leniency,
lenience, tenderness. ANTONYMS:
(n) roughness, pungency.
nonce: (n) hour, nowadays, crisis,
moment, instant, epoch, present, time
being, minute, day.
prig: (v) pilfer, filch, steal, rob, purloin,
thieve; (n) nim, snob, old maid,
pedant, filcher.
soothed: (adj) composed.
spice: (n) sauce, condiment, seasoning,
piquancy, dash, salt, smack, tang;
(adj, v) season; (v) flavor; (n, v) zest.
Charles Dickens
167
'He wouldn't so much as bark in a witness-box, for fear of committing
himself; no, not if you tied him up in one, and left him there without wittles for a
fortnight,' said the Dodger.%
'Not a bit of it,' observed Charley.
'He's a rum dog. Don't he look fierce at any strange cove that laughs or sings
when he's in company!' pursued the Dodger. 'Won't he growl at all, when he
hears a fiddle playing! And don't he hate other dogs as ain't of his breed! Oh,
no!'
'He's an out-and-out Christian,' said Charley.
This was merely intended as a tribute to the animal's abilities, but it was an
appropriate remark in another sense, if Master Bates had only known it; for there
are a good many ladies and gentlemen, claiming to be out-and-out Christians,
between whom, and Mr. Sikes' dog, there exist strong and singular points of
resemblance.
'Well, well,' said the Dodger, recurring to the point from which they had
strayed: with that mindfulness of his profession which influenced all his
proceedings. 'This hasn't go anything to do with young Green here.'
'No more it has,' said Charley. 'Why don't you put yourself under Fagin,
Oliver?'
'And make your fortun' out of hand?' added the Dodger, with a grin.
'And so be able to retire on your property, and do the gen-teel: as I mean to,
in the very next leap-year but four that ever comes, and the forty-second
Tuesday in Trinity-week,' said Charley Bates.
'I don't like it,' rejoined Oliver, timidly; 'I wish they would let me go. I--I-would rather go.'
'And Fagin would RATHER not!' rejoined Charley.
Oliver knew this too well; but thinking it might be dangerous to express his
feelings more openly, he only sighed, and went on with his boot-cleaning.
Thesaurus
bark: (n, v) skin, yelp, snarl, cry, rind,
attentiveness.
similarity, comparison,
shout; (v) growl, roar; (n) bay, peel,
out-and-out: (adj) perfect, positive,
correspondence, likeness, conformity,
crust. ANTONYMS: (n, v) whisper.
sheer, stark, downright, outright,
appearance, analogy, semblance,
fiddle: (n, v) con, cheat, trick; (v)
resemble. ANTONYMS: (n)
consummate, thorough, total,
tamper, play, diddle, meddle, tinker; unmitigated, unqualified.
dissimilarity, contrast.
(n) kit, swindle, fraud.
recurring: (adj) frequent, intermittent, singular: (adj, n) extraordinary; (adj)
laughs: (n) diversion, comedy,
cyclic, periodic, periodical, repeated, odd, individual, particular, peculiar,
amusement, sport, recreation,
repetitive, customary, accustomed,
phenomenal, rare, queer, single,
merriment, entertainment, levity.
memorable, chronic. ANTONYMS:
quaint, exceptional. ANTONYMS:
mindfulness: (n) heedfulness,
(adj) irregular, intermittent,
(adj) ordinary, normal, together,
minding, awareness, memory,
spasmodic, unusual, rare, occasional. usual, customary.
resemblance: (n) affinity, parallel,
strayed: (v) stray.
consideration, consciousness,
168
Oliver Twist
'Go!' exclaimed the Dodger. 'Why, where's your spirit?' Don't you take any
pride out of yourself? Would you go and be dependent on your friends?'
'Oh, blow that!' said Master Bates: drawing two or three silk handkerchiefs
from his pocket, and tossing them into a cupboard, 'that's too mean; that is.'
'I couldn't do it,' said the Dodger, with an air of haughty disgust.%
'You can leave your friends, though,' said Oliver with a half smile; 'and let
them be punished for what you did.'
'That,' rejoined the Dodger, with a wave of his pipe, 'That was all out of
consideration for Fagin, 'cause the traps know that we work together, and he
might have got into trouble if we hadn't made our lucky; that was the move,
wasn't it, Charley?'
Master Bates nodded assent, and would have spoken, but the recollection of
Oliver's flight came so suddenly upon him, that the smoke he was inhaling got
entangled with a laugh, and went up into his head, and down into his throat:
and brought on a fit of coughing and stamping, about five minutes long.
'Look here!' said the Dodger, drawing forth a handful of shillings and
halfpence. 'Here's a jolly life! What's the odds where it comes from? Here, catch
hold; there's plenty more where they were took from. You won't, won't you? Oh,
you precious flat!'
'It's naughty, ain't it, Oliver?' inquired Charley Bates. 'He'll come to be
scragged, won't he?'
'I don't know what that means,' replied Oliver.
'Something in this way, old feller,' said Charly. As he said it, Master Bates
caught up an end of his neckerchief; and, holding it erect in the air, dropped his
head on his shoulder, and jerked a curious sound through his teeth; thereby
indicating, by a lively pantomimic representation, that scragging and hanging
were one and the same thing.
'That's what it means,' said Charley. 'Look how he stares, Jack!
Thesaurus
assent: (n) acceptance, acquiescence,
straightforward; (v) build, raise, rear,
approval, agreement, compliance,
construct, assemble, lift, put up, put
admission, approbation; (v) accede,
together. ANTONYMS: (v) dismantle,
accord, agree; (adj, v) acquiesce.
wreck, topple, level, demolish,
ANTONYMS: (v) resist, disagree,
destroy; (adj) prostrate, drooping,
disapprove, reject, refuse; (n)
prone, flaccid, flat.
haughty: (adj) supercilious, arrogant,
disagreement, refusal, resistance.
entangled: (adj) complicated, intricate, assuming, contemptuous, proud,
embroiled, complex, foul, confused,
lordly, cavalier, vain, contumelious,
matted, tangled, inextricable, knotty; grand; (n) boastful. ANTONYMS:
(v) entangle.
(adj) modest, meek, subservient,
erect: (adj) upright, vertical,
unassuming, considerate, deferential.
inhaling: (adj) inhale, breathing,
inhalant.
pantomimic: (v) pathognomonic,
symptomatic, representative,
symbolic, typical; (adj) pantomime,
emblematic, diagnostic, armorial.
traps: (n) rigging, gear, paraphernalia,
suit, trappings, things, livery,
harness, accouterment, caparison,
trap.
Charles Dickens
169
I never did see such prime company as that 'ere boy; he'll be the death of me,
I know he will.' Master Charley Bates, having laughed heartily again, resumed
his pipe with tears in his eyes.
'You've been brought up bad,' said the Dodger, surveying his boots with
much satisfaction when Oliver had polished them. 'Fagin will make something of
you, though, or you'll be the first he ever had that turned out unprofitable.
You'd better begin at once; for you'll come to the trade long before you think of
it; and you're only losing time, Oliver.'
Master Bates backed this advice with sundry moral admonitions of his own:
which, being exhausted, he and his friend Mr. Dawkins launched into a glowing
description of the numerous pleasures incidental to the life they led, interspersed
with a variety of hints to Oliver that the best thing he could do, would be to
secure Fagin's favour without more delay, by the means which they themselves
had employed to gain it.%
'And always put this in your pipe, Nolly,' said the Dodger, as the Jew was
heard unlocking the door above, 'if you don't take fogels and tickers--'
'What's the good of talking in that way?' interposed Master Bates; 'he don't
know what you mean.'
'If you don't take pocket-handkechers and watches,' said the Dodger,
reducing his conversation to the level of Oliver's capacity, 'some other cove will;
so that the coves that lose 'em will be all the worse, and you'll be all the worse,
too, and nobody half a ha'p'orth the better, except the chaps wot gets them--and
you've just as good a right to them as they have.'
'To be sure, to be sure!' said the Jew, who had entered unseen by Oliver. 'It all
lies in a nutshell my dear; in a nutshell, take the Dodger's word for it. Ha! ha! ha!
He understands the catechism of his trade.'
The old man rubbed his hands gleefully together, as he corroborated the
Dodger's reasoning in these terms; and chuckled with delight at his pupil's
proficiency.
Thesaurus
catechism: (n) interrogation, creed,
education, question, test; (v)
challenge.
corroborated: (adj) corroborate,
substantiated, verified.
gets: (n) getting.
gleefully: (adv) joyously, joyfully,
gaily, jovially, jubilantly, merrily,
cheerfully, mirthfully, elatedly,
blithely; (adv, v) happily.
ANTONYMS: (adv) joylessly, sadly,
despondently.
nutshell: (n) summary; (v) summarize, fretten.
unprofitable: (adj) profitless, fruitless,
sum up, abridge, digest, simplify,
shorten, reduce, distill, concentrate,
futile, inutile, disadvantageous,
abbreviate.
unfruitful, barren, idle, vain,
pleasures: (n) pleasure.
uneconomic, unproductive.
proficiency: (n) ability, expertise,
ANTONYMS: (adj) fruitful, lucrative.
unseen: (adj, v) unknown; (adj)
capability, dexterity, competence,
efficiency, knowledge, expertness,
invisible, concealed, hidden,
skill, facility, craft. ANTONYMS: (n)
unobserved, secret, veiled, latent; (v)
unheeded, unperceived; (n) spiritual
inability, inexperience.
rubbed: (adj) polished, refined, terse,
world. ANTONYMS: (adj) seen,
attrite, marked, accomplished,
visible, open, famous, noticeable.
170
Oliver Twist
The conversation proceeded no farther at this time, for the Jew had returned
home accompanied by Miss Betsy, and a gentleman whom Oliver had never seen
before, but who was accosted by the Dodger as Tom Chitling; and who, having
lingered on the stairs to exchange a few gallantries with the lady, now made his
appearance.%
Mr. Chitling was older in years than the Dodger: having perhaps numbered
eighteen winters; but there was a degree of deference in his deportment towards
that young gentleman which seemed to indicate that he felt himself conscious of
a slight inferiority in point of genius and professional aquirements. He had small
twinkling eyes, and a pock-marked face; wore a fur cap, a dark corduroy jacket,
greasy fustian trousers, and an apron. His wardrobe was, in truth, rather out of
repair; but he excused himself to the company by stating that his 'time' was only
out an hour before; and that, in consequence of having worn the regimentals for
six weeks past, he had not been able to bestow any attention on his private
clothes. Mr. Chitling added, with strong marks of irritation, that the new way of
fumigating clothes up yonder was infernal unconstitutional, for it burnt holes in
them, and there was no remedy against the County. The same remark he
considered to apply to the regulation mode of cutting the hair: which he held to
be decidedly unlawful. Mr. Chitling wound up his observations by stating that
he had not touched a drop of anything for forty-two moral long hard-working
days; and that he 'wished he might be busted if he warn't as dry as a limebasket.'
'Where do you think the gentleman has come from, Oliver?' inquired the Jew,
with a grin, as the other boys put a bottle of spirits on the table.
'I--I--don't know, sir,' replied Oliver.
'Who's that?' inquired Tom Chitling, casting a contemptuous look at Oliver.
'A young friend of mine, my dear,' replied the Jew.
'He's in luck, then,' said the young man, with a meaning look at Fagin. 'Never
mind where I came from, young 'un; you'll find your way there, soon enough, I'll
bet a crown!'
Thesaurus
busted: (v) broke, out of commission;
mad; (n) claptrap, blah, grandiosity. stating: (n) reference.
(adj) broken down, damaged, burst, greasy: (adj) fatty, dirty, oily, tallowy, unconstitutional: (adj) unchartered,
ruined, not working, destitute,
slick, sebaceous, unclean, unctuous,
unlawful, illegitimate, unfair,
disrepair, had it, impaired.
slippery, adipose, oleaginous.
unauthorized, anticonstitutional,
deportment: (n, v) bearing, demeanor, ANTONYM: (adj) lean.
autocratic, dictatorial, inequitable,
conduct, carriage; (n) manner,
inferiority: (n) poorness, degeneracy,
unofficial, not permitted.
attitude, demeanour, behaviour,
subordinacy, minority, disadvantage, ANTONYMS: (adj) constitutional,
comportment, dealing, air.
calibre, vulgarity, quality,
lawful.
excused: (adj) privileged, immune.
subordination, meanness, deteriority. yonder: (adv) beyond, further, farther,
fustian: (adj, n) rant, jargon; (adj)
ANTONYMS: (n) superiority,
abroad, thither, further away, at that
place; (adj) distant, yond, furious,
bombastic, inflated, pompous,
advantage, excellence, preeminence.
grandiloquent, highfalutin, prose run regimentals: (n) military uniform.
fierce.
Charles Dickens
171
At this sally, the boys laughed. After some more jokes on the same subject,
they exchanged a few short whispers with Fagin; and withdrew.
After some words apart between the last comer and Fagin, they drew their
chairs towards the fire; and the Jew, telling Oliver to come and sit by him, led the
conversation to the topics most calculated to interest his hearers. These were, the
great advantages of the trade, the proficiency of the Dodger, the amiability of
Charley Bates, and the liberality of the Jew himself. At length these subjects
displayed signs of being thoroughly exhausted; and Mr. Chitling did the same:
for the house of correction becomes fatiguing after a week or two. Miss Betsy
accordingly withdrew; and left the party to their repose.%
From this day, Oliver was seldom left alone; but was placed in almost
constant communication with the two boys, who played the old game with the
Jew every day: whether for their own improvement or Oliver's, Mr. Fagin best
knew. At other times the old man would tell them stories of robberies he had
committed in his younger days: mixed up with so much that was droll and
curious, that Oliver could not help laughing heartily, and showing that he was
amused in spite of all his better feelings.
In short, the wily old Jew had the boy in his toils. Having prepared his mind,
by solitude and gloom, to prefer any society to the companionship of his own
sad thoughts in such a dreary place, he was now slowly instilling into his soul
the poison which he hoped would blacken it, and change its hue for ever.
Thesaurus
amiability: (n) geniality, affableness, companionship: (n) company, society, tedious, hard, laborious, wearisome,
kindness, friendliness, courtesy,
fellowship, camaraderie, partnership, wearing, strenuous, exhausting,
cordiality, amiableness, affability,
friendship, fraternity, amity,
trying, onerous.
instilling: (n) inculcation, ingraining,
kindliness, joviality, hospitality.
coexistence, brotherhood,
ANTONYMS: (n) unfriendliness,
communion. ANTONYMS: (n)
indoctrination.
toils: (n) net, cobweb, meshes, mesh.
hostility, unkindness.
animosity, enmity, solitude.
blacken: (v) asperse, bespatter,
droll: (adj) comical, humorous, funny, wily: (adj) cunning, crafty, foxy, artful,
malign, denigrate, cloud, darken,
laughable, burlesque, ludicrous,
tricky, deceitful, designing, astute,
ridiculous; (adj, n) comic, witty; (n)
guileful; (adj, v) shrewd, subtle.
defame, calumniate, stain, libel,
tarnish. ANTONYMS: (v) respect,
buffoon, clown. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) straightforward,
compliment, glorify, honor, brighten, dramatic, dull, grave, tragic, solemn. open, guileless, honest, ingenuous,
fatiguing: (adj) arduous, tiresome,
praise, lighten.
straight.
Charles Dickens
173
CHAPTER XIX
IN WHICH A NOTABLE PLAN IS DISCUSSED
AND DETERMINED ON
It was a chill, damp, windy night, when the Jew: buttoning his great-coat
tight round his shrivelled body, and pulling the collar up over his ears so as
completely to obscure the lower part of his face: emerged from his den. He
paused on the step as the door was locked and chained behind him; and having
listened while the boys made all secure, and until their retreating footsteps were
no longer audible, slunk down the street as quickly as he could.%
The house to which Oliver had been conveyed, was in the neighborhood of
Whitechapel. The Jew stopped for an instant at the corner of the street; and,
glancing suspiciously round, crossed the road, and struck off in the direction of
the Spitalfields.
The mud lay thick upon the stones, and a black mist hung over the streets;
the rain fell sluggishly down, and everything felt cold and clammy to the touch.
It seemed just the night when it befitted such a being as the Jew to be abroad. As
he glided stealthily along, creeping beneath the shelter of the walls and
doorways, the hideous old man seemed like some loathsome reptile,
Thesaurus
audible: (adj) plain, hearable, distinct, abominable, revolting, execrable,
detectable, sounding, sharp, sonic,
loathly, nauseous, horrible.
ANTONYMS: (adj) delightful, nice,
definite, discernible, perceptible,
sensory. ANTONYMS: (adj)
noble, inoffensive, pleasant,
inaudible, unintelligible,
admirable, good, attractive.
reptile: (n) reptilian, creeper, basilisk,
undetectable, silent, faint.
clammy: (adj) viscous, sweaty, sticky,
sneak, wretch, mammal, bird,
shellfish; (adj) abject, vile, sordid.
muggy, moist, humid, damp, viscid,
sultry, dank; (n) ropy. ANTONYMS: sluggishly: (adv) dully, inertly,
(adj) arid, dried, fresh.
torpidly, indolently, languidly,
loathsome: (adj) foul, hideous,
lethargically, listlessly, lazily,
distasteful, disgusting, hateful,
dilatorily, slothfully, stagnantly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) brightly,
dynamically, nimbly.
stones: (n) shingle, grit.
suspiciously: (adj, adv) doubtfully,
skeptically, hesitantly, unbelievingly;
(adv) mistrustfully, warily,
uncertainly, shadily, dubiously,
watchfully, questioningly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) carelessly,
gullibly, thoughtlessly, certainly,
confidently.
174
Oliver Twist
engendered in the slime and darkness through which he moved: crawling forth,
by night, in search of some rich offal for a meal.%
He kept on his course, through many winding and narrow ways, until he
reached Bethnal Green; then, turning suddenly off to the left, he soon became
involved in a maze of the mean and dirty streets which abound in that close and
densely-populated quarter.
The Jew was evidently too familiar with the ground he traversed to be at all
bewildered, either by the darkness of the night, or the intricacies of the way. He
hurried through several alleys and streets, and at length turned into one, lighted
only by a single lamp at the farther end. At the door of a house in this street, he
knocked; having exchanged a few muttered words with the person who opened
it, he walked upstairs.
A dog growled as he touched the handle of a room-door; and a man's voice
demanded who was there.
'Only me, Bill; only me, my dear,' said the Jew looking in.
'Bring in your body then,' said Sikes. 'Lie down, you stupid brute! Don't you
know the devil when he's got a great-coat on?'
Apparently, the dog had been somewhat deceived by Mr. Fagin's outer
garment; for as the Jew unbuttoned it, and threw it over the back of a chair, he
retired to the corner from which he had risen: wagging his tail as he went, to
show that he was as well satisfied as it was in his nature to be.
'Well!' said Sikes.
'Well, my dear,' replied the Jew.--'Ah! Nancy.'
The latter recognition was uttered with just enough of embarrassment to
imply a doubt of its reception; for Mr. Fagin and his young friend had not met,
since she had interfered in behalf of Oliver. All doubts upon the subject, if he had
any, were speedily removed by the young lady's behaviour. She took her feet off
the fender, pushed back her chair, and bade Fagin draw up his, without saying
more about it: for it was a cold night, and no mistake.
Thesaurus
abound: (v) swarm, teem, flow,
overflow, burst; (n) exuberate,
shower down, stream, rain,
abundance; (adj) abundant.
ANTONYM: (v) disperse.
brute: (adj) brutal, harsh, gruff,
brutish; (adj, n) animal, savage; (n)
barbarian, fiend, creature, monster;
(adv) beastly. ANTONYMS: (adj)
weak, refined, mild, gentle; (n)
gentleman.
crawling: (adj, n) creeping; (n) creep,
itch; (adj) slow, teeming, thick,
awkwardness.
offal: (n) litter, waste, junk, leavings,
swarming, reptant, populous,
packed, moving.
trash, refuse, rubbish, dross, residue,
exchanged: (adj) counterchanged,
organs, debris.
slime: (adj) mud, silt; (n) mucus, ooze,
bartered, substituted.
fender: (n) wing, cushion, barrier,
phlegm, gook, muck, gunk, goo, filth;
(adj, n) sludge.
mudguard, dashboard, guard,
speedily: (adj, adv) quickly, quick,
mudguard seat, cowcatcher,
immediately; (adv) rapidly, promptly,
framework, sheer log, framing.
maze: (n) tangle, snarl, web, jungle,
hastily, swiftly, fast, apace, hurriedly,
muddle, confusion, complication; (v) fleetly. ANTONYMS: (adv) later,
eel; (adj) delicacy, knot,
eventually.
Charles Dickens
175
'It is cold, Nancy dear,' said the Jew, as he warmed his skinny hands over the
fire. 'It seems to go right through one,' added the old man, touching his side.%
'It must be a piercer, if it finds its way through your heart,' said Mr. Sikes.
'Give him something to drink, Nancy. Burn my body, make haste! It's enough to
turn a man ill, to see his lean old carcase shivering in that way, like a ugly ghost
just rose from the grave.'
Nancy quickly brought a bottle from a cupboard, in which there were many:
which, to judge from the diversity of their appearance, were filled with several
kinds of liquids. Sikes pouring out a glass of brandy, bade the Jew drink it off.
'Quite enough, quite, thankye, Bill,' replied the Jew, putting down the glass
after just setting his lips to it.
'What! You're afraid of our getting the better of you, are you?' inquired Sikes,
fixing his eyes on the Jew. 'Ugh!'
With a hoarse grunt of contempt, Mr. Sikes seized the glass, and threw the
remainder of its contents into the ashes: as a preparatory ceremony to filling it
again for himself: which he did at once.
The Jew glanced round the room, as his companion tossed down the second
glassful; not in curiousity, for he had seen it often before; but in a restless and
suspicious manner habitual to him. It was a meanly furnished apartment, with
nothing but the contents of the closet to induce the belief that its occupier was
anything but a working man; and with no more suspicious articles displayed to
view than two or three heavy bludgeons which stood in a corner, and a 'lifepreserver' that hung over the chimney-piece.
'There,' said Sikes, smacking his lips. 'Now I'm ready.'
'For business?' inquired the Jew.
'For business,' replied Sikes; 'so say what you've got to say.'
'About the crib at Chertsey, Bill?' said the Jew, drawing his chair forward,
and speaking in a very low voice.
'Yes. Wot about it?' inquired Sikes.
Thesaurus
carcase: (n) body, skeleton, dead body. hoarse: (adj) gruff, husky, raucous,
affluently.
closet: (n) cupboard, cubicle, cell,
piercer: (n) punch, bodkin, stiletto,
grating, strident, guttural, rough,
throaty; (v) coarse; (adj, v) hollow,
latrine, bathroom, wardrobe, water
perforator, piercel, mandrel.
closet; (adj) clandestine, confidential, sepulchral. ANTONYMS: (adj)
skinny: (adj) meager, emaciated, thin,
secret, private. ANTONYM: (adj)
smooth, mellow, velvety, high.
scrawny, underweight, scraggy,
meanly: (adv) poorly, nastily,
open.
weedy, gaunt, niggardly, skimpy,
glassful: (n) a mirror, containerful,
lank. ANTONYMS: (adj) plump,
averagely, humbly, ungenerously,
drinking glass, field glass.
tightly, rudely, stingily,
brawny, chubby, healthy, obese.
grunt: (v) growl, croak, mutter,
parsimoniously, scurvily, mediocrely. smacking: (n) smack, brisk, shit, scag,
ANTONYMS: (adv) generously,
complain, murmur, moan, clamor,
savor, beating, h, savour,
mumble; (n, v) cry; (n) groan,
sympathetically, compassionately,
diacetylmorphine, heroin, horse.
warmed: (adj) warmer, warm, baked.
cottonwick.
genially, respectfully, pleasantly,
176
Oliver Twist
'Ah! you know what I mean, my dear,' said the Jew. 'He knows what I mean,
Nancy; don't he?'
'No, he don't,' sneered Mr. Sikes. 'Or he won't, and that's the same thing.
Speak out, and call things by their right names; don't sit there, winking and
blinking, and talking to me in hints, as if you warn't the very first that thought
about the robbery. Wot d'ye mean?'
'Hush, Bill, hush!' said the Jew, who had in vain attempted to stop this burst
of indignation; 'somebody will hear us, my dear. Somebody will hear us.'
'Let 'em hear!' said Sikes; 'I don't care.' But as Mr. Sikes DID care, on
reflection, he dropped his voice as he said the words, and grew calmer.%
'There, there,' said the Jew, coaxingly. 'It was only my caution, nothing more.
Now, my dear, about that crib at Chertsey; when is it to be done, Bill, eh? When
is it to be done? Such plate, my dear, such plate!' said the Jew: rubbing his hands,
and elevating his eyebrows in a rapture of anticipation.
'Not at all,' replied Sikes coldly.
'Not to be done at all!' echoed the Jew, leaning back in his chair.
'No, not at all,' rejoined Sikes. 'At least it can't be a put-up job, as we
expected.'
'Then it hasn't been properly gone about,' said the Jew, turning pale with
anger. 'Don't tell me!'
'But I will tell you,' retorted Sikes. 'Who are you that's not to be told? I tell
you that Toby Crackit has been hanging about the place for a fortnight, and he
can't get one of the servants in line.'
'Do you mean to tell me, Bill,' said the Jew: softening as the other grew
heated: 'that neither of the two men in the house can be got over?'
'Yes, I do mean to tell you so,' replied Sikes. 'The old lady has had 'em these
twenty years; and if you were to give 'em five hundred pound, they wouldn't be
in it.'
Thesaurus
blinking: (adj) flickering, bally,
blooming; (adj, n) winking; (n)
shimmer, blink, wink, twinkling,
nictation, blink of an eye, nictitation.
coldly: (adv) frigidly, icily, coolly,
indifferently, frostily, distantly,
gelidly, reservedly, bleakly, wintrily,
frozenly. ANTONYMS: (adv) warmly,
affectionately, sympathetically,
sensitively, kindly, cheerfully,
emotionally.
elevating: (adj) inspiring, exhilarating.
rapture: (n) joy, bliss, delight,
relaxing; (v) soften; (adj, n) soothing;
(n) maceration, mitigation, easement,
happiness, exaltation, elation,
exultation, enchantment; (adj, n)
mollification, inteneration,
enthusiasm; (n, v) transport; (adj, n, v) encouragement.
passion. ANTONYMS: (n)
vain: (adj) proud, arrogant, conceited,
indifference, boredom, misery,
fruitless, idle, empty, abortive,
gloom, agony, hell, despair.
ineffectual, unproductive,
robbery: (n) depredation, pillage,
narcissistic; (adj, v) useless.
ANTONYMS: (adj) shy, successful,
piracy, plunder, looting, burglary,
theft, holdup, thieving, freebooting;
possible, persuasive, selfless, fruitful,
(v) rob.
humble, useful, responsible,
softening: (adj) emollient, salving,
worthwhile, effective.
Charles Dickens
177
'But do you mean to say, my dear,' remonstrated the Jew, 'that the women
can't be got over?'
'Not a bit of it,' replied Sikes.%
'Not by flash Toby Crackit?' said the Jew incredulously. 'Think what women
are, Bill,'
'No; not even by flash Toby Crackit,' replied Sikes. 'He says he's worn sham
whiskers, and a canary waistcoat, the whole blessed time he's been loitering
down there, and it's all of no use.'
'He should have tried mustachios and a pair of military trousers, my dear,'
said the Jew.
'So he did,' rejoined Sikes, 'and they warn't of no more use than the other
plant.'
The Jew looked blank at this information. After ruminating for some minutes
with his chin sunk on his breast, he raised his head and said, with a deep sigh,
that if flash Toby Crackit reported aright, he feared the game was up.
'And yet,' said the old man, dropping his hands on his knees, 'it's a sad thing,
my dear, to lose so much when we had set our hearts upon it.'
'So it is,' said Mr. Sikes. 'Worse luck!'
A long silence ensued; during which the Jew was plunged in deep thought,
with his face wrinkled into an expression of villainy perfectly demoniacal. Sikes
eyed him furtively from time to time. Nancy, apparently fearful of irritating the
housebreaker, sat with her eyes fixed upon the fire, as if she had been deaf to all
that passed.
'Fagin,' said Sikes, abruptly breaking the stillness that prevailed; 'is it worth
fifty shiners extra, if it's safely done from the outside?'
'Yes,' said the Jew, as suddenly rousing himself.
'Is it a bargain?' inquired Sikes.
'Yes, my dear, yes,' rejoined the Jew; his eyes glistening, and every muscle in
his face working, with the excitement that the inquiry had awakened.
Thesaurus
canary: (n, v) fink, snitch, tattletale; (n) sneakingly, underhandedly,
informer, singer, canary bird, canary undercoverly, craftily. ANTONYMS:
yellow, yellowness, warbler, vocalist, (adv) deliberately, brazenly.
glistening: (adj) shining, glossy, shiny,
squealer.
demoniacal: (adj) demonic, amuck,
glisten, brilliant, beaming, sleek,
berserk, amok, diabolical; (adj, v)
lustrous, sparkling, reflecting light,
devilish; (v) satanic, diabolic,
gleaming. ANTONYM: (adj) dull.
incredulously: (adv) skeptically,
mephistophelian, beside oneself,
bouleverse.
disbelievingly, distrustfully,
furtively: (adv) stealthily, covertly,
suspiciously, dubiously, doubtfully,
surreptitiously, sneakily,
questioningly, uncertainly,
clandestinely, secretively, sly,
mistrustfully, doubtingly, cynically.
rousing: (adj) stirring, provocative,
bracing, thrilling, inspiring,
exhilarating, moving; (n) awakening,
wakening, stimulation; (v) rouse.
ANTONYMS: (adj) conciliatory, dull,
relaxing.
ruminating: (adj) pensive, ruminal,
ruminant; (n) abstraction.
shiners: (n) Notropis.
villainy: (n) evil, infamy, crime,
villany, misdeed, baseness, enormity,
atrocity, evildoing, evilness, injustice.
178
Oliver Twist
'Then,' said Sikes, thrusting aside the Jew's hand, with some disdain, 'let it
come off as soon as you like. Toby and me were over the garden-wall the night
afore last, sounding the panels of the door and shutters. The crib's barred up at
night like a jail; but there's one part we can crack, safe and softly.'
'Which is that, Bill?' asked the Jew eagerly.%
'Why,' whispered Sikes, 'as you cross the lawn--'
'Yes?' said the Jew, bending his head forward, with his eyes almost starting
out of it.
'Umph!' cried Sikes, stopping short, as the girl, scarcely moving her head,
looked suddenly round, and pointed for an instant to the Jew's face. 'Never mind
which part it is. You can't do it without me, I know; but it's best to be on the safe
side when one deals with you.'
'As you like, my dear, as you like' replied the Jew. 'Is there no help wanted,
but yours and Toby's?'
'None,' said Sikes. 'Cept a centre-bit and a boy. The first we've both got; the
second you must find us.'
'A boy!' exclaimed the Jew. 'Oh! then it's a panel, eh?'
'Never mind wot it is!' replied Sikes. 'I want a boy, and he musn't be a big 'un.
Lord!' said Mr. Sikes, reflectively, 'if I'd only got that young boy of Ned, the
chimbley-sweeper's! He kept him small on purpose, and let him out by the job.
But the father gets lagged; and then the Juvenile Delinquent Society comes, and
takes the boy away from a trade where he was earning money, teaches him to
read and write, and in time makes a 'prentice of him. And so they go on,' said
Mr. Sikes, his wrath rising with the recollection of his wrongs, 'so they go on;
and, if they'd got money enough (which it's a Providence they haven't,) we
shouldn't have half a dozen boys left in the whole trade, in a year or two.'
'No more we should,' acquiesced the Jew, who had been considering during
this speech, and had only caught the last sentence. 'Bill!'
'What now?' inquired Sikes.
Thesaurus
barred: (adj) prohibited, forbidden,
sounding: (n) investigation, depth,
admire, praise, accept, participate.
earning: (n) proceeds; (v) get.
exploration, test; (adj) resounding,
barricaded, barry, banned, illicit,
streaked; (v) striated, areolar, veined; jail: (v) imprison, incarcerate, confine, resonant, looking, audible, sonant,
(n) Bart. ANTONYMS: (adj)
detain, immure; (n) prison, cell, clink, voiceful, hollow.
toby: (n) lota, mussuk, schooner,
admissible, legitimate, eligible, open. hoosegow; (n, v) cage, jug.
disdain: (n, v) despise, contemn,
ANTONYMS: (v) acquit, free,
chatti, terrine, spider, urceus, mug,
slight, ridicule; (n) contempt,
liberate; (n) freedom.
Toby Fillpot jug, Toby jug.
reflectively: (adv) contemplatively,
whispered: (adj) low, voiceless,
derision, arrogance, haughtiness,
pride; (v) scoff, disparage.
meditatively, wistfully, thoughtfully, unvoiced, nonvocal, weak, unheard,
ANTONYMS: (n) humility,
speculatively, ruminatively,
surd, supposed, sharp, thought,
admiration, reverence, worship,
studiously, regretfully, sadly,
quiet.
approval, regard; (v) approve,
wrongs: (n) mala.
longingly, reflexively.
Charles Dickens
179
The Jew nodded his head towards Nancy, who was still gazing at the fire;
and intimated, by a sign, that he would have her told to leave the room. Sikes
shrugged his shoulders impatiently, as if he thought the precaution unnecessary;
but complied, nevertheless, by requesting Miss Nancy to fetch him a jug of
beer.%
'You don't want any beer,' said Nancy, folding her arms, and retaining her
seat very composedly.
'I tell you I do!' replied Sikes.
'Nonsense,' rejoined the girl coolly, 'Go on, Fagin. I know what he's going to
say, Bill; he needn't mind me.'
The Jew still hesitated. Sikes looked from one to the other in some surprise.
'Why, you don't mind the old girl, do you, Fagin?' he asked at length. 'You've
known her long enough to trust her, or the Devil's in it. She ain't one to blab. Are
you Nancy?'
'I should think not!' replied the young lady: drawing her chair up to the table,
and putting her elbows upon it.
'No, no, my dear, I know you're not,' said the Jew; 'but--' and again the old
man paused.
'But wot?' inquired Sikes.
'I didn't know whether she mightn't p'r'aps be out of sorts, you know, my
dear, as she was the other night,' replied the Jew.
At this confession, Miss Nancy burst into a loud laugh; and, swallowing a
glass of brandy, shook her head with an air of defiance, and burst into sundry
exclamations of 'Keep the game a-going!' 'Never say die!' and the like. These
seemed to have the effect of re-assuring both gentlemen; for the Jew nodded his
head with a satisfied air, and resumed his seat: as did Mr. Sikes likewise.
'Now, Fagin,' said Nancy with a laugh. 'Tell Bill at once, about Oliver!'
Thesaurus
brandy: (n) applejack, spirits,
brandies, liquor, Brandywine, Marc,
fruit brandy; (v) brandy smash.
confession: (n) admission,
acknowledgment, recognition,
acknowledgement, concession,
divulgence, disclosure, shrift,
penance, profession, admission of
guilt. ANTONYMS: (n) disavowal,
refutation.
coolly: (adv) quietly, composedly,
coldly, collectedly, nonchalantly,
placidly, serenely, chilly, steadily,
frostily, frigidly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
nervously, anxiously, agitatedly,
expressively, boisterously,
enthusiastically.
fetch: (v) carry, bring, bring in,
convey, draw, elicit, deliver, catch,
get, attract; (adj, n) feint.
intimated: (adj) tacit, furtive, dejected.
likewise: (adv) besides, in addition,
furthermore, alike, moreover, further,
too, similarly; (adj, adv) as well,
equally; (adj) even.
precaution: (n) foresight, care,
prevention, discretion, anticipation,
caution, circumspection, prudence,
safeguard, protection; (adj)
precautionary.
retaining: (adj) retentive; (n)
employment, reservation.
swallowing: (adj) absorptive,
unsuspecting, absorbent, absorbing;
(n) consumption.
180
Oliver Twist
'Ha! you're a clever one, my dear: the sharpest girl I ever saw!' said the Jew,
patting her on the neck. 'It WAS about Oliver I was going to speak, sure enough.
Ha! ha! ha!'
'What about him?' demanded Sikes.%
'He's the boy for you, my dear,' replied the Jew in a hoarse whisper; laying
his finger on the side of his nose, and grinning frightfully.
'He!' exclaimed. Sikes.
'Have him, Bill!' said Nancy. 'I would, if I was in your place. He mayn't be so
much up, as any of the others; but that's not what you want, if he's only to open a
door for you. Depend upon it he's a safe one, Bill.'
'I know he is,' rejoined Fagin. 'He's been in good training these last few
weeks, and it's time he began to work for his bread. Besides, the others are all too
big.'
'Well, he is just the size I want,' said Mr. Sikes, ruminating.
'And will do everything you want, Bill, my dear,' interposed the Jew; 'he can't
help himself. That is, if you frighten him enough.'
'Frighten him!' echoed Sikes. 'It'll be no sham frightening, mind you. If
there's anything queer about him when we once get into the work; in for a
penny, in for a pound. You won't see him alive again, Fagin. Think of that, before
you send him. Mark my words!' said the robber, poising a crowbar, which he
had drawn from under the bedstead.
'I've thought of it all,' said the Jew with energy. 'I've--I've had my eye upon
him, my dears, close--close. Once let him feel that he is one of us; once fill his
mind with the idea that he has been a thief; and he's ours! Ours for his life. Oho!
It couldn't have come about better! The old man crossed his arms upon his
breast; and, drawing his head and shoulders into a heap, literally hugged
himself for joy.
'Ours!' said Sikes. 'Yours, you mean.'
Thesaurus
breast: (n) boob, udder, tit, titty, chest,
knocker, mammilla, bust, pap, heart;
(n, v) front.
crowbar: (n) jemmy, pry, jimmies, pry
bar, ringer, wrecking bar; (v) brag.
frighten: (v) cow, alarm, daunt, terrify,
appall, scare, affright, intimidate,
terrorize, appal; (n, v) fright.
ANTONYMS: (v) comfort, reassure,
soothe, calm.
frightening: (adj) awesome, awful,
menacing, alarming, fearsome,
queer: (adj) fantastic, odd, eccentric,
horrific, terrible, creepy, fearful,
dread, formidable. ANTONYMS:
funny, curious, gay, peculiar, strange,
(adj) comfortable, soothing, pleasant, quaint, fishy, outlandish.
ANTONYMS: (adj) conventional,
comforting, approachable, normal,
hospitable.
normal, well.
frightfully: (adv) awfully, ghastly,
sham: (adj, adv, n, v) counterfeit; (adj,
n, v) fake; (adj, v) pretend, put on;
dreadfully, fearfully, hideously,
(adj, n) imitation, phony; (v) feign;
terribly, gruesomely, terrifically,
(adj) false; (n) fraud, impostor,
atrociously, horrendously, awful.
grinning: (n) grin, smile, facial
falsehood. ANTONYMS: (adj, v) real;
(n) original, truth, truthfulness,
expression, facial gesture, smiling;
(adj) beaming.
honesty; (adj) valid.
Charles Dickens
181
'Perhaps I do, my dear,' said the Jew, with a shrill chuckle. 'Mine, if you like,
Bill.'
'And wot,' said Sikes, scowling fiercely on his agreeable friend, 'wot makes
you take so much pains about one chalk-faced kid, when you know there are
fifty boys snoozing about Common Garden every night, as you might pick and
choose from?'
'Because they're of no use to me, my dear,' replied the Jew, with some
confusion, 'not worth the taking. Their looks convict 'em when they get into
trouble, and I lose 'em all. With this boy, properly managed, my dears, I could do
what I couldn't with twenty of them. Besides,' said the Jew, recovering his selfpossession, 'he has us now if he could only give us leg-bail again; and he must be
in the same boat with us. Never mind how he came there; it's quite enough for
my power over him that he was in a robbery; that's all I want. Now, how much
better this is, than being obliged to put the poor leetle boy out of the way--which
would be dangerous, and we should lose by it besides.'
'When is it to be done?' asked Nancy, stopping some turbulent exclamation
on the part of Mr. Sikes, expressive of the disgust with which he received Fagin's
affectation of humanity.%
'Ah, to be sure,' said the Jew; 'when is it to be done, Bill?'
'I planned with Toby, the night arter to-morrow,' rejoined Sikes in a surly
voice, 'if he heerd nothing from me to the contrairy.'
'Good,' said the Jew; 'there's no moon.'
'No,' rejoined Sikes.
'It's all arranged about bringing off the swag, is it?' asked the Jew.
Sikes nodded.
'And about--'
'Oh, ah, it's all planned,' rejoined Sikes, interrupting him. 'Never mind
particulars. You'd better bring the boy here to-morrow night. I shall get off the
Thesaurus
affectation: (n) pretension, feint, pose, repugnant, averse, stubborn,
display, airs, affectedness,
unacceptable.
convict: (adj, n) felon; (n) captive, con,
ostentation, show, pretense,
mannerism, sham. ANTONYMS: (n)
criminal, jailbird, inmate, prisoner,
malefactor, offender; (v) convince,
artlessness, honesty, modesty.
agreeable: (adj) accordant, nice, sweet, sentence. ANTONYMS: (n) innocent;
(v) liberate, release, free, exonerate,
consistent, suitable, amusing,
enjoyable, affable; (adj, v) pleasant,
absolve, clear.
desirable; (adj, n) acceptable.
interrupting: (adj) cross, interchanged,
ANTONYMS: (adj) disagreeable,
interpelling, meddlesome, adverse,
discordant, unpleasant, nasty,
defensive, contrary, interpellant,
unwilling, resistant, aggressive,
interruptive.
particulars: (n) specification, data,
nicety, minutiae, terms,
consideration, workings, fine points,
ins and outs.
shall: (n) must, necessity; (v) require,
bequeath, leave.
snoozing: (adj) dozy, tired,
slumbering, sleepy, sleeping, dead to
the world. ANTONYM: (adj) awake.
swag: (n) plunder, loot, booty, spoil,
pillage; (v) sag, droop, stagger, lurch,
pitch, dangle.
182
Oliver Twist
stone an hour arter daybreak. Then you hold your tongue, and keep the meltingpot ready, and that's all you'll have to do.'
After some discussion, in which all three took an active part, it was decided
that Nancy should repair to the Jew's next evening when the night had set in,
and bring Oliver away with her; Fagin craftily observing, that, if he evinced any
disinclination to the task, he would be more willing to accompany the girl who
had so recently interfered in his behalf, than anybody else. It was also solemnly
arranged that poor Oliver should, for the purposes of the contemplated
expedition, be unreservedly consigned to the care and custody of Mr. William
Sikes; and further, that the said Sikes should deal with him as he thought fit; and
should not be held responsible by the Jew for any mischance or evil that might
be necessary to visit him: it being understood that, to render the compact in this
respect binding, any representations made by Mr. Sikes on his return should be
required to be confirmed and corroborated, in all important particulars, by the
testimony of flash Toby Crackit.%
These preliminaries adjusted, Mr. Sikes proceeded to drink brandy at a
furious rate, and to flourish the crowbar in an alarming manner; yelling forth, at
the same time, most unmusical snatches of song, mingled with wild execrations.
At length, in a fit of professional enthusiasm, he insisted upon producing his box
of housebreaking tools: which he had no sooner stumbled in with, and opened
for the purpose of explaining the nature and properties of the various
implements it contained, and the peculiar beauties of their construction, than he
fell over the box upon the floor, and went to sleep where he fell.
'Good-night, Nancy,' said the Jew, muffling himself up as before.
'Good-night.'
Their eyes met, and the Jew scrutinised her, narrowly. There was no
flinching about the girl. She was as true and earnest in the matter as Toby
Crackit himself could be.
The Jew again bade her good-night, and, bestowing a sly kick upon the
prostrate form of Mr. Sikes while her back was turned, groped downstairs.
Thesaurus
craftily: (adv) cunningly, shrewdly,
astutely, smartly, slyly, trickily,
deviously, dexterously, foxily,
dishonestly, deceitfully.
ANTONYMS: (adv) naively, honestly,
brazenly.
daybreak: (adj, n) break of day; (n)
sunrise, prime, morning, light,
dawning, cockcrow, dayspring,
aurora, sunup, daylight.
ANTONYMS: (n) sunset, sundown,
darkness, eventide, nightfall.
disinclination: (n) dislike, distaste,
indisposition, reluctance, antipathy,
opposition, disaffection, disrelish,
unwillingness, disfavor; (n, v)
disgust. ANTONYMS: (n) inclination,
disposition, desire, tendency,
keenness, willingness.
flinching: (adj) diffident.
housebreaking: (n) burglary.
mischance: (n) calamity, mishap,
disaster, accident, ill luck, bad luck,
misfortune, adversity, affliction, luck,
chance.
prostrate: (adj, v) prone, exhaust, level,
fatigue; (v) fell, overwhelm,
overcome, floor, overthrow; (adj)
deject, knock down. ANTONYM:
(adj) upright.
unmusical: (adj) dissonant, discordant,
harsh, tuneless, inharmonious,
unmelodic, unmelodious,
cacophonous, jarring, nonmusical,
untunable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
musical, melodious.
Charles Dickens
183
'Always the way!' muttered the Jew to himself as he turned homeward. 'The
worst of these women is, that a very little thing serves to call up some longforgotten feeling; and, the best of them is, that it never lasts. Ha! ha! The man
against the child, for a bag of gold!'
Beguiling the time with these pleasant reflections, Mr. Fagin wended his way,
through mud and mire, to his gloomy abode: where the Dodger was sitting up,
impatiently awaiting his return.%
'Is Oliver a-bed? I want to speak to him,' was his first remark as they
descended the stairs.
'Hours ago,' replied the Dodger, throwing open a door. 'Here he is!'
The boy was lying, fast asleep, on a rude bed upon the floor; so pale with
anxiety, and sadness, and the closeness of his prison, that he looked like death;
not death as it shows in shroud and coffin, but in the guise it wears when life has
just departed; when a young and gentle spirit has, but an instant, fled to Heaven,
and the gross air of the world has not had time to breathe upon the changing
dust it hallowed.
'Not now,' said the Jew, turning softly away. 'To-morrow. To-morrow.'
Thesaurus
awaiting: (adj) looming, imminent, in
downcast, disconsolate, melancholy,
the near future, pending, expectant.
funereal, downhearted.
closeness: (n) tightness, proximity,
ANTONYMS: (adj) encouraging,
familiarity, parsimony, nearness,
cheery, cheerful, bright, hopeful,
adjacency, affinity, propinquity,
light, promising, uplifting, joyful,
fidelity, compactness, meanness.
sunny, clear.
ANTONYMS: (n) isolation, distance, guise: (n) form, dress, aspect, costume,
farness, dryness, openness, space,
disguise, fashion, pretense,
animosity, inaccuracy, freshness,
camouflage, attire, figure, color.
hallowed: (adj) holy, blessed,
remoteness.
gloomy: (adj) black, desolate, dejected, consecrated, sacred, sanctified,
cheerless, depressing, dismal,
divine, heavenly, saintly, inviolable,
revered, sacrosanct. ANTONYM:
(adj) secular.
homeward: (adj) oriented, orientated.
mire: (n, v) bog, muck; (n) filth, marsh,
quagmire, dirt, sludge, clay; (adj, n, v)
mud; (v) involve, bog down.
shroud: (adj, n, v) cover; (n, v) cloak,
hide, conceal; (adj, n) shelter; (v)
shield, envelop, enshroud; (n)
covering, mantle, pall. ANTONYM:
(v) disclose.
women: (n) sex, gentle sex.
Charles Dickens
185
CHAPTER XX
WHEREIN OLVER IS DELIVERED OVER TO
MR. WILLIAM SIKES
When Oliver awoke in the morning, he was a good deal surprised to find that
a new pair of shoes, with strong thick soles, had been placed at his bedside; and
that his old shoes had been removed. At first, he was pleased with the discovery:
hoping that it might be the forerunner of his release; but such thoughts were
quickly dispelled, on his sitting down to breakfast along with the Jew, who told
him, in a tone and manner which increased his alarm, that he was to be taken to
the residence of Bill Sikes that night.%
'To--to--stop there, sir?' asked Oliver, anxiously.
'No, no, my dear. Not to stop there,' replied the Jew. 'We shouldn't like to lose
you. Don't be afraid, Oliver, you shall come back to us again. Ha! ha! ha! We
won't be so cruel as to send you away, my dear. Oh no, no!'
The old man, who was stooping over the fire toasting a piece of bread, looked
round as he bantered Oliver thus; and chuckled as if to show that he knew he
would still be very glad to get away if he could.
'I suppose,' said the Jew, fixing his eyes on Oliver, 'you want to know what
you're going to Bill's for---eh, my dear?'
Thesaurus
alarm: (n, v) alert, scare, awe, panic;
merciful, gentle, sympathetic,
(n) consternation, alarm clock, fright, humane, liberal, compassionate,
alarum, terror; (v) agitate, horrify.
charitable, friendly, caring,
ANTONYMS: (n, v) comfort; (v)
considerate, libertarian.
reassure, soothe, assure; (n)
discovery: (n) detection, disclosure,
reassurance, composure,
breakthrough, finding, revelation,
nonchalance, assurance, bravery,
catching, revealing, invention, find,
confidence, order.
development, exploration.
cruel: (adj, v) hard, harsh, sharp,
fixing: (n) fixation, fix, adjustment,
severe; (adj) barbarous, unkind,
repair, mending, altering,
brutal, bloody, bitter, savage,
emasculation, castration, furniture,
atrocious. ANTONYMS: (adj)
fastener, fitting.
forerunner: (n) ancestor, herald,
harbinger, messenger, predecessor,
antecedent, augury, progenitor,
prodrome, parent, leader.
ANTONYMS: (n) successor,
descendant.
residence: (n) home, house, dwelling,
lodging, accommodation, domicile,
occupancy, place, mansion,
habitation, manse. ANTONYM: (n)
vacancy.
soles: (n) family Soleidae.
186
Oliver Twist
Oliver coloured, involuntarily, to find that the old thief had been reading his
thoughts; but boldly said, Yes, he did want to know.%
'Why, do you think?' inquired Fagin, parrying the question.
'Indeed I don't know, sir,' replied Oliver.
'Bah!' said the Jew, turning away with a disappointed countenance from a
close perusal of the boy's face. 'Wait till Bill tells you, then.'
The Jew seemed much vexed by Oliver's not expressing any greater curiosity
on the subject; but the truth is, that, although Oliver felt very anxious, he was too
much confused by the earnest cunning of Fagin's looks, and his own
speculations, to make any further inquiries just then. He had no other
opportunity: for the Jew remained very surly and silent till night: when he
prepared to go abroad.
'You may burn a candle,' said the Jew, putting one upon the table. 'And here's
a book for you to read, till they come to fetch you. Good-night!'
'Good-night!' replied Oliver, softly.
The Jew walked to the door: looking over his shoulder at the boy as he went.
Suddenly stopping, he called him by his name.
Oliver looked up; the Jew, pointing to the candle, motioned him to light it. He
did so; and, as he placed the candlestick upon the table, saw that the Jew was
gazing fixedly at him, with lowering and contracted brows, from the dark end of
the room.
'Take heed, Oliver! take heed!' said the old man, shaking his right hand
before him in a warning manner. 'He's a rough man, and thinks nothing of blood
when his own is up. Whatever falls out, say nothing; and do what he bids you.
Mind!' Placing a strong emphasis on the last word, he suffered his features
gradually to resolve themselves into a ghastly grin, and, nodding his head, left
the room.
Oliver leaned his head upon his hand when the old man disappeared, and
pondered, with a trembling heart, on the words he had just heard. The more he
Thesaurus
boldly: (adj, adv) courageously,
candleholder, holder, electrolier,
valiantly, heroically; (adv) fearlessly,
gaselier, girandola, luster.
cunning: (adj) crafty, canny, adroit,
daringly, bravely, intrepidly,
wily, sly, shrewd, tricky, artful; (n)
impudently, audaciously,
shamelessly, brashly. ANTONYMS:
craftiness, craft, cleverness.
(adv) discreetly, modestly, nervously, ANTONYMS: (adj) simple, honest,
hesitantly, shyly, fearfully, meekly,
stupid, unimaginative, gullible,
submissively, secretly, respectfully,
ingenuous, straightforward, candid,
sincere; (n) frankness,
diffidently.
brows: (n) brow.
straightforwardness.
candlestick: (n) candelabra, sconce,
fixedly: (adv) steadily, steadfastly,
chandelier, candle holder, girandole, regularly, intently, stably, setly,
permanently, rigidly, unwaveringly,
surely, resolutely.
heed: (n, v) consideration, concern,
regard, mind, attention, notice; (n)
caution, advertence, advertency; (v)
attend, hear. ANTONYMS: (n, v)
disregard; (n) inattentiveness.
vexed: (adj) troubled, irritated, angry,
pestered, peeved, harassed, sore,
harried, uneasy, cross, offended.
ANTONYMS: (adj) calm,
uncomplicated.
Charles Dickens
187
thought of the Jew's admonition, the more he was at a loss to divine its real
purpose and meaning.%
He could think of no bad object to be attained by sending him to Sikes, which
would not be equally well answered by his remaining with Fagin; and after
meditating for a long time, concluded that he had been selected to perform some
ordinary menial offices for the housebreaker, until another boy, better suited for
his purpose could be engaged. He was too well accustomed to suffering, and had
suffered too much where he was, to bewail the prospect of change very severely.
He remained lost in thought for some minutes; and then, with a heavy sigh,
snuffed the candle, and, taking up the book which the Jew had left with him,
began to read.
He turned over the leaves. Carelessly at first; but, lighting on a passage which
attracted his attention, he soon became intent upon the volume. It was a history
of the lives and trials of great criminals; and the pages were soiled and thumbed
with use. Here, he read of dreadful crimes that made the blood run cold; of secret
murders that had been committed by the lonely wayside; of bodies hidden from
the eye of man in deep pits and wells: which would not keep them down, deep
as they were, but had yielded them up at last, after many years, and so
maddened the murderers with the sight, that in their horror they had confessed
their guilt, and yelled for the gibbet to end their agony. Here, too, he read of men
who, lying in their beds at dead of night, had been tempted (so they said) and led
on, by their own bad thoughts, to such dreadful bloodshed as it made the flesh
creep, and the limbs quail, to think of. The terrible descriptions were so real and
vivid, that the sallow pages seemed to turn red with gore; and the words upon
them, to be sounded in his ears, as if they were whispered, in hollow murmurs,
by the spirits of the dead.
In a paroxysm of fear, the boy closed the book, and thrust it from him. Then,
falling upon his knees, he prayed Heaven to spare him from such deeds; and
rather to will that he should die at once, than be reserved for crimes, so fearful
and appalling. By degrees, he grew more calm, and besought, in a low and
broken voice, that he might be rescued from his present dangers; and that if any
Thesaurus
attained: (adj) attains, attaint, reached, moonstruck, fierce, upset,
shrink, recoil, blench; (n, v) quake; (n)
aggravated, ferocious; (v) frantic.
complete, earned, fulfilled.
bobwhite, partridge, quiver.
bewail: (v) lament, mourn, deplore,
menial: (adj, n) inferior; (adj) lowly,
sallow: (adj) pasty, pallid, bloodless,
regret, wail, grieve, complain, weep,
abject, ignoble, humble, low, mean;
sickly, wan, ashen, fair, white, tawny,
sandy; (n) osier. ANTONYMS: (adj)
sorrow, repent, moan. ANTONYMS: (n) henchman, domestic, lackey,
(v) exalt, rejoice, applaud, praise.
servant. ANTONYMS: (adj) elevated, dark, glowing.
gibbet: (n) gallows, gallowstree,
soiled: (adj) grubby, dirty, nasty,
noble.
gallous, scaffold; (v) hang, expose,
paroxysm: (adj, n) fit, burst; (n)
grimy, unclean, filthy, muddy, black,
pillory, brand, stigmatize, disgrace,
convulsion, outburst, explosion,
mucky, polluted, foul. ANTONYMS:
(adj) pure, immaculate.
string up.
attack, seizure, spasm, gust, agony;
maddened: (adj) angry, furious,
(adj) breaking out.
wayside: (n) edge, curb, verge,
quail: (v) cringe, cower, wince, funk,
deranged, angered, enraged,
margin, shoulder, border.
188
Oliver Twist
aid were to be raised up for a poor outcast boy who had never known the love of
friends or kindred, it might come to him now, when, desolate and deserted, he
stood alone in the midst of wickedness and guilt.%
He had concluded his prayer, but still remained with his head buried in his
hands, when a rustling noise aroused him.
'What's that!' he cried, starting up, and catching sight of a figure standing by
the door. 'Who's there?'
'Me. Only me,' replied a tremulous voice.
Oliver raised the candle above his head: and looked towards the door. It was
Nancy.
'Put down the light,' said the girl, turning away her head. 'It hurts my eyes.'
Oliver saw that she was very pale, and gently inquired if she were ill. The girl
threw herself into a chair, with her back towards him: and wrung her hands; but
made no reply.
'God forgive me!' she cried after a while, 'I never thought of this.'
'Has anything happened?' asked Oliver. 'Can I help you? I will if I can. I will,
indeed.'
She rocked herself to and fro; caught her throat; and, uttering a gurgling
sound, gasped for breath.
'Nancy!' cried Oliver, 'What is it?'
The girl beat her hands upon her knees, and her feet upon the ground; and,
suddenly stopping, drew her shawl close round her: and shivered with cold.
Oliver stirred the fire. Drawing her chair close to it, she sat there, for a little
time, without speaking; but at length she raised her head, and looked round.
'I don't know what comes over me sometimes,' said she, affecting to busy
herself in arranging her dress; 'it's this damp dirty room, I think. Now, Nolly,
dear, are you ready?'
'Am I to go with you?' asked Oliver.
Thesaurus
aroused: (adj) ablaze, aflame,
inhabited, happy, sheltered, mobbed, whisper, larceny; (adj) murmurous,
overcrowded, ecstatic, hopeful; (v)
passionate, hot, agitated, inflamed,
susurrous, active, soughing.
stirred: (adj) excited, agitated, moved,
susceptible, tense, fascinated,
create, construct, build.
midst: (adj, n) middle; (adv) mid,
emotional, elated.
affected, aroused, emotional, aflame,
arranging: (n) arrange, arrangements, between; (prep) among, amid; (n)
Stirn, horny, susceptible, stirred up.
wickedness: (n) depravity, sin,
disposition, composing, composition, core, center, thick, interior, heart,
order, position, set, orchestration,
waist.
sinfulness, iniquity, harm, ill, vice,
outcast: (n) exile, castaway, leper,
organization, agreement.
evilness, corruption, immorality,
desolate: (adj, v) desert, forlorn; (adj)
crime. ANTONYMS: (n) goodness,
expatriate, outlaw, vagabond, lown,
loon, refugee; (adj, n) derelict; (adj)
bare, barren, alone, bleak, deserted,
kindness, piety, righteousness,
cheerless, disconsolate; (v) devastate, homeless. ANTONYM: (n) native.
benevolence, religiousness,
destroy. ANTONYMS: (adj) cheerful, rustling: (n) rustle, whispering,
obedience, good.
Charles Dickens
189
'Yes. I have come from Bill,' replied the girl. 'You are to go with me.'
'What for?' asked Oliver, recoiling.%
'What for?' echoed the girl, raising her eyes, and averting them again, the
moment they encountered the boy's face. 'Oh! For no harm.'
'I don't believe it,' said Oliver: who had watched her closely.
'Have it your own way,' rejoined the girl, affecting to laugh. 'For no good,
then.'
Oliver could see that he had some power over the girl's better feelings, and,
for an instant, thought of appealing to her compassion for his helpless state. But,
then, the thought darted across his mind that it was barely eleven o'clock; and
that many people were still in the streets: of whom surely some might be found
to give credence to his tale. As the reflection occured to him, he stepped forward:
and said, somewhat hastily, that he was ready.
Neither his brief consideration, nor its purport, was lost on his companion.
She eyed him narrowly, while he spoke; and cast upon him a look of intelligence
which sufficiently showed that she guessed what had been passing in his
thoughts.
'Hush!' said the girl, stooping over him, and pointing to the door as she
looked cautiously round. 'You can't help yourself. I have tried hard for you, but
all to no purpose. You are hedged round and round. If ever you are to get loose
from here, this is not the time.'
Struck by the energy of her manner, Oliver looked up in her face with great
surprise. She seemed to speak the truth; her countenance was white and agitated;
and she trembled with very earnestness.
'I have saved you from being ill-used once, and I will again, and I do now,'
continued the girl aloud; 'for those who would have fetched you, if I had not,
would have been far more rough than me. I have promised for your being quiet
and silent; if you are not, you will only do harm to yourself and me too, and
perhaps be my death. See here! I have borne all this for you already, as true as
God sees me show it.'
Thesaurus
averting: (n) aversion, prevention;
coldness, roughness, inhumanity.
(adj) defensive.
credence: (n) confidence, belief,
borne: (adj) weak, wanting, spoony,
acceptance, trust, dependence,
soft, sappy, shallow, little, limited.
reliance, faith, credit, ambo, certainty,
compassion: (adj, n) clemency,
confessional. ANTONYMS: (n)
kindness; (n) mercy, charity,
disbelief, doubt, mistrust, skepticism,
sympathy, commiseration, remorse,
rejection.
earnestness: (n) seriousness, sincerity,
tenderness, forgiveness, feeling,
grace. ANTONYMS: (n) indifference, gravity, fervor, devotion, graveness,
staidness, honesty; (adj, n) ardor, zeal,
disregard, unconcern, severity,
intentness. ANTONYMS: (n)
nastiness, harshness,
incomprehension, malevolence,
slackness, lightness, carelessness,
frivolousness, cheerfulness,
insincerity, flippancy.
hedged: (v) qualified, conditioned,
restricted; (adj) bounded.
narrowly: (adv) closely, barely, hardly,
strictly, slenderly, tightly, smally,
contractly, slimly, precisely, nearly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) broadly,
inaccurately.
purport: (n, v) aim, amount; (n) intent,
drift, intention, meaning, end, effect,
design; (v) mean, propose.
190
Oliver Twist
She pointed, hastily, to some livid bruises on her neck and arms; and
continued, with great rapidity:
'Remember this! And don't let me suffer more for you, just now. If I could
help you, I would; but I have not the power. They don't mean to harm you;
whatever they make you do, is no fault of yours. Hush! Every word from you is a
blow for me. Give me your hand. Make haste! Your hand!'
She caught the hand which Oliver instinctively placed in hers, and, blowing
out the light, drew him after her up the stairs. The door was opened, quickly, by
some one shrouded in the darkness, and was as quickly closed, when they had
passed out. A hackney-cabriolet was in waiting; with the same vehemence which
she had exhibited in addressing Oliver, the girl pulled him in with her, and drew
the curtains close. The driver wanted no directions, but lashed his horse into full
speed, without the delay of an instant.%
The girl still held Oliver fast by the hand, and continued to pour into his ear,
the warnings and assurances she had already imparted. All was so quick and
hurried, that he had scarcely time to recollect where he was, or how he came
there, when the carriage stopped at the house to which the Jew's steps had been
directed on the previous evening.
For one brief moment, Oliver cast a hurried glance along the empty street,
and a cry for help hung upon his lips. But the girl's voice was in his ear,
beseeching him in such tones of agony to remember her, that he had not the
heart to utter it. While he hesitated, the opportunity was gone; he was already in
the house, and the door was shut.
'This way,' said the girl, releasing her hold for the first time. 'Bill!'
'Hallo!' replied Sikes: appearing at the head of the stairs, with a candle. 'Oh!
That's the time of day. Come on!'
This was a very strong expression of approbation, an uncommonly hearty
welcome, from a person of Mr. Sikes' temperament. Nancy, appearing much
gratified thereby, saluted him cordially.
Thesaurus
approbation: (n, v) praise; (n)
applause, agreement, approval,
acclaim, sanction, commendation,
admiration, permission, appreciation,
favor. ANTONYMS: (n)
condemnation, disapproval,
criticism.
beseeching: (adj) begging, suppliant,
imploring, pleading, precative,
supplicatory, precatory, importunate;
(n) prayer; (v) plead; (adv)
beseechingly. ANTONYM: (adj)
imperative.
livid: (adj) furious, irate, ashen, mad,
blue, gray, ghastly, leaden, colorless,
angry, enraged. ANTONYMS: (adj)
flushed, happy, pleased.
recollect: (v) recall, remember,
recognize, call to mind, remind,
mind, think, call up, reminisce,
refresh, retrieve. ANTONYM: (v)
forget.
shrouded: (adj) hidden, covered,
veiled, cloaked, secret, wearing a veil,
unseen, ulterior, masked, enclosed,
misty.
temperament: (n) character, nature,
disposition, constitution, personality,
quality, spirit, humor, equanimity,
composure, mettle.
uncommonly: (adv) rarely, strangely,
infrequently, scarcely, occasionally,
exceptionally, oddly; (adj, adv)
particularly, remarkably, singularly,
curiously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
frequently, typically.
Charles Dickens
191
'Bull's-eye's gone home with Tom,' observed Sikes, as he lighted them up.
'He'd have been in the way.'
'That's right,' rejoined Nancy.%
'So you've got the kid,' said Sikes when they had all reached the room: closing
the door as he spoke.
'Yes, here he is,' replied Nancy.
'Did he come quiet?' inquired Sikes.
'Like a lamb,' rejoined Nancy.
'I'm glad to hear it,' said Sikes, looking grimly at Oliver; 'for the sake of his
young carcase: as would otherways have suffered for it. Come here, young 'un;
and let me read you a lectur', which is as well got over at once.'
Thus addressing his new pupil, Mr. Sikes pulled off Oliver's cap and threw it
into a corner; and then, taking him by the shoulder, sat himself down by the
table, and stood the boy in front of him.
'Now, first: do you know wot this is?' inquired Sikes, taking up a pocketpistol which lay on the table.
Oliver replied in the affirmative.
'Well, then, look here,' continued Sikes. 'This is powder; that 'ere's a bullet;
and this is a little bit of a old hat for waddin'.'
Oliver murmured his comprehension of the different bodies referred to; and
Mr. Sikes proceeded to load the pistol, with great nicety and deliberation.
'Now it's loaded,' said Mr. Sikes, when he had finished.
'Yes, I see it is, sir,' replied Oliver.
'Well,' said the robber, grasping Oliver's wrist, and putting the barrel so close
to his temple that they touched; at which moment the boy could not repress a
start; 'if you speak a word when you're out o'doors with me, except when I speak
to you, that loading will be in your head without notice. So, if you do make up
your mind to speak without leave, say your prayers first.'
Thesaurus
affirmative: (adj) positive, affirmatory, delivery, grenade, sphere.
assertive, ratifying, concurring; (adv) comprehension: (n) knowledge,
yes; (n) affirmation, avowal,
inclusion, conception, understanding,
assenting; (adj, v) predicatory,
intelligence, grasp, wit, capacity,
declaratory. ANTONYMS: (adj)
familiarity, discernment, uptake.
dissenting; (n) no.
ANTONYMS: (n) incomprehension,
barrel: (n) vessel, keg, roll, barrels,
ignorance.
grimly: (adv) severely, harshly,
barrelful, tun, vase, cask, vat,
container, hogshead.
morosely, fiercely, drearily, sourly,
bodies: (n) people, public.
gloomily, dreadfully, hardly,
bullet: (n) shot, round, pellet, slug,
horridly, sullenly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) brightly, pleasantly, warmly.
projectile, missile, stone, carcass,
loading: (n) cargo, load, burden,
consignment, lading, charging, filler,
freightage, encumbrance, shipment,
burthen.
nicety: (n) detail, exactness,
fastidiousness, nuance, refinement,
exactitude, justness, precision,
correctness, daintiness, elegance.
spoke: (n) bar, rung, radius, rule, shoe,
skid, rundle, line, clog, round; (v)
said.
192
Oliver Twist
Having bestowed a scowl upon the object of this warning, to increase its
effect, Mr. Sikes continued.%
'As near as I know, there isn't anybody as would be asking very partickler
arter you, if you was disposed of; so I needn't take this devil-and-all of trouble to
explain matters to you, if it warn't for your own good. D'ye hear me?'
'The short and the long of what you mean,' said Nancy: speaking very
emphatically, and slightly frowning at Oliver as if to bespeak his serious
attention to her words: 'is, that if you're crossed by him in this job you have on
hand, you'll prevent his ever telling tales afterwards, by shooting him through
the head, and will take your chance of swinging for it, as you do for a great many
other things in the way of business, every month of your life.'
'That's it!' observed Mr. Sikes, approvingly; 'women can always put things in
fewest words.--Except when it's blowing up; and then they lengthens it out. And
now that he's thoroughly up to it, let's have some supper, and get a snooze
before starting.'
In pursuance of this request, Nancy quickly laid the cloth; disappearing for a
few minutes, she presently returned with a pot of porter and a dish of sheep's
heads: which gave occasion to several pleasant witticisms on the part of Mr.
Sikes, founded upon the singular coincidence of 'jemmies' being a can name,
common to them, and also to an ingenious implement much used in his
profession. Indeed, the worthy gentleman, stimulated perhaps by the immediate
prospect of being on active service, was in great spirits and good humour; in
proof whereof, it may be here remarked, that he humourously drank all the beer
at a draught, and did not utter, on a rough calculation, more than four-score
oaths during the whole progress of the meal.
Supper being ended--it may be easily conceived that Oliver had no great
appetite for it--Mr. Sikes disposed of a couple of glasses of spirits and water, and
threw himself on the bed; ordering Nancy, with many imprecations in case of
failure, to call him at five precisely. Oliver stretched himself in his clothes, by
command of the same authority, on a mattress upon the floor; and the girl,
mending the fire, sat before it, in readiness to rouse them at the appointed time.
Thesaurus
bespeak: (v) augur, reserve, point,
(adv) frowningly; (n) austere,
pursuit, implementation, fulfillment,
engage, betoken, auspicate, mark,
boisterous, coarse.
achievement, search, quest,
prefigure, foreshadow; (n, v) argue, ingenious: (adj) adroit, artful, clever,
fulfilment, exercise, chase.
scowl: (n, v) glare, grimace, roar,
imply.
cunning, deft, expert, creative,
drank: (v) absorb.
sneer; (v) glower, pout, lower, sulk;
imaginative, cute, acute, able.
emphatically: (adv) decidedly,
ANTONYMS: (adj) impulsive, naive, (adj) black looks, mumps; (n) growl.
ANTONYMS: (n, v) grin.
definitely, positively, categorically,
unoriginal, inept.
mending: (n) fix, repair, fixing,
snooze: (n, v) nap, sleep, slumber,
flatly, distinctly, absolutely,
explicitly, forcefully, firmly,
maintenance, restoration, reparation, catnap, rest; (v) drowse, take a nap,
hibernation, have forty winks; (n)
expressly.
improvement, darning, mend,
frowning: (adj) dismal, dark, gloomy,
amendment, correction.
siesta, forty winks.
lowering, scowling, frowny, clouded; pursuance: (n) prosecution, execution, witticisms: (n) facetiae.
Charles Dickens
193
For a long time Oliver lay awake, thinking it not impossible that Nancy might
seek that opportunity of whispering some further advice; but the girl sat
brooding over the fire, without moving, save now and then to trim the light.
Weary with watching and anxiety, he at length fell asleep.%
When he awoke, the table was covered with tea-things, and Sikes was
thrusting various articles into the pockets of his great-coat, which hung over the
back of a chair. Nancy was busily engaged in preparing breakfast. It was not yet
daylight; for the candle was still burning, and it was quite dark outside. A sharp
rain, too, was beating against the window-panes; and the sky looked black and
cloudy.
'Now, then!' growled Sikes, as Oliver started up; 'half-past five! Look sharp,
or you'll get no breakfast; for it's late as it is.'
Oliver was not long in making his toilet; having taken some breakfast, he
replied to a surly inquiry from Sikes, by saying that he was quite ready.
Nancy, scarcely looking at the boy, threw him a handkerchief to tie round his
throat; Sikes gave him a large rough cape to button over his shoulders. Thus
attired, he gave his hand to the robber, who, merely pausing to show him with a
menacing gesture that he had that same pistol in a side-pocket of his great-coat,
clasped it firmly in his, and, exchanging a farewell with Nancy, led him away.
Oliver turned, for an instant, when they reached the door, in the hope of
meeting a look from the girl. But she had resumed her old seat in front of the fire,
and sat, perfectly motionless before it.
Thesaurus
busily: (adv) actively, occupiedly,
separation, departure, aloha; (int) bon
voyage. ANTONYMS: (n) hello,
briskly, industriously, engagedly,
energetically, assiduously, lively,
salutation, welcome.
motionless: (adj) inactive, inert,
officiously, fussily, meddlesomely.
ANTONYM: (adv) inactively.
immobile, stationary, fixed,
cloudy: (adj) dull, gloomy, nebulous,
unmoving, quiescent, dead, torpid;
(adj, adv) calm, at rest. ANTONYMS:
murky, dark, turbid, foggy, muddy,
(adj) mobile, active, alive, flowing.
misty, sunless, vaporous.
ANTONYMS: (adj) clear, bright,
pistol: (n) firearm, gun, gat, revolver,
sunny, cloudless.
rod, Captain Bobadil, derringer,
farewell: (int, n) adieu; (n) bye, leave,
spray gun, shooter, drawcansir,
valediction, adios, parting, goodbye,
Thraso.
trim: (adj, v) tidy, spruce; (adj, n, v)
dress; (n, v) cut, clip, garnish, lop;
(adj) neat, orderly; (v) shave,
embellish. ANTONYMS: (adj) scruffy,
unkempt, sloppy, large, chubby,
disorderly, overweight; (v) lengthen,
develop, expand, lose.
whispering: (n) whisper, murmur,
susurration, rustle, report, stage
whisper; (adj, n) rustling; (adj)
susurrant, tranquil, hoarse,
susurrous.
Charles Dickens
195
CHAPTER XXI
THE EXPEDITION
It was a cheerless morning when they got into the street; blowing and raining
hard; and the clouds looking dull and stormy. The night had been very wet: large
pools of water had collected in the road: and the kennels were overflowing.
There was a faint glimmering of the coming day in the sky; but it rather
aggravated than relieved the gloom of the scene: the sombre light only serving to
pale that which the street lamps afforded, without shedding any warmer or
brighter tints upon the wet house-tops, and dreary streets. There appeared to be
nobody stirring in that quarter of the town; the windows of the houses were all
closely shut; and the streets through which they passed, were noiseless and
empty.%
By the time they had turned into the Bethnal Green Road, the day had fairly
begun to break. Many of the lamps were already extinguished; a few country
waggons were slowly toiling on, towards London; now and then, a stage-coach,
covered with mud, rattled briskly by: the driver bestowing, as he passed, and
admonitory lash upon the heavy waggoner who, by keeping on the wrong side
of the road, had endangered his arriving at the office, a quarter of a minute after
his time. The public-houses, with gas-lights burning inside, were already open.
By degrees, other shops began to be unclosed, and a few scattered people were
Thesaurus
cheerless: (adj) sad, dismal, dark, drab,
dreary, gloomy, dull, murky,
dispiriting; (adj, v) disconsolate,
joyless. ANTONYMS: (adj) bright,
happy, uplifting, lighthearted, sunny,
smart, cheery, warm.
dreary: (adj) depressing, drab, dull,
cheerless, drear, miserable, gloomy,
dark, dismal, stuffy, disconsolate.
ANTONYMS: (adj) interesting,
cheerful, sunny, brilliant, lively, light,
exciting, clear, cheery, pleasant,
generous, brimming, profuse; (n, v)
exotic.
extinguished: (adj) extinct, out, dead,
flood, inundation, deluge.
quenched, allayed, destroyed; (n)
ANTONYMS: (adj) sparse, scarce.
defunctness, complete annihilation, shedding: (n) molting, abscission,
experimental extinction,
fluffing, effusion, moulting,
extermination, extinction.
biological process, desquamation,
noiseless: (adj) quiet, silent, soundless, sloughing, emission; (adj, n) peeling;
(adj) flaking.
hushed, voiceless, mute, stealthy,
unclosed: (v) ajar, unstopped; (adj)
dumb, soft, calm, tranquil.
ANTONYM: (adj) heavy.
sincere, public, plain, obvious, frank,
overflowing: (adj) full, copious,
exposed, evident, artless, apparent.
waggoner: (n) driver.
exuberant, flooding, bountiful,
196
Oliver Twist
met with. Then, came straggling groups of labourers going to their work; then,
men and women with fish-baskets on their heads; donkey-carts laden with
vegetables; chaise-carts filled with live-stock or whole carcasses of meat; milkwomen with pails; an unbroken concourse of people, trudging out with various
supplies to the eastern suburbs of the town. As they approached the City, the
noise and traffic gradually increased; when they threaded the streets between
Shoreditch and Smithfield, it had swelled into a roar of sound and bustle. It was
as light as it was likely to be, till night came on again, and the busy morning of
half the London population had begun.%
Turning down Sun Street and Crown Street, and crossing Finsbury square,
Mr. Sikes struck, by way of Chiswell Street, into Barbican: thence into Long Lane,
and so into Smithfield; from which latter place arose a tumult of discordant
sounds that filled Oliver Twist with amazement.
It was market-morning. The ground was covered, nearly ankle-deep, with
filth and mire; a thick steam, perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the
cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemed to rest upon the chimney-tops,
hung heavily above. All the pens in the centre of the large area, and as many
temporary pens as could be crowded into the vacant space, were filled with
sheep; tied up to posts by the gutter side were long lines of beasts and oxen,
three or four deep. Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys, thieves,
idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a mass; the
whistling of drovers, the barking dogs, the bellowing and plunging of the oxen,
the bleating of sheep, the grunting and squeaking of pigs, the cries of hawkers,
the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides; the ringing of bells and roar of
voices, that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving,
beating, whooping and yelling; the hideous and discordant dim that resounded
from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and
dirty figures constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng;
rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene, which quite confounded the
senses.
Thesaurus
arose: (v) happen, occur.
bellowing: (n) roaring, roar, bellows,
hollo, holloa, rout, yowl, boation,
mugiency, hollering; (adj) mugient.
bleating: (n) bleat, baaing.
grunting: (n) inarticulate, grunting
respiration, growl, grunt.
mingling: (adj) blending, merging,
confluent, blended; (n) mixture,
mixing, commixtion, interchange,
exchange, commixture; (adv)
minglingly.
pails: (n) pail.
quarrelling: (adj) at variance, in
dispute, in disagreement, in conflict;
(n) dissension.
reeking: (adj) dripping, overly diluted,
odorous, noisome, high, fetid, stale;
(v) sloppy, soft, soaking, sodden.
straggling: (adj) rambling, straggly,
spread, few, trailing, untidy,
vagabond, sprawly, sprawled.
ANTONYM: (adj) compact.
tumult: (adj, n, v) hubbub, disturbance;
(n) stir, commotion, bustle, din, fuss,
excitement; (n, v) clamor, disorder,
brawl. ANTONYMS: (n) peace, push,
serenity, order, calm.
unshaven: (adj) unshaved, bearded,
rough, not shaved, hairy, bristly,
stubbly.
unwashed: (adj) dirty, grubby,
unclean, filthy, common, mean,
unstrained, unpurified; (v) unswept,
unscoured, unwiped. ANTONYM:
(adj) clean.
Charles Dickens
197
Mr. Sikes, dragging Oliver after him, elbowed his way through the thickest of
the crowd, and bestowed very little attention on the numerous sights and
sounds, which so astonished the boy. He nodded, twice or thrice, to a passing
friend; and, resisting as many invitations to take a morning dram, pressed
steadily onward, until they were clear of the turmoil, and had made their way
through Hosier Lane into Holborn.%
'Now, young 'un!' said Sikes, looking up at the clock of St. Andrew's Church,
'hard upon seven! you must step out. Come, don't lag behind already, Lazy-legs!'
Mr. Sikes accompanied this speech with a jerk at his little companion's wrist;
Oliver, quickening his pace into a kind of trot between a fast walk and a run,
kept up with the rapid strides of the house-breaker as well as he could.
They held their course at this rate, until they had passed Hyde Park corner,
and were on their way to Kensington: when Sikes relaxed his pace, until an
empty cart which was at some little distance behind, came up. Seeing 'Hounslow'
written on it, he asked the driver with as much civility as he could assume, if he
would give them a lift as far as Isleworth.
'Jump up,' said the man. 'Is that your boy?'
'Yes; he's my boy,' replied Sikes, looking hard at Oliver, and putting his hand
abstractedly into the pocket where the pistol was.
'Your father walks rather too quick for you, don't he, my man?' inquired the
driver: seeing that Oliver was out of breath.
'Not a bit of it,' replied Sikes, interposing. 'He's used to it.
Here, take hold of my hand, Ned. In with you!'
Thus addressing Oliver, he helped him into the cart; and the driver, pointing
to a heap of sacks, told him to lie down there, and rest himself.
As they passed the different mile-stones, Oliver wondered, more and more,
where his companion meant to take him. Kensington, Hammersmith, Chiswick,
Kew Bridge, Brentford, were all passed; and yet they went on as steadily as if
they had only just begun their journey. At length, they came to a public-house
Thesaurus
abstractedly: (adv) absently,
civilization. ANTONYMS: (n)
distractedly, distantly, pensively,
rudeness, incivility, coarseness.
separately, preoccupiedly, abstractly, dram: (n) drachma, nip, ankus, spot,
removedly, dreamily, absentdynamic random access memory,
snifter, blast, apothecaries' weight; (n,
mindedly, scatterbrainedly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) carefully, clearly, v) potion; (v) drench, swill.
interposing: (adj) meddlesome.
calmly.
begun: (adj) present.
onward: (adv) ahead, forwards, before,
civility: (n) politeness, courtesy,
forth, onwards, along, in advance,
frontward, forrader; (adv, prep) on;
comity, attention, propriety,
(adj) progressive. ANTONYM: (adv)
affability, amenity, cultivation,
complaisance, courteousness,
backward.
quickening: (n) hurrying, hastening,
speedup; (v) hasten, lively, flowing,
having life, ignited, laving; (adj)
bracing, moving.
resisting: (adj) tough, tenacious,
sequacious, stringy, tough as
whitleather, resistant, recalcitrant,
opposing, making resistance, loath;
(v) resist.
trot: (n, v) run; (n) crib, canter, pony,
gait, ride, lope; (v) gallop, general,
frequent, household.
198
Oliver Twist
called the Coach and Horses; a little way beyond which, another road appeared
to run off. And here, the cart stopped.%
Sikes dismounted with great precipitation, holding Oliver by the hand all the
while; and lifting him down directly, bestowed a furious look upon him, and
rapped the side-pocket with his fist, in a significant manner.
'Good-bye, boy,' said the man.
'He's sulky,' replied Sikes, giving him a shake; 'he's sulky. A young dog!
Don't mind him.'
'Not I!' rejoined the other, getting into his cart. 'It's a fine day, after all.' And
he drove away.
Sikes waited until he had fairly gone; and then, telling Oliver he might look
about him if he wanted, once again led him onward on his journey.
They turned round to the left, a short way past the public-house; and then,
taking a right-hand road, walked on for a long time: passing many large gardens
and gentlemen's houses on both sides of the way, and stopping for nothing but a
little beer, until they reached a town. Here against the wall of a house, Oliver saw
written up in pretty large letters, 'Hampton.' They lingered about, in the fields,
for some hours. At length they came back into the town; and, turning into an old
public-house with a defaced sign-board, ordered some dinner by the kitchen fire.
The kitchen was an old, low-roofed room; with a great beam across the
middle of the ceiling, and benches, with high backs to them, by the fire; on
which were seated several rough men in smock-frocks, drinking and smoking.
They took no notice of Oliver; and very little of Sikes; and, as Sikes took very
little notice of them, he and his young comrade sat in a corner by themselves,
without being much troubled by their company.
They had some cold meat for dinner, and sat so long after it, while Mr. Sikes
indulged himself with three or four pipes, that Oliver began to feel quite certain
they were not going any further. Being much tired with the walk, and getting up
so early, he dozed a little at first; then, quite overpowered by fatigue and the
fumes of the tobacco, fell asleep.
Thesaurus
benches: (n) bleachers.
exhaustion, weariness, tiredness.
cart: (n) car, carriage, handcart,
ANTONYMS: (n) energy, liveliness,
barrow, applecart, wagon; (v) haul,
vitality, vigor, strength; (v) energize,
drag, bear, take, transfer.
renew, rejuvenate, restore,
comrade: (n) colleague, chum, buddy, invigorate.
fumes: (n) gas, exhaust, exhaust
fellow, compeer, partner, brother,
mate, familiar; (adj, n) associate, ally. fumes, smokes, smog, vapor,
ANTONYMS: (n) stranger, enemy,
exhalation, steam, smoke, toxic
foe, opponent.
waste, contamination.
defaced: (adj) marred.
good-bye: (n) bye, farewell, goodbye,
fatigue: (v) exhaust, tire, weary,
goodby, vale, adios, cheerio.
harass, enervate, fag, jade, wear; (n) indulged: (adj) pet, privileged,
cherished, admired.
pipes: (n) musette, tubing, tubes, pipe,
tube.
precipitation: (n) rain, downfall, haste,
hastiness, rush, rashness, rainfall,
temerity, acceleration, fall; (adj, n)
precipitancy.
sulky: (adj) gloomy, grouchy, morose,
surly, peevish, moody, dismal, cross,
petulant, crabby; (adj, v) glum.
ANTONYMS: (adj) resigned,
cheerful; (n) cheeriness.
Charles Dickens
199
It was quite dark when he was awakened by a push from Sikes. Rousing
himself sufficiently to sit up and look about him, he found that worthy in close
fellowship and communication with a labouring man, over a pint of ale.%
'So, you're going on to Lower Halliford, are you?' inquired Sikes.
'Yes, I am,' replied the man, who seemed a little the worse--or better, as the
case might be--for drinking; 'and not slow about it neither. My horse hasn't got a
load behind him going back, as he had coming up in the mornin'; and he won't
be long a-doing of it. Here's luck to him. Ecod! he's a good 'un!'
'Could you give my boy and me a lift as far as there?' demanded Sikes,
pushing the ale towards his new friend.
'If you're going directly, I can,' replied the man, looking out of the pot. 'Are
you going to Halliford?'
'Going on to Shepperton,' replied Sikes.
'I'm your man, as far as I go,' replied the other. 'Is all paid, Becky?'
'Yes, the other gentleman's paid,' replied the girl.
'I say!' said the man, with tipsy gravity; 'that won't do, you know.'
'Why not?' rejoined Sikes. 'You're a-going to accommodate us, and wot's to
prevent my standing treat for a pint or so, in return?'
The stranger reflected upon this argument, with a very profound face; having
done so, he seized Sikes by the hand: and declared he was a real good fellow. To
which Mr. Sikes replied, he was joking; as, if he had been sober, there would
have been strong reason to suppose he was.
After the exchange of a few more compliments, they bade the company
good-night, and went out; the girl gathering up the pots and glasses as they did
so, and lounging out to the door, with her hands full, to see the party start.
The horse, whose health had been drunk in his absence, was standing
outside: ready harnessed to the cart. Oliver and Sikes got in without any further
ceremony; and the man to whom he belonged, having lingered for a minute or
two 'to bear him up,' and to defy the hostler and the world to produce his equal,
Thesaurus
compliments: (n) respects,
ANTONYM: (n) seriousness.
camaraderie, society, comradeship,
association, body; (adj, n) familiarity, pint: (n) dry pint.
commendation, wish, greetings,
sober: (adj, v) grave, sedate; (adj) sane,
salutation, respect, applause, flattery, acquaintance. ANTONYMS: (n)
acclamation, regards, approbation.
unsociability, unfriendliness,
earnest, quiet, solemn, moderate,
defy: (n, v) dare; (v) brave, resist,
hostility.
modest, serene, dull, somber.
hostler: (n) ostler, stableman,
ANTONYMS: (adj) intoxicated,
ignore, confront, revolt, oppose,
withstand, disobey, contradict; (n)
stableboy, ostleress, tiger, messenger, unrestrained, drunk, playful,
defiance. ANTONYMS: (v) obey,
swineherd, orderly, cad, bridegroom, sensational, emotional, cheerful,
acquiesce, surrender, yield, comply,
depot driver.
frivolous, funny, muddled, delirious.
joking: (n) banter, fooling, fun; (adj)
tipsy: (adj) tight, intoxicated, soused,
accept.
fellowship: (n) community, company, jocose, jocular, humorous, funny,
blotto, inebriated, fuddled, taut,
companionship, communion,
kidding, playful, puckish, comical.
stringent, loaded, besotted, close.
200
Oliver Twist
mounted also. Then, the hostler was told to give the horse his head; and, his head
being given him, he made a very unpleasant use of it: tossing it into the air with
great disdain, and running into the parlour windows over the way; after
performing those feats, and supporting himself for a short time on his hind-legs,
he started off at great speed, and rattled out of the town right gallantly.%
The night was very dark. A damp mist rose from the river, and the marshy
ground about; and spread itself over the dreary fields. It was piercing cold, too;
all was gloomy and black. Not a word was spoken; for the driver had grown
sleepy; and Sikes was in no mood to lead him into conversation. Oliver sat
huddled together, in a corner of the cart; bewildered with alarm and
apprehension; and figuring strange objects in the gaunt trees, whose branches
waved grimly to and fro, as if in some fantastic joy at the desolation of the scene.
As they passed Sunbury Church, the clock struck seven. There was a light in
the ferry-house window opposite: which streamed across the road, and threw
into more sombre shadow a dark yew-tree with graves beneath it. There was a
dull sound of falling water not far off; and the leaves of the old tree stirred gently
in the night wind. It seemed like quiet music for the repose of the dead.
Sunbury was passed through, and they came again into the lonely road. Two
or three miles more, and the cart stopped. Sikes alighted, took Oliver by the
hand, and they once again walked on.
They turned into no house at Shepperton, as the weary boy had expected; but
still kept walking on, in mud and darkness, through gloomy lanes and over cold
open wastes, until they came within sight of the lights of a town at no great
distance. On looking intently forward, Oliver saw that the water was just below
them, and that they were coming to the foot of a bridge.
Sikes kept straight on, until they were close upon the bridge; then turned
suddenly down a bank upon the left.
'The water!' thought Oliver, turning sick with fear. 'He has brought me to this
lonely place to murder me!'
Thesaurus
desolation: (n) devastation, misery,
destruction, depression, grief,
wretchedness, bleakness, loneliness,
waste, ruin; (adj, n) desertion.
ANTONYMS: (n) ecstasy, joy,
productiveness, fertileness,
fecundity, cheer, fruitfulness,
preservation, hopefulness,
cheerfulness.
figuring: (n) calculation, reckoning,
estimation, computing, figure,
approximation, conversion,
derivative, differential, estimate,
derived function.
gaunt: (adj) lean, thin, cadaverous,
desolate, bleak, dreary, meager,
bony, angular, lanky, sullen.
ANTONYMS: (adj) fresh, rounded,
obese.
intently: (adv) fixedly, attentively,
seriously, raptly, intensely, closely,
steadily, eagerly, absorbedly, hard,
steadfastly. ANTONYM: (adv)
absently.
marshy: (adj) muddy, marsh, swampy,
sloughy, quaggy, miry, fenny,
paludal, moist, dirty, damp.
ANTONYM: (adj) dry.
repose: (n, v) recline, peace, lie, calm;
(n) composure, ease, quiet, leisure,
recreation, relaxation; (v) lay.
ANTONYMS: (n, v) work; (n)
activity, panic, agitation.
sombre: (adj) dismal, dreary, dark,
shadowy, mournful, morose, murky,
gloomy, sober, dull, glum.
Charles Dickens
201
He was about to throw himself on the ground, and make one struggle for his
young life, when he saw that they stood before a solitary house: all ruinous and
decayed. There was a window on each side of the dilapidated entrance; and one
story above; but no light was visible. The house was dark, dismantled: and the
all appearance, uninhabited.%
Sikes, with Oliver's hand still in his, softly approached the low porch, and
raised the latch. The door yielded to the pressure, and they passed in together.
Thesaurus
decayed: (adj) spoiled, corrupt,
dilapidated, rank, rusty, rotting,
decaying, rotted, putrid; (adj, v)
wasted; (v) stale. ANTONYMS: (adj)
matured, restored, strengthened.
dilapidated: (adj, v) bedraggled,
frayed; (adj) decayed, decrepit,
derelict, shabby, worn out, rickety,
broken, ragged, damaged.
ANTONYMS: (adj) pristine, elegant,
trim, tidy, thriving, sound, solid,
intact, sturdy, habitable.
dismantled: (adj) razed, destroyed.
quiet, silently, kindly, slowly.
latch: (v) bar, fasten, grab; (n, v) bolt;
ANTONYMS: (adv) hoarsely,
(adj, n, v) lock; (n) hasp, clasp, door
roughly, loudly, clearly, harshly,
latch, hook; (adj) link, yoke.
forte, severely, strongly, heavily,
porch: (n) lobby, hall, vestibule,
convincingly, brightly.
solitary: (adj) forlorn, only, alone,
veranda, door, entrance, deck,
gallery, portico, balcony, inlet.
single, lonely, lone, sole,
raised: (adj) embossed, erect, convex,
unaccompanied, isolated; (adj, n)
recluse; (n) hermit. ANTONYMS:
inflated, brocaded, high, uplifted,
lifted, exultant; (v) in relief, repousse. (adj) sociable, combined, common,
softly: (adv) quietly, mildly, lightly,
outgoing.
yielded: (v) yold, yolden.
tenderly, delicately, gently, soft,
Charles Dickens
203
CHAPTER XXII
THE BURGLARY
'Hallo!' cried a loud, hoarse voice, as soon as they set foot in the passage.%
'Don't make such a row,' said Sikes, bolting the door. 'Show a glim, Toby.'
'Aha! my pal!' cried the same voice. 'A glim, Barney, a glim! Show the
gentleman in, Barney; wake up first, if convenient.'
The speaker appeared to throw a boot-jack, or some such article, at the person
he addressed, to rouse him from his slumbers: for the noise of a wooden body,
falling violently, was heard; and then an indistinct muttering, as of a man
between sleep and awake.
'Do you hear?' cried the same voice. 'There's Bill Sikes in the passage with
nobody to do the civil to him; and you sleeping there, as if you took laudanum
with your meals, and nothing stronger. Are you any fresher now, or do you
want the iron candlestick to wake you thoroughly?'
A pair of slipshod feet shuffled, hastily, across the bare floor of the room, as
this interrogatory was put; and there issued, from a door on the right hand; first,
a feeble candle: and next, the form of the same individual who has been
heretofore described as labouring under the infirmity of speaking through his
nose, and officiating as waiter at the public-house on Saffron Hill.
Thesaurus
bolting: (n) sifting.
disability, decrepitude, illness,
fresher: (n) fresh, lowerclassman,
sickness, disease, weakness.
underclassman, neophyte, fledgeling, ANTONYMS: (n) health, wellness,
entrant, fledgling.
strength.
glim: (v) view, stare, behold, probe,
interrogatory: (n, v) interrogation; (adj,
n) interrogative; (n) examination,
peer.
heretofore: (adv) formerly, as yet,
question, inquiry, query, hearing,
before, so far, yet, already, until now, problem, doubt, questionnaire; (adj)
previously, once, hereunto; (adv, n)
asking. ANTONYM: (adj) declarative.
laudanum: (v) carminative,
hitherto.
infirmity: (adj, n) frailty, foible,
antispasmodic, demulcent, lullaby,
imbecility; (n) feebleness, impotence, sedative, lenitive; (n) tincture of
opium.
meals: (n) nourishment, fare, food,
meal, the food we eat, provisions.
officiating: (n) umpirage,
adjudication, refereeing; (adj) acting.
shuffled: (adj) disorganized.
slipshod: (adj) careless, negligent,
sloppy, slapdash, lax, haphazard,
inaccurate, inattentive, slovenly,
slack, untidy. ANTONYMS: (adj)
thorough, strict, painstaking,
attentive, meticulous, skillful.
204
Oliver Twist
'Bister Sikes!' exclaimed Barney, with real or counterfeit joy; 'cub id, sir; cub
id.'
'Here! you get on first,' said Sikes, putting Oliver in front of him. 'Quicker! or
I shall tread upon your heels.'
Muttering a curse upon his tardiness, Sikes pushed Oliver before him; and
they entered a low dark room with a smoky fire, two or three broken chairs, a
table, and a very old couch: on which, with his legs much higher than his head, a
man was reposing at full length, smoking a long clay pipe. He was dressed in a
smartly-cut snuff-coloured coat, with large brass buttons; an orange neckerchief;
a coarse, staring, shawl-pattern waistcoat; and drab breeches. Mr. Crackit (for he
it was) had no very great quantity of hair, either upon his head or face; but what
he had, was of a reddish dye, and tortured into long corkscrew curls, through
which he occasionally thrust some very dirty fingers, ornamented with large
common rings. He was a trifle above the middle size, and apparently rather
weak in the legs; but this circumstance by no means detracted from his own
admiration of his top-boots, which he contemplated, in their elevated situation,
with lively satisfaction.%
'Bill, my boy!' said this figure, turning his head towards the door, 'I'm glad to
see you. I was almost afraid you'd given it up: in which case I should have made
a personal wentur. Hallo!'
Uttering this exclamation in a tone of great surprise, as his eyes rested on
Oliver, Mr. Toby Crackit brought himself into a sitting posture, and demanded
who that was.
'The boy. Only the boy!' replied Sikes, drawing a chair towards the fire.
'Wud of Bister Fagid's lads,' exclaimed Barney, with a grin.
'Fagin's, eh!' exclaimed Toby, looking at Oliver. 'Wot an inwalable boy that'll
make, for the old ladies' pockets in chapels! His mug is a fortin' to him.'
'There--there's enough of that,' interposed Sikes, impatiently; and stooping
over his recumbant friend, he whispered a few words in his ear: at which Mr.
Thesaurus
contemplated: (adj) intended, willful.
corkscrew: (n, v) coil; (v) curl, helix,
buckle, worm, rundle, pliers; (n) drill,
bottle screw, gimlet; (adj) helical.
ANTONYM: (adj) straight.
counterfeit: (adj, n, v) sham; (n, v)
copy, duplicate; (adj, v) mock, falsify;
(adj) false, artificial, assumed; (adj, n)
imitation; (v) forge, ape.
ANTONYMS: (adj) genuine, real,
authentic, true, actual; (n) original.
curls: (n) hair, tresses, ringlets.
reddish: (adj) ruddy, rosy, crimson,
speediness.
cherry, rufescent, rufous, rubicund, tortured: (adj) anguished, suffering,
scarlet, rubedinous, ruby, colorful.
agonized, excruciate, excruciated,
reposing: (adj) calm, asleep.
gnarled, hagridden, miserable,
smoky: (adj) murky, hazy, fumid,
woeful, hurt.
tread: (n, v) pace, walk, rate, march,
vaporous, opaque, muddy, famish,
burnt; (v) sooty, smutty, dusty.
tramp; (n) gait, stride, footstep,
ANTONYMS: (adj) clean, fresh, clear. footfall, track; (v) trample.
tardiness: (n) slowness, sluggishness, trifle: (n, v) play; (adj, n, v) trinket; (v)
dally, fiddle, flirt, fool, frivol; (n)
laziness, timing, dilatoriness, delay,
nothing, triviality, detail; (adj, n)
idleness, sloth, slothfulness, tardity.
ANTONYMS: (n) promptness, speed, bagatelle.
Charles Dickens
205
Crackit laughed immensely, and honoured Oliver with a long stare of
astonishment.%
'Now,' said Sikes, as he resumed his seat, 'if you'll give us something to eat
and drink while we're waiting, you'll put some heart in us; or in me, at all events.
Sit down by the fire, younker, and rest yourself; for you'll have to go out with us
again to-night, though not very far off.'
Oliver looked at Sikes, in mute and timid wonder; and drawing a stool to the
fire, sat with his aching head upon his hands, scarecely knowing where he was,
or what was passing around him.
'Here,' said Toby, as the young Jew placed some fragments of food, and a
bottle upon the table, 'Success to the crack!' He rose to honour the toast; and,
carefully depositing his empty pipe in a corner, advanced to the table, filled a
glass with spirits, and drank off its contents. Mr. Sikes did the same.
'A drain for the boy,' said Toby, half-filling a wine-glass. 'Down with it,
innocence.'
'Indeed,' said Oliver, looking piteously up into the man's face; 'indeed, I--'
'Down with it!' echoed Toby. 'Do you think I don't know what's good for
you? Tell him to drink it, Bill.'
'He had better!' said Sikes clapping his hand upon his pocket. 'Burn my body,
if he isn't more trouble than a whole family of Dodgers. Drink it, you perwerse
imp; drink it!'
Frightened by the menacing gestures of the two men, Oliver hastily
swallowed the contents of the glass, and immediately fell into a violent fit of
coughing: which delighted Toby Crackit and Barney, and even drew a smile
from the surly Mr. Sikes.
This done, and Sikes having satisfied his appetite (Oliver could eat nothing
but a small crust of bread which they made him swallow), the two men laid
themselves down on chairs for a short nap. Oliver retained his stool by the fire;
Barney wrapped in a blanket, stretched himself on the floor: close outside the
fender.
Thesaurus
aching: (adj) sore, achy, hurt,
quickly, rashly, promptly, suddenly, massively, immeasurably,
uncomfortable, tender, hurtful,
thoughtlessly, impetuously, swiftly,
monstrously.
agonizing; (n) ache, pain, hurting; (v) imprudently, speedily. ANTONYMS: stool: (n) seat, bench, footstool, feces,
(adv) carefully, unhurriedly,
griped.
dejection, faeces, ordure, fecal matter,
clapping: (n) clap, acclaim, hand,
industriously, sensibly, prudently,
droppings, bowel movement, form.
toast: (n, v) pledge, drink, plight; (v)
clapping of hands, cheering,
late, calmly, thoroughly, patiently,
handclap, ovation, slapping, plaudit, gradually, cautiously.
roast, burn, bake, wassail, parch,
honoured: (adj) esteemed, respected,
crisp, inflame; (n) rusk.
round, approval.
crust: (n) skin, peel, bark, cheekiness,
younker: (n) juvenile, stripling,
worthy.
immensely: (adv) highly, infinitely,
gall, impertinence, covering, shell,
puppy, blade, hobbledehoy, young
cortex, coating, encrustation.
greatly, enormously, tremendously,
person, pup, youngster, young, lad,
hastily: (adv) hurriedly, rapidly,
extremely, mightily, hugely,
early days.
206
Oliver Twist
They slept, or appeared to sleep, for some time; nobody stirring but Barney,
who rose once or twice to throw coals on the fire. Oliver fell into a heavy doze:
imagining himself straying along the gloomy lanes, or wandering about the
dark churchyard, or retracing some one or other of the scenes of the past day:
when he was roused by Toby Crackit jumping up and declaring it was half-past
one.%
In an instant, the other two were on their legs, and all were actively engaged
in busy preparation. Sikes and his companion enveloped their necks and chins in
large dark shawls, and drew on their great-coats; Barney, opening a cupboard,
brought forth several articles, which he hastily crammed into the pockets.
'Barkers for me, Barney,' said Toby Crackit.
'Here they are,' replied Barney, producing a pair of pistols. 'You loaded them
yourself.'
'All right!' replied Toby, stowing them away. 'The persuaders?'
'I've got 'em,' replied Sikes.
'Crape, keys, centre-bits, darkies--nothing forgotten?' inquired Toby:
fastening a small crowbar to a loop inside the skirt of his coat.
'All right,' rejoined his companion. 'Bring them bits of timber, Barney. That's
the time of day.'
With these words, he took a thick stick from Barney's hands, who, having
delivered another to Toby, busied himself in fastening on Oliver's cape.
'Now then!' said Sikes, holding out his hand.
Oliver: who was completely stupified by the unwonted exercise, and the air,
and the drink which had been forced upon him: put his hand mechanically into
that which Sikes extended for the purpose.
'Take his other hand, Toby,' said Sikes. 'Look out, Barney.'
The man went to the door, and returned to announce that all was quiet. The
two robbers issued forth with Oliver between them. Barney, having made all
fast, rolled himself up as before, and was soon asleep again.
Thesaurus
barney: (v) altercation, high words,
snarl, spat, words, squabble, tiff,
tracasserie, quarrel.
crammed: (adj) packed, full,
overcrowded, chock-full, stuffed,
jammed, brimming, congested,
overflowing, saturated, teeming.
crape: (n, v) curl; (n) French pancake,
hotcake, flapcake, flapjack,
griddlecake, pancake, battercake;
(adj, v) crimp; (adj) deep mourning,
weeds.
imagining: (n) conception, daydream, gobbing, storage, storage room,
fantasy, opinion; (v) imagine; (adj)
stowed goaf.
straying: (n) digression, departure,
imaginant.
issued: (adj) executed, done.
error; (adj) errant, mistaking,
mechanically: (adv) mechanistically,
containing error, incorrect,
instinctively, routinely, involuntarily, misleading, astray, mistaken,
industrially, unconsciously,
erroneous.
automaticly, intuitively, impulsively, wandering: (adj) itinerant, nomadic,
technically, technologically.
erratic, rambling, errant, migratory;
ANTONYMS: (adv) manually,
(adj, v) stray, vagrant, vagabond,
unsettled; (n) peregrination.
consciously.
stowing: (n) stow, pack, storeroom,
ANTONYM: (adj) resident.
Charles Dickens
207
It was now intensely dark. The fog was much heavier than it had been in the
early part of the night; and the atmosphere was so damp, that, although no rain
fell, Oliver's hair and eyebrows, within a few minutes after leaving the house,
had become stiff with the half-frozen moisture that was floating about. They
crossed the bridge, and kept on towards the lights which he had seen before.
They were at no great distance off; and, as they walked pretty briskly, they soon
arrived at Chertsey.%
'Slap through the town,' whispered Sikes; 'there'll be nobody in the way, tonight, to see us.'
Toby acquiesced; and they hurried through the main street of the little town,
which at that late hour was wholly deserted. A dim light shone at intervals from
some bed-room window; and the hoarse barking of dogs occasionally broke the
silence of the night. But there was nobody abroad. They had cleared the town, as
the church-bell struck two.
Quickening their pace, they turned up a road upon the left hand. After
walking about a quarter of a mile, they stopped before a detached house
surrounded by a wall: to the top of which, Toby Crackit, scarcely pausing to take
breath, climbed in a twinkling.
'The boy next,' said Toby. 'Hoist him up; I'll catch hold of him.'
Before Oliver had time to look round, Sikes had caught him under the arms;
and in three or four seconds he and Toby were lying on the grass on the other
side. Sikes followed directly. And they stole cautiously towards the house.
And now, for the first time, Oliver, well-nigh mad with grief and terror, saw
that housebreaking and robbery, if not murder, were the objects of the
expedition. He clasped his hands together, and involuntarily uttered a subdued
exclamation of horror. A mist came before his eyes; the cold sweat stood upon
his ashy face; his limbs failed him; and he sank upon his knees.
'Get up!' murmured Sikes, trembling with rage, and drawing the pistol from
his pocket; 'Get up, or I'll strew your brains upon the grass.'
Thesaurus
briskly: (adv) busily, energetically,
linked, united, impassioned,
sprinkle, bestrew, circulate,
propagate. ANTONYM: (v)
vigorously, quickly, freshly, actively, interested, personal.
hoist: (n, v) boost; (v) haul, heave, lift,
sharply, rapidly, vividly, brightly,
concentrate.
merrily. ANTONYMS: (adv)
subdued: (adj) quiet, muffled, dull,
erect, rear, pick up, raise, uphold,
upraise; (n) elevator. ANTONYMS:
seriously, laboriously, civilly,
restrained, muted, tame, faint,
(v) lower, drop.
repressed, low, meek; (adj, v)
pleasantly, languorously.
detached: (adj) separate, cool, aloof,
moisture: (n) damp, dampness, wet,
resigned. ANTONYMS: (adj)
distinct, impartial, neutral,
humid, moist, moistness, vapor,
enthusiastic, lively, uninhibited,
dispassionate, objective,
moisture content, moisten, dank,
unsubdued, rebellious, noisy, bright,
unconnected, remote, unconcerned.
dampen.
elaborate, frivolous, upbeat.
ANTONYMS: (adj) involved, warm, strew: (v) scatter, spread, disperse,
well-nigh: (adv) nearly, most; (adj)
engrossed, partial, connected, biased, disseminate, distribute, diffuse, sow, practically.
208
Oliver Twist
'Oh! for God's sake let me go!' cried Oliver; 'let me run away and die in the
fields. I will never come near London; never, never! Oh! pray have mercy on me,
and do not make me steal. For the love of all the bright Angels that rest in
Heaven, have mercy upon me!'
The man to whom this appeal was made, swore a dreadful oath, and had
cocked the pistol, when Toby, striking it from his grasp, placed his hand upon
the boy's mouth, and dragged him to the house.%
'Hush!' cried the man; 'it won't answer here. Say another word, and I'll do
your business myself with a crack on the head. That makes no noise, and is quite
as certain, and more genteel. Here, Bill, wrench the shutter open. He's game
enough now, I'll engage. I've seen older hands of his age took the same way, for a
minute or two, on a cold night.'
Sikes, invoking terrific imprecations upon Fagin's head for sending Oliver on
such an errand, plied the crowbar vigorously, but with little noise. After some
delay, and some assistance from Toby, the shutter to which he had referred,
swung open on its hinges.
It was a little lattice window, about five feet and a half above the ground, at
the back of the house: which belonged to a scullery, or small brewing-place, at
the end of the passage. The aperture was so small, that the inmates had probably
not thought it worth while to defend it more securely; but it was large enough to
admit a boy of Oliver's size, nevertheless. A very brief exercise of Mr. Sike's art,
sufficed to overcome the fastening of the lattice; and it soon stood wide open
also.
'Now listen, you young limb,' whispered Sikes, drawing a dark lantern from
his pocket, and throwing the glare full on Oliver's face; 'I'm a going to put you
through there. Take this light; go softly up the steps straight afore you, and along
the little hall, to the street door; unfasten it, and let us in.'
'There's a bolt at the top, you won't be able to reach,' interposed Toby. 'Stand
upon one of the hall chairs. There are three there, Bill, with a jolly large blue
unicorn and gold pitchfork on 'em: which is the old lady's arms.'
Thesaurus
glare: (n) glance, brilliance, radiance,
brightness; (n, v) glower, flash, shine,
scowl, beam, frown; (v) flame.
ANTONYMS: (n) dullness, dimness.
invoking: (adj) invocatory.
lantern: (n) beacon, light, dormer,
tube, lighting fitting, bedside light,
street light, street lamp, oil lamp,
lime light, lanthorn.
lattice: (n) grill, grille, grid, net,
fretwork, network, gridiron, wicket,
web, netting; (v) trellis.
oath: (n) expletive, malediction,
ANTONYM: (adv) insecurely.
imprecation, promise, affidavit, cuss, steal: (v) purloin, abstract, sneak, filch,
swearing, pledge, assurance,
pinch, creep, misappropriate, rob,
asseveration; (v) swear.
pilfer; (n) bargain; (n, v) snatch.
pitchfork: (v) bolt, fulminate, drive,
unfasten: (v) open, detach, release,
sling, branch; (n) hayfork, hand tool,
unbind, unbutton, disengage, unbolt,
shakefork.
separate, loose, loosen, unchain.
scullery: (n) basement, kitchen, room, ANTONYMS: (v) attach, lock, close.
unicorn: (n) trap, dogcart, imaginary
offices.
securely: (adv) surely, safely, closely,
being, imaginary creature,
solidly, steadily, assuredly, strongly, monoceros, tandem, Whitechapel,
tightly, fixly, setly, stably.
random.
Charles Dickens
209
'Keep quiet, can't you?' replied Sikes, with a threatening look. 'The room-door
is open, is it?'
'Wide,' replied Toby, after peeping in to satisfy himself. 'The game of that is,
that they always leave it open with a catch, so that the dog, who's got a bed in
here, may walk up and down the passage when he feels wakeful. Ha! ha! Barney
'ticed him away to-night. So neat!'
Although Mr. Crackit spoke in a scarcely audible whisper, and laughed
without noise, Sikes imperiously commanded him to be silent, and to get to
work. Toby complied, by first producing his lantern, and placing it on the
ground; then by planting himself firmly with his head against the wall beneath
the window, and his hands upon his knees, so as to make a step of his back. This
was no sooner done, than Sikes, mounting upon him, put Oliver gently through
the window with his feet first; and, without leaving hold of his collar, planted
him safely on the floor inside.%
'Take this lantern,' said Sikes, looking into the room. 'You see the stairs afore
you?'
Oliver, more dead than alive, gasped out, 'Yes.' Sikes, pointing to the streetdoor with the pistol-barrel, briefly advised him to take notice that he was within
shot all the way; and that if he faltered, he would fall dead that instant.
'It's done in a minute,' said Sikes, in the same low whisper. 'Directly I leave go
of you, do your work. Hark!'
'What's that?' whispered the other man.
They listened intently.
'Nothing,' said Sikes, releasing his hold of Oliver. 'Now!'
In the short time he had had to collect his senses, the boy had firmly resolved
that, whether he died in the attempt or not, he would make one effort to dart
upstairs from the hall, and alarm the family. Filled with this idea, he advanced at
once, but stealthily.
'Come back!' suddenly cried Sikes aloud. 'Back! back!'
Thesaurus
aloud: (adv) loud, out loud, strong,
out, audibly, hard, forte.
ANTONYMS: (adv) softly, inaudibly,
quietly.
collar: (n, v) arrest, catch, capture,
pinch; (n) choker, ruff, lapel; (v)
apprehend, nail, grab, clutch.
ANTONYMS: (v) free, release.
dart: (n, v) dash, run, flit; (v) bound,
flash, shoot, rush, race, gallop; (adj, n)
arrow, rocket. ANTONYMS: (v) plod,
trudge, slog, linger, dawdle, dally,
delay, amble; (n) tonic.
peeping: (n) cheeping, tweeting,
chirping; (adj) inquisitive.
planted: (adj) ingrained, established,
set, concealed.
planting: (n) plantation, positioning,
position, cultivation, transplanting,
set, planting system, husbandry,
placement, locating, farming.
releasing: (adj) cathartic, purgative,
psychotherapeutic, evacuant,
emotionally purging, emotional; (n)
acquittal.
wakeful: (adj) vigilant, sleepless,
awake, observant, restless, light,
wary, psychologically light,
lightheaded, tripping; (v) wistful.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unaware, asleep,
inattentive, relaxed.
whisper: (n, v) murmur, hum,
mumble, suggestion, hint, inkling; (v)
breathe, hiss; (n) rustle, trace, breath.
ANTONYM: (n) information.
210
Oliver Twist
Scared by the sudden breaking of the dead stillness of the place, and by a
loud cry which followed it, Oliver let his lantern fall, and knew not whether to
advance or fly.%
The cry was repeated--a light appeared--a vision of two terrified half-dressed
men at the top of the stairs swam before his eyes--a flash--a loud noise--a smoke-a crash somewhere, but where he knew not,--and he staggered back.
Sikes had disappeared for an instant; but he was up again, and had him by
the collar before the smoke had cleared away. He fired his own pistol after the
men, who were already retreating; and dragged the boy up.
'Clasp your arm tighter,' said Sikes, as he drew him through the window.
'Give me a shawl here. They've hit him. Quick! How the boy bleeds!'
Then came the loud ringing of a bell, mingled with the noise of fire-arms,
and the shouts of men, and the sensation of being carried over uneven ground at
a rapid pace. And then, the noises grew confused in the distance; and a cold
deadly feeling crept over the boy's heart; and he saw or heard no more.
Thesaurus
clasp: (n, v) embrace, hug, grip, grasp, astonished, flabbergasted, astounded,
squeeze, clutch, buckle, brooch; (adj,
stunned, bewildered, surprised,
n, v) pin; (v) stick, cling.
thunderstruck, angular, dizzy, taken
ANTONYMS: (v) unbuckle, loose,
aback.
stillness: (n) hush, calmness,
unclasp, relax, detach.
grew: (v) become, develop; (adj)
immobility, serenity, silence,
quietness, peacefulness; (adj, n) calm,
grown.
ringing: (n) buzz, peal, resonance,
quiet, peace, still. ANTONYMS: (n)
ring, sound; (adj) reverberant,
bustle, movement, uproar, motion,
jingling, loud, resounding, tinkling,
turbulence, turmoil, vigor,
hollow.
disturbance, chaos, agitation.
staggered: (adj) dumbfounded,
terrified: (adj) afraid, frightened,
fearful, panicky, panicked, aghast,
timid, timorous, apprehensive,
startled, alarmed. ANTONYMS: (adj)
fearless, brave.
uneven: (adj) unequal, irregular,
patchy, spotty, erratic,
disproportionate; (adj, n) jagged,
rugged, harsh, ragged; (adj, v)
broken. ANTONYMS: (adj) smooth,
straight, equal, symmetrical,
corresponding, balanced, constant,
stable, consistent, level, steady.
Charles Dickens
211
CHAPTER XXIII
WHICH CONTAINS THE SUBSTANCE OF A
PLEASANT CONVERSATION BETWEEN MR.
BUMBLE AND A LADY; AND SHOWS THAT
EVEN A BEADLE MAY BE SUSCEPTIBLE ON
SOME POINTS
The night was bitter cold. The snow lay on the ground, frozen into a hard
thick crust, so that only the heaps that had drifted into byways and corners were
affected by the sharp wind that howled abroad: which, as if expending increased
fury on such prey as it found, caught it savagely up in clouds, and, whirling it
into a thousand misty eddies, scattered it in air. Bleak, dark, and piercing cold, it
was a night for the well-housed and fed to draw round the bright fire and thank
God they were at home; and for the homeless, starving wretch to lay him down
and die. Many hunger-worn outcasts close their eyes in our bare streets, at such
times, who, let their crimes have been what they may, can hardly open them in a
more bitter world.%
Such was the aspect of out-of-doors affairs, when Mrs. Corney, the matron of
the workhouse to which our readers have been already introduced as the
birthplace of Oliver Twist, sat herself down before a cheerful fire in her own
Thesaurus
birthplace: (n) place of birth, place,
expending: (n) outlay, spending,
home town, home, source,
disbursement, consumption,
provenance, place of origin, ancestral disbursal, expenditure; (v) spend.
heaps: (adj, n) lots, much; (n) masses,
home, spot, root, hotbed.
bleak: (adj) austere, bare, barren, cold, oodles, piles, stacks, many, tons,
dreary, murky, black, desolate, raw,
plenty, lot, accumulation.
bald, bitter. ANTONYMS: (adj) mild, ANTONYM: (adj) inadequate.
matron: (n) lady, head nurse, dame,
lush, sunny, hopeful, encouraging,
cheery, bright, sheltered, soulful,
housewife, dowager, woman, wife,
cozy, populated.
Donna Belle, matriarch, married
corners: (adj) cornered.
woman; (v) matronhood.
eddies: (n) turbulence.
ANTONYM: (n) patron.
misty: (adj) hazy, foggy, cloudy,
brumous, dim, indistinct, nebulous,
fuzzy, dark, dull, blurred.
ANTONYMS: (adj) clear, distinct.
out-of-doors: (n) outdoors, outside;
(adj) airy; (adv) without.
starving: (adj) famished, hungry,
malnourished, voracious, skinny,
undernourished, thin, empty,
peckish; (adj, v) starved; (n)
starvation. ANTONYMS: (adj)
satiated, healthy.
212
Oliver Twist
little room, and glanced, with no small degree of complacency, at a small round
table: on which stood a tray of corresponding size, furnished with all necessary
materials for the most grateful meal that matrons enjoy. In fact, Mrs. Corney was
about to solace herself with a cup of tea. As she glanced from the table to the
fireplace, where the smallest of all possible kettles was singing a small song in a
small voice, her inward satisfaction evidently increased,--so much so, indeed,
that Mrs. Corney smiled.%
'Well!' said the matron, leaning her elbow on the table, and looking
reflectively at the fire; 'I'm sure we have all on us a great deal to be grateful for! A
great deal, if we did but know it. Ah!'
Mrs. Corney shook her head mournfully, as if deploring the mental blindness
of those paupers who did not know it; and thrusting a silver spoon (private
property) into the inmost recesses of a two-ounce tin tea-caddy, proceeded to
make the tea.
How slight a thing will disturb the equanimity of our frail minds! The black
teapot, being very small and easily filled, ran over while Mrs. Corney was
moralising; and the water slightly scalded Mrs. Corney's hand.
'Drat the pot!' said the worthy matron, setting it down very hastily on the
hob; 'a little stupid thing, that only holds a couple of cups! What use is it of, to
anybody! Except,' said Mrs. Corney, pausing, 'except to a poor desolate creature
like me. Oh dear!'
With these words, the matron dropped into her chair, and, once more resting
her elbow on the table, thought of her solitary fate. The small teapot, and the
single cup, had awakened in her mind sad recollections of Mr. Corney (who had
not been dead more than five-and-twenty years); and she was overpowered.
'I shall never get another!' said Mrs. Corney, pettishly; 'I shall never get
another--like him.'
Whether this remark bore reference to the husband, or the teapot, is
uncertain. It might have been the latter; for Mrs. Corney looked at it as she spoke;
Thesaurus
deploring: (n) woe, grief; (adj)
frail: (adj, v) weak, feeble; (adj) fragile, resting: (adj) idle, quiescent, inactive,
plaintive.
flimsy, delicate, breakable, rickety,
dormant, quiet, sleeping, reclining,
disturb: (v) trouble, disorder,
slender, light, slim; (v) faint.
obligatory, unemployed, asleep; (n)
disconcert, distress, perturb, disquiet, ANTONYMS: (adj) substantial,
repose.
solace: (n) consolation, relief, balm,
distract, discompose, disrupt, upset,
robust, tough, fit, healthy, hearty,
concern. ANTONYMS: (v) calm,
solacement; (v) console, allay, relieve,
perfect, weighty, well, capable,
recreate; (n, v) ease, cheer, support.
please, soothe, smooth, order,
sturdy.
inward: (adj) inner, intrinsic, internal,
ANTONYMS: (n) distress, grief.
reassure, sort, settle, respect, quiet,
organize.
interior, intestine, inherent, domestic; spoon: (n) spoonful, ladle, shovel,
fireplace: (n) chimney, fire, hearth,
(adv) inwardly, inwards, in; (n)
soup spoon, tablespoon, trowel,
innards. ANTONYMS: (adj, adv)
teaspoon, dipper; (v) smooch, dally,
oven, stove, fire place, fireside,
outward; (adj) outgoing, external.
kitchen, niche, recess, furnace.
bill and coo.
Charles Dickens
213
and took it up afterwards. She had just tasted her first cup, when she was
disturbed by a soft tap at the room-door.%
'Oh, come in with you!' said Mrs. Corney, sharply. 'Some of the old women
dying, I suppose. They always die when I'm at meals. Don't stand there, letting
the cold air in, don't. What's amiss now, eh?'
'Nothing, ma'am, nothing,' replied a man's voice.
'Dear me!' exclaimed the matron, in a much sweeter tone, 'is that Mr.
Bumble?'
'At your service, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble, who had been stopping outside to
rub his shoes clean, and to shake the snow off his coat; and who now made his
appearance, bearing the cocked hat in one hand and a bundle in the other. 'Shall I
shut the door, ma'am?'
The lady modestly hesitated to reply, lest there should be any impropriety in
holding an interview with Mr. Bumble, with closed doors. Mr. Bumble taking
advantage of the hesitation, and being very cold himself, shut it without
permission.
'Hard weather, Mr. Bumble,' said the matron.
'Hard, indeed, ma'am,' replied the beadle. 'Anti-porochial weather this,
ma'am. We have given away, Mrs. Corney, we have given away a matter of
twenty quartern loaves and a cheese and a half, this very blessed afternoon; and
yet them paupers are not contented.'
'Of course not. When would they be, Mr. Bumble?' said the matron, sipping
her tea.
'When, indeed, ma'am!' rejoined Mr. Bumble. 'Why here's one man that, in
consideration of his wife and large family, has a quartern loaf and a good pound
of cheese, full weight. Is he grateful, ma'am? Is he grateful? Not a copper
farthing's worth of it! What does he do, ma'am, but ask for a few coals; if it's only
a pocket handkerchief full, he says! Coals! What would he do with coals? Toast
his cheese with 'em and then come back for more. That's the way with these
Thesaurus
amiss: (adj, adv) wrong; (adj) bad,
diffidence, hesitancy, qualm,
demurely, humbly, reservedly,
haywire, faulty, astray, guilty; (adv)
reluctance; (v) hesitating.
retiringly, unpretentiously,
badly, poorly, awry, wrongly, adrift. ANTONYMS: (n) certainty,
diffidently, soberly, timidly, meekly,
ANTONYMS: (adj, adv) right; (adv)
moderately. ANTONYMS: (adv)
resolution, confidence, decisiveness,
perfectly, properly, suitably,
enthusiasm, inclination, willingness.
ostentatiously, arrogantly,
appropriately, correctly, well; (adj)
impropriety: (n) barbarism, obscenity, immodestly, elaborately, boldly,
okay, correct, good.
indecorum, error, rudeness,
radically, proudly, brashly,
copper: (n) brass, bull, cop, Cu,
indelicacy, incorrectness, solecism,
boastfully, brazenly, excessively.
wrongness; (adj) immorality,
quartern: (n) fourth part, fourth, poop,
constable, gold, fuzz, pig, cent,
inaptitude. ANTONYMS: (n)
bobby, coin.
after part, common fraction, quart.
hesitation: (n, v) falter, fear; (n)
sipping: (n) imbibing, imbibition; (adj)
decency, correctness.
modestly: (adv) unassumingly,
hesitance, faltering, delay, hesitate,
libant.
214
Oliver Twist
people, ma'am; give 'em a apron full of coals to-day, and they'll come back for
another, the day after to-morrow, as brazen as alabaster.'
The matron expressed her entire concurrence in this intelligible simile; and
the beadle went on.%
'I never,' said Mr. Bumble, 'see anything like the pitch it's got to. The day
afore yesterday, a man--you have been a married woman, ma'am, and I may
mention it to you--a man, with hardly a rag upon his back (here Mrs. Corney
looked at the floor), goes to our overseer's door when he has got company
coming to dinner; and says, he must be relieved, Mrs. Corney. As he wouldn't go
away, and shocked the company very much, our overseer sent him out a pound
of potatoes and half a pint of oatmeal. "My heart!" says the ungrateful villain,
"what's the use of this to me? You might as well give me a pair of iron
spectacles!" "Very good," says our overseer, taking 'em away again, "you won't
get anything else here." "Then I'll die in the streets!" says the vagrant. "Oh no,
you won't," says our overseer.'
'Ha! ha! That was very good! So like Mr. Grannett, wasn't it?' interposed the
matron. 'Well, Mr. Bumble?'
'Well, ma'am,' rejoined the beadle, 'he went away; and he did die in the
streets. There's a obstinate pauper for you!'
'It beats anything I could have believed,' observed the matron emphatically.
'But don't you think out-of-door relief a very bad thing, any way, Mr. Bumble?
You're a gentleman of experience, and ought to know. Come.'
'Mrs. Corney,' said the beadle, smiling as men smile who are conscious of
superior information, 'out-of-door relief, properly managed: properly managed,
ma'am: is the porochial safeguard. The great principle of out-of-door relief is, to
give the paupers exactly what they don't want; and then they get tired of
coming.'
'Dear me!' exclaimed Mrs. Corney. 'Well, that is a good one, too!'
'Yes. Betwixt you and me, ma'am,' returned Mr. Bumble, 'that's the great
principle; and that's the reason why, if you look at any cases that get into them
Thesaurus
beats: (n) beat, beatniks, Beat
Generation.
betwixt: (n) midst; (prep) among,
amid; (adv) atwixt.
brazen: (adj) audacious, impudent,
brassy, insolent, bold, brash,
impertinent, blatant, flagrant,
forward, saucy. ANTONYMS: (adj)
shy, abashed, prudish, reserved,
quiet, discreet, respectful, ashamed,
veiled, modest.
concurrence: (n) coincidence, accord,
assent, concord, consent, agreement,
examiner, administrator, custodian.
ANTONYM: (n) underling.
approval, compliance, concourse,
potatoes: (n) root crop.
conjunction, confluence.
ANTONYMS: (n) disagreement,
safeguard: (v) preserve, ensure, cover,
protect, defend; (n) protection, care,
conflict, refusal, rejection.
ma'am: (n) lady, madam,
precaution, security; (n, v) shield,
shelter. ANTONYMS: (v) jeopardize,
gentlewoman, milady, woman,
madame, Grande dame, doll, chick,
expose, destroy, endanger.
simile: (n) figure of speech, analogy,
brothel keeper, bird.
overseer: (n) superintendent, foreman, comparison, compare, resemblance,
manager, inspector, supervisor,
likeness, similarity, allegory,
similitude, parable; (adj) metalepsis.
warden, controller, director,
Charles Dickens
215
owdacious newspapers, you'll always observe that sick families have been
relieved with slices of cheese. That's the rule now, Mrs. Corney, all over the
country. But, however,' said the beadle, stopping to unpack his bundle, 'these are
official secrets, ma'am; not to be spoken of; except, as I may say, among the
porochial officers, such as ourselves. This is the port wine, ma'am, that the board
ordered for the infirmary; real, fresh, genuine port wine; only out of the cask this
forenoon; clear as a bell, and no sediment!'
Having held the first bottle up to the light, and shaken it well to test its
excellence, Mr. Bumble placed them both on top of a chest of drawers; folded the
handkerchief in which they had been wrapped; put it carefully in his pocket; and
took up his hat, as if to go.%
'You'll have a very cold walk, Mr. Bumble,' said the matron.
'It blows, ma'am,' replied Mr. Bumble, turning up his coat-collar, 'enough to
cut one's ears off.'
The matron looked, from the little kettle, to the beadle, who was moving
towards the door; and as the beadle coughed, preparatory to bidding her goodnight, bashfully inquired whether--whether he wouldn't take a cup of tea?
Mr. Bumble instantaneously turned back his collar again; laid his hat and
stick upon a chair; and drew another chair up to the table. As he slowly seated
himself, he looked at the lady. She fixed her eyes upon the little teapot. Mr.
Bumble coughed again, and slightly smiled.
Mrs. Corney rose to get another cup and saucer from the closet. As she sat
down, her eyes once again encountered those of the gallant beadle; she coloured,
and applied herself to the task of making his tea. Again Mr. Bumble coughed-louder this time than he had coughed yet.
'Sweet? Mr. Bumble?' inquired the matron, taking up the sugar-basin.
'Very sweet, indeed, ma'am,' replied Mr. Bumble. He fixed his eyes on Mrs.
Corney as he said this; and if ever a beadle looked tender, Mr. Bumble was that
beadle at that moment.
Thesaurus
bashfully: (adv) diffidently, modestly, a, cockcrow.
suddenly, promptly, abruptly,
gallant: (adj) fearless, brave, daring,
shyly, ashamedly, retiringly,
momentarily, outright, right away, in
timorously, reservedly,
courageous, chivalrous, bold, manly, a flash. ANTONYM: (adv) eventually.
saucer: (n) plate, platter, discus, bowl,
embarrassedly, coyly, sheepishly,
heroic, dashing, courteous, fine.
nervously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
ANTONYMS: (adj) boorish, rude,
pan, dot, calabash, disk, dish
brazenly, brashly.
selfish.
antenna, point, porringer.
cask: (n) bucket, butt, tun, tub, drum, infirmary: (n) hospital, asylum,
secrets: (n) secrecy.
vat, hogshead, keg, coffin,
farmary, sanatorium, clinic, sickbay, unpack: (v) undo, unbind, discharge,
containerful, vessel.
sickroom, hospice, sanitarium,
get out, take out, remove, unbox,
forenoon: (n) morning, morn, am,
lazaretto, institution.
unchain, unload, unloose, take away.
instantaneously: (adv) directly,
ANTONYMS: (v) fill, load, pack,
period, daybreak, break of the day,
morning time, first light, dayspring,
instantly, at once, forthwith,
wrap.
216
Oliver Twist
The tea was made, and handed in silence. Mr. Bumble, having spread a
handkerchief over his knees to prevent the crumbs from sullying the splendour
of his shorts, began to eat and drink; varying these amusements, occasionally, by
fetching a deep sigh; which, however, had no injurious effect upon his appetite,
but, on the contrary, rather seemed to facilitate his operations in the tea and toast
department.%
'You have a cat, ma'am, I see,' said Mr. Bumble, glancing at one who, in the
centre of her family, was basking before the fire; 'and kittens too, I declare!'
'I am so fond of them, Mr. Bumble, you can't think,' replied the matron.
'They're so happy, so frolicsome, and so cheerful, that they are quite companions
for me.'
'Very nice animals, ma'am,' replied Mr. Bumble, approvingly; 'so very
domestic.'
'Oh, yes!' rejoined the matron with enthusiasm; 'so fond of their home too,
that it's quite a pleasure, I'm sure.'
'Mrs. Corney, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble, slowly, and marking the time with
his teaspoon, 'I mean to say this, ma'am; that any cat, or kitten, that could live
with you, ma'am, and not be fond of its home, must be a ass, ma'am.'
'Oh, Mr. Bumble!' remonstrated Mrs. Corney.
'It's of no use disguising facts, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble, slowly flourishing
the teaspoon with a kind of amorous dignity which made him doubly
impressive; 'I would drown it myself, with pleasure.'
'Then you're a cruel man,' said the matron vivaciously, as she held out her
hand for the beadle's cup; 'and a very hard-hearted man besides.'
'Hard-hearted, ma'am?' said Mr. Bumble. 'Hard?' Mr. Bumble resigned his
cup without another word; squeezed Mrs. Corney's little finger as she took it;
and inflicting two open-handed slaps upon his laced waistcoat, gave a mighty
sigh, and hitched his chair a very little morsel farther from the fire.
Thesaurus
amorous: (adj) amatory, romantic,
ruthless, unkind, obdurate, pitiless,
amative, affectionate, passionate,
heartless, merciless, unaffected,
fond, warm, ardent, erotic, tender,
unconcerned, uninterested, coldimpassioned. ANTONYMS: (adj)
blooded.
injurious: (adj) evil, harmful, hurtful,
cold, hateful, repulsed, unfriendly,
cool.
destructive, bad, disadvantageous,
disguising: (n) cover-up.
detrimental, adverse, deleterious,
frolicsome: (adj) frisky, frolic,
inimical, damaging. ANTONYMS:
(adj) healing, favorable, healthy,
waggish, coltish, gay, rollicking,
frolicky, jocose, airy, lively, jocular.
helpful, advantageous, beneficial.
ANTONYMS: (adj) serious, lethargic. morsel: (n, v) bite, mouthful; (n)
hard-hearted: (adj) remorseless,
crumb, chew, particle, fragment,
taste, piece, nibble; (adj, v) gobbet,
mite.
open-handed: (adj) liberal, lavish,
munificent, profuse, magnanimous,
free, unsparing, bountiful, unselfish.
sullying: (n) adulteration, corruption,
defilement, ruining, tarnishing,
debasement.
vivaciously: (adv) actively, vitally,
gaily, bouncily, spiritedly, briskly,
buoyantly, animatedly, alively,
energetically; (adv, v) happily.
Charles Dickens
217
It was a round table; and as Mrs. Corney and Mr. Bumble had been sitting
opposite each other, with no great space between them, and fronting the fire, it
will be seen that Mr. Bumble, in receding from the fire, and still keeping at the
table, increased the distance between himself and Mrs. Corney; which
proceeding, some prudent readers will doubtless be disposed to admire, and to
consider an act of great heroism on Mr. Bumble's part: he being in some sort
tempted by time, place, and opportunity, to give utterance to certain soft
nothings, which however well they may become the lips of the light and
thoughtless, do seem immeasurably beneath the dignity of judges of the land,
members of parliament, ministers of state, lord mayors, and other great public
functionaries, but more particularly beneath the stateliness and gravity of a
beadle: who (as is well known) should be the sternest and most inflexible among
them all.%
Whatever were Mr. Bumble's intentions, however (and no doubt they were of
the best): it unfortunately happened, as has been twice before remarked, that the
table was a round one; consequently Mr. Bumble, moving his chair by little and
little, soon began to diminish the distance between himself and the matron; and,
continuing to travel round the outer edge of the circle, brought his chair, in time,
close to that in which the matron was seated.
Indeed, the two chairs touched; and when they did so, Mr. Bumble stopped.
Now, if the matron had moved her chair to the right, she would have been
scorched by the fire; and if to the left, she must have fallen into Mr. Bumble's
arms; so (being a discreet matron, and no doubt foreseeing these consequences
at a glance) she remained where she was, and handed Mr. Bumble another cup of
tea.
'Hard-hearted, Mrs. Corney?' said Mr. Bumble, stirring his tea, and looking
up into the matron's face; 'are you hard-hearted, Mrs. Corney?'
'Dear me!' exclaimed the matron, 'what a very curious question from a single
man. What can you want to know for, Mr. Bumble?'
Thesaurus
foreseeing: (n) foresight, anticipation,
prospicience, prevision, forecast; (v)
foresee; (adj) prevoyant, conscious
beforehand.
fronting: (n) facing; (adj) apparent,
evident, exposed, obvious; (prep)
against, toward.
heroism: (n) bravery, courage, valor,
daring, boldness, chivalry, valiancy,
valour, valiance, courageousness;
(adj, n) prowess. ANTONYMS: (n)
cowardliness, fearfulness.
immeasurably: (adv) boundlessly,
dignity, nobility, splendor, grandeur,
endlessly, immensely, greatly, much; greatness, grandness, starched
(adj) exceedingly, extremely,
stateliness, impressiveness, decorum.
ANTONYM: (n) simplicity.
exquisitely, acutely, ultra, intensely.
ANTONYM: (adv) slightly.
thoughtless: (adj, v) careless, heedless,
nothings: (n) honeyed words,
rash, improvident; (adj) reckless,
conversation.
inattentive, hasty, unthinking,
scorched: (adj) baked, adust, burnt,
negligent, neglectful, imprudent.
ANTONYMS: (adj) considerate,
dry, seared, burned, charred, torrid,
dried out, destroyed, drier.
considered, heedful, prudent, kind,
ANTONYMS: (adj) wet, humid.
cautious, mindful, responsible,
stateliness: (n) loftiness, magnificence, attentive, observant, sensible.
218
Oliver Twist
The beadle drank his tea to the last drop; finished a piece of toast; whisked
the crumbs off his knees; wiped his lips; and deliberately kissed the matron.%
'Mr. Bumble!' cried that discreet lady in a whisper; for the fright was so great,
that she had quite lost her voice, 'Mr. Bumble, I shall scream!' Mr. Bumble made
no reply; but in a slow and dignified manner, put his arm round the matron's
waist.
As the lady had stated her intention of screaming, of course she would have
screamed at this additional boldness, but that the exertion was rendered
unnecessary by a hasty knocking at the door: which was no sooner heard, than
Mr. Bumble darted, with much agility, to the wine bottles, and began dusting
them with great violence: while the matron sharply demanded who was there.
It is worthy of remark, as a curious physical instance of the efficacy of a
sudden surprise in counteracting the effects of extreme fear, that her voice had
quite recovered all its official asperity.
'If you please, mistress,' said a withered old female pauper, hideously ugly:
putting her head in at the door, 'Old Sally is a-going fast.'
'Well, what's that to me?' angrily demanded the matron. 'I can't keep her
alive, can I?'
'No, no, mistress,' replied the old woman, 'nobody can; she's far beyond the
reach of help. I've seen a many people die; little babes and great strong men; and
I know when death's a-coming, well enough. But she's troubled in her mind: and
when the fits are not on her,--and that's not often, for she is dying very hard,--she
says she has got something to tell, which you must hear. She'll never die quiet till
you come, mistress.'
At this intelligence, the worthy Mrs. Corney muttered a variety of invectives
against old women who couldn't even die without purposely annoying their
betters; and, muffling herself in a thick shawl which she hastily caught up,
briefly requested Mr. Bumble to stay till she came back, lest anything particular
should occur. Bidding the messenger walk fast, and not be all night hobbling up
Thesaurus
agility: (n) quickness, lightness,
alacrity, adroitness, promptitude,
mobility, legerdemain, liveliness,
rapidity, speed, activity.
ANTONYMS: (n) slowness,
oafishness, inflexibility, heaviness,
awkwardness.
asperity: (adj, n) acerbity; (n) austerity,
hardship, rigor, bitterness, rigidity,
severity, grimness, rigorousness,
rigour, ruggedness. ANTONYMS: (n)
softness, amenity, dullness, mildness,
friendliness.
babes: (n) babies, babe.
began: (v) Gan.
boldness: (n) prowess, face, daring,
valor, nerve, assurance, heroism,
audaciousness, spirit, cheek, valour.
ANTONYMS: (n) cowardice, shyness,
timidity, meekness, reticence.
counteracting: (adj) antagonist,
antagonistic, corrective.
dusting: (n) sprinkling, dry spraying,
film, coating.
exertion: (n) application, exercise,
endeavor, attempt, struggle, trouble,
diligence, strain, labor, pull, essay.
ANTONYMS: (n) idleness, inactivity,
inertia, relaxation, laziness, ease.
hobbling: (n) limping; (adj) crippled.
purposely: (adj, adv) designedly,
advisedly, knowingly; (adv)
intentionally, on purpose, by design,
consciously, by choice, calculatedly,
explicitly; (adj) wittingly.
ANTONYM: (adv) unintentionally.
Charles Dickens
219
the stairs, she followed her from the room with a very ill grace, scolding all the
way.%
Mr. Bumble's conduct on being left to himself, was rather inexplicable. He
opened the closet, counted the teaspoons, weighed the sugar-tongs, closely
inspected a silver milk-pot to ascertain that it was of the genuine metal, and,
having satisfied his curiosity on these points, put on his cocked hat corner-wise,
and danced with much gravity four distinct times round the table.
Having gone through this very extraordinary performance, he took off the
cocked hat again, and, spreading himself before the fire with his back towards it,
seemed to be mentally engaged in taking an exact inventory of the furniture.
Thesaurus
ascertain: (v) determine, find out,
inscrutable, unfathomable, enigmatic,
learn, discover, check, tell, control,
baffling, indecipherable,
find, ensure, detect; (adj, v) establish. unexplained, incognizable,
ANTONYM: (v) disprove.
preternatural. ANTONYMS: (adj)
curiosity: (n) curiousness, rarity,
understandable, explicable,
interest, curio, oddity, prying,
mundane, apparent, explainable,
nosiness, peculiarity, novelty,
straightforward, natural, legible.
marvel; (adj, n) prodigy.
inventory: (n) catalogue, index, stock,
ANTONYMS: (n) emotionlessness,
catalog, account, enumeration, roll,
indifference, disinterest.
schedule, bill, table, inventorying.
inexplicable: (adj) incomprehensible, scolding: (n) rebuke, lecture,
mysterious, unaccountable,
castigation, admonition, reproof,
objurgation, chiding, dressing,
jobation, scold, rating. ANTONYMS:
(n) compliment, approval.
silver: (n) money, gold, bullion,
precious Metals; (adj) silvery, argent,
white, silvern, gray, neutral tint; (v)
plate.
spreading: (n) dissemination,
propagation, dispersion, circulation,
spread, dispersal, extension, scatter,
distribution; (adj) scattering,
diffusing.
Charles Dickens
221
CHAPTER XXIV
TREATS ON A VERY POOR SUBJECT. BUT IS
A SHORT ONE, AND MAY BE FOUND OF
IMPORTANCE IN THIS HISTORY
It was no unfit messenger of death, who had disturbed the quiet of the
matron's room. Her body was bent by age; her limbs trembled with palsy; her
face, distorted into a mumbling leer, resembled more the grotesque shaping of
some wild pencil, than the work of Nature's hand.%
Alas! How few of Nature's faces are left alone to gladden us with their
beauty! The cares, and sorrows, and hungerings, of the world, change them as
they change hearts; and it is only when those passions sleep, and have lost their
hold for ever, that the troubled clouds pass off, and leave Heaven's surface clear.
It is a common thing for the countenances of the dead, even in that fixed and
rigid state, to subside into the long-forgotten expression of sleeping infancy, and
settle into the very look of early life; so calm, so peaceful, do they grow again,
that those who knew them in their happy childhood, kneel by the coffin's side in
awe, and see the Angel even upon earth.
The old crone tottered along the passages, and up the stairs, muttering some
indistinct answers to the chidings of her companion; being at length compelled
Thesaurus
crone: (n) beldam, beldame, hag,
grandmother, old woman, crony,
witch.
gladden: (adj, v) exhilarate, enliven,
inspirit; (v) comfort, joy, encourage,
animate, console, content, satisfy;
(adj) elate. ANTONYM: (v)
dishearten.
grotesque: (adj) fantastic, bizarre,
funny, antic, absurd, droll, strange,
baroque, weird, ugly, hideous.
ANTONYMS: (adj) lovely, normal,
commonplace, attractive.
indistinct: (adj) indefinite, inarticulate,
faint, dull, fuzzy, indeterminate,
hazy, neutral; (adj, n) confused,
cloudy, dark. ANTONYMS: (adj)
clear, slight, separate, certain, precise,
audible, strong, definite.
infancy: (n) babyhood, cradle,
beginning, birth, genesis, minority,
early childhood, youth, nonage,
adolescence, early days. ANTONYM:
(n) maturity.
mumbling: (n) gumming, diction,
enunciation, chewing, mussitation,
mastication; (adj) inarticulate,
incoherent.
palsy: (v) cripple, paralyze; (n)
anaesthesia, apoplexy, akinesia,
alalia, paralyzation, numbness; (adj)
decline, consumption, sideration.
subside: (v) diminish, decline, abate,
lessen, fall, sink, calm, descend,
collapse, dip, settle. ANTONYMS: (v)
strengthen, excite.
222
Oliver Twist
to pause for breath, she gave the light into her hand, and remained behind to
follow as she might: while the more nimble superior made her way to the room
where the sick woman lay.%
It was a bare garret-room, with a dim light burning at the farther end. There
was another old woman watching by the bed; the parish apothecary's apprentice
was standing by the fire, making a toothpick out of a quill.
'Cold night, Mrs. Corney,' said this young gentleman, as the matron entered.
'Very cold, indeed, sir,' replied the mistress, in her most civil tones, and
dropping a curtsey as she spoke.
'You should get better coals out of your contractors,' said the apothecary's
deputy, breaking a lump on the top of the fire with the rusty poker; 'these are not
at all the sort of thing for a cold night.'
'They're the board's choosing, sir,' returned the matron. 'The least they could
do, would be to keep us pretty warm: for our places are hard enough.'
The conversation was here interrupted by a moan from the sick woman.
'Oh!' said the young mag, turning his face towards the bed, as if he had
previously quite forgotten the patient, 'it's all U.P. there, Mrs. Corney.'
'It is, is it, sir?' asked the matron.
'If she lasts a couple of hours, I shall be surprised,' said the apothecary's
apprentice, intent upon the toothpick's point. 'It's a break-up of the system
altogether. Is she dozing, old lady?'
The attendant stooped over the bed, to ascertain; and nodded in the
affirmative.
'Then perhaps she'll go off in that way, if you don't make a row,' said the
young man. 'Put the light on the floor. She won't see it there.'
The attendant did as she was told: shaking her head meanwhile, to intimate
that the woman would not die so easily; having done so, she resumed her seat by
the side of the other nurse, who had by this time returned. The mistress, with an
Thesaurus
apprentice: (n) trainee, disciple,
beginner, prentice, novice, student,
greenhorn, follower, recruit, amateur,
neophyte. ANTONYMS: (n) expert,
master, mentor, trainer, guru.
attendant: (n) companion, follower,
assistant, escort, subordinate,
employee, guide, varlet; (adj)
accompanying, concomitant,
incidental. ANTONYMS: (n)
superior, boss; (adj) absent, unrelated,
significant.
break-up: (n) split, estrangement.
spry, alert, expeditious, energetic,
choosing: (n) picking, pick, selection,
clever, lithe; (adj, v) light.
ANTONYMS: (adj) clumsy, heavy,
option, election, appointment,
volition; (v) choose.
stiff, slow, awkward, sluggish, unfit.
dozing: (adj) drowsy, dozy, nodding, quill: (n, v) pen; (n) feather, pinion,
napping, asleep, sleepy, tired.
prick, calamus, thorn, shaft, quill
moan: (n, v) grumble, gripe, whine,
feather, plumage, quill pen, spine.
lament, cry, howl; (v) bewail,
rusty: (adj) ancient, out of practice,
complain, mourn; (n) complaint,
intractable, old, corroded, deaf to
lamentation. ANTONYMS: (v)
reason, exceptious, cantankerous; (v)
compliment; (n) praise.
moldy, raw, mildewed.
nimble: (adj) lively, adroit, agile, brisk, toothpick: (n) strip, pick, picktooth.
Charles Dickens
223
expression of impatience, wrapped herself in her shawl, and sat at the foot of the
bed.%
The apothecary's apprentice, having completed the manufacture of the
toothpick, planted himself in front of the fire and made good use of it for ten
minutes or so: when apparently growing rather dull, he wished Mrs. Corney joy
of her job, and took himself off on tiptoe.
When they had sat in silence for some time, the two old women rose from the
bed, and crouching over the fire, held out their withered hands to catch the heat.
The flame threw a ghastly light on their shrivelled faces, and made their ugliness
appear terrible, as, in this position, they began to converse in a low voice.
'Did she say any more, Anny dear, while I was gone?' inquired the
messenger.
'Not a word,' replied the other. 'She plucked and tore at her arms for a little
time; but I held her hands, and she soon dropped off. She hasn't much strength
in her, so I easily kept her quiet. I ain't so weak for an old woman, although I am
on parish allowance; no, no!'
'Did she drink the hot wine the doctor said she was to have?' demanded the
first.
'I tried to get it down,' rejoined the other. 'But her teeth were tight set, and
she clenched the mug so hard that it was as much as I could do to get it back
again. So I drank it; and it did me good!'
Looking cautiously round, to ascertain that they were not overheard, the two
hags cowered nearer to the fire, and chuckled heartily.
'I mind the time,' said the first speaker, 'when she would have done the same,
and made rare fun of it afterwards.'
'Ay, that she would,' rejoined the other; 'she had a merry heart. 'A many,
many, beautiful corpses she laid out, as nice and neat as waxwork. My old eyes
have seen them--ay, and those old hands touched them too; for I have helped
her, scores of times.'
Thesaurus
cautiously: (adv) guardedly,
combustion, sheen.
impatience: (n) annoyance, eagerness,
prudently, warily, circumspectly,
charily, discreetly, vigilantly, timidly, anger, intolerance, restlessness,
attentively, watchfully, sparingly.
fidget, nervousness, fidgetiness,
ANTONYMS: (adv) openly,
enthusiasm, edginess; (adj)
nonendurance. ANTONYMS: (n)
irresponsibly, imprudently, bravely,
recklessly, incautiously,
calmness, endurance, apathy.
thoughtlessly, wastefully, tactlessly, messenger: (n, v) herald; (n) harbinger,
rashly, liberally.
runner, emissary, bearer,
flame: (adj, n) fire, sweetheart; (adj, v)
ambassador, precursor, courier,
burn, glow; (n, v) flash; (n) ardour,
carrier, apostle, errand.
tiptoe: (v) tip, tippytoe, creep, patter,
burning, fervor, enthusiasm,
skirt, skip, tilt, sidle, lean; (adj) alert;
(n) quieter. ANTONYM: (v) clump.
tore: (v) tare; (n) moulding, molding.
waxwork: (n) Celastrus scandens, wax
figure, staff vine, puppet, model,
doll, mammet, aglet, American
bittersweet, bittersweet, figurine.
wrapped: (prep) covered; (adj) clothed,
draped, rapt, intent, absorbed,
engrossed, mantled, packed,
immersed; (adj, prep) cloaked.
224
Oliver Twist
Stretching forth her trembling fingers as she spoke, the old creature shook
them exultingly before her face, and fumbling in her pocket, brought out an old
time-discoloured tin snuff-box, from which she shook a few grains into the
outstretched palm of her companion, and a few more into her own. While they
were thus employed, the matron, who had been impatiently watching until the
dying woman should awaken from her stupor, joined them by the fire, and
sharply asked how long she was to wait?
'Not long, mistress,' replied the second woman, looking up into her face. 'We
have none of us long to wait for Death. Patience, patience! He'll be here soon
enough for us all.'
'Hold your tongue, you doting idiot!' said the matron sternly. 'You, Martha,
tell me; has she been in this way before?'
'Often,' answered the first woman.%
'But will never be again,' added the second one; 'that is, she'll never wake
again but once--and mind, mistress, that won't be for long!'
'Long or short,' said the matron, snappishly, 'she won't find me here when
she does wake; take care, both of you, how you worry me again for nothing. It's
no part of my duty to see all the old women in the house die, and I won't--that's
more. Mind that, you impudent old harridans. If you make a fool of me again, I'll
soon cure you, I warrant you!'
She was bouncing away, when a cry from the two women, who had turned
towards the bed, caused her to look round. The patient had raised herself
upright, and was stretching her arms towards them.
'Who's that?' she cried, in a hollow voice.
'Hush, hush!' said one of the women, stooping over her. 'Lie down, lie down!'
'I'll never lie down again alive!' said the woman, struggling. 'I will tell her!
Come here! Nearer! Let me whisper in your ear.'
Thesaurus
awaken: (v) arouse, wake, rouse, call,
ANTONYMS: (adj) inattentive,
wiredrawn, wide, long.
snappishly: (adv) abruptly, brusquely,
stir, kindle, get up, raise, wake up,
indifferent, neglectful, uncaring,
waken, revive. ANTONYMS: (v)
disapproving, cold.
petulantly, snappily, grumpily,
dampen, calm, retire, suppress, spoil, exultingly: (adv) triumphantly,
fretfully, waspishly, testily, shortly,
quench, douse, stifle.
jubilantly, rejoicingly, pridefully,
fractiously, crustily. ANTONYM:
bouncing: (n) bounce; (adj) bouncy,
(adv) verbosely.
triumphally.
fumbling: (adj) clumsy, fumble,
stupor: (n) lethargy, stupefaction,
lively, strong, sturdy, full, healthy,
lusty, peppy, spirited; (adv)
butterfingered, awkward, bumbling, coma, shock, insensibility,
bouncingly.
bunglesome, clunky, cumbersome,
unconsciousness, trance,
doting: (adj) fond, loving, affectionate, incompetent, left-handed, unskilled.
sluggishness, torpor, haze,
grogginess. ANTONYMS: (n)
devoted, delirious, caring, amorous, outstretched: (adj) extended, lengthy,
wandering, silly, lovesome; (v) dote.
flat, open, unfolded, stretched, broad, alertness, awareness, wakefulness.
Charles Dickens
225
She clutched the matron by the arm, and forcing her into a chair by the
bedside, was about to speak, when looking round, she caught sight of the two
old women bending forward in the attitude of eager listeners.%
'Turn them away,' said the woman, drowsily; 'make haste! make haste!'
The two old crones, chiming in together, began pouring out many piteous
lamentations that the poor dear was too far gone to know her best friends; and
were uttering sundry protestations that they would never leave her, when the
superior pushed them from the room, closed the door, and returned to the
bedside. On being excluded, the old ladies changed their tone, and cried through
the keyhole that old Sally was drunk; which, indeed, was not unlikely; since, in
addition to a moderate dose of opium prescribed by the apothecary, she was
labouring under the effects of a final taste of gin-and-water which had been
privily administered, in the openness of their hearts, by the worthy old ladies
themselves.
'Now listen to me,' said the dying woman aloud, as if making a great effort to
revive one latent spark of energy. 'In this very room--in this very bed--I once
nursed a pretty young creetur', that was brought into the house with her feet cut
and bruised with walking, and all soiled with dust and blood. She gave birth to a
boy, and died. Let me think--what was the year again!'
'Never mind the year,' said the impatient auditor; 'what about her?'
'Ay,' murmured the sick woman, relapsing into her former drowsy state,
'what about her?--what about--I know!' she cried, jumping fiercely up: her face
flushed, and her eyes starting from her head--'I robbed her, so I did! She wasn't
cold--I tell you she wasn't cold, when I stole it!'
'Stole what, for God's sake?' cried the matron, with a gesture as if she would
call for help.
'It!' replied the woman, laying her hand over the other's mouth. 'The only
thing she had. She wanted clothes to keep her warm, and food to eat; but she had
kept it safe, and had it in her bosom. It was gold, I tell you! Rich gold, that might
have saved her life!'
Thesaurus
apothecary: (n) druggist, pharmacy,
chemist, caregiver, dispensing
chemist, medical attendant,
pothecary, potecary, pill pusher,
pharmacopolist, pharmacologist.
auditor: (n, v) accountant, hearer; (n)
listener, observer, student, perceiver,
educatee, bookkeeper, beholder,
pupil, comptroller.
bosom: (n) heart, interior, boob,
thorax, chest, bust, tit; (n, v) embrace;
(v) cherish, hug; (adj) intimate.
ANTONYMS: (n) outside, exteriority. clandestinely, occultly, latently,
chiming: (v) mocking.
confidentially, covertly, intimately,
drowsily: (adv) sleepily, lethargically,
obscurely, surreptitiously,
somnolently, lazily, dozily,
personally.
indolently, sluggishly, soporifically, relapsing: (n) backsliding, lapse,
slowly, dreamily, languorously.
lapsing, recidivism, regress, atavism,
ANTONYM: (adv) vigorously.
failure, oversight, reversion,
opium: (v) poppy, balm, anodyne,
regression, reverting.
milk, rose water; (adj) anaesthetic
spark: (n, v) flicker, flash, gleam, glint,
agent; (n) tobacco, hashish, ether,
glitter; (n) light, glimmer, arc, flame,
fire; (v) activate.
Opie, cocaine.
privily: (adv) privately, secludedly,
226
Oliver Twist
'Gold!' echoed the matron, bending eagerly over the woman as she fell back.
'Go on, go on--yes--what of it? Who was the mother? When was it?'
'She charge me to keep it safe,' replied the woman with a groan, 'and trusted
me as the only woman about her. I stole it in my heart when she first showed it
me hanging round her neck; and the child's death, perhaps, is on me besides!
They would have treated him better, if they had known it all!'
'Known what?' asked the other. 'Speak!'
'The boy grew so like his mother,' said the woman, rambling on, and not
heeding the question, 'that I could never forget it when I saw his face. Poor girl!
poor girl! She was so young, too! Such a gentle lamb! Wait; there's more to tell. I
have not told you all, have I?'
'No, no,' replied the matron, inclining her head to catch the words, as they
came more faintly from the dying woman. 'Be quick, or it may be too late!'
'The mother,' said the woman, making a more violent effort than before; 'the
mother, when the pains of death first came upon her, whispered in my ear that if
her baby was born alive, and thrived, the day might come when it would not feel
so much disgraced to hear its poor young mother named. "And oh, kind
Heaven!" she said, folding her thin hands together, "whether it be boy or girl,
raise up some friends for it in this troubled world, and take pity upon a lonely
desolate child, abandoned to its mercy!"'
'The boy's name?' demanded the matron.%
'They called him Oliver,' replied the woman, feebly. 'The gold I stole was--'
'Yes, yes--what?' cried the other.
She was bending eagerly over the woman to hear her reply; but drew back,
instinctively, as she once again rose, slowly and stiffly, into a sitting posture;
then, clutching the coverlid with both hands, muttered some indistinct sounds in
her throat, and fell lifeless on the bed.
Thesaurus
clutching: (n) locking.
disgraced: (adj) shamed, dishonored,
abashed, ashamed, damaged,
dishonest, humiliated, mortified,
disfigured.
feebly: (adv) faintly,
unenthusiastically, dimly, hopelessly,
unproductively, unpersuasively,
unconvincingly, uncertainly,
reluctantly, powerlessly, insipidly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) robustly,
confidently, domineeringly,
vehemently, stubbornly, strongly,
defunct, inactive, flat, exanimate,
effectively, convincingly,
dreary, tedious, inert, lackluster.
ANTONYMS: (adj) lively, stiff, alive,
competently, admirably,
wholeheartedly.
interesting, awake, moving, upright,
groan: (n, v) grumble, murmur, cry,
bright, brilliant, firm, inspiring.
sigh, mutter, squeak, rumble, scrape; rambling: (adj) disjointed, incoherent,
(v) howl, complain; (n) complaint.
desultory, discursive, erratic,
inclining: (adj) oblique, shelving; (n)
excursive, meandering, diffuse, loose,
errant; (adj, n) wandering.
leaning, tendency, disposition,
ANTONYMS: (adj) coherent, abrupt,
movement, proclivity, sentiment,
propensity, predilection, partiality.
conclusive, pithy, taciturn, compact.
lifeless: (adj) inanimate, dull, insipid,
Charles Dickens
227
*******
'Stone dead!' said one of the old women, hurrying in as soon as the door was
opened.%
'And nothing to tell, after all,' rejoined the matron, walking carelessly away.
The two crones, to all appearance, too busily occupied in the preparations for
their dreadful duties to make any reply, were left alone, hovering about the
body.
Thesaurus
alone: (adj) forlorn, individual, lonely,
lonesome; (adj, adv) only, apart; (adv)
solely, entirely, exclusively,
separately, individually.
ANTONYMS: (adj) overshadowed,
ordinary, mobbed, equaled, crowded,
accompanied, common, grouped,
surpassed; (adv) jointly; (n) foe.
appearance: (n) look, face, shape,
show, apparition, advent, form,
image, surface, impression; (adj, n)
semblance. ANTONYMS: (n)
departure, vanishing.
dreadful: (adj) bad, awful, alarming,
atrocious, fearful, terrible,
abominable, appalling, direful, grisly;
(adj, v) dread. ANTONYMS: (adj)
wonderful, great, lovely, fantastic,
marvelous, admirable, successful,
nice, joyous, honorable, fair.
duties: (n) service, occupation, place,
work, vocation, charge, diversion,
activities, avocation, registration fee.
occupied: (adj) busy, engaged,
employed, diligent, active, absorbed,
engrossed, working, industrious,
affianced, betrothed. ANTONYMS:
(adj) empty, vacant, uninhabited,
available, free, idle, liberated,
unoccupied.
soon: (adv) shortly, presently, anon,
immediately, directly, at once, before
long, betimes, quickly, promptly; (adj,
adv) early. ANTONYMS: (adv) now,
eventually, later, slowly.
Charles Dickens
229
CHAPTER XXV
WHEREIN THIS HISTORY REVERTS TO MR.
FAGIN AND COMPANY
While these things were passing in the country workhouse, Mr. Fagin sat in
the old den--the same from which Oliver had been removed by the girl-brooding over a dull, smoky fire. He held a pair of bellows upon his knee, with
which he had apparently been endeavouring to rouse it into more cheerful
action; but he had fallen into deep thought; and with his arms folded on them,
and his chin resting on his thumbs, fixed his eyes, abstractedly, on the rusty
bars.%
At a table behind him sat the Artful Dodger, Master Charles Bates, and Mr.
Chitling: all intent upon a game of whist; the Artful taking dummy against
Master Bates and Mr. Chitling. The countenance of the first-named gentleman,
peculiarly intelligent at all times, acquired great additional interest from his close
observance of the game, and his attentive perusal of Mr. Chitling's hand; upon
which, from time to time, as occasion served, he bestowed a variety of earnest
glances: wisely regulating his own play by the result of his observations upon
his neighbour's cards. It being a cold night, the Dodger wore his hat, as, indeed,
was often his custom within doors. He also sustained a clay pipe between his
teeth, which he only removed for a brief space when he deemed it necessary to
Thesaurus
bellows: (n) blower, lung, bellowing,
ANTONYM: (adj) fixed.
commemoration, observation, rite,
blowpipe, organ; (v) air blower, air
whist: (adj) quiet, noiseless; (n) long
fulfillment, obedience, manner,
pump, fan, punkah, ventilator.
compliance, discharge, conformity,
whist, short whist, whisk, tut, tush,
dummy: (adj) sham, spurious,
custom. ANTONYMS: (n) breaking,
dummy whist, cards, card game; (v)
artificial, fictitious; (adj, n) model; (n) disobedience, disregard,
shut up.
wisely: (adv) judiciously, prudently,
puppet, booby, dope, boob,
nonobservance, inattention,
dumbbell, blank. ANTONYMS: (n)
omission.
sagaciously, cleverly, discreetly,
scholar, intellectual, genius, original. regulating: (adj) regulatory,
shrewdly, smartly, learnedly,
folded: (adj) plaited, pleated, doubled, controlling, changeable, restrictive;
astutely, sharply, perspicaciously.
(n) regulation, limitation, indexation, ANTONYMS: (adv) stupidly,
artful, braided, corrugated, doubled
over, fluted.
adjustment, ordinance,
recklessly, imprudently, immaturely,
observance: (n) ceremony,
autoregulation, regularisation.
illogically.
230
Oliver Twist
apply for refreshment to a quart pot upon the table, which stood ready filled
with gin-and-water for the accommodation of the company.%
Master Bates was also attentive to the play; but being of a more excitable
nature than his accomplished friend, it was observable that he more frequently
applied himself to the gin-and-water, and moreover indulged in many jests and
irrelevant remarks, all highly unbecoming a scientific rubber. Indeed, the Artful,
presuming upon their close attachment, more than once took occasion to reason
gravely with his companion upon these improprieties; all of which
remonstrances, Master Bates received in extremely good part; merely requesting
his friend to be 'blowed,' or to insert his head in a sack, or replying with some
other neatly-turned witticism of a similar kind, the happy application of which,
excited considerable admiration in the mind of Mr. Chitling. It was remarkable
that the latter gentleman and his partner invariably lost; and that the
circumstance, so far from angering Master Bates, appeared to afford him the
highest amusement, inasmuch as he laughed most uproariously at the end of
every deal, and protested that he had never seen such a jolly game in all his born
days.
'That's two doubles and the rub,' said Mr. Chitling, with a very long face, as
he drew half-a-crown from his waistcoat-pocket. 'I never see such a feller as you,
Jack; you win everything. Even when we've good cards, Charley and I can't make
nothing of 'em.'
Either the master or the manner of this remark, which was made very
ruefully, delighted Charley Bates so much, that his consequent shout of laughter
roused the Jew from his reverie, and induced him to inquire what was the
matter.
'Matter, Fagin!' cried Charley. 'I wish you had watched the play. Tommy
Chitling hasn't won a point; and I went partners with him against the Artfull and
dumb.'
'Ay, ay!' said the Jew, with a grin, which sufficiently demonstrated that he
was at no loss to understand the reason. 'Try 'em again, Tom; try 'em again.'
Thesaurus
excitable: (adj) nervous, irritable,
momentously, heavily, earnestly,
combustible, hasty, edgy, fiery,
weightily, grievously. ANTONYMS:
sensitive, volatile, passionate, warm, (adv) lightheartedly, mildly, slightly;
quick. ANTONYMS: (adj)
(adj) soft.
quart: (n) quartile, quartic,
unexcitable, calm, unflappable,
easygoing, easy, tranquil, reliable,
quartilunar, quartole, quartlet,
mild.
quarts, quarto, quarter.
feller: (n) chap, faller, fella, fellow,
refreshment: (n) bite, drink,
lumberjack, logger, dude, Dick,
recreation, collation, repose, relief,
rest, entertainment, treat; (v)
woodcutter, guy, comrade.
gravely: (adv) seriously, soberly,
invigoration; (n, v) regalement.
reverie: (n) dream, fantasy, air castle,
severely, solemnly, badly, staidly,
brown study, revery, trance,
abstraction, castle in Spain, castle in
the air; (adj) preoccupation,
distraction. ANTONYM: (n) reality.
ruefully: (adv) contritely,
remorsefully, sorrowfully, sadly,
piteously, dolefully, woefully,
pitifully, dismally, repentantly,
apologetically.
witticism: (n) humor, jest, wit, gag,
repartee, humour, pun, quip, crack,
pleasantry, epigram.
Charles Dickens
231
'No more of it for me, thank 'ee, Fagin,' replied Mr. Chitling; 'I've had enough.
That 'ere Dodger has such a run of luck that there's no standing again' him.'
'Ha! ha! my dear,' replied the Jew, 'you must get up very early in the
morning, to win against the Dodger.'
'Morning!' said Charley Bates; 'you must put your boots on over-night, and
have a telescope at each eye, and a opera-glass between your shoulders, if you
want to come over him.'
Mr. Dawkins received these handsome compliments with much philosophy,
and offered to cut any gentleman in company, for the first picture-card, at a
shilling at a time. Nobody accepting the challenge, and his pipe being by this
time smoked out, he proceeded to amuse himself by sketching a ground-plan of
Newgate on the table with the piece of chalk which had served him in lieu of
counters; whistling, meantime, with peculiar shrillness.%
'How precious dull you are, Tommy!' said the Dodger, stopping short when
there had been a long silence; and addressing Mr. Chitling. 'What do you think
he's thinking of, Fagin?'
'How should I know, my dear?' replied the Jew, looking round as he plied the
bellows. 'About his losses, maybe; or the little retirement in the country that he's
just left, eh? Ha! ha! Is that it, my dear?'
'Not a bit of it,' replied the Dodger, stopping the subject of discourse as Mr.
Chitling was about to reply. 'What do you say, Charley?'
'I should say,' replied Master Bates, with a grin, 'that he was uncommon
sweet upon Betsy. See how he's a-blushing! Oh, my eye! here's a merry-gorounder! Tommy Chitling's in love! Oh, Fagin, Fagin! what a spree!'
Thoroughly overpowered with the notion of Mr. Chitling being the victim of
the tender passion, Master Bates threw himself back in his chair with such
violence, that he lost his balance, and pitched over upon the floor; where (the
accident abating nothing of his merriment) he lay at full length until his laugh
was over, when he resumed his former position, and began another laugh.
Thesaurus
abating: (n) dwindling, lessening,
behalf, part, role, berth, station, site,
point; (adj) decreasing, waning,
seat.
diminishing, declining, deteriorating, meantime: (adv) meanwhile, in the
meantime, simultaneously; (n)
fading, flagging, comforting.
chalk: (n) trace, score, mold, subsoil,
interval, interlude, while, at times,
whiteness, gravel, clod; (v) black
whiles, mean, instrument.
lead, mark, pastel; (adj) lily.
pitched: (adj) oblique, thrown,
grin: (n, v) beam; (v) laugh, sneer, leer, slanting, at an angle, leaning; (v)
quib, quip, satire, skit; (n) smirk,
fixed, pight, determined.
grinning, simper. ANTONYM: (v)
ANTONYM: (adj) level.
sketching: (n) art, cartographic
frown.
lieu: (n) office, position, locality, stead, sketching.
telescope: (n) scope, collimator,
setting, tube, reach, range, pipe,
perspicil, oscilloscope; (v) shrivel,
reduce in size. ANTONYM: (v) grow.
uncommon: (adj) extraordinary,
peculiar, scarce, singular, strange,
special, exceptional, infrequent, odd,
unusual, unaccustomed.
ANTONYMS: (adj) typical, usual,
normal, familiar, poor, ordinary, bad,
imperfect, customary, accustomed,
frequent.
232
Oliver Twist
'Never mind him, my dear,' said the Jew, winking at Mr. Dawkins, and
giving Master Bates a reproving tap with the nozzle of the bellows. 'Betsy's a fine
girl. Stick up to her, Tom. Stick up to her.'
'What I mean to say, Fagin,' replied Mr. Chitling, very red in the face, 'is, that
that isn't anything to anybody here.'
'No more it is,' replied the Jew; 'Charley will talk. Don't mind him, my dear;
don't mind him. Betsy's a fine girl. Do as she bids you, Tom, and you will make
your fortune.'
'So I do do as she bids me,' replied Mr. Chitling; 'I shouldn't have been milled,
if it hadn't been for her advice. But it turned out a good job for you; didn't it,
Fagin! And what's six weeks of it? It must come, some time or another, and why
not in the winter time when you don't want to go out a-walking so much; eh,
Fagin?'
'Ah, to be sure, my dear,' replied the Jew.%
'You wouldn't mind it again, Tom, would you,' asked the Dodger, winking
upon Charley and the Jew, 'if Bet was all right?'
'I mean to say that I shouldn't,' replied Tom, angrily. 'There, now. Ah! Who'll
say as much as that, I should like to know; eh, Fagin?'
'Nobody, my dear,' replied the Jew; 'not a soul, Tom. I don't know one of 'em
that would do it besides you; not one of 'em, my dear.'
'I might have got clear off, if I'd split upon her; mightn't I, Fagin?' angrily
pursued the poor half-witted dupe. 'A word from me would have done it;
wouldn't it, Fagin?'
'To be sure it would, my dear,' replied the Jew.
'But I didn't blab it; did I, Fagin?' demanded Tom, pouring question upon
question with great volubility.
'No, no, to be sure,' replied the Jew; 'you were too stout-hearted for that. A
deal too stout, my dear!'
Thesaurus
dupe: (n, v) fool, con, gull; (v) defraud, throat, tip.
personification, ghost, individual,
mind, essence, life, self; (adj, n) heart.
bamboozle, beguile, deceive, take in, pouring: (adj) gushing, teeming,
kid, trick; (n) victim. ANTONYM: (v) flowing profusely, burbling, burbly;
ANTONYMS: (n) surface, body.
(n) casting, affusion, downpour,
stout-hearted: (adj) manly, gallant,
enlighten.
half-witted: (adj) imbecile, idiotic,
effusion, tapping, baptism.
stout, plucky, manful, game, brave,
ANTONYM: (adj) light.
foolish, weak-minded, simple, halfdaring, audacious, courageous, bold.
reproving: (adj) admonitory,
volubility: (adj, n) fluency; (n)
baked, dull, retarded, dense.
milled: (adj) pulverized, milt, Millen,
admonishing, exemplary,
eloquence, articulateness, gab, gift of
crushed, powdered, polished,
disparaging, disapproving, deterrent, gab, smoothness,
critical, unfavorable, cautionary; (adj, communicativeness, readiness; (adj)
minced, dressed, beaten, broken up.
nozzle: (n) nose, beak, neb, snout,
n) accusing; (n) condemning.
flippancy.
soul: (n) creature, human, person,
hooter, jet, muzzle, mouth, snoot,
Charles Dickens
233
'Perhaps I was,' rejoined Tom, looking round; 'and if I was, what's to laugh at,
in that; eh, Fagin?'
The Jew, perceiving that Mr. Chitling was considerably roused, hastened to
assure him that nobody was laughing; and to prove the gravity of the company,
appealed to Master Bates, the principal offender. But, unfortunately, Charley, in
opening his mouth to reply that he was never more serious in his life, was unable
to prevent the escape of such a violent roar, that the abused Mr. Chitling, without
any preliminary ceremonies, rushed across the room and aimed a blow at the
offender; who, being skilful in evading pursuit, ducked to avoid it, and chose
his time so well that it lighted on the chest of the merry old gentleman, and
caused him to stagger to the wall, where he stood panting for breath, while Mr.
Chitling looked on in intense dismay.%
'Hark!' cried the Dodger at this moment, 'I heard the tinkler.' Catching up the
light, he crept softly upstairs.
The bell was rung again, with some impatience, while the party were in
darkness. After a short pause, the Dodger reappeared, and whispered Fagin
mysteriously.
'What!' cried the Jew, 'alone?'
The Dodger nodded in the affirmative, and, shading the flame of the candle
with his hand, gave Charley Bates a private intimation, in dumb show, that he
had better not be funny just then. Having performed this friendly office, he fixed
his eyes on the Jew's face, and awaited his directions.
The old man bit his yellow fingers, and meditated for some seconds; his face
working with agitation the while, as if he dreaded something, and feared to
know the worst. At length he raised his head.
'Where is he?' he asked.
The Dodger pointed to the floor above, and made a gesture, as if to leave the
room.
'Yes,' said the Jew, answering the mute inquiry; 'bring him down. Hush!
Quiet, Charley! Gently, Tom! Scarce, scarce!'
Thesaurus
agitation: (n) disturbance, excitement, direful, desperate, dreadful, fearful,
thought, vision, lipreading; (adj)
fearsome; (v) drad.
tumult, stirring, convulsion, stir,
conscious, percipient, reasonable.
scarce: (adj) rare, insufficient, deficient,
commotion, emotion, unrest, shake, evading: (n) avoidance, escaping,
turmoil. ANTONYMS: (n) serenity,
dodging; (v) evade; (adj) intangible,
infrequent, uncommon, scant, scanty,
few, sparse; (adv) just, barely.
calm, equanimity, rest, peace,
fugitive.
mysteriously: (adv) enigmatically,
ANTONYMS: (adj) plentiful,
deterrent.
aimed: (adj) directed, pointed,
strangely, obscurely, secretly,
common, adequate, strong, usual,
expected, designed, meant.
uncannily, mystically, darkly,
extensive.
awaited: (adj) expected, appointed,
skilful: (adj) adroit, practised,
puzzlingly, weirdly, abstrusely,
scheduled, forthcoming, prospective. occultly. ANTONYM: (adv) normally. experienced, cunning, expert,
dreaded: (adj) awful, terrible,
perceiving: (n) feeling, sensing,
dextrous, clever, adept, proficient,
cowardly, causing horror, dire,
hearing, looking at, recognition,
practiced, good.
234
Oliver Twist
This brief direction to Charley Bates, and his recent antagonist, was softly and
immediately obeyed. There was no sound of their whereabout, when the Dodger
descended the stairs, bearing the light in his hand, and followed by a man in a
coarse smock-frock; who, after casting a hurried glance round the room, pulled
off a large wrapper which had concealed the lower portion of his face, and
disclosed: all haggard, unwashed, and unshorn: the features of flash Toby
Crackit.%
'How are you, Faguey?' said this worthy, nodding to the Jew. 'Pop that shawl
away in my castor, Dodger, so that I may know where to find it when I cut; that's
the time of day! You'll be a fine young cracksman afore the old file now.'
With these words he pulled up the smock-frock; and, winding it round his
middle, drew a chair to the fire, and placed his feet upon the hob.
'See there, Faguey,' he said, pointing disconsolately to his top boots; 'not a
drop of Day and Martin since you know when; not a bubble of blacking, by Jove!
But don't look at me in that way, man. All in good time. I can't talk about
business till I've eat and drank; so produce the sustainance, and let's have a quiet
fill-out for the first time these three days!'
The Jew motioned to the Dodger to place what eatables there were, upon the
table; and, seating himself opposite the housebreaker, waited his leisure.
To judge from appearances, Toby was by no means in a hurry to open the
conversation. At first, the Jew contented himself with patiently watching his
countenance, as if to gain from its expression some clue to the intelligence he
brought; but in vain.
He looked tired and worn, but there was the same complacent repose upon
his features that they always wore: and through dirt, and beard, and whisker,
there still shone, unimpaired, the self-satisfied smirk of flash Toby Crackit. Then
the Jew, in an agony of impatience, watched every morsel he put into his mouth;
pacing up and down the room, meanwhile, in irrepressible excitement. It was all
of no use. Toby continued to eat with the utmost outward indifference, until he
Thesaurus
appearances: (n) show, semblance,
melancholy, forlornly, dispiritedly,
undivided, rough, unclipped,
outlook, indicia.
downcastly, glumly, downheartedly. unclipped uncropped, uncropped,
blacking: (n) black-wash , polish, shoe ANTONYM: (adv) contentedly.
unkempt. ANTONYMS: (adj)
eatables: (n) food, sustenance,
Polish, black wash.
sheared, tidy.
castor: (n) caster, roller, castoreum,
victuals, fare; (v) ingesta.
whisker: (adj, n) hair; (adj) beard, shag,
unimpaired: (adj) unbroken, intact,
brush, mane; (n) moustache, sensory
castorite, wimple, tile, hat, genus
hair, vibrissa, bristle, mustache; (v)
castor, billycock, fur, alpha
clean, sound, healthy, entire,
complete, undamaged, uninjured; (v) bewhisker.
geminorum.
cracksman: (n) safebreaker, burglar,
wrapper: (n) cover, wrap, cloak,
unmarred, unsinged. ANTONYM:
(adj) impaired.
magsman, thief, stealer, picklock.
peignoir, housecoat, neglige,
disconsolately: (adv) unhappily,
unshorn: (adj) hairy, unbroken,
envelope, wrapping, covering, dust
gloomily, sadly, dismally, dolefully,
shaggy, unsheared, uncut,
cover, mantle.
Charles Dickens
235
could eat no more; then, ordering the Dodger out, he closed the door, mixed a
glass of spirits and water, and composed himself for talking.%
'First and foremost, Faguey,' said Toby.
'Yes, yes!' interposed the Jew, drawing up his chair.
Mr. Crackit stopped to take a draught of spirits and water, and to declare that
the gin was excellent; then placing his feet against the low mantelpiece, so as to
bring his boots to about the level of his eye, he quietly resumed.
'First and foremost, Faguey,' said the housebreaker, 'how's Bill?'
'What!' screamed the Jew, starting from his seat.
'Why, you don't mean to say--' began Toby, turning pale.
'Mean!' cried the Jew, stamping furiously on the ground. 'Where are they?
Sikes and the boy! Where are they? Where have they been? Where are they
hiding? Why have they not been here?'
'The crack failed,' said Toby faintly.
'I know it,' replied the Jew, tearing a newspaper from his pocket and pointing
to it. 'What more?'
'They fired and hit the boy. We cut over the fields at the back, with him
between us--straight as the crow flies--through hedge and ditch. They gave
chase. Damme! the whole country was awake, and the dogs upon us.'
'The boy!'
'Bill had him on his back, and scudded like the wind. We stopped to take him
between us; his head hung down, and he was cold. They were close upon our
heels; every man for himself, and each from the gallows! We parted company,
and left the youngster lying in a ditch. Alive or dead, that's all I know about
him.'
The Jew stopped to hear no more; but uttering a loud yell, and twining his
hands in his hair, rushed from the room, and from the house.
Thesaurus
crow: (n, v) brag, cry, snigger; (v)
central, top. ANTONYMS: (adj) last,
exult, triumph, cackle, chuckle, talk
insignificant, inferior, worst,
big; (n) gasconade, crowing; (adj)
secondary.
furiously: (adv) irately, angrily,
raven.
ditch: (n) canal, channel, dike; (v)
fiercely, wildly, violently, ragingly,
desert, dump, chuck, abandon,
wrathfully, infuriatedly, rabidly,
discard, cut, leave; (n, v) moat.
impetuously, frantically.
ANTONYMS: (v) accept, take, adopt, ANTONYM: (adv) sluggishly.
maintain; (n) ridge.
mantelpiece: (n) chimneypiece,
foremost: (adj, adv, v) first; (adj, n)
mantlepiece, shelf, chimneybreast,
chief, capital, leading, cardinal,
blanket, cape, sill, clavy, curtain,
principal, main; (adj) best, front,
drape, drapery.
parted: (adj) divided, separate,
distributed, separated, divisible,
disunited, compounder, compound,
dividable.
yell: (n, v) cry, roar, scream, howl, call,
bellow, whoop, shriek, outcry; (v)
bawl, holler.
youngster: (n) lad, juvenile, kid, child,
urchin, toddler, youth, adolescent,
bairn, baby, tot. ANTONYMS: (n)
adult, elder.
Charles Dickens
237
CHAPTER XXVI
IN WHICH A MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER
APPEARS UPON THE SCENE; AND MANY
THINGS, INSEPARABLE FROM THIS
HISTORY, ARE DONE AND PERFORMED
The old man had gained the street corner, before he began to recover the
effect of Toby Crackit's intelligence. He had relaxed nothing of his unusual
speed; but was still pressing onward, in the same wild and disordered manner,
when the sudden dashing past of a carriage: and a boisterous cry from the foot
passengers, who saw his danger: drove him back upon the pavement. Avoiding,
as much as was possible, all the main streets, and skulking only through the byways and alleys, he at length emerged on Snow Hill. Here he walked even faster
than before; nor did he linger until he had again turned into a court; when, as if
conscious that he was now in his proper element, he fell into his usual shuffling
pace, and seemed to breathe more freely.%
Near to the spot on which Snow Hill and Holborn Hill meet, opens, upon the
right hand as you come out of the City, a narrow and dismal alley, leading to
Saffron Hill. In its filthy shops are exposed for sale huge bunches of second-hand
silk handkerchiefs, of all sizes and patterns; for here reside the traders who
Thesaurus
dashing: (adj) stylish, dapper, gallant,
showy, smart, snappy, impetuous,
rakish, raffish, brave; (adj, n) spruce.
ANTONYMS: (adj) boring, unstylish,
dull, bumbling, bland, awkward,
drab, graceless.
dismal: (adj) cheerless, dejected,
dreary, gloomy, desolate,
disconsolate, depressing, melancholy,
black, dim, dull. ANTONYMS: (adj)
bright, happy, lively, uplifting,
sunny, pleasant, light, cheery, strong,
soulful, wonderful.
depart, lead.
disordered: (adj) chaotic, upset, sick,
reside: (adj, v) inhabit, dwell; (v) exist,
disorganized, broken, incoherent,
occupy, remain, live, belong, abide,
deranged, messy, disjointed,
lodge, populate, lie.
disconnected, ill. ANTONYMS: (adj) shuffling: (n) shuffle, evasion,
shambling, make, shamble; (adj)
neat, ordered, organized, arranged,
quiet, regulated, systematic,
evasive, moral turpitude, milling,
laxity, abjection; (n, v) prevarication.
systematized, straightforward, tidy.
linger: (v) loiter, delay, dally, hover,
skulking: (adj) surreptitious, stealthy,
stay, hesitate, hang around,
lurking, hiding, clandestine,
procrastinate, dawdle, tarry, saunter. backstairs, concealed, cowardly; (n)
ANTONYMS: (v) hurry, end, rush,
malingering, dodging, evasion.
238
Oliver Twist
purchase them from pick-pockets. Hundreds of these handkerchiefs hang
dangling from pegs outside the windows or flaunting from the door-posts; and
the shelves, within, are piled with them. Confined as the limits of Field Lane are,
it has its barber, its coffee-shop, its beer-shop, and its fried-fish warehouse. It is a
commercial colony of itself: the emporium of petty larceny: visited at early
morning, and setting-in of dusk, by silent merchants, who traffic in dark backparlours, and who go as strangely as they come. Here, the clothesman, the shoevamper, and the rag-merchant, display their goods, as sign-boards to the petty
thief; here, stores of old iron and bones, and heaps of mildewy fragments of
woollen-stuff and linen, rust and rot in the grimy cellars.%
It was into this place that the Jew turned. He was well known to the sallow
denizens of the lane; for such of them as were on the look-out to buy or sell,
nodded, familiarly, as he passed along. He replied to their salutations in the
same way; but bestowed no closer recognition until he reached the further end of
the alley; when he stopped, to address a salesman of small stature, who had
squeezed as much of his person into a child's chair as the chair would hold, and
was smoking a pipe at his warehouse door.
'Why, the sight of you, Mr. Fagin, would cure the hoptalmy!' said this
respectable trader, in acknowledgment of the Jew's inquiry after his health.
'The neighbourhood was a little too hot, Lively,' said Fagin, elevating his
eyebrows, and crossing his hands upon his shoulders.
'Well, I've heerd that complaint of it, once or twice before,' replied the trader;
'but it soon cools down again; don't you find it so?'
Fagin nodded in the affirmative. Pointing in the direction of Saffron Hill, he
inquired whether any one was up yonder to-night.
'At the Cripples?' inquired the man.
The Jew nodded.
'Let me see,' pursued the merchant, reflecting.
'Yes, there's some half-dozen of 'em gone in, that I knows. I don't think your
friend's there.'
Thesaurus
barber: (v) shave, neaten; (n) shaver,
store, chief item.
begrimed, squalid, messy, muddy.
familiarly: (adv) intimately, usually,
ANTONYMS: (adj) pure, pleasant.
hairdresser, Chinook, foehn,
larceny: (n) stealing, embezzlement,
khamsin, norther, vendaval, wuther, ordinarily, nearly, frequently,
hairstylist.
commonly, regularly, informally,
robbery, burglary, shoplifting,
dangling: (adj) suspended, pendent,
closely, acquaintedly, conventionally. thieving, thievery, defalcation,
pendant, limp, floppy, pendulous; (n) ANTONYM: (adv) distantly.
abstraction, petty theft; (v) petty
flaunting: (adj, v) showy; (adj) flaunty, larceny.
suspension, abeyance, break,
abatement; (adv) adangle.
mildewy: (adj) moldy, mouldy.
glittering, arty, blatant, pompous,
ANTONYM: (adj) upright.
bombastic, garish, gaudy; (n) parade, pegs: (v) legs, feet, trotters, pins.
emporium: (n) department store,
rust: (v) corrode, eat, oxidise, tarnish,
ostentation.
oxidize, gnaw; (n) decay, corrosion,
market, store, establishment, bazaar, grimy: (adj) dirty, filthy, grubby,
fungus, oxidation; (adj) rusty.
staple, warehouse, outlet, mart, dime dingy, unclean, impure, nasty,
Charles Dickens
239
'Sikes is not, I suppose?' inquired the Jew, with a disappointed countenance.%
'Non istwentus, as the lawyers say,' replied the little man, shaking his head,
and looking amazingly sly. 'Have you got anything in my line to-night?'
'Nothing to-night,' said the Jew, turning away.
'Are you going up to the Cripples, Fagin?' cried the little man, calling after
him. 'Stop! I don't mind if I have a drop there with you!'
But as the Jew, looking back, waved his hand to intimate that he preferred
being alone; and, moreover, as the little man could not very easily disengage
himself from the chair; the sign of the Cripples was, for a time, bereft of the
advantage of Mr. Lively's presence. By the time he had got upon his legs, the Jew
had disappeared; so Mr. Lively, after ineffectually standing on tiptoe, in the
hope of catching sight of him, again forced himself into the little chair, and,
exchanging a shake of the head with a lady in the opposite shop, in which doubt
and mistrust were plainly mingled, resumed his pipe with a grave demeanour.
The Three Cripples, or rather the Cripples; which was the sign by which the
establishment was familiarly known to its patrons: was the public-house in
which Mr. Sikes and his dog have already figured. Merely making a sign to a
man at the bar, Fagin walked straight upstairs, and opening the door of a room,
and softly insinuating himself into the chamber, looked anxiously about:
shading his eyes with his hand, as if in search of some particular person.
The room was illuminated by two gas-lights; the glare of which was
prevented by the barred shutters, and closely-drawn curtains of faded red, from
being visible outside. The ceiling was blackened, to prevent its colour from being
injured by the flaring of the lamps; and the place was so full of dense tobacco
smoke, that at first it was scarcely possible to discern anything more. By degrees,
however, as some of it cleared away through the open door, an assemblage of
heads, as confused as the noises that greeted the ear, might be made out; and as
the eye grew more accustomed to the scene, the spectator gradually became
aware of the presence of a numerous company, male and female, crowded round
a long table: at the upper end of which, sat a chairman with a hammer of office in
Thesaurus
assemblage: (n) meeting, collection,
congregation, set, multitude, crew,
confluence, gathering, gang,
convention, convocation.
ANTONYMS: (v) dispersal,
scattering.
bereft: (adj, v) cut off; (adj) destitute,
devoid, forlorn, void, deprived,
lovelorn, grieving, deserted,
insufficient; (v) reft. ANTONYMS:
(adj) fulfilled, supplied, happy,
consoled, satisfied.
demeanour: (n) behavior, behaviour, insinuating: (adj) crafty, insinuative,
conduct, demeanor, comportment,
oily, ingratiating, having serpents,
deportment, manner, citizenship,
insinuant, sly, snaky, giving hints,
correctitude, carriage, attitude.
snide, subtle.
ineffectually: (adv) uselessly, futilely, mistrust: (adj, n, v) distrust; (n, v)
doubt, query; (n) suspicion,
inefficiently, fruitlessly, vainly,
inefficaciously, abortively,
misgiving, disbelief, apprehension,
wariness; (v) suspect, disbelieve,
pointlessly, bootlessly,
discredit. ANTONYM: (v) believe.
incompetently, ineptly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) competently,
patrons: (n) audience, following,
fruitfully, well, usefully, successfully, attendance, customers, public.
efficiently, admirably, convincingly.
240
Oliver Twist
his hand; while a professional gentleman with a bluish nose, and his face tied up
for the benefit of a toothache, presided at a jingling piano in a remote corner.%
As Fagin stepped softly in, the professional gentleman, running over the keys
by way of prelude, occasioned a general cry of order for a song; which having
subsided, a young lady proceeded to entertain the company with a ballad in four
verses, between each of which the accompanyist played the melody all through,
as loud as he could. When this was over, the chairman gave a sentiment, after
which, the professional gentleman on the chairman's right and left volunteered a
duet, and sang it, with great applause.
It was curious to observe some faces which stood out prominently from
among the group. There was the chairman himself, (the landlord of the house,) a
coarse, rough, heavy built fellow, who, while the songs were proceeding, rolled
his eyes hither and thither, and, seeming to give himself up to joviality, had an
eye for everything that was done, and an ear for everything that was said--and
sharp ones, too. Near him were the singers: receiving, with professional
indifference, the compliments of the company, and applying themselves, in turn,
to a dozen proffered glasses of spirits and water, tendered by their more
boisterous admirers; whose countenances, expressive of almost every vice in
almost every grade, irresistibly attracted the attention, by their very
repulsiveness. Cunning, ferocity, and drunkeness in all its stages, were there, in
their strongest aspect; and women: some with the last lingering tinge of their
early freshness almost fading as you looked: others with every mark and stamp
of their sex utterly beaten out, and presenting but one loathsome blank of
profligacy and crime; some mere girls, others but young women, and none past
the prime of life; formed the darkest and saddest portion of this dreary picture.
Fagin, troubled by no grave emotions, looked eagerly from face to face while
these proceedings were in progress; but apparently without meeting that of
which he was in search. Succeeding, at length, in catching the eye of the man
who occupied the chair, he beckoned to him slightly, and left the room, as quietly
as he had entered it.
Thesaurus
accompanyist: (n) player,
happiness, mirth, merriment, gaiety,
disgustedness, distastefulness,
instrumentalist, musician.
festivity, conviviality, hilarity,
vileness, unsightliness,
bluish: (adj) blueish, blasphemous,
geniality; (adj) jocundity.
unpleasantness, unattractiveness,
ANTONYMS: (n) misery, sadness.
powder blue, coloured, colorful,
ugliness, odiousness, deformity,
presenting: (adj) featuring.
nefariousness. ANTONYMS: (n)
colored, chromatic, bluey,
profligacy: (n) debauchery,
aristocratic, aristocratical.
loveliness, pleasantness, pull.
dozen: (adj, n) XII; (n) dozens, boxcars. dissipation, licentiousness,
thither: (adv) hither, whither, on that
hither: (adv) here, whither,
prodigality, dissolution, depravity,
point, in that respect, at that place, in
that location; (adj) further, ulterior,
hitherward, thither.
debauch, corruption, improvidence,
jingling: (adj) reverberant, clinking,
dissoluteness, vice. ANTONYMS: (n) remoter, succeeding, more distant.
toothache: (v) tic douloureux,
jingly.
economy, decency, parsimony.
joviality: (n) glee, cheerfulness,
repulsiveness: (n) dreadfulness,
torticollis, tormina; (n) aerodontalgia.
Charles Dickens
241
'What can I do for you, Mr. Fagin?' inquired the man, as he followed him out
to the landing. 'Won't you join us? They'll be delighted, every one of 'em.'
The Jew shook his head impatiently, and said in a whisper, 'Is he here?'
'No,' replied the man.%
'And no news of Barney?' inquired Fagin.
'None,' replied the landlord of the Cripples; for it was he. 'He won't stir till
it's all safe. Depend on it, they're on the scent down there; and that if he moved,
he'd blow upon the thing at once. He's all right enough, Barney is, else I should
have heard of him. I'll pound it, that Barney's managing properly. Let him alone
for that.'
'Will he be here to-night?' asked the Jew, laying the same emphasis on the
pronoun as before.
'Monks, do you mean?' inquired the landlord, hesitating.
'Hush!' said the Jew. 'Yes.'
'Certain,' replied the man, drawing a gold watch from his fob; 'I expected him
here before now. If you'll wait ten minutes, he'll be--'
'No, no,' said the Jew, hastily; as though, however desirous he might be to see
the person in question, he was nevertheless relieved by his absence. 'Tell him I
came here to see him; and that he must come to me to-night. No, say to-morrow.
As he is not here, to-morrow will be time enough.'
'Good!' said the man. 'Nothing more?'
'Not a word now,' said the Jew, descending the stairs.
'I say,' said the other, looking over the rails, and speaking in a hoarse
whisper; 'what a time this would be for a sell! I've got Phil Barker here: so drunk,
that a boy might take him!'
'Ah! But it's not Phil Barker's time,' said the Jew, looking up.
'Phil has something more to do, before we can afford to part with him; so go
back to the company, my dear, and tell them to lead merry lives--while they last.
Ha! ha! ha!'
Thesaurus
descending: (v) descend; (adj)
downhill, down, descendent,
decreasing, dropping, falling,
sloping, degressive, occasive; (adv)
downward. ANTONYM: (adj)
upward.
drunk: (adj) tipsy, wet, tight, blotto,
drunken, inebriated; (adj, n) inebriate;
(n) boozer, dipsomaniac, drunkard,
drinker. ANTONYMS: (adj) straight,
clearheaded; (n) teetotaler.
laying: (n) egg laying, placing,
parturition, place, repose, setting,
put, position, lay, oyster park,
oviposition.
pronoun: (n) function word, anaphoric
pronoun, personal pronoun.
relieved: (adj) alleviated, thankful,
mitigated, prominent, pleased, joyful,
fresh, delighted, comfortable,
cheerful, happy. ANTONYM: (adj)
worried.
scent: (n, v) fragrance, smell, odor,
essence, nose; (n) aroma, bouquet,
redolence, odour; (adj, n) savor,
flavor. ANTONYMS: (n) stench,
stink.
stir: (adj, n, v) move, bustle; (v) rouse,
arouse, affect, agitate, inspire; (adj, n)
movement; (n) commotion,
excitement, disturbance.
ANTONYMS: (v) dampen, retire,
stultify, bore, steady, stifle, suppress;
(n) quiet, peace; (n, v) calm.
242
Oliver Twist
The landlord reciprocated the old man's laugh; and returned to his guests.
The Jew was no sooner alone, than his countenance resumed its former
expression of anxiety and thought. After a brief reflection, he called a hackcabriolet, and bade the man drive towards Bethnal Green. He dismissed him
within some quarter of a mile of Mr. Sikes's residence, and performed the short
remainder of the distance, on foot.%
'Now,' muttered the Jew, as he knocked at the door, 'if there is any deep play
here, I shall have it out of you, my girl, cunning as you are.'
She was in her room, the woman said. Fagin crept softly upstairs, and entered
it without any previous ceremony. The girl was alone; lying with her head upon
the table, and her hair straggling over it.
'She has been drinking,' thought the Jew, cooly, 'or perhaps she is only
miserable.'
The old man turned to close the door, as he made this reflection; the noise
thus occasioned, roused the girl. She eyed his crafty face narrowly, as she
inquired to his recital of Toby Crackit's story. When it was concluded, she sank
into her former attitude, but spoke not a word. She pushed the candle
impatiently away; and once or twice as she feverishly changed her position,
shuffled her feet upon the ground; but this was all.
During the silence, the Jew looked restlessly about the room, as if to assure
himself that there were no appearances of Sikes having covertly returned.
Apparently satisfied with his inspection, he coughed twice or thrice, and made as
many efforts to open a conversation; but the girl heeded him no more than if he
had been made of stone. At length he made another attempt; and rubbing his
hands together, said, in his most conciliatory tone,
'And where should you think Bill was now, my dear?'
The girl moaned out some half intelligible reply, that she could not tell; and
seemed, from the smothered noise that escaped her, to be crying.
'And the boy, too,' said the Jew, straining his eyes to catch a glimpse of her
face. 'Poor leetle child! Left in a ditch, Nance; only think!'
Thesaurus
conciliatory: (adj) complaisant, pacific,
mollifying, propitiatory, friendly,
appeasing, conciliating,
compromising, pacificatory,
assuaging, quiet. ANTONYMS: (adj)
provocative, challenging, hostile,
aggressive, stubborn, bellicose,
belligerent, fighting, antagonizing,
uncompromising, antagonistic.
cooly: (adv) calmly, soberly, coldly,
composedly, coolly, collectedly.
crafty: (adj) cunning, adroit, sly, astute,
reciprocated: (adj) joint, mutual,
artful, wily, clever, tricky, shifty,
designing, scheming. ANTONYMS:
shared, communal.
(adj) naive, open, honest, guileless,
recital: (n) account, description,
artless, straightforward, trustworthy, narrative, explanation, history,
ingenuous, blatant, straight.
performance, reading, statement,
feverishly: (adv) excitedly, hotly,
recitation, concert, relation.
restlessly: (adv) fidgetily,
febrilely, hecticly, feverously,
hysterically, passionately, frantically, apprehensively, agitatedly, fretfully,
fanatically, heatedly, frenziedly.
unquietly, sleeplessly, nervously,
ANTONYMS: (adv) indifferently,
restively, edgily, anxiously,
disturbedly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
peacefully, sluggishly.
guests: (n) guest, visitors.
peacefully, unconcernedly.
Charles Dickens
243
'The child,' said the girl, suddenly looking up, 'is better where he is, than
among us; and if no harm comes to Bill from it, I hope he lies dead in the ditch
and that his young bones may rot there.'
'What!' cried the Jew, in amazement.%
'Ay, I do,' returned the girl, meeting his gaze. 'I shall be glad to have him
away from my eyes, and to know that the worst is over. I can't bear to have him
about me. The sight of him turns me against myself, and all of you.'
'Pooh!' said the Jew, scornfully. 'You're drunk.'
'Am I?' cried the girl bitterly. 'It's no fault of yours, if I am not! You'd never
have me anything else, if you had your will, except now;--the humour doesn't
suit you, doesn't it?'
'No!' rejoined the Jew, furiously. 'It does not.'
'Change it, then!' responded the girl, with a laugh.
'Change it!' exclaimed the Jew, exasperated beyond all bounds by his
companion's unexpected obstinacy, and the vexation of the night, 'I will change
it! Listen to me, you drab. Listen to me, who with six words, can strangle Sikes as
surely as if I had his bull's throat between my fingers now. If he comes back, and
leaves the boy behind him; if he gets off free, and dead or alive, fails to restore
him to me; murder him yourself if you would have him escape Jack Ketch. And
do it the moment he sets foot in this room, or mind me, it will be too late!'
'What is all this?' cried the girl involuntarily.
'What is it?' pursued Fagin, mad with rage. 'When the boy's worth hundreds
of pounds to me, am I to lose what chance threw me in the way of getting safely,
through the whims of a drunken gang that I could whistle away the lives of! And
me bound, too, to a born devil that only wants the will, and has the power to, to-'
Panting for breath, the old man stammered for a word; and in that instant
checked the torrent of his wrath, and changed his whole demeanour. A moment
before, his clenched hands had grasped the air; his eyes had dilated; and his face
Thesaurus
bounds: (n) boundary, border, limit,
strangle: (v) smother, stifle,
bullheadedness, determination,
bound, margin, borderline, end,
contumacy, mulishness, impenitence, asphyxiate, scrag, tighten, repress,
constrict, pinch, strangulate; (adj, v)
bourn, Bourne, brink, edge.
resolve, resoluteness, impenitency,
ANTONYMS: (n) center, middle.
pertinacity. ANTONYMS: (n)
throttle; (n) strangling.
dilated: (adj) wide, inflated,
torrent: (n) flood, cloudburst,
cooperation, compliance.
scornfully: (adv) disdainfully,
ampulliform.
overflow, stream, downpour, rain,
exasperated: (adj) incensed, annoyed,
shower, soaker, inundation; (adj, n)
disparagingly, haughtily,
volley, eruption. ANTONYMS: (n)
enraged, angered, indignant, mad,
derogatorily, condescendingly,
irate, irritated, cheesed off, testy; (adj, contumeliously, sneeringly,
drought, trickle, shower.
prep) provoked. ANTONYM: (adj)
arrogantly, sarcastically, derisively, whims: (n) vagaries, freaks, humor, ill
mockingly. ANTONYM: (adv)
pleased.
humor, mood, facetiousness,
obstinacy: (n) stubbornness, firmness, humbly.
caprices, disposition, temper.
244
Oliver Twist
grown livid with passion; but now, he shrunk into a chair, and, cowering
together, trembled with the apprehension of having himself disclosed some
hidden villainy. After a short silence, he ventured to look round at his
companion. He appeared somewhat reassured, on beholding her in the same
listless attitude from which he had first roused her.%
'Nancy, dear!' croaked the Jew, in his usual voice. 'Did you mind me, dear?'
'Don't worry me now, Fagin!' replied the girl, raising her head languidly. 'If
Bill has not done it this time, he will another. He has done many a good job for
you, and will do many more when he can; and when he can't he won't; so no
more about that.'
'Regarding this boy, my dear?' said the Jew, rubbing the palms of his hands
nervously together.
'The boy must take his chance with the rest,' interrupted Nancy, hastily; 'and
I say again, I hope he is dead, and out of harm's way, and out of yours,--that is, if
Bill comes to no harm. And if Toby got clear off, Bill's pretty sure to be safe; for
Bill's worth two of Toby any time.'
'And about what I was saying, my dear?' observed the Jew, keeping his
glistening eye steadily upon her.
'Your must say it all over again, if it's anything you want me to do,' rejoined
Nancy; 'and if it is, you had better wait till to-morrow. You put me up for a
minute; but now I'm stupid again.'
Fagin put several other questions: all with the same drift of ascertaining
whether the girl had profited by his unguarded hints; but, she answered them so
readily, and was withal so utterly unmoved by his searching looks, that his
original impression of her being more than a trifle in liquor, was confirmed.
Nancy, indeed, was not exempt from a failing which was very common among
the Jew's female pupils; and in which, in their tenderer years, they were rather
encouraged than checked. Her disordered appearance, and a wholesale perfume
of Geneva which pervaded the apartment, afforded strong confirmatory
evidence of the justice of the Jew's supposition; and when, after indulging in the
Thesaurus
beholding: (n) fusion, seeing, visual
perception, look.
confirmatory: (adj) collateral,
affirmative, confirming, confirmative,
assenting, corroboratory, positive,
substantiating, substantiative,
validating, validatory.
cowering: (adv) cowardly; (adj)
fawning, squat, subservient.
languidly: (adv) languorously,
listlessly, wearily, lethargically,
slowly, dreamily, limply, weakly,
torpidly, indolently, impassively.
ANTONYMS: (adv) dynamically,
vigorously.
listless: (adj) indifferent, dull,
indolent, careless, languid, inert,
inattentive, dispirited, slow,
uninterested, spiritless.
ANTONYMS: (adj) lively, animated,
energetic, strong, spirited.
reassured: (adj) hopeful, reinsured,
secure, confident.
unguarded: (adj) vulnerable,
incautious, defenseless, careless,
unprotected, exposed, insecure,
undefended; (v) thoughtless,
thriftless, shiftless. ANTONYMS:
(adj) thoughtful, careful, safe,
guarded, armed, invulnerable,
secure.
withal: (adv) nevertheless,
notwithstanding, however, even so,
all the same, nonetheless, with; (adj)
likewise; (n) sufficiency, adequacy,
enough.
Charles Dickens
245
temporary display of violence above described, she subsided, first into dullness,
and afterwards into a compound of feelings: under the influence of which she
shed tears one minute, and in the next gave utterance to various exclamations of
'Never say die!' and divers calculations as to what might be the amount of the
odds so long as a lady or gentleman was happy, Mr. Fagin, who had had
considerable experience of such matters in his time, saw, with great satisfaction,
that she was very far gone indeed.%
Having eased his mind by this discovery; and having accomplished his
twofold object of imparting to the girl what he had, that night, heard, and of
ascertaining, with his own eyes, that Sikes had not returned, Mr. Fagin again
turned his face homeward: leaving his young friend asleep, with her head upon
the table.
It was within an hour of midnight. The weather being dark, and piercing
cold, he had no great temptation to loiter. The sharp wind that scoured the
streets, seemed to have cleared them of passengers, as of dust and mud, for few
people were abroad, and they were to all appearance hastening fast home. It
blew from the right quarter for the Jew, however, and straight before it he went:
trembling, and shivering, as every fresh gust drove him rudely on his way.
He had reached the corner of his own street, and was already fumbling in his
pocket for the door-key, when a dark figure emerged from a projecting entrance
which lay in deep shadow, and, crossing the road, glided up to him unperceived.
'Fagin!' whispered a voice close to his ear.
'Ah!' said the Jew, turning quickly round, 'is that--'
'Yes!' interrupted the stranger. 'I have been lingering here these two hours.
Where the devil have you been?'
'On your business, my dear,' replied the Jew, glancing uneasily at his
companion, and slackening his pace as he spoke. 'On your business all night.'
'Oh, of course!' said the stranger, with a sneer. 'Well; and what's come of it?'
'Nothing good,' said the Jew.
Thesaurus
dullness: (n) apathy, bluntness,
boredom, dreariness, flatness,
tedium, obtuseness, torpor,
monotony, lethargy; (adj, n) phlegm.
ANTONYMS: (n) brightness,
intensity, brilliance, excitement,
intelligence, shine, asperity,
animation, gloss, clarity, variation.
hastening: (n) quickening, speed,
hurrying, speeding up, faster, fast,
stepping up.
imparting: (n) giving, conveyance,
conveyance of title, conveyancing,
agreeably, tactfully, thoughtfully,
conveying.
acceptably, gently.
loiter: (v) dawdle, dally, tarry, hang
slackening: (n) relaxation, reduction,
around, prowl; (adj, v) loaf, delay,
lessening, slack, abatement, ease,
lounge, hesitate; (adv, v) lag; (n, v)
easing, alleviation, ebb, laxation; (adj)
saunter. ANTONYMS: (v) leave, lead. lentando. ANTONYM: (n)
rudely: (adv) crudely, coarsely,
intensification.
unperceived: (v) unheeded, unthought
uncivilly, indelicately, impolitely,
of, unregarded; (adj) unremarked,
roughly, harshly, vulgarly, brutally,
meanly, wildly. ANTONYMS: (adv)
unnoted, unobserved, unmarked,
respectfully, graciously, decently,
unknown, stealthy, sly, secret.
civilly, properly, attentively,
246
Oliver Twist
'Nothing bad, I hope?' said the stranger, stopping short, and turning a
startled look on his companion.%
The Jew shook his head, and was about to reply, when the stranger,
interrupting him, motioned to the house, before which they had by this time
arrived: remarking, that he had better say what he had got to say, under cover:
for his blood was chilled with standing about so long, and the wind blew
through him.
Fagin looked as if he could have willingly excused himself from taking home
a visitor at that unseasonable hour; and, indeed, muttered something about
having no fire; but his companion repeating his request in a peremptory manner,
he unlocked the door, and requested him to close it softly, while he got a light.
'It's as dark as the grave,' said the man, groping forward a few steps. 'Make
haste!'
'Shut the door,' whispered Fagin from the end of the passage. As he spoke, it
closed with a loud noise.
'That wasn't my doing,' said the other man, feeling his way. 'The wind blew it
to, or it shut of its own accord: one or the other. Look sharp with the light, or I
shall knock my brains out against something in this confounded hole.'
Fagin stealthily descended the kitchen stairs. After a short absence, he
returned with a lighted candle, and the intelligence that Toby Crackit was asleep
in the back room below, and that the boys were in the front one. Beckoning the
man to follow him, he led the way upstairs.
'We can say the few words we've got to say in here, my dear,' said the Jew,
throwing open a door on the first floor; 'and as there are holes in the shutters,
and we never show lights to our neighbours, we'll set the candle on the stairs.
There!'
With those words, the Jew, stooping down, placed the candle on an upper
flight of stairs, exactly opposite to the room door. This done, he led the way into
the apartment; which was destitute of all movables save a broken arm-chair, and
an old couch or sofa without covering, which stood behind the door. Upon this
Thesaurus
beckoning: (adj) irresistible.
force.
chilled: (adj) frozen, freezing, cool,
peremptory: (adj) imperious,
refrigerated, icy, inhibited,
commanding, dictatorial,
restrained, confined, shivering, iced,
overbearing, decisive, magisterial;
(adj, v) authoritative, dogmatic, flat,
stiff.
couch: (n) bed, sofa, settee, divan; (adj, absolute; (v) decided. ANTONYM:
v) lie; (v) express, put, frame, lower,
(adj) polite.
repose; (adj) recline.
repeating: (n) repeat, iteration,
movables: (n) effects, personalty,
renewal, repetition, redundancy,
furniture, chattels, personal property, copying, reduplication; (adj)
belongings, personal estate,
repetitious, iterating, iterative,
efficiency, execution, expression,
repetitive.
unseasonable: (adj) inopportune,
inappropriate, premature, ill timed,
improper, immature, inconvenient,
ill-timed, inept, unchancy; (v)
illtimed.
willingly: (adv) readily, voluntarily,
cheerfully, spontaneously, helpfully,
disposedly, actively, openly,
obligingly, eagerly; (adj, adv) freely.
ANTONYMS: (adv) grudgingly,
reluctantly, uncooperatively,
unenthusiastically.
Charles Dickens
247
piece of furniture, the stranger sat himself with the air of a weary man; and the
Jew, drawing up the arm-chair opposite, they sat face to face. It was not quite
dark; the door was partially open; and the candle outside, threw a feeble
reflection on the opposite wall.%
They conversed for some time in whispers. Though nothing of the
conversation was distinguishable beyond a few disjointed words here and
there, a listener might easily have perceived that Fagin appeared to be
defending himself against some remarks of the stranger; and that the latter was
in a state of considerable irritation. They might have been talking, thus, for a
quarter of an hour or more, when Monks--by which name the Jew had
designated the strange man several times in the course of their colloquy--said,
raising his voice a little,
'I tell you again, it was badly planned. Why not have kept him here among
the rest, and made a sneaking, snivelling pickpocket of him at once?'
'Only hear him!' exclaimed the Jew, shrugging his shoulders.
'Why, do you mean to say you couldn't have done it, if you had chosen?'
demanded Monks, sternly. 'Haven't you done it, with other boys, scores of times?
If you had had patience for a twelvemonth, at most, couldn't you have got him
convicted, and sent safely out of the kingdom; perhaps for life?'
'Whose turn would that have served, my dear?' inquired the Jew humbly.
'Mine,' replied Monks.
'But not mine,' said the Jew, submissively. 'He might have become of use to
me. When there are two parties to a bargain, it is only reasonable that the
interests of both should be consulted; is it, my good friend?'
'What then?' demanded Monks.
'I saw it was not easy to train him to the business,' replied the Jew; 'he was
not like other boys in the same circumstances.'
'Curse him, no!' muttered the man, 'or he would have been a thief, long ago.'
Thesaurus
defending: (v) defend; (adj) caring,
distinct, apparent, marked,
differentiable, recognizable; (adv)
shielding, protective, opposed,
protecting; (n) patrol.
observable, noticeable. ANTONYM:
disjointed: (adj) disconnected,
(adj) inseparable.
listener: (n, v) auditor; (n)
confused, split, broken, dislocated,
rambling, unconnected, disordered,
eavesdropper, audience, observer,
fragmentary, discontinuous,
perceiver, hearkener, attender,
muddled. ANTONYMS: (adj) jointed, attendee, attendant, beholder.
pickpocket: (n) cutpurse, thief, dip,
united, affiliated, attached,
connected, continuous.
robber, burglar, shoplifter,
distinguishable: (adj, adv) appreciable, inclination, magnetic dip, magnetic
perceptible, definite, visible; (adj)
inclination, miscreant, nipper.
submissively: (adv) meekly,
subserviently, compliantly, passively,
deferentially, tamely, obsequiously,
yieldingly, slavishly, acquiescently,
dutifully. ANTONYMS: (adv)
forcefully, aggressively, wildly,
defiantly, assertively.
twelvemonth: (n) calendar year, civil
year, financial year, common year,
amount of time, time period, period
of time, bissextile year, class, yr,
period.
248
Oliver Twist
'I had no hold upon him to make him worse,' pursued the Jew, anxiously
watching the countenance of his companion. 'His hand was not in. I had nothing
to frighten him with; which we always must have in the beginning, or we labour
in vain. What could I do? Send him out with the Dodger and Charley? We had
enough of that, at first, my dear; I trembled for us all.'
'That was not my doing,' observed Monks.%
'No, no, my dear!' renewed the Jew. 'And I don't quarrel with it now;
because, if it had never happened, you might never have clapped eyes on the boy
to notice him, and so led to the discovery that it was him you were looking for.
Well! I got him back for you by means of the girl; and then she begins to favour
him.'
'Throttle the girl!' said Monks, impatiently.
'Why, we can't afford to do that just now, my dear,' replied the Jew, smiling;
'and, besides, that sort of thing is not in our way; or, one of these days, I might be
glad to have it done. I know what these girls are, Monks, well. As soon as the boy
begins to harden, she'll care no more for him, than for a block of wood. You want
him made a thief. If he is alive, I can make him one from this time; and, if--if--'
said the Jew, drawing nearer to the other,--'it's not likely, mind,--but if the worst
comes to the worst, and he is dead--'
'It's no fault of mine if he is!' interposed the other man, with a look of terror,
and clasping the Jew's arm with trembling hands. 'Mind that. Fagin! I had no
hand in it. Anything but his death, I told you from the first. I won't shed blood;
it's always found out, and haunts a man besides. If they shot him dead, I was not
the cause; do you hear me? Fire this infernal den! What's that?'
'What!' cried the Jew, grasping the coward round the body, with both arms,
as he sprung to his feet. 'Where?'
'Yonder! replied the man, glaring at the opposite wall. 'The shadow! I saw the
shadow of a woman, in a cloak and bonnet, pass along the wainscot like a
breath!'
Thesaurus
cloak: (n, v) veil, mask, camouflage,
wrap, masquerade, screen, pall; (n)
cape; (v) conceal, dissemble, hide.
ANTONYMS: (v) reveal, uncloak,
unmask; (n, v) uncover.
coward: (n) cur, pantywaist, sneak,
dastard, milksop, weakling,
milquetoast; (adj) gutless,
chickenhearted, pusillanimous,
chicken-hearted. ANTONYMS: (n)
daredevil, stalwart; (adj) brave.
glaring: (adj) conspicuous, bright,
conflict, squabble; (n) dissension,
blatant, egregious, obvious, plain,
difference. ANTONYMS: (n)
flaming, garish, crying, gross, glary.
ANTONYMS: (adj) soft,
agreement, reconciliation,
acceptance, concord, consensus; (v)
inconspicuous, dull, minor.
harden: (adj, v) habituate, inure; (n, v)
agree.
strengthen; (v) season, consolidate,
shot: (n) injection, gunshot, go, fling,
freeze, congeal, coagulate, calcify,
shoot, crack, ball, picture, bang, jab,
petrify; (n) brace. ANTONYMS: (v)
discharge.
wainscot: (n) wainscoting, panel,
soften, liquefy, dissolve, weaken,
melt.
plinth, wall, panelling, parietes,
quarrel: (adj, n, v) dispute; (n, v) fight, skirting board, wainscotting, lining,
feud, brawl, row, altercation, argue,
paneling.
Charles Dickens
249
The Jew released his hold, and they rushed tumultuously from the room. The
candle, wasted by the draught, was standing where it had been placed. It
showed them only the empty staircase, and their own white faces. They listened
intently: a profound silence reigned throughout the house.%
'It's your fancy,' said the Jew, taking up the light and turning to his
companion.
'I'll swear I saw it!' replied Monks, trembling. 'It was bending forward when I
saw it first; and when I spoke, it darted away.'
The Jew glanced contemptuously at the pale face of his associate, and, telling
him he could follow, if he pleased, ascended the stairs. They looked into all the
rooms; they were cold, bare, and empty. They descended into the passage, and
thence into the cellars below. The green damp hung upon the low walls; the
tracks of the snail and slug glistened in the light of the candle; but all was still as
death.
'What do you think now?' said the Jew, when they had regained the passage.
'Besides ourselves, there's not a creature in the house except Toby and the boys;
and they're safe enough. See here!'
As a proof of the fact, the Jew drew forth two keys from his pocket; and
explained, that when he first went downstairs, he had locked them in, to prevent
any intrusion on the conference.
This accumulated testimony effectually staggered Mr. Monks. His
protestations had gradually become less and less vehement as they proceeded in
their search without making any discovery; and, now, he gave vent to several
very grim laughs, and confessed it could only have been his excited imagination.
He declined any renewal of the conversation, however, for that night: suddenly
remembering that it was past one o'clock. And so the amiable couple parted.
Thesaurus
accumulated: (adj) amassed,
assembled, collected, accumulate,
aggregate, gathered, hoarded, store,
concentrated, massed, increased.
cellars: (n) cellar.
confessed: (adj) known.
declined: (adj) less.
intrusion: (n) infringement,
encroachment, disturbance,
interruption, inroad, trespass,
invasion, violation, incursion,
disruption, entry.
slug: (n) bullet, shot; (v) smash, slog,
ANTONYMS: (adj) stable, steady.
strike, beat, punch, whack, hit, laze; tumultuously: (adv) turbulently,
(n, v) wallop. ANTONYM: (n) sip.
tempestuously, violently,
snail: (v) sluggard, loiterer, lingerer,
uproariously, boisterously,
pull together; (n) conch, hodmandod, tumultuarily, noisily, furiously,
gastropod, garden snail, edible snail, loudly, agitatedly; (adj, adv) madly.
dodman; (adj) whelked.
vent: (n) exit, opening, flue, chimney,
tracks: (n) network.
escape, blowhole; (n, v) discharge,
trembling: (adj, n) shaking; (adj, n, v)
air, release; (v) emit, ventilate.
tremor; (adj) shaky, quaking,
ANTONYMS: (n) door, closure; (v)
shivering, flutter; (n) palpitation,
block, suppress.
quiver, vibration, shiver, quake.
Charles Dickens
CHAPTER
251
%XXVII
ATONES FOR THE UNPOLITENESS OF A
FORMER CHAPTER; WHICH DESERTED A
LADY, MOST UNCEREMONIOUSLY
As it would be, by no means, seemly in a humble author to keep so mighty a
personage as a beadle waiting, with his back to the fire, and the skirts of his coat
gathered up under his arms, until such time as it might suit his pleasure to
relieve him; and as it would still less become his station, or his gallantry to
involve in the same neglect a lady on whom that beadle had looked with an eye
of tenderness and affection, and in whose ear he had whispered sweet words,
which, coming from such a quarter, might well thrill the bosom of maid or
matron of whatsoever degree; the historian whose pen traces these words-trusting that he knows his place, and that he entertains a becoming reverence for
those upon earth to whom high and important authority is delegated--hastens to
pay them that respect which their position demands, and to treat them with all
that duteous ceremony which their exalted rank, and (by consequence) great
virtues, imperatively claim at his hands. Towards this end, indeed, he had
purposed to introduce, in this place, a dissertation touching the divine right of
beadles, and elucidative of the position, that a beadle can do no wrong: which
could not fail to have been both pleasurable and profitable to the right-minded
Thesaurus
duteous: (adj) obedient, respectful,
cowardliness, rudeness.
righteous, sane, worthy, true, ethical,
imperatively: (adv) commandingly,
compliant, docile, deferential,
normal.
seemly: (adj, v) befitting, becoming;
reverent, submissive, obsequious,
imperiously, urgently, pressingly,
(adj, adv) comely; (adj) respectable,
reverential.
authoritatively, obligatorily,
elucidative: (adj) clarifying,
essentially, magisterially, necessarily, decorous, decent, fitting, fit,
appropriate; (adv) becomingly,
elucidatory, explanatory, illustrative, instantly, critically.
purposed: (adj, v) intended; (adj)
properly. ANTONYMS: (adj)
instructive, informative.
gallantry: (adj, n) prowess, daring,
deliberate, designed, forcible,
unseemly, unbecoming, unsuitable,
spirit, fearlessness; (n) heroism,
betrothed, made tense, extended,
inappropriate.
undesigned; (v) free, not accidental, virtues: (n) brawn, sinew, qualities,
bravery, valor, courage, chivalry,
courtesy, courageousness.
voluntary.
nerve, manner, habit, disposition,
ANTONYMS: (n) cowardice,
right-minded: (adj) sound, virtuous,
custom.
252
Oliver Twist
reader but which he is unfortunately compelled, by want of time and space, to
postpone to some more convenient and fitting opportunity; on the arrival of
which, he will be prepared to show, that a beadle properly constituted: that is to
say, a parochial beadle, attached to a parochial workhouse, and attending in his
official capacity the parochial church: is, in right and virtue of his office,
possessed of all the excellences and best qualities of humanity; and that to none
of those excellences, can mere companies' beadles, or court-of-law beadles, or
even chapel-of-ease beadles (save the last, and they in a very lowly and inferior
degree), lay the remotest sustainable claim.%
Mr. Bumble had re-counted the teaspoons, re-weighed the sugar-tongs, made
a closer inspection of the milk-pot, and ascertained to a nicety the exact
condition of the furniture, down to the very horse-hair seats of the chairs; and
had repeated each process full half a dozen times; before he began to think that it
was time for Mrs. Corney to return. Thinking begets thinking; as there were no
sounds of Mrs. Corney's approach, it occured to Mr. Bumble that it would be an
innocent and virtuous way of spending the time, if he were further to allay his
curiousity by a cursory glance at the interior of Mrs. Corney's chest of drawers.
Having listened at the keyhole, to assure himself that nobody was
approaching the chamber, Mr. Bumble, beginning at the bottom, proceeded to
make himself acquainted with the contents of the three long drawers: which,
being filled with various garments of good fashion and texture, carefully
preserved between two layers of old newspapers, speckled with dried lavender:
seemed to yield him exceeding satisfaction. Arriving, in course of time, at the
right-hand corner drawer (in which was the key), and beholding therein a small
padlocked box, which, being shaken, gave forth a pleasant sound, as of the
chinking of coin, Mr. Bumble returned with a stately walk to the fireplace; and,
resuming his old attitude, said, with a grave and determined air, 'I'll do it!' He
followed up this remarkable declaration, by shaking his head in a waggish
manner for ten minutes, as though he were remonstrating with himself for being
such a pleasant dog; and then, he took a view of his legs in profile, with much
seeming pleasure and interest.
Thesaurus
ascertained: (adj) discovered,
chromatic; (adj, n) violet, amethyst;
waive. ANTONYMS: (v) advance,
determined; (v) absolute, recognized, (n) shrub, genus Lavandula.
continue.
received, noted, notorious, decisive, lowly: (adj) base, lower, low, inferior, remotest: (adj) furthest, uttermost,
unmistakable, unequivocal, positive. baseborn; (adv) meekly, meanly,
endmost, extreme, last, utmost.
cursory: (adj) careless, passing,
speckled: (adj) dotted, mottled,
modestly, poorly, softly, humbly.
ANTONYMS: (adj) noble, privileged, piebald, specked, spotty, freckled,
fleeting, perfunctory, ephemeral,
superficial, slapdash, facile,
high, aristocratic, refined, exalted,
spotted, multicolored, flecked,
brindled, blotchy. ANTONYM: (adj)
evanescent, sketchy, shallow.
comfortable.
ANTONYMS: (adj) complete,
padlocked: (adj) tight.
limited.
postpone: (v) defer, delay, adjourn,
waggish: (adj) jocular, humorous,
comprehensive, meticulous, long.
lavender: (adj) lilac, purple, puce, light procrastinate, put off, suspend, hold
jocose, funny, comical, droll, comic,
over, remit, shelve; (adj, v) retard,
purple, pale purple, indigo,
sportive, witty, arch, farcical.
Charles Dickens
253
He was still placidly engaged in this latter survey, when Mrs. Corney,
hurrying into the room, threw herself, in a breathless state, on a chair by the
fireside, and covering her eyes with one hand, placed the other over her heart,
and gasped for breath.%
'Mrs. Corney,' said Mr. Bumble, stooping over the matron, 'what is this,
ma'am? Has anything happened, ma'am? Pray answer me: I'm on--on--' Mr.
Bumble, in his alarm, could not immediately think of the word 'tenterhooks,' so
he said 'broken bottles.'
'Oh, Mr. Bumble!' cried the lady, 'I have been so dreadfully put out!'
'Put out, ma'am!' exclaimed Mr. Bumble; 'who has dared to--? I know!' said
Mr. Bumble, checking himself, with native majesty, 'this is them wicious
paupers!'
'It's dreadful to think of!' said the lady, shuddering.
'Then don't think of it, ma'am,' rejoined Mr. Bumble.
'I can't help it,' whimpered the lady.
'Then take something, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble soothingly. 'A little of the
wine?'
'Not for the world!' replied Mrs. Corney. 'I couldn't,--oh! The top shelf in the
right-hand corner--oh!' Uttering these words, the good lady pointed,
distractedly, to the cupboard, and underwent a convulsion from internal
spasms. Mr. Bumble rushed to the closet; and, snatching a pint green-glass bottle
from the shelf thus incoherently indicated, filled a tea-cup with its contents, and
held it to the lady's lips.
'I'm better now,' said Mrs. Corney, falling back, after drinking half of it.
Mr. Bumble raised his eyes piously to the ceiling in thankfulness; and,
bringing them down again to the brim of the cup, lifted it to his nose.
'Peppermint,' exclaimed Mrs. Corney, in a faint voice, smiling gently on the
beadle as she spoke. 'Try it! There's a little--a little something else in it.'
Thesaurus
convulsion: (adj, n, v) spasm; (n) fit,
paroxysm, commotion, attack,
clonus, shake, seizure, upheaval,
cramp; (adj, n) disturbance.
ANTONYM: (n) peace.
distractedly: (adj, adv) madly; (adv)
distraughtly, frantically, frenziedly,
wildly, forgetfully, absentmindedly,
inattentively, vaguely, confusedly,
preoccupiedly. ANTONYM: (adv)
calmly.
fireside: (n) fireplace, home, family,
habitation, dwelling, abode, domicile,
country, dwelling house, fire, habitat.
incoherently: (adv) unconnectedly,
disconnectedly, disjointedly, loosely,
confusedly, ramblingly,
inarticulately, deliriously,
disorderedly, incongruously,
wanderingly. ANTONYM: (adv)
clearly.
indicated: (adj) numbered.
placidly: (adv) coolly, calmly,
tranquilly, peacefully, stilly, quietly,
composedly, silently, meekly,
impassively, collectedly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) agitatedly,
boisterously.
shuddering: (adj, n) quivering,
shaking; (adv) shudderingly; (n) cold
sweat, tremor; (adj) rough, shaky,
jumpy, quaking, shivery, bumpy.
ANTONYM: (adj) smooth.
thankfulness: (n) appreciation,
gratefulness, appreciativeness,
thanks, credit, merit, recognition.
254
Oliver Twist
Mr. Bumble tasted the medicine with a doubtful look; smacked his lips; took
another taste; and put the cup down empty.%
'It's very comforting,' said Mrs. Corney.
'Very much so indeed, ma'am,' said the beadle. As he spoke, he drew a chair
beside the matron, and tenderly inquired what had happened to distress her.
'Nothing,' replied Mrs. Corney. 'I am a foolish, excitable, weak creetur.'
'Not weak, ma'am,' retorted Mr. Bumble, drawing his chair a little closer. 'Are
you a weak creetur, Mrs. Corney?'
'We are all weak creeturs,' said Mrs. Corney, laying down a general principle.
'So we are,' said the beadle.
Nothing was said on either side, for a minute or two afterwards. By the
expiration of that time, Mr. Bumble had illustrated the position by removing his
left arm from the back of Mrs. Corney's chair, where it had previously rested, to
Mrs. Corney's apron-string, round which it gradually became entwined.
'We are all weak creeturs,' said Mr. Bumble.
Mrs. Corney sighed.
'Don't sigh, Mrs. Corney,' said Mr. Bumble.
'I can't help it,' said Mrs. Corney. And she sighed again.
'This is a very comfortable room, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble looking round.
'Another room, and this, ma'am, would be a complete thing.'
'It would be too much for one,' murmured the lady.
'But not for two, ma'am,' rejoined Mr. Bumble, in soft accents. 'Eh, Mrs.
Corney?'
Mrs. Corney drooped her head, when the beadle said this; the beadle
drooped his, to get a view of Mrs. Corney's face. Mrs. Corney, with great
propriety, turned her head away, and released her hand to get at her pockethandkerchief; but insensibly replaced it in that of Mr. Bumble.
Thesaurus
distress: (n, v) pain, torment, trouble,
convinced, reliable, confident,
concern, torture, upset, worry; (n)
persuaded, provable, sure, hopeful,
anguish, agony; (adj, n) difficulty,
promising, likely, indubitable.
grief. ANTONYMS: (n, v) comfort; (v) entwined: (adj) intertwined, snaky,
please, soothe, relieve; (n) peace,
inseparable.
encouragement, straightforwardness, foolish: (adj) childish, fool, crazy,
solace, relieving, relief, prosperity.
dumb, daft, fatuous, stupid, unwise,
doubtful: (adj) dubious, debatable,
preposterous, dopey; (adj, n) silly.
ANTONYMS: (adj) wise, sensible,
distrustful, questionable, queer,
suspicious, tentative, disputable,
shrewd, prudent, visionary,
diffident, unsettled, unsure.
diplomatic, levelheaded, sane,
ANTONYMS: (adj) trusting,
rational, mature, judicious.
illustrated: (adj) embellished,
decorated, distinguished, graphic.
insensibly: (adv) imperceptibly,
apathetically, numbly, motionlessly,
inertly.
medicine: (n) drug, medication,
medicament, therapy, physic,
treatment, remedy, cathartic, medical
science, preparation; (v) medicate.
removing: (adj) departing.
rested: (adj) comfortable.
Charles Dickens
255
'The board allows you coals, don't they, Mrs. Corney?' inquired the beadle,
affectionately pressing her hand.%
'And candles,' replied Mrs. Corney, slightly returning the pressure.
'Coals, candles, and house-rent free,' said Mr. Bumble. 'Oh, Mrs. Corney,
what an Angel you are!'
The lady was not proof against this burst of feeling. She sank into Mr.
Bumble's arms; and that gentleman in his agitation, imprinted a passionate kiss
upon her chaste nose.
'Such porochial perfection!' exclaimed Mr. Bumble, rapturously. 'You know
that Mr. Slout is worse to-night, my fascinator?'
'Yes,' replied Mrs. Corney, bashfully.
'He can't live a week, the doctor says,' pursued Mr. Bumble. 'He is the master
of this establishment; his death will cause a wacancy; that wacancy must be filled
up. Oh, Mrs. Corney, what a prospect this opens! What a opportunity for a jining
of hearts and housekeepings!'
Mrs. Corney sobbed.
'The little word?' said Mr. Bumble, bending over the bashful beauty. 'The one
little, little, little word, my blessed Corney?'
'Ye--ye--yes!' sighed out the matron.
'One more,' pursued the beadle; 'compose your darling feelings for only one
more. When is it to come off?'
Mrs. Corney twice essayed to speak: and twice failed. At length summoning
up courage, she threw her arms around Mr. Bumble's neck, and said, it might be
as soon as ever he pleased, and that he was 'a irresistible duck.'
Matters being thus amicably and satisfactorily arranged, the contract was
solemnly ratified in another teacupful of the peppermint mixture; which was
rendered the more necessary, by the flutter and agitation of the lady's spirits.
While it was being disposed of, she acquainted Mr. Bumble with the old
woman's decease.
Thesaurus
amicably: (adv) friendlily, agreeably,
ANTONYMS: (adj) corrupt, wanton,
liquidambar styraciflua, eucalyptus
politely, respectfully, courteously.
lewd, sleazy, promiscuous, immoral, gum, eucalyptus.
ANTONYM: (adv) rudely.
rapturously: (adv) ravishingly,
dirty, defiled, impure, tainted.
bashful: (adj) timid, diffident,
decease: (v) go, die, perish, pass, pass
rhapsodically, overjoyedly, raptly,
away, exit, expire; (n) demise,
ashamed, coy, backward, modest,
delightedly, enrapturedly, gladly.
ratified: (adj) sanctioned, legal,
shy, retiring, shrinking, mousy, blate. passing, departure, expiration.
ANTONYMS: (adj) confident, loud,
ANTONYMS: (n) nascency; (v)
canonical, canonic.
summoning: (n) induction,
unabashed, swaggering, forward,
survive.
peppermint: (n) eucalyptus
brazen, brave, outgoing.
conjuration, conjuring, conjury,
chaste: (adj) virtuous, moral, virgin,
amygdalina, Mentha piperita, red
demand, elicitation, adjuration,
modest, unsullied, austere, vestal,
gum, marri, Hazelwood, mint candy, exhortation.
teacupful: (n) containerful.
severe, continent, spotless, decent.
eucalyptus kino, peppermint gum,
256
Oliver Twist
'Very good,' said that gentleman, sipping his peppermint; 'I'll call at
Sowerberry's as I go home, and tell him to send to-morrow morning. Was it that
as frightened you, love?'
'It wasn't anything particular, dear,' said the lady evasively.%
'It must have been something, love,' urged Mr. Bumble. 'Won't you tell your
own B.?'
'Not now,' rejoined the lady; 'one of these days. After we're married, dear.'
'After we're married!' exclaimed Mr. Bumble. 'It wasn't any impudence from
any of them male paupers as--'
'No, no, love!' interposed the lady, hastily.
'If I thought it was,' continued Mr. Bumble; 'if I thought as any one of 'em had
dared to lift his wulgar eyes to that lovely countenance--'
'They wouldn't have dared to do it, love,' responded the lady.
'They had better not!' said Mr. Bumble, clenching his fist. 'Let me see any
man, porochial or extra-porochial, as would presume to do it; and I can tell him
that he wouldn't do it a second time!'
Unembellished by any violence of gesticulation, this might have seemed no
very high compliment to the lady's charms; but, as Mr. Bumble accompanied the
threat with many warlike gestures, she was much touched with this proof of his
devotion, and protested, with great admiration, that he was indeed a dove.
The dove then turned up his coat-collar, and put on his cocked hat; and,
having exchanged a long and affectionate embrace with his future partner, once
again braved the cold wind of the night: merely pausing, for a few minutes, in
the male paupers' ward, to abuse them a little, with the view of satisfying himself
that he could fill the office of workhouse-master with needful acerbity. Assured
of his qualifications, Mr. Bumble left the building with a light heart, and bright
visions of his future promotion: which served to occupy his mind until he
reached the shop of the undertaker.
Thesaurus
acerbity: (adj, n) tartness; (n)
bow, flourish, bowing, beck, wave,
bitterness, austerity, asperity, huff,
movement, act, agency.
rancour, disagreeableness, rudeness, impudence: (adj, n) boldness, brass; (n)
fury; (adj) petulance, protervity.
cheek, gall, audacity, impertinence,
ANTONYMS: (n) kindness,
insolence, face, cheekiness,
mellowness, mildness, nectarous,
effrontery, assurance. ANTONYMS:
(n) cowardice, reticence.
sweetness.
charms: (n) trinkets, jewelry, jewels.
needful: (adj) necessary, essential,
dove: (n) turtledove, squab, emblem,
indispensable, required, needed,
mandatory, exigent, needy; (adj, v)
pacificist, pacifist, poultry, dover,
pigeon, Holy Spirit, culver, peacenik. requisite; (n) necessity, almighty
gesticulation: (n) sign, motion, signal, dollar.
presume: (v) dare, consider, believe,
think, infer, guess, expect, esteem,
conclude, suppose, conjecture.
ANTONYMS: (v) appreciate, despair,
speculate.
warlike: (adj) military, belligerent,
bellicose, pugnacious, combative,
aggressive, armigerous, hostile,
unfriendly, unpacific, militant.
ANTONYMS: (adj) harmonizing,
friendly.
Charles Dickens
257
Now, Mr. and Mrs. Sowerberry having gone out to tea and supper: and Noah
Claypole not being at any time disposed to take upon himself a greater amount
of physical exertion than is necessary to a convenient performance of the two
functions of eating and drinking, the shop was not closed, although it was past
the usual hour of shutting-up. Mr. Bumble tapped with his cane on the counter
several times; but, attracting no attention, and beholding a light shining through
the glass-window of the little parlour at the back of the shop, he made bold to
peep in and see what was going forward; and when he saw what was going
forward, he was not a little surprised.%
The cloth was laid for supper; the table was covered with bread and butter,
plates and glasses; a porter-pot and a wine-bottle. At the upper end of the table,
Mr. Noah Claypole lolled negligently in an easy-chair, with his legs thrown over
one of the arms: an open clasp-knife in one hand, and a mass of buttered bread in
the other. Close beside him stood Charlotte, opening oysters from a barrel: which
Mr. Claypole condescended to swallow, with remarkable avidity. A more than
ordinary redness in the region of the young gentleman's nose, and a kind of
fixed wink in his right eye, denoted that he was in a slight degree intoxicated;
these symptoms were confirmed by the intense relish with which he took his
oysters, for which nothing but a strong appreciation of their cooling properties,
in cases of internal fever, could have sufficiently accounted.
'Here's a delicious fat one, Noah, dear!' said Charlotte; 'try him, do; only this
one.'
'What a delicious thing is a oyster!' remarked Mr. Claypole, after he had
swallowed it. 'What a pity it is, a number of 'em should ever make you feel
uncomfortable; isn't it, Charlotte?'
'It's quite a cruelty,' said Charlotte.
'So it is,' acquiesced Mr. Claypole. 'An't yer fond of oysters?'
'Not overmuch,' replied Charlotte. 'I like to see you eat 'em, Noah dear, better
than eating 'em myself.'
'Lor!' said Noah, reflectively; 'how queer!'
Thesaurus
attracting: (adj) alluring, tempting,
attractive, tractive, winning, taking,
prepossessing, allicient, seductive; (n)
drawing; (v) attrahent.
cooling: (n) freezing, refrigeration,
cooler, mechanism, quenching,
temperature reduction, coolant
system, cooling system; (adj) caller,
refrigerant, allaying heat.
intoxicated: (adj) drunken, drunk,
inebriate, tipsy, elated, stimulated,
intoxicate, infatuated, fuddled,
loaded, plastered. ANTONYM: (adj)
sober.
negligently: (adv) inattentively,
neglectfully, carelessly,
thoughtlessly, remissly,
nonchalantly, slackly, recklessly,
unmindfully, sloppily, unthinkingly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) thoroughly,
attentively, responsibly, seriously.
oysters: (n) class Pelecypoda, family
Ostreidae, Lamellibranchia,
Ostreidae, class Lamellibranchia,
Bivalvia, clams, class Bivalvia.
peep: (n, v) glance, peek, look, gaze,
glint, squeal; (n) glimpse, cheep; (v)
chirp, peer, pry. ANTONYMS: (v)
stare, gaze; (n) examination.
redness: (n) red, blush, glow, crimson,
carmine, catarrh, cellulitis, cerise,
mastoiditis, colitis, enteritis.
symptoms: (n) syndrome.
wink: (n, v) twinkle, blink, flash; (n)
instant, twinkling, trice; (v) sparkle,
nictitate, flicker, nictate, leer.
258
Oliver Twist
'Have another,' said Charlotte. 'Here's one with such a beautiful, delicate
beard!'
'I can't manage any more,' said Noah. 'I'm very sorry. Come here, Charlotte,
and I'll kiss yer.'
'What!' said Mr. Bumble, bursting into the room. 'Say that again, sir.'
Charlotte uttered a scream, and hid her face in her apron. Mr. Claypole,
without making any further change in his position than suffering his legs to
reach the ground, gazed at the beadle in drunken terror.%
'Say it again, you wile, owdacious fellow!' said Mr. Bumble. 'How dare you
mention such a thing, sir? And how dare you encourage him, you insolent minx?
Kiss her!' exclaimed Mr. Bumble, in strong indignation. 'Faugh!'
'I didn't mean to do it!' said Noah, blubbering. 'She's always a-kissing of me,
whether I like it, or not.'
'Oh, Noah,' cried Charlotte, reproachfully.
'Yer are; yer know yer are!' retorted Noah. 'She's always a-doin' of it, Mr.
Bumble, sir; she chucks me under the chin, please, sir; and makes all manner of
love!'
'Silence!' cried Mr. Bumble, sternly. 'Take yourself downstairs, ma'am. Noah,
you shut up the shop; say another word till your master comes home, at your
peril; and, when he does come home, tell him that Mr. Bumble said he was to
send a old woman's shell after breakfast to-morrow morning. Do you hear sir?
Kissing!' cried Mr. Bumble, holding up his hands. 'The sin and wickedness of the
lower orders in this porochial district is frightful! If Parliament don't take their
abominable courses under consideration, this country's ruined, and the
character of the peasantry gone for ever!' With these words, the beadle strode,
with a lofty and gloomy air, from the undertaker's premises.
And now that we have accompanied him so far on his road home, and have
made all necessary preparations for the old woman's funeral, let us set on foot a
few inquires after young Oliver Twist, and ascertain whether he be still lying in
the ditch where Toby Crackit left him.
Thesaurus
abominable: (adj, v) odious, foul; (adj) tall, haughty, great, distinguished,
reproachfully: (adv) critically,
majestic. ANTONYMS: (adj) short,
abhorrent, detestable, dreadful,
abusively, admonitorily,
awful, execrable, terrible, loathsome, lowly, base, modest, deferential,
vituperatively, disapprovingly,
cursed, wicked. ANTONYMS: (adj)
humble.
wearily, contemptuously,
minx: (n) flirt, hussy, vamp,
nice, lovable, admirable, alluring,
disparagingly, disdainfully,
appealing, commendable, laudable,
jackanapes, malapert, mink, slut,
witheringly, shamefully.
ANTONYMS: (adv) approvingly,
delightful, desirable, enjoyable,
jade, quean, woman, bitch.
peril: (n, v) hazard, risk, endanger,
likable.
hopefully.
blubbering: (n) babble, tear; (adj)
menace, adventure; (n) danger,
wile: (n) trick, ruse, guile, deception,
jeopardy, chance; (v) imperil, expose, artifice, deceit, cheat, fraud, juggle;
tearful.
lofty: (adj, v) high, elevated; (adj)
compromise. ANTONYM: (n)
(n, v) dodge, stratagem. ANTONYM:
(n) stupidity.
exalted, eminent, arrogant, grand,
security.
Charles Dickens
259
CHAPTER XXVIII
LOOKS AFTER OLIVER, AND PROCEEDS
WITH HIS ADVENTURES
'Wolves tear your throats!' muttered Sikes, grinding his teeth. 'I wish I was
among some of you; you'd howl the hoarser for it.'
As Sikes growled forth this imprecation, with the most desperate ferocity that
his desperate nature was capable of, he rested the body of the wounded boy
across his bended knee; and turned his head, for an instant, to look back at his
pursuers.%
There was little to be made out, in the mist and darkness; but the loud
shouting of men vibrated through the air, and the barking of the neighbouring
dogs, roused by the sound of the alarm bell, resounded in every direction.
'Stop, you white-livered hound!' cried the robber, shouting after Toby
Crackit, who, making the best use of his long legs, was already ahead. 'Stop!'
The repetition of the word, brought Toby to a dead stand-still. For he was not
quite satisfied that he was beyond the range of pistol-shot; and Sikes was in no
mood to be played with.
'Bear a hand with the boy,' cried Sikes, beckoning furiously to his
confederate. 'Come back!'
Thesaurus
bended: (adj) bent, bowed.
confederate: (n) accomplice, accessory,
partner, collaborator, colleague,
assistant; (n, v) ally, auxiliary; (adj)
allied; (v) league, conspire.
ANTONYMS: (n) opponent, foe,
enemy, adversary.
grinding: (v) cutting, excruciating,
consuming, corroding; (n) abrasion,
friction, sharpening, detrition; (adj)
grating, extortionate, hard.
howl: (n, v) cry, roar, scream, bark,
shout, yell, bay, yelp; (v) bawl, growl, return, repeating, renewal,
yawl. ANTONYM: (v) laugh.
duplication, rehearsal, reduplication.
legs: (v) pegs, trotters, pins; (n)
ANTONYM: (n) disappearance.
tear: (n, v) rip, break, split, rupture,
patience, pedestal, stamina.
mist: (n, v) cloud; (v) blur, cover,
crack, run, slit; (v) pull, rend, lacerate;
obscure, befog, drizzle, bedim; (n)
(adj, v) rush. ANTONYMS: (v) wait,
haze, vapor, brume; (adj) misty.
mend, idle, fix, amble, dawdle.
neighbouring: (adj) adjoining,
wounded: (adj, v) hurt; (n) casualty,
contiguous, vicinal, abutting; (v)
maimed; (adj) bruised, injured,
bloody, aggrieved, saddened; (v)
adjoin.
repetition: (n) gemination, reiteration, stricken, wound, struck. ANTONYM:
(adj) unaffected.
recurrence, replication, iteration,
260
Oliver Twist
Toby made a show of returning; but ventured, in a low voice, broken for
want of breath, to intimate considerable reluctance as he came slowly along.%
'Quicker!' cried Sikes, laying the boy in a dry ditch at his feet, and drawing a
pistol from his pocket. 'Don't play booty with me.'
At this moment the noise grew louder. Sikes, again looking round, could
discern that the men who had given chase were already climbing the gate of the
field in which he stood; and that a couple of dogs were some paces in advance of
them.
'It's all up, Bill!' cried Toby; 'drop the kid, and show 'em your heels.' With this
parting advice, Mr. Crackit, preferring the chance of being shot by his friend, to
the certainty of being taken by his enemies, fairly turned tail, and darted off at
full speed. Sikes clenched his teeth; took one look around; threw over the
prostrate form of Oliver, the cape in which he had been hurriedly muffled; ran
along the front of the hedge, as if to distract the attention of those behind, from
the spot where the boy lay; paused, for a second, before another hedge which
met it at right angles; and whirling his pistol high into the air, cleared it at a
bound, and was gone.
'Ho, ho, there!' cried a tremulous voice in the rear. 'Pincher! Neptune! Come
here, come here!'
The dogs, who, in common with their masters, seemed to have no particular
relish for the sport in which they were engaged, readily answered to the
command. Three men, who had by this time advanced some distance into the
field, stopped to take counsel together.
'My advice, or, leastways, I should say, my orders, is,' said the fattest man of
the party, 'that we 'mediately go home again.'
'I am agreeable to anything which is agreeable to Mr. Giles,' said a shorter
man; who was by no means of a slim figure, and who was very pale in the face,
and very polite: as frightened men frequently are.
'I shouldn't wish to appear ill-mannered, gentlemen,' said the third, who had
called the dogs back, 'Mr. Giles ought to know.'
Thesaurus
discern: (v) differentiate, see,
comprehend, detect, distinguish,
make out, perceive, find, note; (n, v)
descry; (adj, v) recognize.
ANTONYMS: (v) Miss, neglect,
disregard, observe, overlook.
distract: (adj, v) confuse, bewilder; (v)
disorder, ail, disturb, deflect, craze,
disquiet, molest, annoy, agitate.
ANTONYMS: (v) center, explain,
concentrate, clarify.
hedge: (v) fudge, dodge, elude, evade,
skirt, duck, avoid, circumvent,
inarticulate, faint, soft, subdued, low,
equivocate; (n) barrier, hedging.
quiet; (v) allusive, covert.
ANTONYM: (v) confront.
ANTONYMS: (adj) clear, distinct,
ill-mannered: (adj) graceless, uncivil,
audible, slight.
neptune: (n) Nereid, triton, Poseidon,
barbaric, boorish, impertinent,
uncouth, rough, impolite, surly, ill,
naiad, solar system.
parting: (n) adieu, division, leave,
discourteous.
leastways: (adv) leastwise, at any rate, departure, disunion, goodbye,
anyhow, anyway, in any case, at the
leaving, segregation, dying, rupture;
(adj) valedictory. ANTONYMS: (n)
least, in any event.
masters: (n) Edgar lee Masters.
joining, meeting, connection,
muffled: (adj) hushed, muted, hollow, Reunion.
Charles Dickens
261
'Certainly,' replied the shorter man; 'and whatever Mr. Giles says, it isn't our
place to contradict him. No, no, I know my sitiwation! Thank my stars, I know
my sitiwation.' To tell the truth, the little man did seem to know his situation, and
to know perfectly well that it was by no means a desirable one; for his teeth
chattered in his head as he spoke.%
'You are afraid, Brittles,' said Mr. Giles.
'I an't,' said Brittles.
'You are,' said Giles.
'You're a falsehood, Mr. Giles,' said Brittles.
'You're a lie, Brittles,' said Mr. Giles.
Now, these four retorts arose from Mr. Giles's taunt; and Mr. Giles's taunt
had arisen from his indignation at having the responsibility of going home
again, imposed upon himself under cover of a compliment. The third man
brought the dispute to a close, most philosophically.
'I'll tell you what it is, gentlemen,' said he, 'we're all afraid.'
'Speak for yourself, sir,' said Mr. Giles, who was the palest of the party.
'So I do,' replied the man. 'It's natural and proper to be afraid, under such
circumstances. I am.'
'So am I,' said Brittles; 'only there's no call to tell a man he is, so bounceably.'
These frank admissions softened Mr. Giles, who at once owned that he was
afraid; upon which, they all three faced about, and ran back again with the
completest unanimity, until Mr. Giles (who had the shortest wind of the party,
as was encumbered with a pitchfork) most handsomely insisted on stopping, to
make an apology for his hastiness of speech.
'But it's wonderful,' said Mr. Giles, when he had explained, 'what a man will
do, when his blood is up. I should have committed murder--I know I should--if
we'd caught one of them rascals.'
Thesaurus
arisen: (adj) risen.
ANTONYM: (adv) poorly.
contradict: (v) deny, oppose, belie,
hastiness: (n) rashness, rush,
conflict, confute, controvert,
precipitance, precipitancy, hurry,
contravene, disprove, refute,
indiscretion, temerity, abruptness,
invalidate, impugn. ANTONYMS: (v) swiftness, suddenness, impetuosity.
ANTONYMS: (n) slowness,
agree, match, correspond, approve,
corroborate, prove, support,
carefulness, deliberation.
philosophically: (adv) calmly,
reinforce.
handsomely: (adv) liberally, prettily,
rationally, reflectively, thoughtfully,
magnanimously, bonnily, largely,
wisely.
softened: (adj) diffused, muffled,
lovely, charmingly, finely,
generously, good-lookingly, smartly. muted, quiet, slow, touched,
sluggish, soften, pultaceous,
subdued, low-key.
taunt: (n, v) ridicule, gibe, flout, insult,
mock, deride, sneer, twit, quip; (n)
scoff; (v) bait. ANTONYMS: (n, v)
respect, compliment; (v) applaud,
comfort.
unanimity: (n) accord, concord,
harmony, agreement, unity,
consensus, union, unison, vox populi,
concert, acclamation. ANTONYM: (n)
disarray.
262
Oliver Twist
As the other two were impressed with a similar presentiment; and as their
blood, like his, had all gone down again; some speculation ensued upon the
cause of this sudden change in their temperament.%
'I know what it was,' said Mr. Giles; 'it was the gate.'
'I shouldn't wonder if it was,' exclaimed Brittles, catching at the idea.
'You may depend upon it,' said Giles, 'that that gate stopped the flow of the
excitement. I felt all mine suddenly going away, as I was climbing over it.'
By a remarkable coincidence, the other two had been visited with the same
unpleasant sensation at that precise moment. It was quite obvious, therefore, that
it was the gate; especially as there was no doubt regarding the time at which the
change had taken place, because all three remembered that they had come in
sight of the robbers at the instant of its occurance.
This dialogue was held between the two men who had surprised the
burglars, and a travelling tinker who had been sleeping in an outhouse, and who
had been roused, together with his two mongrel curs, to join in the pursuit. Mr.
Giles acted in the double capacity of butler and steward to the old lady of the
mansion; Brittles was a lad of all-work: who, having entered her service a mere
child, was treated as a promising young boy still, though he was something past
thirty.
Encouraging each other with such converse as this; but, keeping very close
together, notwithstanding, and looking apprehensively round, whenever a fresh
gust rattled through the boughs; the three men hurried back to a tree, behind
which they had left their lantern, lest its light should inform the thieves in what
direction to fire. Catching up the light, they made the best of their way home, at a
good round trot; and long after their dusky forms had ceased to be discernible,
the light might have been seen twinkling and dancing in the distance, like some
exhalation of the damp and gloomy atmosphere through which it was swiftly
borne.
The air grew colder, as day came slowly on; and the mist rolled along the
ground like a dense cloud of smoke. The grass was wet; the pathways, and low
Thesaurus
coincidence: (n) chance, accident,
mansion: (n) house, manor, residence, same; (prep) despite.
outhouse: (n) outbuilding, privy,
conformity, conjunction, coexistence, castle, home, manor house, hall,
consistency, unison, correspondence, building, palace, villa, abode.
jakes, barn, penthouse, bathroom,
concurrence, appulse; (v) coincide.
ANTONYMS: (n) hovel, shack, hut.
can, John, lav, lavatory.
ANTONYM: (n) plan.
mongrel: (n, v) hybrid; (adj, n) bastard; steward: (n) flight attendant, waiter,
exhalation: (n) emanation, expiration, (n) cross, dog, mutt, half blood,
keeper, warden, attendant, curator,
hound; (adj) heterogeneous,
breathing out, steam, vapour,
caretaker, administrator, janitor,
emission, fumes, vapor, puff,
crossbred, debased, heteroclite.
chamberlain, stewardess.
notwithstanding: (adv, conj)
tinker: (v) monkey, fiddle, putter,
effusion, wind.
gust: (n) eruption, flurry, blow, blast,
nevertheless, although, even though, mess around, toy, tamper, vamp; (n)
yet, but; (conj) albeit; (adv)
puff, flare, explosion, gale, storm,
cobbler, mender, Scomber japonicus,
breeze; (adj, n) whiff.
nonetheless, though, still, all the
chub mackerel.
Charles Dickens
263
places, were all mire and water; the damp breath of an unwholesome wind went
languidly by, with a hollow moaning. Still, Oliver lay motionless and insensible
on the spot where Sikes had left him.%
Morning drew on apace. The air become more sharp and piercing, as its first
dull hue--the death of night, rather than the birth of day--glimmered faintly in
the sky. The objects which had looked dim and terrible in the darkness, grew
more and more defined, and gradually resolved into their familiar shapes. The
rain came down, thick and fast, and pattered noisily among the leafless bushes.
But, Oliver felt it not, as it beat against him; for he still lay stretched, helpless and
unconscious, on his bed of clay.
At length, a low cry of pain broke the stillness that prevailed; and uttering it,
the boy awoke. His left arm, rudely bandaged in a shawl, hung heavy and
useless at his side; the bandage was saturated with blood. He was so weak, that
he could scarcely raise himself into a sitting posture; when he had done so, he
looked feebly round for help, and groaned with pain. Trembling in every joint,
from cold and exhaustion, he made an effort to stand upright; but, shuddering
from head to foot, fell prostrate on the ground.
After a short return of the stupor in which he had been so long plunged,
Oliver: urged by a creeping sickness at his heart, which seemed to warn him that
if he lay there, he must surely die: got upon his feet, and essayed to walk. His
head was dizzy, and he staggered to and fro like a drunken man. But he kept up,
nevertheless, and, with his head drooping languidly on his breast, went
stumbling onward, he knew not whither.
And now, hosts of bewildering and confused ideas came crowding on his
mind. He seemed to be still walking between Sikes and Crackit, who were
angrily disputing--for the very words they said, sounded in his ears; and when
he caught his own attention, as it were, by making some violent effort to save
himself from falling, he found that he was talking to them. Then, he was alone
with Sikes, plodding on as on the previous day; and as shadowy people passed
them, he felt the robber's grasp upon his wrist. Suddenly, he started back at the
report of firearms; there rose into the air, loud cries and shouts; lights gleamed
Thesaurus
apace: (adj, adv) speedily, quickly;
marvelous, mystifying, amazing,
leafy.
(adv) fast, rapidly, hastily, soon,
plodding: (adj) slow, stodgy, heavy,
astounding, discomfit, upsetting,
promptly; (adj) forthwith,
staggering. ANTONYMS: (adj)
hardworking, ponderous, steady; (n)
immediately, incontinently, shortly.
enlightening, simple, soothing.
persistence, grind, donkeywork,
ANTONYM: (adv) slowly.
crowding: (n) plough crowding,
drudgery, walking. ANTONYMS:
bandage: (v) bind, wrap, dress,
(adj) dilettante, rapid.
bunch, jostlement, overcrowding.
envelop; (adj, n) truss, tie; (n) swathe, drooping: (adj) flabby, pendulous,
unwholesome: (adj) noxious, harmful,
binding, roller, gauze; (adj) string.
limp, flaccid, cernuous, flagging,
noisome, morbid, injurious,
ANTONYM: (v) undress.
languid, floppy, lax, tired; (n) droop. detrimental, sickly, insalubrious,
bandaged: (adj) articled, apprenticed.
ANTONYMS: (adj) taut, firm.
corrupting, diseased, damaging.
bewildering: (adj) astonishing,
leafless: (adj) bald, bare, aphyllous,
ANTONYMS: (adj) healthy, decent,
leaveless, hairless. ANTONYM: (adj) wholesome, pleasant.
puzzling, perplexing, confusing,
264
Oliver Twist
before his eyes; all was noise and tumult, as some unseen hand bore him
hurriedly away. Through all these rapid visions, there ran an undefined, uneasy
consciousness of pain, which wearied and tormented him incessantly.%
Thus he staggered on, creeping, almost mechanically, between the bars of
gates, or through hedge-gaps as they came in his way, until he reached a road.
Here the rain began to fall so heavily, that it roused him.
He looked about, and saw that at no great distance there was a house, which
perhaps he could reach. Pitying his condition, they might have compassion on
him; and if they did not, it would be better, he thought, to die near human
beings, than in the lonely open fields. He summoned up all his strength for one
last trial, and bent his faltering steps towards it.
As he drew nearer to this house, a feeling come over him that he had seen it
before. He remembered nothing of its details; but the shape and aspect of the
building seemed familiar to him.
That garden wall! On the grass inside, he had fallen on his knees last night,
and prayed the two men's mercy. It was the very house they had attempted to
rob.
Oliver felt such fear come over him when he recognised the place, that, for
the instant, he forgot the agony of his wound, and thought only of flight. Flight!
He could scarcely stand: and if he were in full possession of all the best powers
of his slight and youthful frame, whither could he fly? He pushed against the
garden-gate; it was unlocked, and swung open on its hinges. He tottered across
the lawn; climbed the steps; knocked faintly at the door; and, his whole strength
failing him, sunk down against one of the pillars of the little portico.
It happened that about this time, Mr. Giles, Brittles, and the tinker, were
recruiting themselves, after the fatigues and terrors of the night, with tea and
sundries, in the kitchen. Not that it was Mr. Giles's habit to admit to too great
familiarity the humbler servants: towards whom it was rather his wont to deport
himself with a lofty affability, which, while it gratified, could not fail to remind
them of his superior position in society. But, death, fires, and burglary, make all
Thesaurus
affability: (n) geniality, courtesy,
cordiality, amiability, affableness,
politeness, friendliness, amenity,
sociability, kindness, amiableness.
ANTONYMS: (n) unfriendliness,
frostiness, incivility, remoteness,
reserve, rudeness.
deport: (v) banish, conduct, bear,
behave, act, carry, comport, expel,
expatriate, exile, relegate.
ANTONYMS: (v) allow, repatriate,
stay, permit.
gates: (n) bill Gates.
miscellany, nicknack.
pitying: (adj) sympathetic, merciful,
tormented: (adj) worried, tortured,
pity, pityingly, gloomy, meritless,
hagridden, troubled, beleaguered,
pitiful, sorry, sorry for, humane,
beset, besieged, cruciate, cruciform,
dreary.
distraught, distressed. ANTONYM:
portico: (n) portal, arcade, entrance,
(adj) calm.
veranda, corridor, mouth, lips, inlet, undefined: (adj) indeterminate,
chops, balcony, orifice.
indistinct, obscure, shadowy,
recruiting: (n) recruitment.
uncertain, vague, unspecified,
sundries: (n) oddment, various, odds
ambiguous, unlimited, inexact,
and ends, sundry, doohickey, oddity, neutral. ANTONYMS: (adj) defined,
curiosity, frivolity, clutter,
exact, constrained.
Charles Dickens
265
men equals; so Mr. Giles sat with his legs stretched out before the kitchen fender,
leaning his left arm on the table, while, with his right, he illustrated a
circumstantial and minute account of the robbery, to which his bearers (but
especially the cook and housemaid, who were of the party) listened with
breathless interest.%
'It was about half-past two,' said Mr. Giles, 'or I wouldn't swear that it
mightn't have been a little nearer three, when I woke up, and, turning round in
my bed, as it might be so, (here Mr. Giles turned round in his chair, and pulled
the corner of the table-cloth over him to imitate bed-clothes,) I fancied I heerd a
noise.'
At this point of the narrative the cook turned pale, and asked the housemaid
to shut the door: who asked Brittles, who asked the tinker, who pretended not to
hear.
'--Heerd a noise,' continued Mr. Giles. 'I says, at first, "This is illusion"; and
was composing myself off to sleep, when I heerd the noise again, distinct.'
'What sort of a noise?' asked the cook.
'A kind of a busting noise,' replied Mr. Giles, looking round him.
'More like the noise of powdering a iron bar on a nutmeg-grater,' suggested
Brittles.
'It was, when you heerd it, sir,' rejoined Mr. Giles; 'but, at this time, it had a
busting sound. I turned down the clothes'; continued Giles, rolling back the
table-cloth, 'sat up in bed; and listened.'
The cook and housemaid simultaneously ejaculated 'Lor!' and drew their
chairs closer together.
'I heerd it now, quite apparent,' resumed Mr. Giles. '"Somebody," I says, "is
forcing of a door, or window; what's to be done? I'll call up that poor lad,
Brittles, and save him from being murdered in his bed; or his throat," I says,
"may be cut from his right ear to his left, without his ever knowing it."'
Thesaurus
chairs: (n) seats.
circumstantial: (adj) particular,
detailed, incidental, thorough,
presumptive, precise, coincidental,
elaborate, exact, special, specific.
ANTONYM: (adj) concrete.
equals: (n) classmates, colleagues,
contemporaries, generation, age
group.
fancied: (adj) unreal, chimerical,
fictional, fanciful, fictitious,
fabricated, preferred, assumed,
pretended: (adj, v) sham, mock,
illusory, imagined, ideal.
forcing: (adj) pressing, constraining,
counterfeit, pseudo, spurious; (adj)
penetrating, compulsatory; (n) push. assumed, fake, feigned, fictitious,
housemaid: (n) amah, maid,
bogus, affected.
swear: (v) declare, assure, assert,
handmaiden, handmaid,
affirm, curse, pledge; (n, v) promise,
maidservant, cleaning woman, girl,
ayah, charwoman, biddy, maiden.
avow, depone, depose, aver.
imitate: (n, v) duplicate; (v) forge, ape, ANTONYMS: (v) distrust, refute,
emulate, follow, feign, counterfeit,
deny, compliment.
woke: (v) arouse.
mimic, mock, assume, act.
powdering: (n) pattern, diaper,
pargeting, paneling, graining.
266
Oliver Twist
Here, all eyes were turned upon Brittles, who fixed his upon the speaker, and
stared at him, with his mouth wide open, and his face expressive of the most
unmitigated horror.%
'I tossed off the clothes,' said Giles, throwing away the table-cloth, and
looking very hard at the cook and housemaid, 'got softly out of bed; drew on a
pair of--'
'Ladies present, Mr. Giles,' murmured the tinker.
'--Of shoes, sir,' said Giles, turning upon him, and laying great emphasis on
the word; 'seized the loaded pistol that always goes upstairs with the platebasket; and walked on tiptoes to his room. "Brittles," I says, when I had woke
him, "don't be frightened!"'
'So you did,' observed Brittles, in a low voice.
'"We're dead men, I think, Brittles," I says,' continued Giles; '"but don't be
frightened."'
'Was he frightened?' asked the cook.
'Not a bit of it,' replied Mr. Giles. 'He was as firm--ah! pretty near as firm as I
was.'
'I should have died at once, I'm sure, if it had been me,' observed the
housemaid.
'You're a woman,' retorted Brittles, plucking up a little.
'Brittles is right,' said Mr. Giles, nodding his head, approvingly; 'from a
woman, nothing else was to be expected. We, being men, took a dark lantern that
was standing on Brittle's hob, and groped our way downstairs in the pitch dark,-as it might be so.'
Mr. Giles had risen from his seat, and taken two steps with his eyes shut, to
accompany his description with appropriate action, when he started violently, in
common with the rest of the company, and hurried back to his chair. The cook
and housemaid screamed.
Thesaurus
accompany: (v) attend, follow,
companion, guide, company, lead,
walk, associate, consort, conduct,
concur. ANTONYMS: (v) desert,
abandon, leave.
expressive: (adj) significant,
meaningful, descriptive, mobile,
revelatory, indicative, articulate,
graphic, emphatic, suggestive, vivid.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unemotional,
undemonstrative, nondescript, cold,
expressionless, empty, emotionless,
inarticulate, innocent, impassive,
perfect, entire, outright.
ANTONYMS: (adj) mixed, imperfect,
reserved.
nodding: (adj) cernuous, drooping,
partial, rather.
violently: (adj, adv) vehemently, hotly,
dozy, dozing, somnolent, drugged,
madly, ardently; (adv) wildly,
pendulous, drowsing, droopy,
annuent, flagging. ANTONYM: (adj) passionately, strongly, hard,
furiously, turbulently; (adv, n)
awake.
plucking: (n) harvesting, rip out.
vigorously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
risen: (v) uprise.
gently, nonviolently, feebly,
unmitigated: (adj) absolute, total,
impassively, peacefully, tamely.
thorough, consummate, sheer,
unqualified, unconditional, regular,
Charles Dickens
267
'It was a knock,' said Mr. Giles, assuming perfect serenity. 'Open the door,
somebody.'
Nobody moved.%
'It seems a strange sort of a thing, a knock coming at such a time in the
morning,' said Mr. Giles, surveying the pale faces which surrounded him, and
looking very blank himself; 'but the door must be opened. Do you hear,
somebody?'
Mr. Giles, as he spoke, looked at Brittles; but that young man, being naturally
modest, probably considered himself nobody, and so held that the inquiry could
not have any application to him; at all events, he tendered no reply. Mr. Giles
directed an appealing glance at the tinker; but he had suddenly fallen asleep. The
women were out of the question.
'If Brittles would rather open the door, in the presence of witnesses,' said Mr.
Giles, after a short silence, 'I am ready to make one.'
'So am I,' said the tinker, waking up, as suddenly as he had fallen asleep.
Brittles capitulated on these terms; and the party being somewhat re-assured
by the discovery (made on throwing open the shutters) that it was now broad
day, took their way upstairs; with the dogs in front. The two women, who were
afraid to stay below, brought up the rear. By the advice of Mr. Giles, they all
talked very loud, to warn any evil-disposed person outside, that they were
strong in numbers; and by a master-stoke of policy, originating in the brain of
the same ingenious gentleman, the dogs' tails were well pinched, in the hall, to
make them bark savagely.
These precautions having been taken, Mr. Giles held on fast by the tinker's
arm (to prevent his running away, as he pleasantly said), and gave the word of
command to open the door. Brittles obeyed; the group, peeping timorously over
each other's shoulders, beheld no more formidable object than poor little Oliver
Twist, speechless and exhausted, who raised his heavy eyes, and mutely
solicited their compassion.
Thesaurus
originating: (adj) originative, original, offensively, awfully, discordantly,
dumbfounded, voiceless, quiet,
incipient, originant.
dreadfully, shockingly, unkindly,
tongueless, tacit, noiseless, mum,
pinched: (adj) haggard, drawn,
wordless. ANTONYMS: (adj)
irritably, harshly, curtly, nastily.
serenity: (n) quiet, peace, calm,
emaciated, cadaverous, narrow,
loquacious, eloquent, talkative.
tails: (n) dress suit, tail coat, full dress,
penurious, thin, penniless, adenoidal; quietness, equanimity, calmness,
(adj, n) necessitous; (n) distressed.
quietude, repose; (adj, n) composure, tail, waste, evening dress, dress coat,
ANTONYM: (adj) relaxed.
tranquility, placidity. ANTONYMS:
coat, morning coat, cutaway,
pleasantly: (adv) pleasingly, nicely,
(n) anxiety, uproar, chaos, anger,
formalwear.
timorously: (adv) fearfully, afraidly,
cheerily, enjoyably, agreeably,
panic, bustle, disturbance,
delightfully, sunnily, genially,
impatience, turbulence, turmoil.
anxiously, shily, bashfully, timidly,
gratifyingly, kindly; (adv, v) happily. solicited: (adj) requested.
diffidently, shyly, trepidly,
ANTONYMS: (adv) disagreeably,
speechless: (adj) silent, mute, dumb,
apprehensively, hesitantly.
268
Oliver Twist
'A boy!' exclaimed Mr. Giles, valiantly, pushing the tinker into the
background. 'What's the matter with the--eh?--Why--Brittles--look here--don't
you know?'
Brittles, who had got behind the door to open it, no sooner saw Oliver, than
he uttered a loud cry. Mr. Giles, seizing the boy by one leg and one arm
(fortunately not the broken limb) lugged him straight into the hall, and
deposited him at full length on the floor thereof.%
'Here he is!' bawled Giles, calling in a state of great excitement, up the
staircase; 'here's one of the thieves, ma'am! Here's a thief, miss! Wounded, miss!
I shot him, miss; and Brittles held the light.'
'--In a lantern, miss,' cried Brittles, applying one hand to the side of his
mouth, so that his voice might travel the better.
The two women-servants ran upstairs to carry the intelligence that Mr. Giles
had captured a robber; and the tinker busied himself in endeavouring to restore
Oliver, lest he should die before he could be hanged. In the midst of all this noise
and commotion, there was heard a sweet female voice, which quelled it in an
instant.
'Giles!' whispered the voice from the stair-head.
'I'm here, miss,' replied Mr. Giles. 'Don't be frightened, miss; I ain't much
injured. He didn't make a very desperate resistance, miss! I was soon too many
for him.'
'Hush!' replied the young lady; 'you frighten my aunt as much as the thieves
did. Is the poor creature much hurt?'
'Wounded desperate, miss,' replied Giles, with indescribable complacency.
'He looks as if he was a-going, miss,' bawled Brittles, in the same manner as
before. 'Wouldn't you like to come and look at him, miss, in case he should?'
'Hush, pray; there's a good man!' rejoined the lady. 'Wait quietly only one
instant, while I speak to aunt.'
Thesaurus
commotion: (n) tumult, ado,
disturbance, turmoil, stir, din, flurry,
fuss, bedlam, tempest; (n, v)
agitation. ANTONYMS: (n) peace,
order, calm, serenity, calmness,
stillness, quiet, tranquility, inactivity.
instant: (adj, n) present; (adj)
immediate, prompt; (n) flash, minute,
jiffy, point, second; (adj, v) exigent;
(adj, n, v) pressing, urgent.
ANTONYMS: (n) age, eternity; (adj)
considered, delayed, slow.
limb: (n) arm, branch, member, bough,
extremity, offshoot, part, leg, wing,
appendage, edge.
pray: (v) beg, implore, entreat, crave,
invite, plead, beseech, appeal,
importune, adjure, invoke.
ANTONYM: (v) reject.
quelled: (adj) quenched, allayed,
extinguished, extinct.
staircase: (n) stair, ladder, flight, steps,
flight of steps, stairs, backstairs,
escalator, companionway, way,
entrance.
thief: (n) burglar, bandit, pirate,
plunderer, filcher, stealer,
pickpocket, pilferer, crook, brigand,
despoiler.
valiantly: (adv) bravely, valorously,
gallantly, intrepidly, heroically,
boldly, audaciously, fearlessly,
doughtily, pluckily, heroicly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) execrably,
nervously, timidly, fearfully.
Charles Dickens
269
With a footstep as soft and gentle as the voice, the speaker tripped away. She
soon returned, with the direction that the wounded person was to be carried,
carefully, upstairs to Mr. Giles's room; and that Brittles was to saddle the pony
and betake himself instantly to Chertsey: from which place, he was to despatch,
with all speed, a constable and doctor.%
'But won't you take one look at him, first, miss?' asked Mr. Giles, with as
much pride as if Oliver were some bird of rare plumage, that he had skilfully
brought down. 'Not one little peep, miss?'
'Not now, for the world,' replied the young lady. 'Poor fellow! Oh! treat him
kindly, Giles for my sake!'
The old servant looked up at the speaker, as she turned away, with a glance
as proud and admiring as if she had been his own child. Then, bending over
Oliver, he helped to carry him upstairs, with the care and solicitude of a woman.
Thesaurus
admiring: (adj) admire, admiringly,
(adj) plumosity, alular.
Petty constable, portreeve, alguazil,
loving, respectful, glowing,
gendarme, tipstaff, peon, patrolman. pony: (n) crib, nag, trot, mustang,
despatch: (n) shipment, expedition,
affectionate, amatory, appreciative,
clavis, cayuse, jigger, rendering,
enthusiastic, flattering, approving.
communique, mission, consignment, racehorse, translation, version.
ANTONYMS: (adj) defamatory,
sending, forwarding; (v) transmit,
saddle: (v) charge, load, burden,
critical, disdainful, disapproving,
expedite, quicken, send.
encumber, adjure, bear down, blame;
footstep: (n) pace, footfall, track,
(n) pillion, seat, saddleback, bicycle
disrespectful, uncomplimentary.
betake: (v) wend, apply, address,
seat. ANTONYM: (v) relieve.
footmark, vestige, tread, trail, stride,
skilfully: (adv) skillfully, adroitly,
accost, get, obtain, refer, acquire, aim, degree; (n, v) step, action.
plumage: (n) feather, plume,
beget, attach.
cunningly, proficiently, deftly,
constable: (n) police officer,
feathering, quill, aftershaft, alula,
adeptly, expertly, handily, artfully,
policeman, alderman, burgomaster,
marabou, finery, animal material;
goodly, ably.
Charles Dickens
271
CHAPTER XXIX
HAS AN INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNT OF THE
INMATES OF THE HOUSE, TO WHICH
OLIVER RESORTED
In a handsome room: though its furniture had rather the air of old-fashioned
comfort, than of modern elegance: there sat two ladies at a well-spread breakfasttable. Mr. Giles, dressed with scrupulous care in a full suit of black, was in
attendance upon them. He had taken his station some half-way between the sideboard and the breakfast-table; and, with his body drawn up to its full height, his
head thrown back, and inclined the merest trifle on one side, his left leg
advanced, and his right hand thrust into his waist-coat, while his left hung down
by his side, grasping a waiter, looked like one who laboured under a very
agreeable sense of his own merits and importance.%
Of the two ladies, one was well advanced in years; but the high-backed
oaken chair in which she sat, was not more upright than she. Dressed with the
utmost nicety and precision, in a quaint mixture of by-gone costume, with some
slight concessions to the prevailing taste, which rather served to point the old
style pleasantly than to impair its effect, she sat, in a stately manner, with her
hands folded on the table before her. Her eyes (and age had dimmed but little of
their brightness) were attentively upon her young companion.
Thesaurus
brightness: (n) luminance, light, shine,
clarity, lustre, glow, glare, glitter,
luminosity; (n, v) illumination, gloss.
ANTONYMS: (n) cloudiness,
murkiness, dimness, darkness,
mistiness, softness, sadness,
bleakness, dirtiness, pessimism; (adv)
seriously.
impair: (v) blemish, mar, corrupt,
disfigure, deface, debase, harm,
enervate, vitiate; (n, v) degrade, hurt.
ANTONYMS: (v) improve, fortify,
scrupulous: (adj) careful, punctilious,
help, purify.
laboured: (adj) labored, forced,
exact, conscientious, particular,
arduous, hard, strained, difficult,
painstaking, accurate, prudent,
laborious, grievous, grave, weighty,
meticulous, rigorous, cautious.
ANTONYMS: (adj) sloppy,
unnatural.
merits: (n) qualities.
unscrupulous, slapdash, relaxed,
oaken: (adj) woody.
guilty, deceitful.
quaint: (adj) odd, funny, picturesque, stately: (adj) solemn, imposing,
comical, fanciful, curious, whimsical, elegant; (adj, v) noble, dignified,
grand, proud, great; (adj, adv) regal,
strange, queer, peculiar, droll.
ANTONYMS: (adj) modern,
majestic, royal. ANTONYMS: (adj)
ordinary, dull.
boisterous, humble, modest, lowly.
272
Oliver Twist
The younger lady was in the lovely bloom and spring-time of womanhood;
at that age, when, if ever angels be for God's good purposes enthroned in mortal
forms, they may be, without impiety, supposed to abide in such as hers.%
She was not past seventeen. Cast in so slight and exquisite a mould; so mild
and gentle; so pure and beautiful; that earth seemed not her element, nor its
rough creatures her fit companions. The very intelligence that shone in her deep
blue eye, and was stamped upon her noble head, seemed scarcely of her age, or
of the world; and yet the changing expression of sweetness and good humour,
the thousand lights that played about the face, and left no shadow there; above
all, the smile, the cheerful, happy smile, were made for Home, and fireside peace
and happiness.
She was busily engaged in the little offices of the table. Chancing to raise her
eyes as the elder lady was regarding her, she playfully put back her hair, which
was simply braided on her forehead; and threw into her beaming look, such an
expression of affection and artless loveliness, that blessed spirits might have
smiled to look upon her.
'And Brittles has been gone upwards of an hour, has he?' asked the old lady,
after a pause.
'An hour and twelve minutes, ma'am,' replied Mr. Giles, referring to a silver
watch, which he drew forth by a black ribbon.
'He is always slow,' remarked the old lady.
'Brittles always was a slow boy, ma'am,' replied the attendant. And seeing, by
the bye, that Brittles had been a slow boy for upwards of thirty years, there
appeared no great probability of his ever being a fast one.
'He gets worse instead of better, I think,' said the elder lady.
'It is very inexcusable in him if he stops to play with any other boys,' said the
young lady, smiling.
Mr. Giles was apparently considering the propriety of indulging in a
respectful smile himself, when a gig drove up to the garden-gate: out of which
there jumped a fat gentleman, who ran straight up to the door: and who, getting
Thesaurus
artless: (adj) ingenuous, simple,
loveliness: (n) comeliness, fairness,
blasphemy, unrighteousness,
innocent, naive, open, candid,
impiousness, sacrilege, profanity,
grace, attractiveness, charm,
unsophisticated, unpretentious,
godlessness, irreverence, sin, evil.
glamour, pulchritude, beauteousness,
ANTONYMS: (n) restraint, goodness. good looks, cuteness, fineness.
unaffected, sincere, rugged.
ANTONYMS: (adj) artful,
inexcusable: (adj) irremissible,
ANTONYMS: (n) unattractiveness,
sophisticated, complicated,
unpardonable, reprehensible,
unpleasantness, awkwardness.
seventeen: (n) large integer.
unnatural, pretentious, insincere,
unwarrantable, unforgivable,
disingenuous, affected, forced,
unwarranted, unfair, untenable, not womanhood: (n) muliebrity,
experienced, cunning.
excusable, intolerable, unexcusable.
femininity, adulthood, maturity,
braided: (adj) curled, decorated, artful, ANTONYMS: (adj) understandable,
manhood, womankind, wifehood,
tressed, breaded.
forgivable, justifiable, justified,
softness, social class, majority, adult
impiety: (n) disrespect, irreligion,
laudable, wonderful.
female.
Charles Dickens
273
quickly into the house by some mysterious process, burst into the room, and
nearly overturned Mr. Giles and the breakfast-table together.%
'I never heard of such a thing!' exclaimed the fat gentleman. 'My dear Mrs.
Maylie--bless my soul--in the silence of the night, too--I never heard of such a
thing!'
With these expressions of condolence, the fat gentleman shook hands with
both ladies, and drawing up a chair, inquired how they found themselves.
'You ought to be dead; positively dead with the fright,' said the fat
gentleman. 'Why didn't you send? Bless me, my man should have come in a
minute; and so would I; and my assistant would have been delighted; or
anybody, I'm sure, under such circumstances. Dear, dear! So unexpected! In the
silence of the night, too!'
The doctor seemed especially troubled by the fact of the robbery having been
unexpected, and attempted in the night-time; as if it were the established custom
of gentlemen in the housebreaking way to transact business at noon, and to
make an appointment, by post, a day or two previous.
'And you, Miss Rose,' said the doctor, turning to the young lady, 'I--'
'Oh! very much so, indeed,' said Rose, interrupting him; 'but there is a poor
creature upstairs, whom aunt wishes you to see.'
'Ah! to be sure,' replied the doctor, 'so there is. That was your handiwork,
Giles, I understand.'
Mr. Giles, who had been feverishly putting the tea-cups to rights, blushed
very red, and said that he had had that honour.
'Honour, eh?' said the doctor; 'well, I don't know; perhaps it's as honourable
to hit a thief in a back kitchen, as to hit your man at twelve paces. Fancy that he
fired in the air, and you've fought a duel, Giles.'
Mr. Giles, who thought this light treatment of the matter an unjust attempt at
diminishing his glory, answered respectfully, that it was not for the like of him
to judge about that; but he rather thought it was no joke to the opposite party.
Thesaurus
attempted: (adj) unsuccessful.
condolence: (n) compassion, pity,
sympathy, condolement,
condolences, lamentation, mercy,
mourning, acknowledgement, solace,
acknowledgment. ANTONYM: (n)
congratulation.
diminishing: (adj) abating, declining,
dwindling, lessening, waning; (n)
decrease, shrinking, reducing,
reduction; (adv) diminishingly; (v)
diminish. ANTONYMS: (adj)
increasing, growing, burgeoning.
duel: (v) combat, duello, contest, buck,
repel, resist; (n, v) fight, tilt; (n) affaire
d'honneur, monomachy, prize fight.
expressions: (n) vocabulary, terms,
language.
handiwork: (n) handicraft, creation,
production, handcraft, product,
handwork, work, produce, design,
performance; (v) workmanship.
respectfully: (adv) reverentially,
reverently, politely, courteously,
civilly, attentively, graciously,
submissively, obsequiously,
admiringly, regardfully.
ANTONYMS: (adv) impudently,
contemptuously, disdainfully,
rudely, insolently, audaciously,
sneeringly, nastily, irreverently,
disobediently, arrogantly.
transact: (v) perform, execute, do,
manage, conduct, deal, bargain,
negotiate, enact, sell, bank.
ANTONYM: (v) deny.
274
Oliver Twist
'Gad, that's true!' said the doctor. 'Where is he? Show me the way. I'll look in
again, as I come down, Mrs. Maylie. That's the little window that he got in at, eh?
Well, I couldn't have believed it!'
Talking all the way, he followed Mr. Giles upstairs; and while he is going
upstairs, the reader may be informed, that Mr. Losberne, a surgeon in the
neighbourhood, known through a circuit of ten miles round as 'the doctor,' had
grown fat, more from good-humour than from good living: and was as kind and
hearty, and withal as eccentric an old bachelor, as will be found in five times that
space, by any explorer alive.%
The doctor was absent, much longer than either he or the ladies had
anticipated. A large flat box was fetched out of the gig; and a bedroom bell was
rung very often; and the servants ran up and down stairs perpetually; from
which tokens it was justly concluded that something important was going on
above. At length he returned; and in reply to an anxious inquiry after his patient;
looked very mysterious, and closed the door, carefully.
'This is a very extraordinary thing, Mrs. Maylie,' said the doctor, standing
with his back to the door, as if to keep it shut.
'He is not in danger, I hope?' said the old lady.
'Why, that would not be an extraordinary thing, under the circumstances,'
replied the doctor; 'though I don't think he is. Have you seen the thief?'
'No,' rejoined the old lady.
'Nor heard anything about him?'
'No.'
'I beg your pardon, ma'am, interposed Mr. Giles; 'but I was going to tell you
about him when Doctor Losberne came in.'
The fact was, that Mr. Giles had not, at first, been able to bring his mind to
the avowal, that he had only shot a boy. Such commendations had been
bestowed upon his bravery, that he could not, for the life of him, help
Thesaurus
avowal: (n) declaration, assertion,
affirmation, admission, statement,
recognition, acknowledgement,
announcement, confession,
testimony; (n, v) profession.
bravery: (n) courage, fortitude,
audacity, valor, boldness, mettle,
nerve, manhood, valiancy, heart,
heroism. ANTONYMS: (n) fear,
anxiety, fearfulness, timidity.
explorer: (n) adventurer, traveler,
pioneer, researcher, tourist, scout,
discoverer, diver, excursionist, soul,
mortal.
justly: (adv) accurately, fairly,
correctly, honestly, lawfully,
properly, exactly, uprightly,
legitimately, impartially, purely.
ANTONYMS: (adv) wrongly,
unfairly, unjustifiably, unjustly,
unlawfully, sinfully, falsely,
immorally.
perpetually: (adv) eternally,
everlastingly, always, incessantly,
continually, endlessly, permanently,
unceasingly, ceaselessly, ever; (adj,
adv) forever. ANTONYMS: (adv)
erratically, sporadically.
rung: (n) rundle, grade, degree, stage,
stair, spoke, stave, crosspiece, tread,
step; (adj) ringed.
servants: (n) staff, suite.
surgeon: (n) doctor, sawbones, doc,
reed, operating surgeon, medicine,
neurosurgeon, plastic surgeon,
medico, lister, general practitioner.
Charles Dickens
275
postponing the explanation for a few delicious minutes; during which he had
flourished, in the very zenith of a brief reputation for undaunted courage.%
'Rose wished to see the man,' said Mrs. Maylie, 'but I wouldn't hear of it.'
'Humph!' rejoined the doctor. 'There is nothing very alarming in his
appearance. Have you any objection to see him in my presence?'
'If it be necessary,' replied the old lady, 'certainly not.'
'Then I think it is necessary,' said the doctor; 'at all events, I am quite sure that
you would deeply regret not having done so, if you postponed it. He is perfectly
quiet and comfortable now. Allow me--Miss Rose, will you permit me? Not the
slightest fear, I pledge you my honour!'
Thesaurus
alarming: (adj) scary, alarm, awful,
nauseating, inedible, gross, dry.
amount.
objection: (n) dissent, complaint,
undaunted: (adj, n) bold; (adj) fearless,
formidable, shocking, appalling,
awesome, dire, horrid, horrible,
grievance, exception, gripe,
brave, intrepid, resolute, dauntless,
dreadful. ANTONYMS: (adj)
disagreement, outcry, difficulty,
daring, heroic, unabashed, valiant,
soothing, lovely, normal.
expostulation, disapproval, criticism. confident. ANTONYMS: (adj)
delicious: (adj, v) delicate; (adj)
ANTONYMS: (n) approval,
cowardly, timid, afraid, anxious,
tasteful, pleasing, delightful,
agreement, praise, acceptance.
scared.
pledge: (n, v) bond, gage, wager,
zenith: (n) apex, peak, top, height,
appetizing, agreeable, sweet,
toothsome, savory, enjoyable, dainty. engage, promise, plight, guarantee,
acme, pinnacle, summit, climax,
ANTONYMS: (adj) tasteless,
bet, contract; (n) assurance; (v)
vertex, culmination, prime.
covenant. ANTONYM: (v) redeem.
ANTONYMS: (n) base, bottom,
distasteful, yucky, unsavory,
unpleasant, unappetizing, revolting, slightest: (adj) minimal, first, smallest
trough.
Charles Dickens
277
CHAPTER XXX
RELATES WHAT OLIVER'S NEW VISITORS
THOUGHT OF HIM
With many loquacious assurances that they would be agreeably surprised in
the aspect of the criminal, the doctor drew the young lady's arm through one of
his; and offering his disengaged hand to Mrs. Maylie, led them, with much
ceremony and stateliness, upstairs.%
'Now,' said the doctor, in a whisper, as he softly turned the handle of a
bedroom-door, 'let us hear what you think of him. He has not been shaved very
recently, but he don't look at all ferocious notwithstanding. Stop, though! Let me
first see that he is in visiting order.'
Stepping before them, he looked into the room. Motioning them to advance,
he closed the door when they had entered; and gently drew back the curtains of
the bed. Upon it, in lieu of the dogged, black-visaged ruffian they had expected
to behold, there lay a mere child: worn with pain and exhaustion, and sunk into
a deep sleep. His wounded arm, bound and splintered up, was crossed upon his
breast; his head reclined upon the other arm, which was half hidden by his long
hair, as it streamed over the pillow.
Thesaurus
curtains: (n) passing, demise, finish,
attrition, weakening, weariness,
inanition, weakness; (adj, n) collapse;
decease, tragedy, termination,
calamity, cataclysm; (adj) last,
(adj) prostration. ANTONYMS: (n)
ultimate, terminal.
vitality, pep, restoration, vim.
dogged: (adj) obdurate, stubborn,
loquacious: (adj) talkative, chatty,
willful, bullheaded, insistent,
gabby, wordy, verbose, talky, glib,
obstinate, tenacious, wilful, untiring, voluble, linguacious, expansive,
gossipy. ANTONYMS: (adj) taciturn,
resolute, persistent. ANTONYMS:
(adj) yielding, compromising,
reticent.
pillow: (v) rest, breathe, lie, not move;
indifferent, undetermined.
exhaustion: (n) consumption,
(adj) wadding; (n) throw pillow,
enervation, tiredness, lassitude,
Wanger, bed pillow, feather bed, long
pillow, padding.
shaved: (adj) shave, lacking hair,
hairless, beardless, shiny on top,
bald, smooth on top, whiskerless.
ANTONYM: (adj) unshaven.
splintered: (adj) shattered, broken,
pixilated, split, soaked, blind drunk,
soused, blotto, sozzled, cracked,
plastered.
visiting: (adj) guest, impermanent,
temporary, visitant.
278
Oliver Twist
The honest gentleman held the curtain in his hand, and looked on, for a
minute or so, in silence. Whilst he was watching the patient thus, the younger
lady glided softly past, and seating herself in a chair by the bedside, gathered
Oliver's hair from his face. As she stooped over him, her tears fell upon his
forehead.%
The boy stirred, and smiled in his sleep, as though these marks of pity and
compassion had awakened some pleasant dream of a love and affection he had
never known. Thus, a strain of gentle music, or the rippling of water in a silent
place, or the odour of a flower, or the mention of a familiar word, will sometimes
call up sudden dim remembrances of scenes that never were, in this life; which
vanish like a breath; which some brief memory of a happier existence, long gone
by, would seem to have awakened; which no voluntary exertion of the mind can
ever recall.
'What can this mean?' exclaimed the elder lady. 'This poor child can never
have been the pupil of robbers!'
'Vice,' said the surgeon, replacing the curtain, 'takes up her abode in many
temples; and who can say that a fair outside shell not enshrine her?'
'But at so early an age!' urged Rose.
'My dear young lady,' rejoined the surgeon, mournfully shaking his head;
'crime, like death, is not confined to the old and withered alone. The youngest
and fairest are too often its chosen victims.'
'But, can you--oh! can you really believe that this delicate boy has been the
voluntary associate of the worst outcasts of society?' said Rose.
The surgeon shook his head, in a manner which intimated that he feared it
was very possible; and observing that they might disturb the patient, led the way
into an adjoining apartment.
'But even if he has been wicked,' pursued Rose, 'think how young he is; think
that he may never have known a mother's love, or the comfort of a home; that illusage and blows, or the want of bread, may have driven him to herd with men
who have forced him to guilt. Aunt, dear aunt, for mercy's sake, think of this,
Thesaurus
apartment: (n) residence, lodging,
enfold, venerate, inclose; (n, v)
respects, welcome; (n) remembrance.
sanctify; (n) edify, convert, beatify,
rippling: (n) ripple, wave, riffle,
suite, place, dwelling, chamber,
inscribe. ANTONYMS: (v) taint,
room, abode, house, home,
corrugation, moving ridge, wavelet,
accommodation.
disrespect, desecrate, defile, corrupt. ripple formation; (adj) flowing,
associate: (n, v) affiliate, connect, link; herd: (n, v) crowd; (adj) bevy, many;
billowy.
(n) partner, fellow, companion,
(adj, n, v) swarm; (n) drove, gang,
vanish: (n, v) disappear; (adj, v) fade;
assistant, accomplice, adjunct; (v)
(v) disperse, pass, go, die, dissipate,
crew, collection, covey, multitude,
company, relate. ANTONYMS: (v)
mob.
evaporate, depart, flee, melt away.
avoid, distance, separate, disconnect, odour: (n) flavour, smell, odor, aroma, ANTONYMS: (v) come, arrive, wax,
clear, divide, estrange; (adj) chief; (n) scent, bouquet, savour, nose, flavor,
stay.
stranger, rival, competitor.
smack, redolence.
enshrine: (v) bury, shrine, revere,
remembrances: (adj) abord, devoir,
Charles Dickens
279
before you let them drag this sick child to a prison, which in any case must be the
grave of all his chances of amendment. Oh! as you love me, and know that I have
never felt the want of parents in your goodness and affection, but that I might
have done so, and might have been equally helpless and unprotected with this
poor child, have pity upon him before it is too late!'
'My dear love,' said the elder lady, as she folded the weeping girl to her
bosom, 'do you think I would harm a hair of his head?'
'Oh, no!' replied Rose, eagerly.%
'No, surely,' said the old lady; 'my days are drawing to their close: and may
mercy be shown to me as I show it to others! What can I do to save him, sir?'
'Let me think, ma'am,' said the doctor; 'let me think.'
Mr. Losberne thrust his hands into his pockets, and took several turns up and
down the room; often stopping, and balancing himself on his toes, and frowning
frightfully. After various exclamations of 'I've got it now' and 'no, I haven't,' and
as many renewals of the walking and frowning, he at length made a dead halt,
and spoke as follows:
'I think if you give me a full and unlimited commission to bully Giles, and
that little boy, Brittles, I can manage it. Giles is a faithful fellow and an old
servant, I know; but you can make it up to him in a thousand ways, and reward
him for being such a good shot besides. You don't object to that?'
'Unless there is some other way of preserving the child,' replied Mrs. Maylie.
'There is no other,' said the doctor. 'No other, take my word for it.'
'Then my aunt invests you with full power,' said Rose, smiling through her
tears; 'but pray don't be harder upon the poor fellows than is indispensably
necessary.'
'You seem to think,' retorted the doctor, 'that everybody is disposed to be
hard-hearted to-day, except yourself, Miss Rose. I only hope, for the sake of the
rising male sex generally, that you may be found in as vulnerable and softhearted a mood by the first eligible young fellow who appeals to your
Thesaurus
balancing: (adj, n) matching; (n)
protect, reassure.
unconditional, immeasurable,
drag: (v) attract, draw, lug, cart, heave, limitless, endless, absolute, indefinite,
bringing into state of equilibrium,
tow; (n, v) pull, puff; (adv, v) trail; (n) infinite, total, measureless,
adjustment, equalization, equipoise,
bother; (adj) dragging. ANTONYMS: illimitable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
reconciliation, redress, wheel
(n) pleasure; (v) hasten, hurry, shove, restricted, partial, constrained,
balancing, balancing accountancy,
comparison; (adj) libratory.
speed, rush, propel, fly.
provisional, small.
bully: (n, v) hector; (v) bluster,
preserving: (n) conservation,
unprotected: (adj) exposed,
bulldoze, threaten, ballyrag; (n)
preservation, protection,
unguarded, open, naked, helpless,
tough, rowdy, hooligan, ruffian,
conservancy, embalmment, fixation;
defenseless, unshielded, uncovered,
bravo; (adj, v) domineer.
(adj) saving, frugal, economical,
unarmed, undefended, insecure.
ANTONYMS: (n) urge, flatter, cajole; protective, thrifty.
ANTONYMS: (adj) armed, protected,
(v) help, encourage, assist, obey,
unlimited: (adj) boundless,
secure, invulnerable.
280
Oliver Twist
compassion; and I wish I were a young fellow, that I might avail myself, on the
spot, of such a favourable opportunity for doing so, as the present.'
'You are as great a boy as poor Brittles himself,' returned Rose, blushing.%
'Well,' said the doctor, laughing heartily, 'that is no very difficult matter. But
to return to this boy. The great point of our agreement is yet to come. He will
wake in an hour or so, I dare say; and although I have told that thick-headed
constable-fellow downstairs that he musn't be moved or spoken to, on peril of his
life, I think we may converse with him without danger. Now I make this
stipulation--that I shall examine him in your presence, and that, if, from what he
says, we judge, and I can show to the satisfaction of your cool reason, that he is a
real and thorough bad one (which is more than possible), he shall be left to his
fate, without any farther interference on my part, at all events.'
'Oh no, aunt!' entreated Rose.
'Oh yes, aunt!' said the doctor. 'Is is a bargain?'
'He cannot be hardened in vice,' said Rose; 'It is impossible.'
'Very good,' retorted the doctor; 'then so much the more reason for acceding
to my proposition.'
Finally the treaty was entered into; and the parties thereunto sat down to
wait, with some impatience, until Oliver should awake.
The patience of the two ladies was destined to undergo a longer trial than
Mr. Losberne had led them to expect; for hour after hour passed on, and still
Oliver slumbered heavily. It was evening, indeed, before the kind-hearted doctor
brought them the intelligence, that he was at length sufficiently restored to be
spoken to. The boy was very ill, he said, and weak from the loss of blood; but his
mind was so troubled with anxiety to disclose something, that he deemed it
better to give him the opportunity, than to insist upon his remaining quiet until
next morning: which he should otherwise have done.
The conference was a long one. Oliver told them all his simple history, and
was often compelled to stop, by pain and want of strength. It was a solemn
thing, to hear, in the darkened room, the feeble voice of the sick child recounting
Thesaurus
acceding: (adj) accompanying,
subservient, subsidiary; (n)
agreement, appeasement.
compelled: (adj) forced, obligate,
enforced, constrained, responsible,
answerable, unwilling, destined.
darkened: (adj) darkens, obscured,
old, obfuscate, murky, cloudy,
opaque, overcast.
destined: (adj, v) bound, fated; (adj)
predetermined, sure, inescapable,
intended, predestined, inevitable,
prepared, foreordained, appointed.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unscheduled,
unlikely.
farther: (adj, adv, prep) beyond; (adj)
additional, more, distant; (adv)
furthermore, besides, abroad, in
addition, too; (adj, prep) outside;
(pron) another. ANTONYMS: (prep)
within; (adv) nearer, closer.
insist: (v) affirm, assert, contend,
demand, claim, asseverate, declare,
maintain, urge, importune, press.
ANTONYMS: (v) request, deny.
longer: (adj) longest, better, lengest;
(adv) farther; (n) yearner, thirster.
restored: (adj) new, healthy,
comfortable, convalescent.
solemn: (adj, n, v) serious; (adj, v)
sober, important, sedate, devout,
formal, demure; (adj) heavy,
dignified, sacred; (adj, n) earnest.
ANTONYMS: (adj) frivolous,
cheerful, unceremonious, funny,
playful, flippant, relaxed.
Charles Dickens
281
a weary catalogue of evils and calamities which hard men had brought upon
him. Oh! if when we oppress and grind our fellow-creatures, we bestowed but
one thought on the dark evidences of human error, which, like dense and heavy
clouds, are rising, slowly it is true, but not less surely, to Heaven, to pour their
after-vengeance on our heads; if we heard but one instant, in imagination, the
deep testimony of dead men's voices, which no power can stifle, and no pride
shut out; where would be the injury and injustice, the suffering, misery, cruelty,
and wrong, that each day's life brings with it!
Oliver's pillow was smoothed by gentle hands that night; and loveliness and
virtue watched him as he slept. He felt calm and happy, and could have died
without a murmur.%
The momentous interview was no sooner concluded, and Oliver composed
to rest again, than the doctor, after wiping his eyes, and condemning them for
being weak all at once, betook himself downstairs to open upon Mr. Giles. And
finding nobody about the parlours, it occurred to him, that he could perhaps
originate the proceedings with better effect in the kitchen; so into the kitchen he
went.
There were assembled, in that lower house of the domestic parliament, the
women-servants, Mr. Brittles, Mr. Giles, the tinker (who had received a special
invitation to regale himself for the remainder of the day, in consideration of his
services), and the constable. The latter gentleman had a large staff, a large head,
large features, and large half-boots; and he looked as if he had been taking a
proportionate allowance of ale--as indeed he had.
The adventures of the previous night were still under discussion; for Mr.
Giles was expatiating upon his presence of mind, when the doctor entered; Mr.
Brittles, with a mug of ale in his hand, was corroborating everything, before his
superior said it.
'Sit still!' said the doctor, waving his hand.
Thesaurus
condemning: (adj) inculpative,
censorious, inculpatory, critical; (n)
conviction, reproachful.
corroborating: (v) confirm; (adj)
corroborant.
evils: (n) mala.
momentous: (adj, v) grave,
memorable; (adj) significant, weighty,
material, big, consequential, serious,
critical, crucial, great. ANTONYMS:
(adj) trivial, unimportant,
inconsequential, frivolous, minor.
oppress: (v) press, harass, afflict,
harmonious, comparable, balanced,
burden, pinch, depress, encumber,
sufficient, relative, appropriate,
repress, crush; (adj, v) wrong; (adj)
adequate, equitable. ANTONYM:
aggrieve. ANTONYMS: (v) alleviate, (adj) disproportionate.
regale: (v) entertain, treat, feed, divert,
liberate.
originate: (v) begin, arise, initiate,
amuse, crop, browse, graze; (n)
banquet, regalia; (adj) refreshment.
commence, issue, develop, start,
stifle: (v) smother, suffocate, repress,
come, invent, grow, make.
ANTONYMS: (v) terminate, kill.
dampen, muffle, extinguish, strangle,
parlours: (n) parlour.
quell, hush up, asphyxiate, check.
proportionate: (adj, v) proportional;
ANTONYMS: (v) express, arouse,
(adj) proportionable, equal,
stimulate, light, exacerbate, show.
282
Oliver Twist
'Thank you, sir, said Mr. Giles. 'Misses wished some ale to be given out, sir;
and as I felt no ways inclined for my own little room, sir, and was disposed for
company, I am taking mine among 'em here.'
Brittles headed a low murmur, by which the ladies and gentlemen generally
were understood to express the gratification they derived from Mr. Giles's
condescension. Mr. Giles looked round with a patronising air, as much as to say
that so long as they behaved properly, he would never desert them.%
'How is the patient to-night, sir?' asked Giles.
'So-so'; returned the doctor. 'I am afraid you have got yourself into a scrape
there, Mr. Giles.'
'I hope you don't mean to say, sir,' said Mr. Giles, trembling, 'that he's going
to die. If I thought it, I should never be happy again. I wouldn't cut a boy off: no,
not even Brittles here; not for all the plate in the county, sir.'
'That's not the point,' said the doctor, mysteriously. 'Mr. Giles, are you a
Protestant?'
'Yes, sir, I hope so,' faltered Mr. Giles, who had turned very pale.
'And what are you, boy?' said the doctor, turning sharply upon Brittles.
'Lord bless me, sir!' replied Brittles, starting violently; 'I'm the same as Mr.
Giles, sir.'
'Then tell me this,' said the doctor, 'both of you, both of you! Are you going to
take upon yourselves to swear, that that boy upstairs is the boy that was put
through the little window last night? Out with it! Come! We are prepared for
you!'
The doctor, who was universally considered one of the best-tempered
creatures on earth, made this demand in such a dreadful tone of anger, that Giles
and Brittles, who were considerably muddled by ale and excitement, stared at
each other in a state of stupefaction.
'Pay attention to the reply, constable, will you?' said the doctor, shaking his
forefinger with great solemnity of manner, and tapping the bridge of his nose
Thesaurus
condescension: (n) arrogance,
lordliness, disparagement, patronage,
affability, disdain, pride,
superciliousness, contempt, stoop,
depreciation. ANTONYMS: (n)
respect, acceptance, admiration.
gratification: (adj, n) delight; (n, v)
content; (n) enjoyment, pleasure,
satisfaction, fruition, complacency,
joy, luxury, treat, fulfillment.
ANTONYMS: (n) dissatisfaction,
disenchantment, dismay, discontent,
anxiety.
condescending, arch, superior.
muddled: (adj) bewildered,
scrape: (n, v) scratch, graze, score,
mark; (v) rub, pare, rake, grate, chafe,
disorganized, messy, addled,
abrade; (n) abrasion.
disordered, incoherent, bemused,
stupefaction: (adj, n) stupor; (n)
unintelligible, chaotic, upset,
jumbled. ANTONYMS: (adj)
astonishment, daze, amazement,
organized, precise, lucid, coherent,
shock, bewilderment, perplexity,
distinct, clear.
surprise, awe, grogginess,
murmur: (n, v) grumble, mumble,
semiconsciousness.
hum, whisper, mutter, whine, babble, yourselves: (pron) themselves, myself,
drone; (v) complain, bubble, breathe. herself.
patronising: (adj) patronizing,
Charles Dickens
283
with it, to bespeak the exercise of that worthy's utmost acuteness. 'Something
may come of this before long.'
The constable looked as wise as he could, and took up his staff of office:
which had been reclining indolently in the chimney-corner.%
'It's a simple question of identity, you will observe,' said the doctor.
'That's what it is, sir,' replied the constable, coughing with great violence; for
he had finished his ale in a hurry, and some of it had gone the wrong way.
'Here's the house broken into,' said the doctor, 'and a couple of men catch one
moment's glimpse of a boy, in the midst of gunpowder smoke, and in all the
distraction of alarm and darkness. Here's a boy comes to that very same house,
next morning, and because he happens to have his arm tied up, these men lay
violent hands upon him--by doing which, they place his life in great danger--and
swear he is the thief. Now, the question is, whether these men are justified by the
fact; if not, in what situation do they place themselves?'
The constable nodded profoundly. He said, if that wasn't law, he would be
glad to know what was.
'I ask you again,' thundered the doctor, 'are you, on your solemn oaths, able
to identify that boy?'
Brittles looked doubtfully at Mr. Giles; Mr. Giles looked doubtfully at
Brittles; the constable put his hand behind his ear, to catch the reply; the two
women and the tinker leaned forward to listen; the doctor glanced keenly round;
when a ring was heard at the gate, and at the same moment, the sound of wheels.
'It's the runners!' cried Brittles, to all appearance much relieved.
'The what?' exclaimed the doctor, aghast in his turn.
'The Bow Street officers, sir,' replied Brittles, taking up a candle; 'me and Mr.
Giles sent for 'em this morning.'
'What?' cried the doctor.
'Yes,' replied Brittles; 'I sent a message up by the coachman, and I only
wonder they weren't here before, sir.'
Thesaurus
aghast: (adj) dismayed, appalled,
keenly: (adv) eagerly, zealously,
inevitably, confidently,
horrified, frightened, scared,
optimistically, plausibly.
piercingly, acutely, cuttingly,
terrified, confounded, astonished; (n) gunpowder: (n) powder, guncotton,
ardently, strongly, lively,
agape; (v) all agog, breathless.
fine particles, face powder, dust,
penetratingly, fervently, avidly.
ANTONYMS: (adj) undisturbed,
concentrate, ammunition, residue; (v) ANTONYMS: (adv)
unperturbed, unsurprised.
shot.
unenthusiastically, apathetically,
doubtfully: (adj, adv) hesitantly,
indolently: (adv) lazily, sluggishly,
faintly, reluctantly, patiently,
distrustfully; (adv) suspiciously,
slackly, slowly, languidly, torpidly,
passively, halfheartedly, vaguely.
reclining: (adj, v) leaning; (adj)
uncertainly, doubtingly, tentatively,
listlessly, lethargically, carelessly,
indecisively, unsurely, skeptically,
inertly, shiftlessly. ANTONYMS:
recumbent, decumbent, accumbent,
(adv) nimbly, vigorously,
precariously, shadily. ANTONYMS:
lying, lying down, obligatory, idle,
(adv) indisputably, surely, trustingly, dynamically.
prone, prostrate; (n) relaxation.
284
Oliver Twist
'You did, did you? Then confound your--slow coaches down here; that's all,'
said the doctor, walking away. %
Thesaurus
away: (adj, adv) abroad, absent; (adj,
adv, int) out; (adj) distant; (adv) aside,
aloof, afar, way, by, forth; (adv, int)
off. ANTONYMS: (adj) adjacent,
neighboring, nearby, near, close; (adv)
intermittently, haltingly,
discontinuously, in.
confound: (v) bewilder, baffle,
nonplus, perplex, astonish, puzzle,
amaze, astound, mistake; (adj, v)
confuse, stupefy. ANTONYMS: (v)
explain, clarify, comfort, lose,
distinguish; (n) understanding.
doctor: (v) cure, mend, repair, remedy,
attend, adulterate, fix, heal; (n) doc,
Dr; (adj) doctorly. ANTONYMS: (v)
purify, clean, distill, harm, hurt,
injure, wound.
walking: (n) gait, ambulation, wading,
shuffling, shambling, marching,
noctambulism, traveling; (adv) afoot;
(adj) moving, active.
Charles Dickens
285
CHAPTER XXXI
INVOLVES A CRITICAL POSITION
'Who's that?' inquired Brittles, opening the door a little way, with the chain
up, and peeping out, shading the candle with his hand.%
'Open the door,' replied a man outside; 'it's the officers from Bow Street, as
was sent to to-day.'
Much comforted by this assurance, Brittles opened the door to its full width,
and confronted a portly man in a great-coat; who walked in, without saying
anything more, and wiped his shoes on the mat, as coolly as if he lived there.
'Just send somebody out to relieve my mate, will you, young man?' said the
officer; 'he's in the gig, a-minding the prad. Have you got a coach 'us here, that
you could put it up in, for five or ten minutes?'
Brittles replying in the affirmative, and pointing out the building, the portly
man stepped back to the garden-gate, and helped his companion to put up the
gig: while Brittles lighted them, in a state of great admiration. This done, they
returned to the house, and, being shown into a parlour, took off their great-coats
and hats, and showed like what they were.
The man who had knocked at the door, was a stout personage of middle
height, aged about fifty: with shiny black hair, cropped pretty close; half-
Thesaurus
admiration: (n) esteem, adoration,
mate: (n, v) equal, partner, spouse;
shiny: (adj, v) lustrous; (adj) glossy,
(adj, n) companion, comrade, fellow,
appreciation, reverence, estimation,
smooth, sleek, slick, brilliant,
amazement, liking, awe, compliment; associate, friend; (n) compeer,
glistening, clear, shining, sheeny,
(adj, n) regard; (v) laud.
polished. ANTONYMS: (adj) rough,
consort, husband.
ANTONYMS: (n) disdain, criticism, pointing: (n) punctuation, indication,
unglazed, matt, coarse.
width: (n) extent, wideness, size,
disapproval, contempt, abhorrence,
scoring.
relieve: (n, v) ease, assuage, mitigate,
loathing, disgust, despising,
latitude, length, broadness, distance,
alleviate, allay, calm, redress; (v) free, dimension, thickness, amplitude,
dishonor, disparagement,
measurement. ANTONYMS: (n)
detestation.
help, console, excuse. ANTONYMS:
comforted: (adj) thankful, pleased,
(v) burden, aggravate, exacerbate,
thinness, height, tallness,
comfortable, calmed.
harbor, enforce, include, upset,
narrowness.
cropped: (adj) close.
depress.
286
Oliver Twist
whiskers, a round face, and sharp eyes. The other was a red-headed, bony man,
in top-boots; with a rather ill-favoured countenance, and a turned-up sinisterlooking nose.%
'Tell your governor that Blathers and Duff is here, will you?' said the stouter
man, smoothing down his hair, and laying a pair of handcuffs on the table. 'Oh!
Good-evening, master. Can I have a word or two with you in private, if you
please?'
This was addressed to Mr. Losberne, who now made his appearance; that
gentleman, motioning Brittles to retire, brought in the two ladies, and shut the
door.
'This is the lady of the house,' said Mr. Losberne, motioning towards Mrs.
Maylie.
Mr. Blathers made a bow. Being desired to sit down, he put his hat on the
floor, and taking a chair, motioned to Duff to do the same. The latter gentleman,
who did not appear quite so much accustomed to good society, or quite so much
at his ease in it--one of the two--seated himself, after undergoing several
muscular affections of the limbs, and the head of his stick into his mouth, with
some embarrassment.
'Now, with regard to this here robbery, master,' said Blathers. 'What are the
circumstances?'
Mr. Losberne, who appeared desirous of gaining time, recounted them at
great length, and with much circumlocution. Messrs. Blathers and Duff looked
very knowing meanwhile, and occasionally exchanged a nod.
'I can't say, for certain, till I see the work, of course,' said Blathers; 'but my
opinion at once is,--I don't mind committing myself to that extent,--that this
wasn't done by a yokel; eh, Duff?'
'Certainly not,' replied Duff.
'And, translating the word yokel for the benefit of the ladies, I apprehend
your meaning to be, that this attempt was not made by a countryman?' said Mr.
Losberne, with a smile.
Thesaurus
bony: (adj) osseous, gaunt, lean, thin,
emaciated, scrawny, skinny, angular,
lanky, meager, boney. ANTONYMS:
(adj) plump, boneless, fat, stout.
circumlocution: (n) verbiage,
ambages, equivocation, evasion,
verboseness, verbosity, quibble,
indirect expression, circumstance,
annulling, cancellation.
ANTONYMS: (n)
straightforwardness, conciseness,
brevity.
gaining: (n) acceptance, acquisition,
attainment, capture; (adj) ahead,
fortunate. ANTONYM: (n) loss.
handcuffs: (n) fetters, cuffs, cuff,
chains, handcuff, manacles, manacle,
bonds, bond, darbies, iron.
ill-favoured: (adj) ill-favored.
muscular: (adj) athletic, strong,
brawny, hefty, burly, powerful,
robust, husky, stout, stalwart, sturdy.
ANTONYMS: (adj) puny, slight,
weak, ectomorphic, endomorphic,
skinny, unfit, feeble, frail, delicate.
recounted: (adj) narrative.
retire: (v) resign, retreat, withdraw,
leave, abdicate, ebb, depart, turn in,
fall back, hit the hay, go to bed.
ANTONYMS: (v) remain, enter.
translating: (n) communication,
movement.
yokel: (n) hick, bumpkin, hayseed,
rustic, rube, clod, hobnail, yahoo,
chawbacon, yochel, boor.
Charles Dickens
287
'That's it, master,' replied Blathers. 'This is all about the robbery, is it?'
'All,' replied the doctor.%
'Now, what is this, about this here boy that the servants are a-talking on?'
said Blathers.
'Nothing at all,' replied the doctor. 'One of the frightened servants chose to
take it into his head, that he had something to do with this attempt to break into
the house; but it's nonsense: sheer absurdity.'
'Wery easy disposed of, if it is,' remarked Duff.
'What he says is quite correct,' observed Blathers, nodding his head in a
confirmatory way, and playing carelessly with the handcuffs, as if they were a
pair of castanets. 'Who is the boy? What account does he give of himself? Where
did he come from? He didn't drop out of the clouds, did he, master?'
'Of course not,' replied the doctor, with a nervous glance at the two ladies. 'I
know his whole history: but we can talk about that presently. You would like,
first, to see the place where the thieves made their attempt, I suppose?'
'Certainly,' rejoined Mr. Blathers. 'We had better inspect the premises first,
and examine the servants afterwards. That's the usual way of doing business.'
Lights were then procured; and Messrs. Blathers and Duff, attended by the
native constable, Brittles, Giles, and everybody else in short, went into the little
room at the end of the passage and looked out at the window; and afterwards
went round by way of the lawn, and looked in at the window; and after that, had
a candle handed out to inspect the shutter with; and after that, a lantern to trace
the footsteps with; and after that, a pitchfork to poke the bushes with. This done,
amidst the breathless interest of all beholders, they came in again; and Mr. Giles
and Brittles were put through a melodramatic representation of their share in the
previous night's adventures: which they performed some six times over:
contradicting each other, in not more than one important respect, the first time,
and in not more than a dozen the last. This consummation being arrived at,
Blathers and Duff cleared the room, and held a long council together, compared
Thesaurus
amidst: (adv, prep) among; (adv)
amongst; (prep) between, midst, into.
bushes: (n) underbrush, thicket,
undergrowth, minor league.
castanets: (n) bones, maraca, finger
cymbals, clappers.
clouds: (n) exhaust, fumes, gas, smoke,
vapors.
consummation: (n) accomplishment,
completion, fulfillment, fruition,
performance, execution, climax,
attainment, perfection, end,
realization.
inspect: (v) overhaul, overlook,
survey, watch, scrutinize, view,
explore, look, review, inquire,
monitor. ANTONYMS: (v) skim,
ignore.
lawn: (n) grassplot, field, green, park,
meadow, grassplat, plot, lea, turfs,
turves, turf.
melodramatic: (adj) theatrical,
histrionic, sensational, exaggerated,
overemotional, affected, buskined,
comic, farcical, melodramatics,
operatic. ANTONYMS: (adj) calm,
natural, quiet, restrained.
poke: (n, v) dig, jab, nudge, push,
punch, prod, thrust; (n) bag, sack,
pocket; (v) shove.
presently: (adv) instantly, directly,
currently, before long, shortly, soon,
now, at present, readily, just,
actually. ANTONYMS: (adv) later,
now, formerly.
288
Oliver Twist
with which, for secrecy and solemnity, a consultation of great doctors on the
knottiest point in medicine, would be mere child's play.%
Meanwhile, the doctor walked up and down the next room in a very uneasy
state; and Mrs. Maylie and Rose looked on, with anxious faces.
'Upon my word,' he said, making a halt, after a great number of very rapid
turns, 'I hardly know what to do.'
'Surely,' said Rose, 'the poor child's story, faithfully repeated to these men,
will be sufficient to exonerate him.'
'I doubt it, my dear young lady,' said the doctor, shaking his head. 'I don't
think it would exonerate him, either with them, or with legal functionaries of a
higher grade. What is he, after all, they would say? A runaway. Judged by mere
worldly considerations and probabilities, his story is a very doubtful one.'
'You believe it, surely?' interrupted Rose.
'I believe it, strange as it is; and perhaps I may be an old fool for doing so,'
rejoined the doctor; 'but I don't think it is exactly the tale for a practical policeofficer, nevertheless.'
'Why not?' demanded Rose.
'Because, my pretty cross-examiner,' replied the doctor: 'because, viewed with
their eyes, there are many ugly points about it; he can only prove the parts that
look ill, and none of those that look well. Confound the fellows, they will have
the why and the wherefore, and will take nothing for granted. On his own
showing, you see, he has been the companion of thieves for some time past; he
has been carried to a police-officer, on a charge of picking a gentleman's pocket;
he has been taken away, forcibly, from that gentleman's house, to a place which
he cannot describe or point out, and of the situation of which he has not the
remotest idea. He is brought down to Chertsey, by men who seem to have taken
a violent fancy to him, whether he will or no; and is put through a window to rob
a house; and then, just at the very moment when he is going to alarm the
inmates, and so do the very thing that would set him all to rights, there rushes
Thesaurus
don't: (adv) not; (n) taboo, prohibition.
exonerate: (v) acquit, exempt, excuse,
discharge, liberate, purge, disengage;
(adj, v) absolve, exculpate, justify; (n,
v) release. ANTONYMS: (v) convict,
blame, condemn, incriminate,
castigate.
forcibly: (adv) forcefully, emphatically,
powerfully, by force, mightily, under
protest, cogently, hard, strongly,
convincingly, clearly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) voluntarily, weakly, gently.
remotest: (adj) furthest, uttermost,
endmost, extreme, last, utmost.
runaway: (adj, n) renegade,
delinquent; (n) deserter, romp,
walkaway, refugee, absconder,
runagate, escapee, laugher; (adj)
decided. ANTONYM: (n) challenge.
wherefore: (adv, conj) therefore; (adv,
n) why; (n) reason, proof; (adv)
accordingly, consequently, so,
wherefor, hence, whence; (conj) then.
worldly: (adj, adv) earthly; (adj)
mundane, secular, terrestrial,
temporal, carnal, sophisticated, lay,
profane; (adv) mundanely,
temporally. ANTONYMS: (adj)
spiritual, naive, cloistered, religious,
unsophisticated, unworldly,
unrefined, otherworldly, low,
heavenly, immaterial.
Charles Dickens
289
into the way, a blundering dog of a half-bred butler, and shoots him! As if on
purpose to prevent his doing any good for himself! Don't you see all this?'
'I see it, of course,' replied Rose, smiling at the doctor's impetuosity; 'but still
I do not see anything in it, to criminate the poor child.'
'No,' replied the doctor; 'of course not! Bless the bright eyes of your sex! They
never see, whether for good or bad, more than one side of any question; and that
is, always, the one which first presents itself to them.'
Having given vent to this result of experience, the doctor put his hands into
his pockets, and walked up and down the room with even greater rapidity than
before.%
'The more I think of it,' said the doctor, 'the more I see that it will occasion
endless trouble and difficulty if we put these men in possession of the boy's real
story. I am certain it will not be believed; and even if they can do nothing to him
in the end, still the dragging it forward, and giving publicity to all the doubts
that will be cast upon it, must interfere, materially, with your benevolent plan of
rescuing him from misery.'
'Oh! what is to be done?' cried Rose. 'Dear, dear! why did they send for these
people?'
'Why, indeed!' exclaimed Mrs. Maylie. 'I would not have had them here, for
the world.'
'All I know is,' said Mr. Losberne, at last: sitting down with a kind of
desperate calmness, 'that we must try and carry it off with a bold face. The object
is a good one, and that must be our excuse. The boy has strong symptoms of
fever upon him, and is in no condition to be talked to any more; that's one
comfort. We must make the best of it; and if bad be the best, it is no fault of ours.
Come in!'
'Well, master,' said Blathers, entering the room followed by his colleague, and
making the door fast, before he said any more. 'This warn't a put-up thing.'
'And what the devil's a put-up thing?' demanded the doctor, impatiently.
Thesaurus
benevolent: (adj) good, charitable,
generous, kind, philanthropic,
gracious, loving, amiable; (adj, n)
beneficent, compassionate, kindly.
ANTONYMS: (adj) malicious,
unfeeling, mean, selfish, unkind,
misanthropic, nasty, hardhearted,
inhumane.
blundering: (adj) clumsy, tactless,
inept, maladroit, ungainly,
unthinking, ridiculous, obtuse,
oblivious, lumbering, insensitive.
ANTONYMS: (adj) graceful,
sensitive, dexterous.
criminate: (v) charge, arraign, censure,
impeach, incriminate, blame,
reproach, reprimand, indict, crime,
criminator.
dragging: (n) pulled wire, stemming,
haulage; (adj) slow, sickly, slack,
unfit, sluggish, tardy, tedious; (v)
involve. ANTONYMS: (adj) energetic,
energizing, exciting, prompt, short.
impetuosity: (n) eagerness, haste, heat,
violence, vehemence, impulsiveness,
impetuousness, excitability, temerity,
precipitation, fervency.
ANTONYMS: (n) deliberation,
patience, consideration, carefulness.
materially: (adv) physically,
substantially, corporeally,
significantly, really, essentially,
corporally, vitally, solidly,
momentously, fundamentally.
rescuing: (adj) preserving, frugal,
economical.
290
Oliver Twist
'We call it a put-up robbery, ladies,' said Blathers, turning to them, as if he
pitied their ignorance, but had a contempt for the doctor's, 'when the servants is
in it.'
'Nobody suspected them, in this case,' said Mrs. Maylie.%
'Wery likely not, ma'am,' replied Blathers; 'but they might have been in it, for
all that.'
'More likely on that wery account,' said Duff.
'We find it was a town hand,' said Blathers, continuing his report; 'for the
style of work is first-rate.'
'Wery pretty indeed it is,' remarked Duff, in an undertone.
'There was two of 'em in it,' continued Blathers; 'and they had a boy with 'em;
that's plain from the size of the window. That's all to be said at present. We'll see
this lad that you've got upstairs at once, if you please.'
'Perhaps they will take something to drink first, Mrs. Maylie?' said the doctor:
his face brightening, as if some new thought had occurred to him.
'Oh! to be sure!' exclaimed Rose, eagerly. 'You shall have it immediately, if
you will.'
'Why, thank you, miss!' said Blathers, drawing his coat-sleeve across his
mouth; 'it's dry work, this sort of duty. Anythink that's handy, miss; don't put
yourself out of the way, on our accounts.'
'What shall it be?' asked the doctor, following the young lady to the
sideboard.
'A little drop of spirits, master, if it's all the same,' replied Blathers. 'It's a cold
ride from London, ma'am; and I always find that spirits comes home warmer to
the feelings.'
This interesting communication was addressed to Mrs. Maylie, who received
it very graciously. While it was being conveyed to her, the doctor slipped out of
the room.
Thesaurus
brightening: (n) blooming, polishing,
ready. ANTONYMS: (adj) clumsy,
locker, credence, press, snack bar,
limb, illumination, first blush, break
fixed, inept, unwieldy, inconvenient, bin.
undertone: (n) undercurrent, murmur,
of day.
faraway, far, difficult, distant,
contempt: (n, v) scorn; (v) despise; (n)
cumbersome, worthless.
tinge, nuance, whisper, suggestion,
ignorance: (n) illiteracy, nescience,
disrespect, derision, mockery,
implication, connotation, overtone,
disregard, ridicule, shame, slight,
folly, unwisdom, innocence,
association, hint.
warmer: (n) stove, oilstove, deicer,
reproach, discourtesy. ANTONYMS: denseness, ignorancy, stupidity,
(n) approval, admiration, regard,
obtuseness, tabula rasa,
defroster, brasier, radiator, brazier,
unawareness. ANTONYMS: (n)
honor, esteem.
warming, warmed, demister, gas
handy: (adj) convenient, adroit, apt,
intelligence, acquaintance, education. heater.
expert, clever, deft, dexterous, good, sideboard: (n) cupboard, closet,
accessible; (adj, n) available; (adj, n, v) cellaret, credenza, cabinet, counter,
Charles Dickens
291
'Ah!' said Mr. Blathers: not holding his wine-glass by the stem, but grasping
the bottom between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand: and placing it in
front of his chest; 'I have seen a good many pieces of business like this, in my
time, ladies.'
'That crack down in the back lane at Edmonton, Blathers,' said Mr. Duff,
assisting his colleague's memory.%
'That was something in this way, warn't it?' rejoined Mr. Blathers; 'that was
done by Conkey Chickweed, that was.'
'You always gave that to him' replied Duff. 'It was the Family Pet, I tell you.
Conkey hadn't any more to do with it than I had.'
'Get out!' retorted Mr. Blathers; 'I know better. Do you mind that time when
Conkey was robbed of his money, though? What a start that was! Better than any
novel-book I ever see!'
'What was that?' inquired Rose: anxious to encourage any symptoms of goodhumour in the unwelcome visitors.
'It was a robbery, miss, that hardly anybody would have been down upon,'
said Blathers. 'This here Conkey Chickweed--'
'Conkey means Nosey, ma'am,' interposed Duff.
'Of course the lady knows that, don't she?' demanded Mr. Blathers. 'Always
interrupting, you are, partner! This here Conkey Chickweed, miss, kept a publichouse over Battlebridge way, and he had a cellar, where a good many young
lords went to see cock-fighting, and badger-drawing, and that; and a wery
intellectual manner the sports was conducted in, for I've seen 'em off'en. He
warn't one of the family, at that time; and one night he was robbed of three
hundred and twenty-seven guineas in a canvas bag, that was stole out of his
bedroom in the dead of night, by a tall man with a black patch over his eye, who
had concealed himself under the bed, and after committing the robbery, jumped
slap out of window: which was only a story high. He was wery quick about it.
But Conkey was quick, too; for he fired a blunderbuss arter him, and roused the
neighbourhood. They set up a hue-and-cry, directly, and when they came to look
Thesaurus
assisting: (adj) aiding, auxiliary,
blind, occult, secret, mysterious,
subsidiary, suffragan, adjuvant,
obscure, buried, invisible, secreted,
surreptitious. ANTONYMS: (adj)
supporting, support, secondary,
supplementary, assistant; (n) helping. unconcealed, available, overt, open,
ANTONYM: (adj) main.
divulged, Shown, revealed,
blunderbuss: (n) caliver, carbine,
disclosed, uncovered, noticeable,
firelock, fowling piece, fusil, musket, mainstream.
conducted: (adj) directed, guided.
musketry, bungler, rifle, oaf.
cellar: (n) basement, cellarage, wine
duff: (n) pudding, posterior, dough,
cellar, godown, warehouse, winery,
rump, MOR, litter.
slap: (n, v) clap, cuff, knock, hit,
silo, pit, excavation, story, storey.
concealed: (adj) covert, clandestine,
whack, beat, strike, spank; (n) blow;
(v) buffet; (adv) bang.
stole: (n) wrap, stolen, scarf, stolon,
stealing, robe, alb, tunicle, surplice,
alba, cassock.
unwelcome: (adj) undesirable,
objectionable, unpopular, unasked,
unwished, unintroduced, unvisited,
uninvited, unpleasant; (adj, n)
disagreeable, unsatisfactory.
ANTONYMS: (adj) welcome,
desirable, gratifying, wanted,
fortunate.
292
Oliver Twist
about %'em, found that Conkey had hit the robber; for there was traces of blood,
all the way to some palings a good distance off; and there they lost 'em.
However, he had made off with the blunt; and, consequently, the name of Mr.
Chickweed, licensed witler, appeared in the Gazette among the other bankrupts;
and all manner of benefits and subscriptions, and I don't know what all, was got
up for the poor man, who was in a wery low state of mind about his loss, and
went up and down the streets, for three or four days, a pulling his hair off in
such a desperate manner that many people was afraid he might be going to make
away with himself. One day he came up to the office, all in a hurry, and had a
private interview with the magistrate, who, after a deal of talk, rings the bell, and
orders Jem Spyers in (Jem was a active officer), and tells him to go and assist Mr.
Chickweed in apprehending the man as robbed his house. "I see him, Spyers,"
said Chickweed, "pass my house yesterday morning," "Why didn't you up, and
collar him!" says Spyers. "I was so struck all of a heap, that you might have
fractured my skull with a toothpick," says the poor man; "but we're sure to have
him; for between ten and eleven o'clock at night he passed again." Spyers no
sooner heard this, than he put some clean linen and a comb, in his pocket, in case
he should have to stop a day or two; and away he goes, and sets himself down at
one of the public-house windows behind the little red curtain, with his hat on, all
ready to bolt out, at a moment's notice. He was smoking his pipe here, late at
night, when all of a sudden Chickweed roars out, "Here he is! Stop thief!
Murder!" Jem Spyers dashes out; and there he sees Chickweed, a-tearing down
the street full cry. Away goes Spyers; on goes Chickweed; round turns the
people; everybody roars out, "Thieves!" and Chickweed himself keeps on
shouting, all the time, like mad. Spyers loses sight of him a minute as he turns a
corner; shoots round; sees a little crowd; dives in; "Which is the man?" "D--me!"
says Chickweed, "I've lost him again!" It was a remarkable occurrence, but he
warn't to be seen nowhere, so they went back to the public-house. Next morning,
Spyers took his old place, and looked out, from behind the curtain, for a tall man
with a black patch over his eye, till his own two eyes ached again. At last, he
couldn't help shutting 'em, to ease 'em a minute; and the very moment he did so,
he hears Chickweed a-roaring out, "Here he is!" Off he starts once more, with
Thesaurus
apprehending: (v) apprehend; (n)
ANTONYMS: (v) nibble, unbolt,
perception, thought, recognition.
loosen, amble, snack, wait, open,
blunt: (adj, v) dull, deaden; (adj) bluff, unfasten, stroll, saunter, unscrew.
chickweed: (n) herb, clammy
plain, direct, forthright, frank,
candid, outspoken, round, abrupt.
chickweed, mouse ear, mouse eared
ANTONYMS: (v) hone, sharpen,
chickweed, stitchwort.
point, accentuate, needle; (adj)
comb: (v) brush, ransack, search,
dress, eliminate, groom; (adj) weed;
devious, pointed, thoughtful, polite,
(n) crest, combing, caruncle,
guarded, gentle.
bolt: (v) bar, gobble, abscond, fasten;
currycomb.
(n) arrow; (adj, n) pin; (n, v) dash,
dives: (n) Lazarus, Croesus, dive,
lock, latch, escape; (adv) bang.
Timon of Athens, diving, dived,
capitalist, Idas, millionaire, nabob,
Plutus.
fractured: (v) cracked, contrite, broken
friendship, blighted, apart, disunited,
disconnected; (adj) torn, fissured.
heap: (n, v) pile, aggregate, amass; (n)
collection, accumulation, mound,
mass, group, lot; (v) bank, collect.
ANTONYM: (v) tidy.
palings: (n) inclosure, fencing,
enclosure.
Charles Dickens
293
Chickweed half-way down the street ahead of him; and after twice as long a run
as the yesterday's one, the man's lost again! This was done, once or twice more,
till one-half the neighbours gave out that Mr. Chickweed had been robbed by
the devil, who was playing tricks with him arterwards; and the other half, that
poor Mr. Chickweed had gone mad with grief.'
'What did Jem Spyers say?' inquired the doctor; who had returned to the
room shortly after the commencement of the story.%
'Jem Spyers,' resumed the officer, 'for a long time said nothing at all, and
listened to everything without seeming to, which showed he understood his
business. But, one morning, he walked into the bar, and taking out his snuffbox,
says "Chickweed, I've found out who done this here robbery." "Have you?" said
Chickweed. "Oh, my dear Spyers, only let me have wengeance, and I shall die
contented! Oh, my dear Spyers, where is the villain!" "Come!" said Spyers,
offering him a pinch of snuff, "none of that gammon! You did it yourself." So he
had; and a good bit of money he had made by it, too; and nobody would never
have found it out, if he hadn't been so precious anxious to keep up appearances!'
said Mr. Blathers, putting down his wine-glass, and clinking the handcuffs
together.
'Very curious, indeed,' observed the doctor. 'Now, if you please, you can
walk upstairs.'
'If you please, sir,' returned Mr. Blathers. Closely following Mr. Losberne, the
two officers ascended to Oliver's bedroom; Mr. Giles preceding the party, with a
lighted candle.
Oliver had been dozing; but looked worse, and was more feverish than he
had appeared yet. Being assisted by the doctor, he managed to sit up in bed for a
minute or so; and looked at the strangers without at all understanding what was
going forward--in fact, without seeming to recollect where he was, or what had
been passing.
'This,' said Mr. Losberne, speaking softly, but with great vehemence
notwithstanding, 'this is the lad, who, being accidently wounded by a spring-gun
Thesaurus
clinking: (adj) tinkle, jingle, tinkling,
cacophonous, reverberant, ringing.
devil: (n) fiend, demon, ghost,
monster, Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub,
deuce, daemon; (v) torment, rag.
ANTONYM: (n) angel.
feverish: (adj) febrile, feverous, fiery,
frenzied, fevered, excited, sick,
fanatical; (adj, v) hot, flushed; (adj, n)
hysterical. ANTONYMS: (adj) calm,
afebrile, collected, composed,
mellow.
neighbours: (n) neighborhood.
pinch: (n, v) nip, arrest, twinge,
squeeze; (n) emergency, crisis,
exigency; (v) compress, lift, wring,
constrict.
preceding: (adj, adv) anterior, earlier;
(adj) foregoing, former, previous,
prior, past, precedent, prevenient;
(adv) forward; (prep) before.
ANTONYMS: (adj) following,
succeeding, next, present.
seeming: (adj) ostensible, superficial,
illusory, outward, probable,
deceptive, specious; (adj, n)
appearance, semblance; (n) aspect,
show. ANTONYMS: (adj) actual,
deep, inner.
snuffbox: (n) snuff box.
strangers: (n) stranger.
tricks: (n) actions, behavior, thing,
clowning around, fooling, magic,
plunder, possession, activities.
twice: (adv) doubly, bis, two times, in
two ways, once more; (adj) twenty.
294
Oliver Twist
in some boyish trespass on Mr. What-d' ye-call-him's grounds, at the back here,
comes to the house for assistance this morning, and is immediately laid hold of
and maltreated, by that ingenious gentleman with the candle in his hand: who
has placed his life in considerable danger, as I can professionally certify.'
Messrs. Blathers and Duff looked at Mr. Giles, as he was thus recommended
to their notice. The bewildered butler gazed from them towards Oliver, and from
Oliver towards Mr. Losberne, with a most ludicrous mixture of fear and
perplexity.%
'You don't mean to deny that, I suppose?' said the doctor, laying Oliver
gently down again.
'It was all done for the--for the best, sir,' answered Giles. 'I am sure I thought
it was the boy, or I wouldn't have meddled with him. I am not of an inhuman
disposition, sir.'
'Thought it was what boy?' inquired the senior officer.
'The housebreaker's boy, sir!' replied Giles. 'They--they certainly had a boy.'
'Well? Do you think so now?' inquired Blathers.
'Think what, now?' replied Giles, looking vacantly at his questioner.
'Think it's the same boy, Stupid-head?' rejoined Blathers, impatiently.
'I don't know; I really don't know,' said Giles, with a rueful countenance. 'I
couldn't swear to him.'
'What do you think?' asked Mr. Blathers.
'I don't know what to think,' replied poor Giles. 'I don't think it is the boy;
indeed, I'm almost certain that it isn't. You know it can't be.'
'Has this man been a-drinking, sir?' inquired Blathers, turning to the doctor.
'What a precious muddle-headed chap you are!' said Duff, addressing Mr.
Giles, with supreme contempt.
Mr. Losberne had been feeling the patient's pulse during this short dialogue;
but he now rose from the chair by the bedside, and remarked, that if the officers
Thesaurus
boyish: (adj) young, puerile,
adolescent, youthful, babyish,
childish, girlish, kittenish, boylike,
callow, immature. ANTONYM: (adj)
mature.
disposition: (n) attitude, character,
disposal, tendency, predisposition,
inclination, propensity, bias,
arrangement, direction, aptitude.
inhuman: (adj) heartless, cruel,
atrocious, brutal, cold, harsh,
ferocious, remorseless, barbarous,
pulse: (n, v) throb; (n) pulsation,
relentless, barbaric. ANTONYMS:
(adj) sympathetic, kind, humane.
impulse, heartbeat, legume, rhythm,
maltreated: (adj) mistreated, battered,
pounding, cadence; (v) pulsate,
aggrieved, assaulted, physically
palpitate, pound.
questioner: (n) inquirer, interrogator,
abused, beaten, downtrodden,
harmed, molested, persecuted,
enquirer, interviewer, querist,
injured.
investigator, examiner, asker,
professionally: (adv) expertly,
doubter, talker, speaker.
trespass: (adj, v) offend; (n, v) sin,
occupationally, proficiently,
breach; (n) offense, invasion,
competently, adeptly, technically,
vocationally, resourcefully, skillfully, infringement, encroachment; (v)
skilledly, efficiently.
encroach, infringe, intrude, invade.
Charles Dickens
295
had any doubts upon the subject, they would perhaps like to step into the next
room, and have Brittles before them.%
Acting upon this suggestion, they adjourned to a neighbouring apartment,
where Mr. Brittles, being called in, involved himself and his respected superior in
such a wonderful maze of fresh contradictions and impossibilities, as tended to
throw no particular light on anything, but the fact of his own strong
mystification; except, indeed, his declarations that he shouldn't know the real
boy, if he were put before him that instant; that he had only taken Oliver to be
he, because Mr. Giles had said he was; and that Mr. Giles had, five minutes
previously, admitted in the kitchen, that he began to be very much afraid he had
been a little too hasty.
Among other ingenious surmises, the question was then raised, whether Mr.
Giles had really hit anybody; and upon examination of the fellow pistol to that
which he had fired, it turned out to have no more destructive loading than
gunpowder and brown paper: a discovery which made a considerable
impression on everybody but the doctor, who had drawn the ball about ten
minutes before. Upon no one, however, did it make a greater impression than on
Mr. Giles himself; who, after labouring, for some hours, under the fear of having
mortally wounded a fellow-creature, eagerly caught at this new idea, and
favoured it to the utmost. Finally, the officers, without troubling themselves
very much about Oliver, left the Chertsey constable in the house, and took up
their rest for that night in the town; promising to return the next morning.
With the next morning, there came a rumour, that two men and a boy were in
the cage at Kingston, who had been apprehended over night under suspicious
circumstances; and to Kingston Messrs. Blathers and Duff journeyed accordingly.
The suspicious circumstances, however, resolving themselves, on investigation,
into the one fact, that they had been discovered sleeping under a haystack;
which, although a great crime, is only punishable by imprisonment, and is, in
the merciful eye of the English law, and its comprehensive love of all the King's
subjects, held to be no satisfactory proof, in the absence of all other evidence, that
the sleeper, or sleepers, have committed burglary accompanied with violence,
Thesaurus
apprehended: (adj) arrested, seized,
mystification: (n) bafflement,
factorization, diagonalization,
understood, under arrest, in custody, confusion, befuddlement,
declaration, firmness, resoluteness;
detained, appreciated,
bemusement, puzzlement, deception, (v) solve.
sleeper: (n) railroad tie, crosstie, tie,
comprehended.
deceit, fraud, imposture, riddle,
favoured: (adj) preferred, preferential. obfuscation.
noctambulist, baggage car,
haystack: (n) rick, haycock, stack,
punishable: (adj) culpable, guilty,
slumberer, dreamer, Pullman car,
crick, cock, standing wave.
criminal, corrective, chastisable,
freight car, parlor car, express car.
mortally: (adv) lethally, deadly,
corrigible, liable to penalty, liable to troubling: (adj) worrying, disquieting,
pestilently, perniciously, extremely,
punishment, deserving chastisement, distressing, distressful, disconcerting,
humanly, grievously, poisonously,
docile, illegal.
alarming, perturbing, bad, annoying,
sad, worrisome. ANTONYM: (adj)
individually, killingly, dangerously. resolving: (n) factoring, resolve,
ANTONYM: (adv) mildly.
settlement, solving, solution,
reassuring.
296
Oliver Twist
and have therefore rendered themselves liable to the punishment of death;
Messrs. Blathers and Duff came back again, as wise as they went.%
In short, after some more examination, and a great deal more conversation, a
neighbouring magistrate was readily induced to take the joint bail of Mrs. Maylie
and Mr. Losberne for Oliver's appearance if he should ever be called upon; and
Blathers and Duff, being rewarded with a couple of guineas, returned to town
with divided opinions on the subject of their expedition: the latter gentleman on
a mature consideration of all the circumstances, inclining to the belief that the
burglarious attempt had originated with the Family Pet; and the former being
equally disposed to concede the full merit of it to the great Mr. Conkey
Chickweed.
Meanwhile, Oliver gradually throve and prospered under the united care of
Mrs. Maylie, Rose, and the kind-hearted Mr. Losberne. If fervent prayers,
gushing from hearts overcharged with gratitude, be heard in heaven--and if they
be not, what prayers are!--the blessings which the orphan child called down
upon them, sunk into their souls, diffusing peace and happiness.
Thesaurus
concede: (v) acknowledge, admit,
strong. ANTONYMS: (adj) apathetic, burbly, alive to, burbling, emotional,
effusive, garrulous, torrential; (n)
accord, confess, agree, cede, yield,
unenthusiastic, cool, weak,
sincere, passionate. ANTONYM: (adj)
submit, award, recognize, avow.
unexcited, dispirited, dispassionate,
ANTONYMS: (v) deny, refute, reject, flippant, impassive, lukewarm, mild. taciturn.
gratitude: (n) appreciation, thanks,
rewarded: (v) crowned, honored,
persevere, fight, disacknowledge,
excessive, consummated; (adj)
repudiate, maintain, confront,
thank, acknowledgement,
prohibit, acquire.
acknowledgment, appreciativeness,
salaried, pleased, paid, happy,
diffusing: (adj) disseminating,
feeling, appreciate, grateful,
satisfied, remunerated, content.
ANTONYM: (adj) frustrated.
diffusive, scattering, disseminative.
thanksgiving, kindness.
fervent: (adj) ardent, eager, earnest,
ANTONYMS: (n) ingratitude,
themselves: (pron) myself, itself,
yourself; (n) yourselves.
enthusiastic, intense, cordial,
ungratefulness.
gushing: (adj) pouring, enthusiastic,
passionate, hot, emotional, torrid,
Charles Dickens
297
CHAPTER XXXII
OF THE HAPPY LIFE OLIVER BEGAN TO
LEAD WITH HIS KIND FRIENDS
Oliver's ailings were neither slight nor few. In addition to the pain and delay
attendant on a broken limb, his exposure to the wet and cold had brought on
fever and ague: which hung about him for many weeks, and reduced him sadly.
But, at length, he began, by slow degrees, to get better, and to be able to say
sometimes, in a few tearful words, how deeply he felt the goodness of the two
sweet ladies, and how ardently he hoped that when he grew strong and well
again, he could do something to show his gratitude; only something, which
would let them see the love and duty with which his breast was full; something,
however slight, which would prove to them that their gentle kindness had not
been cast away; but that the poor boy whom their charity had rescued from
misery, or death, was eager to serve them with his whole heart and soul.%
'Poor fellow!' said Rose, when Oliver had been one day feebly endeavouring
to utter the words of thankfulness that rose to his pale lips; 'you shall have many
opportunities of serving us, if you will. We are going into the country, and my
aunt intends that you shall accompany us. The quiet place, the pure air, and all
the pleasure and beauties of spring, will restore you in a few days. We will
employ you in a hundred ways, when you can bear the trouble.'
Thesaurus
ague: (n) acute, symptom, sickness,
malady, illness, malaria, paludism,
swamp fever, chills and fever; (adj)
appendicitis, angina pectoris.
ardently: (adv) fervently, warmly,
eagerly, intensely, fierily, avidly,
enthusiastically, burningly,
zealously, fervidly; (adj, adv) hotly.
ANTONYMS: (adv) indifferently,
apathetically, unenthusiastically,
halfheartedly, calmly.
degrees: (n) degree, temperature,
rescued: (adj) saved, protected.
compass rose, cardinal points.
fever: (n) malaria, delirium, pyrexia,
tearful: (adj) dolorous, maudlin,
heat, frenzy, feverishness, febricity,
watery, weeping, teary, sad,
Bilious typhoid fever, Levant fever,
dolourous, wet, whimpering,
Hectic infantile fever, Typhoid fever. sorrowful; (v) mournful.
misery: (adj, n) grief; (n, v) distress; (n) ANTONYMS: (adj) cheerful, tearless.
utter: (v) say, state, speak, breathe,
affliction, agony, anguish, woe,
hardship, evil, ill, infelicity, suffering. articulate, deliver, voice, pronounce;
ANTONYMS: (n) joy, ecstasy,
(adj, n, v) express, declare; (adj, v) tell.
cheerfulness, fun, hopefulness, peace, ANTONYMS: (adj) qualified,
contentment, pleasure, wealth, sport, incomplete, uncertain, rather, slight;
(v) conceal, hide, block.
cheer.
298
Oliver Twist
'The trouble!' cried Oliver. 'Oh! dear lady, if I could but work for you; if I
could only give you pleasure by watering your flowers, or watching your birds,
or running up and down the whole day long, to make you happy; what would I
give to do it!'
'You shall give nothing at all,' said Miss Maylie, smiling; 'for, as I told you
before, we shall employ you in a hundred ways; and if you only take half the
trouble to please us, that you promise now, you will make me very happy
indeed.'
'Happy, ma'am!' cried Oliver; 'how kind of you to say so!'
'You will make me happier than I can tell you,' replied the young lady. 'To
think that my dear good aunt should have been the means of rescuing any one
from such sad misery as you have described to us, would be an unspeakable
pleasure to me; but to know that the object of her goodness and compassion was
sincerely grateful and attached, in consequence, would delight me, more than
you can well imagine. Do you understand me?' she inquired, watching Oliver's
thoughtful face.%
'Oh yes, ma'am, yes!' replied Oliver eagerly; 'but I was thinking that I am
ungrateful now.'
'To whom?' inquired the young lady.
'To the kind gentleman, and the dear old nurse, who took so much care of me
before,' rejoined Oliver. 'If they knew how happy I am, they would be pleased, I
am sure.'
'I am sure they would,' rejoined Oliver's benefactress; 'and Mr. Losberne has
already been kind enough to promise that when you are well enough to bear the
journey, he will carry you to see them.'
'Has he, ma'am?' cried Oliver, his face brightening with pleasure. 'I don't
know what I shall do for joy when I see their kind faces once again!'
In a short time Oliver was sufficiently recovered to undergo the fatigue of
this expedition. One morning he and Mr. Losberne set out, accordingly, in a little
Thesaurus
benefactress: (n) helper, patroness,
thoughtful: (adj, v) serious, solemn,
execute.
grave; (adj) kind, careful, pensive,
unspeakable: (adj) ineffable, dreadful,
donor, patron.
expedition: (n) dispatch, travel,
heedful, attentive, discreet, sensible,
awful, terrible, inexpressible, nasty,
courteous. ANTONYMS: (adj)
celerity, speed, haste, readiness,
horrible, atrocious, indefinable,
quest, tour; (n, v) campaign, journey, thoughtless, careless, heedless,
shocking; (adj, v) unutterable.
crusade. ANTONYMS: (n) delay,
ANTONYMS: (adj) nice, wonderful,
uncaring, unkind, tactless,
procrastination, slowing.
superficial, stupid, negligent, idiotic, pleasant, good, lovely, bearable.
flowers: (n) analecta, anthology.
watering: (n) tearing, sprinkle,
unthinking.
recovered: (adj) cured, retrieved, well, undergo: (v) experience, encounter,
lachrymation, lacrimation, wetting,
well again, healthier, aged,
sustain, have, endure, bear, tolerate,
irrigation, bodily process, body
improved, whole, better, corned.
go through, take, feel, know.
process, replenishment of water
ANTONYM: (adj) worse.
ANTONYMS: (v) commit, do,
supplies, shedding tears, activity.
Charles Dickens
299
carriage which belonged to Mrs. Maylie. When they came to Chertsey Bridge,
Oliver turned very pale, and uttered a loud exclamation.%
'What's the matter with the boy?' cried the doctor, as usual, all in a bustle. 'Do
you see anything--hear anything--feel anything--eh?'
'That, sir,' cried Oliver, pointing out of the carriage window. 'That house!'
'Yes; well, what of it? Stop coachman. Pull up here,' cried the doctor. 'What of
the house, my man; eh?'
'The thieves--the house they took me to!' whispered Oliver.
'The devil it is!' cried the doctor. 'Hallo, there! let me out!'
But, before the coachman could dismount from his box, he had tumbled out
of the coach, by some means or other; and, running down to the deserted
tenement, began kicking at the door like a madman.
'Halloa?' said a little ugly hump-backed man: opening the door so suddenly,
that the doctor, from the very impetus of his last kick, nearly fell forward into the
passage. 'What's the matter here?'
'Matter!' exclaimed the other, collaring him, without a moment's reflection.
'A good deal. Robbery is the matter.'
'There'll be Murder the matter, too,' replied the hump-backed man, coolly, 'if
you don't take your hands off. Do you hear me?'
'I hear you,' said the doctor, giving his captive a hearty shake.
'Where's--confound the fellow, what's his rascally name--Sikes; that's it.
Where's Sikes, you thief?'
The hump-backed man stared, as if in excess of amazement and indignation;
then, twisting himself, dexterously, from the doctor's grasp, growled forth a
volley of horrid oaths, and retired into the house. Before he could shut the door,
however, the doctor had passed into the parlour, without a word of parley.
He looked anxiously round; not an article of furniture; not a vestige of
anything, animate or inanimate; not even the position of the cupboards;
answered Oliver's description!
Thesaurus
animate: (v) inspire, encourage,
quicken, invigorate, stimulate, revive,
hearten; (adj, v) cheer, inspirit,
exhilarate; (adj) live. ANTONYMS:
(v) deaden, inhibit, kill, discourage;
(adj) inanimate, dead, dull, dispirited,
insentient, sluggish, spiritless.
collaring: (v) to collar.
dexterously: (adv) adroitly, skillfully,
expertly, craftily, skilfully,
dextrously, handily, cleverly,
proficiently, aptly; (adj, adv) readily.
ANTONYMS: (adv) ineptly,
incompetently, awkwardly.
dismount: (v) alight, light, get off,
disembark, get down, fall, come
down, unhorse, go down; (adj, v)
dismantle; (adj) dismast.
ANTONYMS: (v) mount, ascend.
inanimate: (adj) defunct, dull,
breathless, inorganic, inactive,
lifeless, exanimate, deceased, extinct,
unconscious, spiritless. ANTONYMS:
(adj) living, animate, spirited.
madman: (n) bedlamite, maniac, crazy,
loony, nut, madcap, looney, loco,
sufferer, raver, nutcase.
tenement: (n) dwelling, apartment,
flat, apartment building, habitation,
abode, stateroom, tablinum,
residence, toft, domicile.
tumbled: (adj) disordered.
vestige: (n, v) trace, remains, track,
token, footprint; (n) relic, shadow,
remnant, indication, evidence,
remainder.
300
Oliver Twist
'Now!' said the hump-backed man, who had watched him keenly, 'what do
you mean by coming into my house, in this violent way? Do you want to rob me,
or to murder me? Which is it?'
'Did you ever know a man come out to do either, in a chariot and pair, you
ridiculous old vampire?' said the irritable doctor.%
'What do you want, then?' demanded the hunchback. 'Will you take yourself
off, before I do you a mischief? Curse you!'
'As soon as I think proper,' said Mr. Losberne, looking into the other parlour;
which, like the first, bore no resemblance whatever to Oliver's account of it. 'I
shall find you out, some day, my friend.'
'Will you?' sneered the ill-favoured cripple. 'If you ever want me, I'm here. I
haven't lived here mad and all alone, for five-and-twenty years, to be scared by
you. You shall pay for this; you shall pay for this.' And so saying, the mis-shapen
little demon set up a yell, and danced upon the ground, as if wild with rage.
'Stupid enough, this,' muttered the doctor to himself; 'the boy must have
made a mistake. Here! Put that in your pocket, and shut yourself up again.' With
these words he flung the hunchback a piece of money, and returned to the
carriage.
The man followed to the chariot door, uttering the wildest imprecations and
curses all the way; but as Mr. Losberne turned to speak to the driver, he looked
into the carriage, and eyed Oliver for an instant with a glance so sharp and fierce
and at the same time so furious and vindictive, that, waking or sleeping, he
could not forget it for months afterwards. He continued to utter the most fearful
imprecations, until the driver had resumed his seat; and when they were once
more on their way, they could see him some distance behind: beating his feet
upon the ground, and tearing his hair, in transports of real or pretended rage.
'I am an ass!' said the doctor, after a long silence. 'Did you know that before,
Oliver?'
'No, sir.'
'Then don't forget it another time.'
Thesaurus
carriage: (n) attitude, conveyance, cab, enable, aid.
hunchback: (n) humpback, hump,
curse: (n, v) blight, plague; (n)
kyphosis, humpback whale; (adj)
air, walk, position, mien, shipping;
(n, v) transport, behavior, port.
anathema, blasphemy, malediction,
humpbacked, hunchbacked,
chariot: (n) car, wagon, carriage,
denunciation; (adj, v) beshrew; (v)
humped, crookbacked, kyphotic,
waggon, vehicle, wain, equipage,
swear, ban, damn, vituperate.
gibbose, gibbous.
ANTONYMS: (n) blessing,
vindictive: (adj) vengeful, malicious,
char.
cripple: (adj, v) maim, prostrate; (v)
benediction, making; (v)
revengeful, unforgiving, punitive,
mutilate, enfeeble, injure,
communicate.
malevolent, remorseless, implacable,
incapacitate, weaken, becripple; (n, v) demon: (n) ghost, fiend, incubus,
despiteful, vindicative, virulent.
damage; (n) invalid; (adj) paralyze.
ANTONYMS: (adj) nice, charitable,
monster, daemon, ogre, daimon,
ANTONYMS: (v) support,
goblin, deuce, genie, elf. ANTONYM: forgiving, helpful, merciful, tolerant.
(n) saint.
strengthen, invigorate, help, fortify,
Charles Dickens
301
'An ass,' said the doctor again, after a further silence of some minutes. 'Even if
it had been the right place, and the right fellows had been there, what could I
have done, single-handed? And if I had had assistance, I see no good that I
should have done, except leading to my own exposure, and an unavoidable
statement of the manner in which I have hushed up this business. That would
have served me right, though. I am always involving myself in some scrape or
other, by acting on impulse. It might have done me good.'
Now, the fact was that the excellent doctor had never acted upon anything
but impulse all through his life, and it was no bad compliment to the nature of
the impulses which governed him, that so far from being involved in any
peculiar troubles or misfortunes, he had the warmest respect and esteem of all
who knew him. If the truth must be told, he was a little out of temper, for a
minute or two, at being disappointed in procuring corroborative evidence of
Oliver's story on the very first occasion on which he had a chance of obtaining
any. He soon came round again, however; and finding that Oliver's replies to his
questions, were still as straightforward and consistent, and still delivered with as
much apparent sincerity and truth, as they had ever been, he made up his mind
to attach full credence to them, from that time forth.%
As Oliver knew the name of the street in which Mr. Brownlow resided, they
were enabled to drive straight thither. When the coach turned into it, his heart
beat so violently, that he could scarcely draw his breath.
'Now, my boy, which house is it?' inquired Mr. Losberne.
'That! That!' replied Oliver, pointing eagerly out of the window. 'The white
house. Oh! make haste! Pray make haste! I feel as if I should die: it makes me
tremble so.'
'Come, come!' said the good doctor, patting him on the shoulder. 'You will
see them directly, and they will be overjoyed to find you safe and well.'
'Oh! I hope so!' cried Oliver. 'They were so good to me; so very, very good to
me.'
Thesaurus
corroborative: (adj) corroboratory,
collateral, confirmative, confirming,
affirmative, corroborant,
substantiating, verifying, verificatory,
validatory, substantiative.
esteem: (n) deference, admiration; (n,
v) respect, value, consideration,
account; (v) appreciate, deem, adore,
admire, count. ANTONYMS: (v)
scorn, hate, disdain, insult, despise,
abominate, abhor, dislike, reject; (n)
disesteem, disapproval.
governed: (adj) subject; (n) citizenry;
(adv) under.
hushed: (adj) calm, silent, still,
subdued, placid, muffled, noiseless,
soft, soundless, tranquil, gentle.
ANTONYM: (adj) noisy.
obtaining: (n) acceptance, capture,
collection; (adj) adeption, dominant.
overjoyed: (adj) jubilant, joyful, happy,
elated, ecstatic, transported, exultant,
pleased, enchanted, proud, gleeful.
ANTONYMS: (adj) heartbroken,
disappointed, depressed, down,
dejected, miserable, unhappy,
desolate.
procuring: (v) procure.
sincerity: (adj, n) candor, honesty,
integrity, probity, faithfulness; (n)
earnestness, heartiness, genuineness,
candour, frankness, cordiality.
ANTONYMS: (n) dishonesty,
hypocrisy, flippancy, frivolity,
affectedness, caution, reticence,
deceit, doubt.
302
Oliver Twist
The coach rolled on. It stopped. No; that was the wrong house; the next door.
It went on a few paces, and stopped again. Oliver looked up at the windows,
with tears of happy expectation coursing down his face.%
Alas! the white house was empty, and there was a bill in the window. 'To
Let.'
'Knock at the next door,' cried Mr. Losberne, taking Oliver's arm in his. 'What
has become of Mr. Brownlow, who used to live in the adjoining house, do you
know?'
The servant did not know; but would go and inquire. She presently returned,
and said, that Mr. Brownlow had sold off his goods, and gone to the West Indies,
six weeks before. Oliver clasped his hands, and sank feebly backward.
'Has his housekeeper gone too?' inquired Mr. Losberne, after a moment's
pause.
'Yes, sir'; replied the servant. 'The old gentleman, the housekeeper, and a
gentleman who was a friend of Mr. Brownlow's, all went together.'
'Then turn towards home again,' said Mr. Losberne to the driver; 'and don't
stop to bait the horses, till you get out of this confounded London!'
'The book-stall keeper, sir?' said Oliver. 'I know the way there. See him, pray,
sir! Do see him!'
'My poor boy, this is disappointment enough for one day,' said the doctor.
'Quite enough for both of us. If we go to the book-stall keeper's, we shall
certainly find that he is dead, or has set his house on fire, or run away. No; home
again straight!' And in obedience to the doctor's impulse, home they went.
This bitter disappointment caused Oliver much sorrow and grief, even in the
midst of his happiness; for he had pleased himself, many times during his illness,
with thinking of all that Mr. Brownlow and Mrs. Bedwin would say to him: and
what delight it would be to tell them how many long days and nights he had
passed in reflecting on what they had done for him, and in bewailing his cruel
separation from them. The hope of eventually clearing himself with them, too,
and explaining how he had been forced away, had buoyed him up, and
Thesaurus
backward: (adj, adv) late, behindhand; coursing: (v) chase, shooting, fishing,
(adj) tardy, retarded, reluctant, coy,
hunting, steeple chase, race; (n, v)
slow, laggard, dilatory; (adv) behind, hunt.
backwardly. ANTONYMS: (adj, adv) expectation: (n) expectancy, belief,
ahead; (adv) onward; (adj) quick,
hope, possibility, outlook, trust,
developing, advanced, confident,
confidence, arithmetic mean,
thought, suspense; (n, v) prospect.
brilliant, bold.
bait: (v) badger, tease; (adj, v) molest,
ANTONYMS: (n) despair,
harass, harry; (n, v) lure, bribe; (n)
hopelessness, discouragement,
decoy, snare, temptation, attraction.
distrust.
ANTONYMS: (v) repel, repulse,
explaining: (n) amplification,
pacify, mollify, please.
illumination, clearing up, defense.
impulse: (n) pulse, urge, impulsion,
force, motive, whim, drive, goad,
motivation, momentum, incentive.
ANTONYMS: (n) aversion,
disincentive, disinclination.
obedience: (n) meekness, submission,
deference, obeisance, acquiescence,
subordination, bow, observance,
docility, loyalty, allegiance.
ANTONYMS: (n) disobedience,
defiance, naughtiness, resistance,
divergence, chaos, wildness.
Charles Dickens
303
sustained him, under many of his recent trials; and now, the idea that they
should have gone so far, and carried with them the belief that he was an
impostor and a robber--a belief which might remain uncontradicted to his dying
day--was almost more than he could bear.%
The circumstance occasioned no alteration, however, in the behaviour of his
benefactors. After another fortnight, when the fine warm weather had fairly
begun, and every tree and flower was putting forth its young leaves and rich
blossoms, they made preparations for quitting the house at Chertsey, for some
months.
Sending the plate, which had so excited Fagin's cupidity, to the banker's; and
leaving Giles and another servant in care of the house, they departed to a cottage
at some distance in the country, and took Oliver with them.
Who can describe the pleasure and delight, the peace of mind and soft
tranquillity, the sickly boy felt in the balmy air, and among the green hills and
rich woods, of an inland village! Who can tell how scenes of peace and quietude
sink into the minds of pain-worn dwellers in close and noisy places, and carry
their own freshness, deep into their jaded hearts! Men who have lived in
crowded, pent-up streets, through lives of toil, and who have never wished for
change; men, to whom custom has indeed been second nature, and who have
come almost to love each brick and stone that formed the narrow boundaries of
their daily walks; even they, with the hand of death upon them, have been
known to yearn at last for one short glimpse of Nature's face; and, carried far
from the scenes of their old pains and pleasures, have seemed to pass at once into
a new state of being. Crawling forth, from day to day, to some green sunny spot,
they have had such memories wakened up within them by the sight of the sky,
and hill and plain, and glistening water, that a foretaste of heaven itself has
soothed their quick decline, and they have sunk into their tombs, as peacefully as
the sun whose setting they watched from their lonely chamber window but a few
hours before, faded from their dim and feeble sight! The memories which
peaceful country scenes call up, are not of this world, nor of its thoughts and
hopes. Their gentle influence may teach us how to weave fresh garlands for the
Thesaurus
balmy: (adj) aromatic, fragrant, mild,
clement, sweet, temperate, savory,
benign, dotty, redolent, soft.
ANTONYMS: (adj) sane, blustery,
chilly, normal, stable, stormy,
wintery, wintry, inclement.
cupidity: (n) covetousness, greed,
avariciousness, greediness, lust,
acquisitiveness, cacoethes, voracity,
desire, eagerness; (adj) avidity.
ANTONYMS: (n) aversion, dislike,
distaste.
foretaste: (n) anticipation, expectation,
prelibation, outlook, foresight,
forerunner, indication, forethought,
preconception, antepast; (v)
anticipate. ANTONYM: (n) successor.
fortnight: (n) two weeks, period,
amount of time.
impostor: (n) fraud, cheat, hypocrite,
fake, imposter, sham, charlatan,
deceiver, faker, cheater, pretender.
jaded: (adj) tired, fatigued, worn,
weary, wearied, fed up, satiate,
worn-out, bored, satiated, sick.
ANTONYMS: (adj) fresh, innocent,
brilliant.
quietude: (n) quietness, calmness,
peace, composure, placidity,
tranquility, repose, serenity,
tranquillity, hush, silence.
uncontradicted: (v) uncontroverted;
(adj) unchallenged.
yearn: (v) languish, pine, wish, hanker,
aspire, miss, ache, desire, cherish,
yen, want.
304
Oliver Twist
graves of those we loved: may purify our thoughts, and bear down before it old
enmity and hatred; but beneath all this, there lingers, in the least reflective mind,
a vague and half-formed consciousness of having held such feelings long before,
in some remote and distant time, which calls up solemn thoughts of distant times
to come, and bends down pride and worldliness beneath it.%
It was a lovely spot to which they repaired. Oliver, whose days had been
spent among squalid crowds, and in the midst of noise and brawling, seemed to
enter on a new existence there. The rose and honeysuckle clung to the cottage
walls; the ivy crept round the trunks of the trees; and the garden-flowers
perfumed the air with delicious odours. Hard by, was a little churchyard; not
crowded with tall unsightly gravestones, but full of humble mounds, covered
with fresh turf and moss: beneath which, the old people of the village lay at rest.
Oliver often wandered here; and, thinking of the wretched grave in which his
mother lay, would sometimes sit him down and sob unseen; but, when he raised
his eyes to the deep sky overhead, he would cease to think of her as lying in the
ground, and would weep for her, sadly, but without pain.
It was a happy time. The days were peaceful and serene; the nights brought
with them neither fear nor care; no languishing in a wretched prison, or
associating with wretched men; nothing but pleasant and happy thoughts. Every
morning he went to a white-headed old gentleman, who lived near the little
church: who taught him to read better, and to write: and who spoke so kindly,
and took such pains, that Oliver could never try enough to please him. Then, he
would walk with Mrs. Maylie and Rose, and hear them talk of books; or perhaps
sit near them, in some shady place, and listen whilst the young lady read: which
he could have done, until it grew too dark to see the letters. Then, he had his own
lesson for the next day to prepare; and at this, he would work hard, in a little
room which looked into the garden, till evening came slowly on, when the ladies
would walk out again, and he with them: listening with such pleasure to all they
said: and so happy if they wanted a flower that he could climb to reach, or had
forgotten anything he could run to fetch: that he could never be quick enough
about it. When it became quite dark, and they returned home, the young lady
Thesaurus
associating: (n) connection, reference. sweet wine, shrub, liqueur, bush,
bends: (n) caisson disease,
bush honeysuckle, coral honeysuckle,
aeroembolism, air embolism, bend,
fly honeysuckle.
languishing: (v) decayed, washy,
gas embolism, compressed air
sickness.
pulled down, wasted, seedy, worn;
brawling: (adj) quarrelsome, blatant,
(adj) sentimental, languorous,
noisy, boisterous, active, belligerent,
languid, spiritless, sad.
bawling, disorderly, pugnacious; (n) perfumed: (adj) fragrant, odoriferous,
affray.
odorous, scented, sweet, honeyed,
honeysuckle: (n) Aquilegia
mellifluous, angelic, angelical, fresh,
gratifying. ANTONYM: (adj)
Canadensis, Ausralian honeysuckle,
coast banksia, banksia integrifolia,
odorless.
purify: (adj, v) clear, cleanse; (v) purge,
disinfect, refine, distill, sanctify,
clarify, depurate, lustrate, chasten.
ANTONYMS: (v) pollute, dilute, soil,
cloud, desecrate.
trees: (n) foliage.
worldliness: (n) earthliness, secularity,
temporalness, earthiness,
perishableness, uplifting
enlightenment, edification, savoir
faire, experience, grossness,
mammonism.
Charles Dickens
305
would sit down to the piano, and play some pleasant air, or sing, in a low and
gentle voice, some old song which it pleased her aunt to hear. There would be no
candles lighted at such times as these; and Oliver would sit by one of the
windows, listening to the sweet music, in a perfect rapture.%
And when Sunday came, how differently the day was spent, from any way in
which he had ever spent it yet! and how happily too; like all the other days in
that most happy time! There was the little church, in the morning, with the green
leaves fluttering at the windows: the birds singing without: and the sweetsmelling air stealing in at the low porch, and filling the homely building with its
fragrance. The poor people were so neat and clean, and knelt so reverently in
prayer, that it seemed a pleasure, not a tedious duty, their assembling there
together; and though the singing might be rude, it was real, and sounded more
musical (to Oliver's ears at least) than any he had ever heard in church before.
Then, there were the walks as usual, and many calls at the clean houses of the
labouring men; and at night, Oliver read a chapter or two from the Bible, which
he had been studying all the week, and in the performance of which duty he felt
more proud and pleased, than if he had been the clergyman himself.
In the morning, Oliver would be a-foot by six o'clock, roaming the fields, and
plundering the hedges, far and wide, for nosegays of wild flowers, with which
he would return laden, home; and which it took great care and consideration to
arrange, to the best advantage, for the embellishment of the breakfast-table.
There was fresh groundsel, too, for Miss Maylie's birds, with which Oliver, who
had been studying the subject under the able tuition of the village clerk, would
decorate the cages, in the most approved taste. When the birds were made all
spruce and smart for the day, there was usually some little commission of charity
to execute in the village; or, failing that, there was rare cricket-playing,
sometimes, on the green; or, failing that, there was always something to do in the
garden, or about the plants, to which Oliver (who had studied this science also,
under the same master, who was a gardener by trade,) applied himself with
hearty good-will, until Miss Rose made her appearance: when there were a
thousand commendations to be bestowed on all he had done.
Thesaurus
assembling: (n) assemblage, assembly, flutter, flapping, flicker, flitting; (adv)
collection, collecting, compilation,
flutteringly.
meeting, aggregation, congregation, groundsel: (n) weed, groundsill,
montage; (adj) gathering, assembled. ragwort.
embellishment: (n) decoration,
laden: (adj) burdened, full, loaded,
adornment, ornament, flourish,
ladened, filled, hampered, heavy,
charged, encumbered; (v) lade, load.
ornamentation, enhancement,
ANTONYMS: (adj) empty, lacking.
enrichment, beautification,
reverently: (adv) reverentially, piously,
embroidery, garnish, hyperbole.
ANTONYM: (n) understatement.
religiously, devoutly, deferentially,
fluttering: (adj) flying, palpitating,
worshipfully, solemnly, godly,
flittering, flaring, aflare, waving; (n)
courteously, politely, obsequiously.
ANTONYM: (adv) irreverently.
roaming: (adj) wandering, roving,
errant, itinerant, Peripatetic,
traveling, vagabond, astray; (n)
ramble, journey, ubiquity.
spruce: (adj) dapper, neat, natty,
jaunty, trim, rakish, stylish, dashing,
snappy; (adj, v) tidy; (adj, n) bright.
ANTONYMS: (adj) untidy, messy,
unkempt.
sweet-smelling: (adj) aromatic,
fragrant, sweet, odorous.
306
Oliver Twist
So three months glided away; three months which, in the life of the most
blessed and favoured of mortals, might have been unmingled happiness, and
which, in Oliver's were true felicity. With the purest and most amiable
generosity on one side; and the truest, warmest, soul-felt gratitude on the other;
it is no wonder that, by the end of that short time, Oliver Twist had become
completely domesticated with the old lady and her niece, and that the fervent
attachment of his young and sensitive heart, was repaid by their pride in, and
attachment to, himself.%
Thesaurus
blessed: (adj) happy, holy, cursed,
felicitousness, joy, fortune, ecstasy,
sacred, damned, hallowed, blasted,
enjoyment, appropriateness.
ANTONYM: (n) infelicity.
fortunate, saintly, lucky, divine.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unlucky,
generosity: (n, v) charity, liberality;
(adj, n) bounty, kindness, beneficence,
condemned, damned, disapproved,
favor; (n) benevolence,
unhappy, unholy, secular.
domesticated: (adj) tame, vernacular,
bounteousness, chivalry, nobility,
subdued, gentle, tamed, naturalized, munificence. ANTONYMS: (n)
submissive, depressed, crushed,
stinginess, greed, meanness, thrift,
cade, broken. ANTONYM: (adj) wild. thriftiness, avarice, unfriendliness,
felicity: (n) happiness, bliss,
bareness, malevolence, miserliness,
blessedness, beatitude, luck,
nastiness.
lady: (n) gentlewoman, Mrs, duchess,
countess, spouse, madam, ma'am,
milady, matron, woman; (v) squaw.
ANTONYM: (n) Lord.
mortals: (n) people.
niece: (n) grandniece, aunt, brother's
daughter, uncle, kinswoman.
unmingled: (adj) unmixed, plain,
uncompounded, sheer, simple,
uncombined, concentrated, homely,
artless, bluff, patent.
Charles Dickens
307
CHAPTER XXXIII
WHEREIN THE HAPPINESS OF OLIVER AND
HIS FRIENDS, EXPERIENCES A SUDDEN
CHECK
Spring flew swiftly by, and summer came. If the village had been beautiful at
first it was now in the full glow and luxuriance of its richness. The great trees,
which had looked shrunken and bare in the earlier months, had now burst into
strong life and health; and stretching forth their green arms over the thirsty
ground, converted open and naked spots into choice nooks, where was a deep
and pleasant shade from which to look upon the wide prospect, steeped in
sunshine, which lay stretched beyond. The earth had donned her mantle of
brightest green; and shed her richest perfumes abroad. It was the prime and
vigour of the year; all things were glad and flourishing.%
Still, the same quiet life went on at the little cottage, and the same cheerful
serenity prevailed among its inmates. Oliver had long since grown stout and
healthy; but health or sickness made no difference in his warm feelings of a great
many people. He was still the same gentle, attached, affectionate creature that he
had been when pain and suffering had wasted his strength, and when he was
dependent for every slight attention, and comfort on those who tended him.
Thesaurus
affectionate: (adj) fond, tender, kind, luxuriance: (n) exuberance,
ANTONYMS: (n) infertility, poverty,
mild, devoted, ardent, warm, cordial, copiousness, abundance, lushness,
narrowness, shabbiness, weakness,
caring, brotherly; (adj, adv) fatherly.
affluence, wealth, luxury, excess,
bareness.
ANTONYMS: (adj) uncaring, callous, luxuriancy, rampancy; (adj)
steeped: (adj) seasoned, experienced.
stretching: (n) tension, stretch,
undemonstrative, aloof, cool,
fecundity.
disapproving, reserved, antagonistic, mantle: (n) cloak, cape, pall, blanket,
expansion, workout, reach,
curtain, blind, coat; (n, v) cover, veil;
paternal, rough.
amplification, stretchiness,
glow: (n, v) flush, gleam, shine,
(adj, n, v) blush, flush.
enlargement; (adj) stretched, long; (v)
glimmer, glare, color, sparkle, beam; richness: (adj, n) opulence, abundance, extend.
(v) burn, flare, kindle. ANTONYMS:
affluence, riches; (n) fruitfulness,
vigour: (n) force, strength, vigor,
(n) wanness, darkness, paleness; (v)
profusion, fecundity, fullness, luxury, energy, power, potency, vim, vitality,
pale, struggle.
exuberance, cornucopia.
athleticism, verve, intensity.
308
Oliver Twist
One beautiful night, when they had taken a longer walk than was customary
with them: for the day had been unusually warm, and there was a brilliant
moon, and a light wind had sprung up, which was unusually refreshing. Rose
had been in high spirits, too, and they had walked on, in merry conversation,
until they had far exceeded their ordinary bounds. Mrs. Maylie being fatigued,
they returned more slowly home. The young lady merely throwing off her
simple bonnet, sat down to the piano as usual. After running abstractedly over
the keys for a few minutes, she fell into a low and very solemn air; and as she
played it, they heard a sound as if she were weeping.%
'Rose, my dear!' said the elder lady.
Rose made no reply, but played a little quicker, as though the words had
roused her from some painful thoughts.
'Rose, my love!' cried Mrs. Maylie, rising hastily, and bending over her. 'What
is this? In tears! My dear child, what distresses you?'
'Nothing, aunt; nothing,' replied the young lady. 'I don't know what it is; I
can't describe it; but I feel--'
'Not ill, my love?' interposed Mrs. Maylie.
'No, no! Oh, not ill!' replied Rose: shuddering as though some deadly
chillness were passing over her, while she spoke; 'I shall be better presently.
Close the window, pray!'
Oliver hastened to comply with her request. The young lady, making an
effort to recover her cheerfulness, strove to play some livelier tune; but her
fingers dropped powerless over the keys. Covering her face with her hands, she
sank upon a sofa, and gave vent to the tears which she was now unable to
repress.
'My child!' said the elderly lady, folding her arms about her, 'I never saw you
so before.'
'I would not alarm you if I could avoid it,' rejoined Rose; 'but indeed I have
tried very hard, and cannot help this. I fear I am ill, aunt.'
Thesaurus
chillness: (n) coldness.
customary: (adj, n) accustomed, usual,
habitual; (adj) conventional, ordinary,
commonplace, traditional, average,
wonted, regular, standard.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unusual,
abnormal, exceptional,
unconventional, offbeat, irregular,
innovative, different, unfamiliar,
extraordinary, rare.
dropped: (adj) dropping, fallen,
decreased, drop, fall, degraded, dead,
born, abandoned.
fatigued: (adj) tired, weary, beat,
worn, tired out, jaded, spent, worn
out, done in, fagged, run-down.
ANTONYMS: (adj) refreshed, alert,
lively, energized, energetic.
powerless: (adj) impotent, unable,
feeble, incapable, ineffective,
ineffectual, infirm, inefficient,
nerveless, weak, prostrate.
ANTONYMS: (adj) powerful, strong,
effective, capable, able.
quicker: (adv) more quickly, sooner,
earlier.
refreshing: (adj) bracing, invigorating,
refreshful, pleasant, fresh, cool,
refresh, refreshingly, crisp, tonic,
pleasing. ANTONYMS: (adj)
unwelcome, soporific, tiring,
relaxing, musty.
sofa: (n) couch, lounge, divan, bench,
davenport, seat, squab, chair, form,
convertible, daybed.
strove: (v) strive.
Charles Dickens
309
She was, indeed; for, when candles were brought, they saw that in the very
short time which had elapsed since their return home, the hue of her
countenance had changed to a marble whiteness. Its expression had lost nothing
of its beauty; but it was changed; and there was an anxious haggard look about
the gentle face, which it had never worn before. Another minute, and it was
suffused with a crimson flush: and a heavy wildness came over the soft blue
eye. Again this disappeared, like the shadow thrown by a passing cloud; and she
was once more deadly pale.%
Oliver, who watched the old lady anxiously, observed that she was alarmed
by these appearances; and so in truth, was he; but seeing that she affected to
make light of them, he endeavoured to do the same, and they so far succeeded,
that when Rose was persuaded by her aunt to retire for the night, she was in
better spirits; and appeared even in better health: assuring them that she felt
certain she should rise in the morning, quite well.
'I hope,' said Oliver, when Mrs. Maylie returned, 'that nothing is the matter?
She don't look well to-night, but--'
The old lady motioned to him not to speak; and sitting herself down in a dark
corner of the room, remained silent for some time. At length, she said, in a
trembling voice:
'I hope not, Oliver. I have been very happy with her for some years: too
happy, perhaps. It may be time that I should meet with some misfortune; but I
hope it is not this.'
'What?' inquired Oliver.
'The heavy blow,' said the old lady, 'of losing the dear girl who has so long
been my comfort and happiness.'
'Oh! God forbid!' exclaimed Oliver, hastily.
'Amen to that, my child!' said the old lady, wringing her hands.
'Surely there is no danger of anything so dreadful?' said Oliver. 'Two hours
ago, she was quite well.'
Thesaurus
amen: (adj) right, correct; (n) Amon;
haggard: (adj) emaciated, gaunt,
full.
(adv) positively, yes.
whiteness: (n) paleness, ivory, chalk,
cadaverous, careworn, tired, worn,
assuring: (adj) ensuring, insure,
lean, thin, wasted, pinched, squalid.
pearl, bone, bleach, alabaster,
ANTONYMS: (adj) relaxed, carefree,
insuring, assure, ensure, giving
frostiness, hoariness, pallor,
innocence. ANTONYM: (n) black.
confidence, securing, likely,
healthy.
misfortune: (n) accident, hardship,
wildness: (n) fierceness, ferocity,
promising.
crimson: (adj, n) carmine, ruby, scarlet, misadventure, disaster, calamity,
savageness, abandon, rage,
maroon; (v) blush, flush, redden; (adj) mischance, catastrophe, mishap, bad extravagance, ferociousness,
bloody, ruddy, cherry; (n) deep red.
luck, misery, affliction. ANTONYMS: intensity, vehemence; (v) wilderness;
elapsed: (adj) gone, forgotten, lapsed,
(n) joy, bonus, opportunity, privilege, (n, v) waste. ANTONYMS: (n)
back, beyond, onwards, over and
success, happiness.
tameness, order, meekness,
suffused: (adj) distributed, covered,
done.
gentleness, caution, orderliness.
310
Oliver Twist
'She is very ill now,' rejoined Mrs. Maylies; 'and will be worse, I am sure. My
dear, dear Rose! Oh, what shall I do without her!'
She gave way to such great grief, that Oliver, suppressing his own emotion,
ventured to remonstrate with her; and to beg, earnestly, that, for the sake of the
dear young lady herself, she would be more calm.%
'And consider, ma'am,' said Oliver, as the tears forced themselves into his
eyes, despite of his efforts to the contrary. 'Oh! consider how young and good
she is, and what pleasure and comfort she gives to all about her. I am sure-certain--quite certain--that, for your sake, who are so good yourself; and for her
own; and for the sake of all she makes so happy; she will not die. Heaven will
never let her die so young.'
'Hush!' said Mrs. Maylie, laying her hand on Oliver's head. 'You think like a
child, poor boy. But you teach me my duty, notwithstanding. I had forgotten it
for a moment, Oliver, but I hope I may be pardoned, for I am old, and have seen
enough of illness and death to know the agony of separation from the objects of
our love. I have seen enough, too, to know that it is not always the youngest and
best who are spared to those that love them; but this should give us comfort in
our sorrow; for Heaven is just; and such things teach us, impressively, that there
is a brighter world than this; and that the passage to it is speedy. God's will be
done! I love her; and He knows how well!'
Oliver was surprised to see that as Mrs. Maylie said these words, she checked
her lamentations as though by one effort; and drawing herself up as she spoke,
became composed and firm. He was still more astonished to find that this
firmness lasted; and that, under all the care and watching which ensued, Mrs.
Maylie was every ready and collected: performing all the duties which had
devolved upon her, steadily, and, to all external appearances, even cheerfully.
But he was young, and did not know what strong minds are capable of, under
trying circumstances. How should he, when their possessors so seldom know
themselves?
Thesaurus
contrary: (adj, n) contradictory,
consistency, obstinacy, steadfastness, ANTONYMS: (adv) weakly,
reverse; (adj) adverse, conflicting,
resolve, confidence, courage,
execrably, slightly, simply.
backbone. ANTONYMS: (n) softness, remonstrate: (v) argue, complain,
unfavorable, perverse, cross,
disobedient, alien, different,
instability, vacillation, unsteadiness,
expostulate, object, protest, rebuke,
obstinate. ANTONYMS: (adj) similar, yielding, irresoluteness, droopiness,
dissuade, chide, scold, dispute, warn.
ANTONYM: (v) agree.
harmonious, helpful, obliging,
indefiniteness, indecisiveness,
speedy: (adj, v) rapid, prompt, fleet,
compatible, complaisant, concordant, indecision, leniency.
impressively: (adv) strikingly,
swift; (adj) fast, agile, ready,
parallel, agreeable, cooperative,
favorable.
splendidly, grandly, magnificently,
immediate, cursory, hurried, brisk.
efforts: (n) pains.
ANTONYMS: (adj) leisurely,
majestically, movingly, massively,
firmness: (adj, n) constancy; (n)
heroically, commandingly,
plodding.
suppressing: (n) reticence.
determination, resolution, assurance, remarkably, arrestingly.
Charles Dickens
311
An anxious night ensued. When morning came, Mrs. Maylie's predictions
were but too well verified. Rose was in the first stage of a high and dangerous
fever.%
'We must be active, Oliver, and not give way to useless grief,' said Mrs.
Maylie, laying her finger on her lip, as she looked steadily into his face; 'this
letter must be sent, with all possible expedition, to Mr. Losberne. It must be
carried to the market-town: which is not more than four miles off, by the
footpath across the field: and thence dispatched, by an express on horseback,
straight to Chertsey. The people at the inn will undertake to do this: and I can
trust to you to see it done, I know.'
Oliver could make no reply, but looked his anxiety to be gone at once.
'Here is another letter,' said Mrs. Maylie, pausing to reflect; 'but whether to
send it now, or wait until I see how Rose goes on, I scarcely know. I would not
forward it, unless I feared the worst.'
'Is it for Chertsey, too, ma'am?' inquired Oliver; impatient to execute his
commission, and holding out his trembling hand for the letter.
'No,' replied the old lady, giving it to him mechanically. Oliver glanced at it,
and saw that it was directed to Harry Maylie, Esquire, at some great lord's house
in the country; where, he could not make out.
'Shall it go, ma'am?' asked Oliver, looking up, impatiently.
'I think not,' replied Mrs. Maylie, taking it back. 'I will wait until to-morrow.'
With these words, she gave Oliver her purse, and he started off, without
more delay, at the greatest speed he could muster.
Swiftly he ran across the fields, and down the little lanes which sometimes
divided them: now almost hidden by the high corn on either side, and now
emerging on an open field, where the mowers and haymakers were busy at their
work: nor did he stop once, save now and then, for a few seconds, to recover
breath, until he came, in a great heat, and covered with dust, on the little marketplace of the market-town.
Thesaurus
corn: (n) clavus, cereals, Zea Mays,
perform, accomplish, act, effect, carry congregate, collect, convene, rally,
marshal, accumulate; (n) levy,
callus, wheat, Indian corn, callosity,
out, enforce, make, fulfill.
grain; (v) feed, keep; (adj, n)
ANTONYMS: (v) abandon, ignore,
gathering; (n, v) draft. ANTONYM:
commonplace.
disregard, Miss, forget, shirk, revive. (v) demobilize.
directed: (adj) oriented, manageable,
horseback: (n) hogback, body part.
purse: (n) bag, pouch, money,
impatient: (adj) eager, anxious,
destined, concentrating, intent,
handbag, sac, currency, pocketbook,
pelf; (v) wrinkle, pucker, crease.
formal, absorbed, prescript, focussed; petulant, fidgety, vexed, keen, edgy,
(v) instruct; (adv) under.
verified: (adj) substantiated,
quick, avid, irritable, fretful.
emerging: (adj) nascent, rising,
ANTONYMS: (adj) patient, enduring, confirmed, hard, proven,
acclivitous, promising, embryonic,
unenthusiastic, calm, happy, relaxed, demonstrated, authoritative, actual,
budding; (n) emanation.
established. ANTONYM: (adj)
slow.
execute: (v) do, achieve, complete,
muster: (v) assemble, gather,
unproven.
312
Oliver Twist
Here he paused, and looked about for the inn. There were a white bank, and
a red brewery, and a yellow town-hall; and in one corner there was a large
house, with all the wood about it painted green: before which was the sign of
'The George.' To this he hastened, as soon as it caught his eye.%
He spoke to a postboy who was dozing under the gateway; and who, after
hearing what he wanted, referred him to the ostler; who after hearing all he had
to say again, referred him to the landlord; who was a tall gentleman in a blue
neckcloth, a white hat, drab breeches, and boots with tops to match, leaning
against a pump by the stable-door, picking his teeth with a silver toothpick.
This gentleman walked with much deliberation into the bar to make out the
bill: which took a long time making out: and after it was ready, and paid, a horse
had to be saddled, and a man to be dressed, which took up ten good minutes
more. Meanwhile Oliver was in such a desperate state of impatience and anxiety,
that he felt as if he could have jumped upon the horse himself, and galloped
away, full tear, to the next stage. At length, all was ready; and the little parcel
having been handed up, with many injunctions and entreaties for its speedy
delivery, the man set spurs to his horse, and rattling over the uneven paving of
the market-place, was out of the town, and galloping along the turnpike-road, in
a couple of minutes.
As it was something to feel certain that assistance was sent for, and that no
time had been lost, Oliver hurried up the inn-yard, with a somewhat lighter
heart. He was turning out of the gateway when he accidently stumbled against a
tall man wrapped in a cloak, who was at that moment coming out of the inn
door.
'Hah!' cried the man, fixing his eyes on Oliver, and suddenly recoiling. 'What
the devil's this?'
'I beg your pardon, sir,' said Oliver; 'I was in a great hurry to get home, and
didn't see you were coming.'
Thesaurus
brewery: (n) brewhouse, still,
distillery.
galloping: (v) flying.
gateway: (n) entrance, gate, entry,
doorway, portal, passage,
passageway, inlet, admission,
entryway, gangway.
lighter: (n) light, flatboat, igniter,
cigarette lighter, wherry, primer,
scow, kindling, fuze, fuzee,
houseboat.
neckcloth: (n) neckerchief, scarf,
handkerchief, gunstock, broth,
caudex, descent, farm animal, breed,
gillyflower, inventory.
ostler: (n) groom, stableboy,
stableman, hostleress, jockey, tiger,
swineherd, herdsman, hired hand,
hired man, gillie.
parcel: (n) bale, pack, bundle, package,
packet, section, division, batch; (n, v)
portion; (v) distribute, apportion.
paving: (n) pavement, floor, pavage,
curbside, earth, ground, sett paving,
surface, paved surface, metalling of
road, ground floor.
postboy: (n) charioteer, coachman,
driver, Jehu, wagoner, drayman,
whip, carter.
rattling: (adj) lively, brisk, racy,
marvelous, fantastic, zippy, snappy,
spanking, merry; (adv) very, real.
tops: (n) apex, pinnacle, pick; (adj)
champion, elite, fabulous, leading,
outstanding, uppermost, superb,
superlative.
Charles Dickens
313
'Death!' muttered the man to himself, glaring at the boy with his large dark
eyes. 'Who would have thought it! Grind him to ashes! He'd start up from a
stone coffin, to come in my way!'
'I am sorry,' stammered Oliver, confused by the strange man's wild look. 'I
hope I have not hurt you!'
'Rot you!' murmured the man, in a horrible passion; between his clenched
teeth; 'if I had only had the courage to say the word, I might have been free of
you in a night. Curses on your head, and black death on your heart, you imp!
What are you doing here?'
The man shook his fist, as he uttered these words incoherently. He advanced
towards Oliver, as if with the intention of aiming a blow at him, but fell violently
on the ground: writhing and foaming, in a fit.%
Oliver gazed, for a moment, at the struggles of the madman (for such he
supposed him to be); and then darted into the house for help. Having seen him
safely carried into the hotel, he turned his face homewards, running as fast as he
could, to make up for lost time: and recalling with a great deal of astonishment
and some fear, the extraordinary behaviour of the person from whom he had just
parted.
The circumstance did not dwell in his recollection long, however: for when
he reached the cottage, there was enough to occupy his mind, and to drive all
considerations of self completely from his memory.
Rose Maylie had rapidly grown worse; before mid-night she was delirious. A
medical practitioner, who resided on the spot, was in constant attendance upon
her; and after first seeing the patient, he had taken Mrs. Maylie aside, and
pronounced her disorder to be one of a most alarming nature. 'In fact,' he said, 'it
would be little short of a miracle, if she recovered.'
How often did Oliver start from his bed that night, and stealing out, with
noiseless footstep, to the staircase, listen for the slightest sound from the sick
chamber! How often did a tremble shake his frame, and cold drops of terror start
upon his brow, when a sudden trampling of feet caused him to fear that
Thesaurus
ashes: (n) dust, cinders, remains,
cinder, clay, earth, embers, clinker;
(adj) scoriae, mother, precipitate.
circumstance: (n) affair, incident,
matter, event, occasion, chance,
accident, opportunity, adventure,
casualty, fact.
delirious: (adj) crazy, wild, frantic,
wandering, demented, excited,
insane, mad, frenetic, doting, drunk.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unexcited,
rational, composed, relaxed,
reasonable, balanced, lucid, collected,
clearheaded, calm, dejected.
drops: (n) tear.
dwell: (adj, v) inhabit; (v) reside, bide,
live, stay, lodge, delay, occupy,
continue, be, settle. ANTONYM: (v)
wander.
foaming: (adj) foamy, effervescent,
effervescing, bubbly, bubbling,
sparkling, spumy; (adj, n) frothing;
(n) surging, effervescence, scum.
grind: (n, v) labor, toil, comminute,
drudge; (v) grate, crunch, abrade,
chew, scrape, mash; (n) mill.
ANTONYMS: (v) blunt, smooth.
homewards: (adv) toward home,
home, to your house.
recalling: (adj) revocatory; (n)
recognition.
trampling: (n) trample; (adj) moving.
writhing: (adj, n) twisting; (adj)
wriggly, squirming, wiggling,
wiggly, twisty, tortuous, snaky,
winding, sinuous; (n) twist.
314
Oliver Twist
something too dreadful to think of, had even then occurred! And what had been
the fervency of all the prayers he had ever muttered, compared with those he
poured forth, now, in the agony and passion of his supplication for the life and
health of the gentle creature, who was tottering on the deep grave's verge!
Oh! the suspense, the fearful, acute suspense, of standing idly by while the
life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance! Oh! the racking thoughts
that crowd upon the mind, and make the heart beat violently, and the breath
come thick, by the force of the images they conjure up before it; the desparate
anxiety to be doing something to relieve the pain, or lessen the danger, which we
have no power to alleviate; the sinking of soul and spirit, which the sad
remembrance of our helplessness produces; what tortures can equal these; what
reflections or endeavours can, in the full tide and fever of the time, allay them!
Morning came; and the little cottage was lonely and still. People spoke in
whispers; anxious faces appeared at the gate, from time to time; women and
children went away in tears. All the livelong day, and for hours after it had
grown dark, Oliver paced softly up and down the garden, raising his eyes every
instant to the sick chamber, and shuddering to see the darkened window,
looking as if death lay stretched inside. Late that night, Mr. Losberne arrived. 'It
is hard,' said the good doctor, turning away as he spoke; 'so young; so much
beloved; but there is very little hope.'
Another morning. The sun shone brightly; as brightly as if it looked upon no
misery or care; and, with every leaf and flower in full bloom about her; with life,
and health, and sounds and sights of joy, surrounding her on every side: the fair
young creature lay, wasting fast. Oliver crept away to the old churchyard, and
sitting down on one of the green mounds, wept and prayed for her, in silence.%
There was such peace and beauty in the scene; so much of brightness and
mirth in the sunny landscape; such blithesome music in the songs of the summer
birds; such freedom in the rapid flight of the rook, careering overhead; so much
of life and joyousness in all; that, when the boy raised his aching eyes, and
looked about, the thought instinctively occurred to him, that this was not a time
for death; that Rose could surely never die when humbler things were all so glad
Thesaurus
blithesome: (adj) blithe, lighthearted,
cheerfulness, excitement, exuberance, mulct; (n) crow.
glee, gladness. ANTONYMS: (n)
suspense: (n) doubt, expectancy,
jolly, mirthful, jocund, gay, lively,
merry, gleeful, lightsome, joyful.
unhappiness, sadness.
anticipation, indecision, insecurity,
conjure: (v) invoke, entreat, arouse,
livelong: (n) Sedum telephium,
unrest, expectation, irresolution,
suspension, tension; (adj, n)
juggle, bewitch, beseech, bid, conjure sedum, orpin, orpine; (adj) durable,
hesitation. ANTONYM: (n)
up, evoke, implore, bring up.
lasting.
fervency: (n) ardor, ardency, ardour, racking: (v) corroding, consuming,
knowledge.
cutting, searching; (adj) agonizing,
tottering: (adj) unsteady, ramshackle,
fire, eagerness, fervour, heat,
fervidness, passionateness, warmth,
piercing, acute, grueling, harrowing, easily shaken, tottery, sick, rocky,
painful; (n) grinding.
broken, trembling, cracked; (v)
elan.
joyousness: (n) joyfulness, mirth, joy, rook: (v) defraud, con, swindle, bilk,
drooping; (n) convulsion.
exhilaration, exultation, gaiety,
nobble, gyp, cheat, fleece, diddle,
Charles Dickens
315
and gay; that graves were for cold and cheerless winter: not for sunlight and
fragrance. He almost thought that shrouds were for the old and shrunken; and
that they never wrapped the young and graceful form in their ghastly folds.%
A knell from the church bell broke harshly on these youthful thoughts.
Another! Again! It was tolling for the funeral service. A group of humble
mourners entered the gate: wearing white favours; for the corpse was young.
They stood uncovered by a grave; and there was a mother--a mother once-among the weeping train. But the sun shone brightly, and the birds sang on.
Oliver turned homeward, thinking on the many kindnesses he had received
from the young lady, and wishing that the time could come again, that he might
never cease showing her how grateful and attached he was. He had no cause for
self-reproach on the score of neglect, or want of thought, for he had been
devoted to her service; and yet a hundred little occasions rose up before him, on
which he fancied he might have been more zealous, and more earnest, and
wished he had been. We need be careful how we deal with those about us, when
every death carries to some small circle of survivors, thoughts of so much
omitted, and so little done--of so many things forgotten, and so many more
which might have been repaired! There is no remorse so deep as that which is
unavailing; if we would be spared its tortures, let us remember this, in time.
When he reached home Mrs. Maylie was sitting in the little parlour. Oliver's
heart sank at sight of her; for she had never left the bedside of her niece; and he
trembled to think what change could have driven her away. He learnt that she
had fallen into a deep sleep, from which she would waken, either to recovery
and life, or to bid them farewell, and die.
They sat, listening, and afraid to speak, for hours. The untasted meal was
removed, with looks which showed that their thoughts were elsewhere, they
watched the sun as he sank lower and lower, and, at length, cast over sky and
earth those brilliant hues which herald his departure. Their quick ears caught the
sound of an approaching footstep. They both involuntarily darted to the door, as
Mr. Losberne entered.
Thesaurus
fragrance: (n, v) aroma, perfume,
scent, smell; (n) bouquet, odor,
essence, odour, redolence, sweetness;
(adj) fragrant. ANTONYMS: (n) stink,
stench.
knell: (n, v) knoll; (v) chime, call,
resound, circle, environ, call up, echo,
band, encircle, be around.
learnt: (adj) learned.
remorse: (n) penitence, contrition,
repentance, regret, guilt, penance,
sorrow, grief, qualm, ruefulness,
compassion. ANTONYM: (n)
shamelessness.
repaired: (adj) reconditioned,
maintained, mended, fastened,
serviced, intent, frozen, flat,
serviceable.
self-reproach: (n) regret, repentance,
shame, penitence, contrition, guilt.
tolling: (n) kneel, passing bell, clangor,
pealing.
unavailing: (adj) fruitless, bootless,
useless, ineffectual, inefficacious,
otiose, inutile, ineffective, idle, vain,
pointless.
waken: (v) stir, awaken, wake, wake
up, arouse, awake, excite, call, kindle,
evoke, provoke.
zealous: (adj) keen, enthusiastic,
fervent, ardent, avid, devoted,
strenuous, vehement, glowing, fiery;
(adj, n) passionate. ANTONYMS:
(adj) indifferent, apathetic,
unenthusiastic, cool, halfhearted,
moderate.
316
Oliver Twist
'What of Rose?' cried the old lady. 'Tell me at once! I can bear it; anything but
suspense! Oh, tell me! in the name of Heaven!'
'You must compose yourself,' said the doctor supporting her. 'Be calm, my
dear ma'am, pray.'
'Let me go, in God's name! My dear child! She is dead! She is dying!'
'No!' cried the doctor, passionately. 'As He is good and merciful, she will live
to bless us all, for years to come.'
The lady fell upon her knees, and tried to fold her hands together; but the
energy which had supported her so long, fled up to Heaven with her first
thanksgiving; and she sank into the friendly arms which were extended to
receive her.%
Thesaurus
calm: (adj, n, v) assuage, appease, lull;
(adj, v) cool, pacify, peaceful, easy,
steady; (adj, adv, n, v) still; (n, v) allay;
(v) mollify. ANTONYMS: (adj)
agitated, wild, stormy, nervous,
angry, scared, terrified, tense; (v)
agitate, provoke; (adj, v) upset.
fold: (n, v) crease, pucker, wrinkle, lap,
double, roll, bend; (v) crumple,
collapse, wrap; (n) flock.
ANTONYMS: (v) flatness, expose,
open, create, thrive, smooth; (n)
unfolding.
merciful: (adj) humane, gracious,
lenient, compassionate, kind,
clement, benign, kindly, gentle,
beneficent, forgiving. ANTONYMS:
(adj) pitiless, merciless, unforgiving,
spiteful, harsh, impatient, severe,
hardhearted.
passionately: (adv) fervently,
vehemently, violently, fiercely,
eagerly, zealously, fervidly, fierily,
enthusiastically, heatedly, stormily.
ANTONYMS: (adv) mildly,
apathetically, calmly, halfheartedly,
impassively, jokingly, gently.
supported: (adj) sustained, backed,
bolstered, based; (v) borne, carried,
conveyed, supporting; (adv) on.
thanksgiving: (n) benediction, grace,
acknowledgment, thanks,
recognition, gratitude, prayer, saving
grace, approval, gracility, grace of
God.
Charles Dickens
317
CHAPTER XXXIV
CONTAINS SOME INTRODUCTORY
PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO A YOUNG
GENTLEMAN WHO NOW ARRIVES UPON THE
SCENE; AND A NEW ADVENTURE WHICH
HAPPENED TO OLIVER
It was almost too much happiness to bear. Oliver felt stunned and stupefied
by the unexpected intelligence; he could not weep, or speak, or rest. He had
scarcely the power of understanding anything that had passed, until, after a long
ramble in the quiet evening air, a burst of tears came to his relief, and he seemed
to awaken, all at once, to a full sense of the joyful change that had occurred, and
the almost insupportable load of anguish which had been taken from his
breast.%
The night was fast closing in, when he returned homeward: laden with
flowers which he had culled, with peculiar care, for the adornment of the sick
chamber. As he walked briskly along the road, he heard behind him, the noise of
some vehicle, approaching at a furious pace. Looking round, he saw that it was a
post-chaise, driven at great speed; and as the horses were galloping, and the road
was narrow, he stood leaning against a gate until it should have passed him.
Thesaurus
adornment: (n) jewelry,
culled: (adj) preferred, assorted.
despairing, unpleasant, staid, sorry,
insupportable: (adj, v) insufferable,
embellishment, decoration,
disappointed, depressed, heavy.
intolerable; (adj) indefensible,
pace: (n, v) walk, gait, rate, march,
garnishment, accessory, trim, frill,
stride, footstep; (n) speed, tempo,
passementerie, trimming, garnish,
unbearable, excruciating,
flower.
unjustifiable, unendurable,
rapidity, tread, celerity.
anguish: (n, v) pain, ache; (n) torment, impossible, unsupportable, heavy,
ramble: (n, v) journey, stroll, saunter,
obnoxious. ANTONYM: (adj)
agony, torture, distress, misery,
wander, roam, meander, excursion,
suffering, despair, grief, sorrow.
bearable.
hike, tramp, walk, promenade.
ANTONYMS: (n) pleasure,
joyful: (adj) gay, glad, elated, cheerful, ANTONYM: (v) settle.
weep: (v) wail, bawl, lament, sob,
happiness, calm, euphoria,
gleeful, cheery, delighted, joyous,
joyfulness, ecstasy, content, peace,
jolly, blissful, blithe. ANTONYMS:
blubber, moan, howl, drip, greet,
(adj) miserable, sorrowful, unhappy,
whimper; (n) tear.
hopefulness.
318
Oliver Twist
As it dashed on, Oliver caught a glimpse of a man in a white nightcap,
whose face seemed familiar to him, although his view was so brief that he could
not identify the person. In another second or two, the nightcap was thrust out of
the chaise-window, and a stentorian voice bellowed to the driver to stop: which
he did, as soon as he could pull up his horses. Then, the nightcap once again
appeared: and the same voice called Oliver by his name.%
'Here!' cried the voice. 'Oliver, what's the news? Miss Rose! Master O-li-ver!'
'Is is you, Giles?' cried Oliver, running up to the chaise-door.
Giles popped out his nightcap again, preparatory to making some reply,
when he was suddenly pulled back by a young gentleman who occupied the
other corner of the chaise, and who eagerly demanded what was the news.
'In a word!' cried the gentleman, 'Better or worse?'
'Better--much better!' replied Oliver, hastily.
'Thank Heaven!' exclaimed the gentleman. 'You are sure?'
'Quite, sir,' replied Oliver. 'The change took place only a few hours ago; and
Mr. Losberne says, that all danger is at an end.'
The gentleman said not another word, but, opening the chaise-door, leaped
out, and taking Oliver hurriedly by the arm, led him aside.
'You are quite certain? There is no possibility of any mistake on your part, my
boy, is there?' demanded the gentleman in a tremulous voice. 'Do not deceive
me, by awakening hopes that are not to be fulfilled.'
'I would not for the world, sir,' replied Oliver. 'Indeed you may believe me.
Mr. Losberne's words were, that she would live to bless us all for many years to
come. I heard him say so.'
The tears stood in Oliver's eyes as he recalled the scene which was the
beginning of so much happiness; and the gentleman turned his face away, and
remained silent, for some minutes. Oliver thought he heard him sob, more than
once; but he feared to interrupt him by any fresh remark--for he could well guess
Thesaurus
awakening: (n) arousal, waking up,
revival, disenchantment,
awakenment, introduction,
provocation; (adj) arousing, moving,
animating; (v) awake. ANTONYM:
(n) suppression.
chaise: (n) shay, carriage, equipage,
rig, coach, daybed, chaise longue,
bed, cabriole chair, chair.
dashed: (v) ashamed, cut up, sunk;
(adj) broken, done for, dejected,
discouraged, dotted.
glimpse: (n, v) look, peek; (v) blink,
displeasure.
see, notice, spy, spot, espy; (n) coup hurriedly: (adv) rapidly, quickly,
d'oeil, view, peep. ANTONYMS: (n)
swiftly, abruptly, promptly, fast, in
scrutiny, observation, perusal; (v)
haste, suddenly, speedily, rashly,
precipitately. ANTONYMS: (adv)
scrutinize, survey, Miss, study.
happiness: (n) delight, merriment,
calmly, unhurriedly, patiently,
ecstasy, welfare, gladness, luck,
carefully, gradually, thoroughly.
stentorian: (adj) booming, vocal,
cheerfulness, blessedness, bliss,
felicity, contentment. ANTONYMS:
piercing, strident, resonant,
(n) sadness, despair, grief, misery,
powerful, flourishing, full, fuller,
dissatisfaction, seriousness, dullness, palmy, stentorophonic.
discontent, dejection, gloominess,
Charles Dickens
319
what his feelings were--and so stood apart, feigning to be occupied with his
nosegay.%
All this time, Mr. Giles, with the white nightcap on, had been sitting on the
steps of the chaise, supporting an elbow on each knee, and wiping his eyes with
a blue cotton pocket-handkerchief dotted with white spots. That the honest
fellow had not been feigning emotion, was abundantly demonstrated by the
very red eyes with which he regarded the young gentleman, when he turned
round and addressed him.
'I think you had better go on to my mother's in the chaise, Giles,' said he. 'I
would rather walk slowly on, so as to gain a little time before I see her. You can
say I am coming.'
'I beg your pardon, Mr. Harry,' said Giles: giving a final polish to his ruffled
countenance with the handkerchief; 'but if you would leave the postboy to say
that, I should be very much obliged to you. It wouldn't be proper for the maids
to see me in this state, sir; I should never have any more authority with them if
they did.'
'Well,' rejoined Harry Maylie, smiling, 'you can do as you like. Let him go on
with the luggage, if you wish it, and do you follow with us. Only first exchange
that nightcap for some more appropriate covering, or we shall be taken for
madmen.'
Mr. Giles, reminded of his unbecoming costume, snatched off and pocketed
his nightcap; and substituted a hat, of grave and sober shape, which he took out
of the chaise. This done, the postboy drove off; Giles, Mr. Maylie, and Oliver,
followed at their leisure.
As they walked along, Oliver glanced from time to time with much interest
and curiosity at the new comer. He seemed about five-and-twenty years of age,
and was of the middle height; his countenance was frank and handsome; and his
demeanor easy and prepossessing. Notwithstanding the difference between
youth and age, he bore so strong a likeness to the old lady, that Oliver would
Thesaurus
abundantly: (adv) copiously, richly,
fully, generously, bounteously,
plentifully, plenteously, freely,
exuberantly, largely, bountifully.
ANTONYMS: (adv) fruitlessly,
insufficiently, stingily, meagerly,
scantily.
costume: (n) clothing, clothes, apparel,
garb, suit, outfit, uniform, garments,
drapery; (n, v) dress; (v) clothe.
demeanor: (n, v) bearing, conduct; (n)
carriage, air, deportment, attitude,
manner, behaviour, guise, mien, port. thing, goods, stuff, things, trunk,
demonstrated: (adj) established, show, suitcase, pack.
ruffled: (adj) rippled, frilly, frilled,
tried, incontestable.
dotted: (adj) speckled, dappled,
upset, disordered, excited,
specked, spotted, dashed, stippled,
disconcerted, decorated, tousled,
scattered, spotty, dot, mottled,
tangled, turbulent.
snatched: (adj) hasty, speedy, brief,
broken.
elbow: (n, v) poke, nudge, jolt; (n)
hurried, quick, rapid, short, sudden,
swift. ANTONYM: (adj) slow.
cubitus, elbow joint, angle,
articulation; (v) jostle, push, shove,
substituted: (v) replace; (prep)
deputed, delegated; (adj)
crowd.
luggage: (n) baggage, bag, gear, grip,
substitutional.
320
Oliver Twist
have had no great difficulty in imagining their relationship, if he had not already
spoken of her as his mother.%
Mrs. Maylie was anxiously waiting to receive her son when he reached the
cottage. The meeting did not take place without great emotion on both sides.
'Mother!' whispered the young man; 'why did you not write before?'
'I did,' replied Mrs. Maylie; 'but, on reflection, I determined to keep back the
letter until I had heard Mr. Losberne's opinion.'
'But why,' said the young man, 'why run the chance of that occurring which
so nearly happened? If Rose had--I cannot utter that word now--if this illness had
terminated differently, how could you ever have forgiven yourself! How could I
ever have know happiness again!'
'If that had been the case, Harry,' said Mrs. Maylie, 'I fear your happiness
would have been effectually blighted, and that your arrival here, a day sooner or
a day later, would have been of very, very little import.'
'And who can wonder if it be so, mother?' rejoined the young man; 'or why
should I say, if?--It is--it is--you know it, mother--you must know it!'
'I know that she deserves the best and purest love the heart of man can offer,'
said Mrs. Maylie; 'I know that the devotion and affection of her nature require no
ordinary return, but one that shall be deep and lasting. If I did not feel this, and
know, besides, that a changed behaviour in one she loved would break her heart,
I should not feel my task so difficult of performance, or have to encounter so
many struggles in my own bosom, when I take what seems to me to be the strict
line of duty.'
'This is unkind, mother,' said Harry. 'Do you still suppose that I am a boy
ignorant of my own mind, and mistaking the impulses of my own soul?'
'I think, my dear son,' returned Mrs. Maylie, laying her hand upon his
shoulder, 'that youth has many generous impulses which do not last; and that
among them are some, which, being gratified, become only the more fleeting.
Above all, I think' said the lady, fixing her eyes on her son's face, 'that if an
enthusiastic, ardent, and ambitious man marry a wife on whose name there is a
Thesaurus
ardent: (adj, n) enthusiastic, glowing;
villa, lodge, shanty, chalet, country
(adj, v) burning, fervent,
house, house, cot.
impassioned; (adj) keen, vehement,
fleeting: (adj) brief, momentary,
eager, warm, acute, fervid.
ephemeral, passing, transient, short,
ANTONYMS: (adj) apathetic, cool,
fugitive, evanescent, transitory,
unenthusiastic, traitorous, mild,
temporal, short-lived. ANTONYMS:
(adj) permanent, lasting, enduring,
frigid, dispassionate, cold, disloyal,
impassive, calm.
unforgettable, thorough, lengthy,
blighted: (v) broken, wasted, rotten,
long, slow.
moldering, effete, cankered; (adj)
forgiven: (v) conciliatory, placable.
mistaking: (n) misunderstanding,
spoilt, ill-fated, bleak, blasted, bad.
cottage: (n) cabin, bungalow, crib, hut, mistake, imbroglio,
misinterpretation, misconstruction,
misapprehension, misconstrual,
interpretation, misreading; (adj)
mistaken, misleading.
occurring: (adj) going on.
unkind: (adj) cruel, harsh, unfeeling,
inconsiderate, pitiless, heartless,
inhuman, hard, thoughtless, brutal,
mean. ANTONYMS: (adj) kind,
considerate, pleasant, friendly,
thoughtful, tactful, mild, gentle,
generous, flattering, compassionate.
Charles Dickens
321
stain, which, though it originate in no fault of hers, may be visited by cold and
sordid people upon her, and upon his children also: and, in exact proportion to
his success in the world, be cast in his teeth, and made the subject of sneers
against him: he may, no matter how generous and good his nature, one day
repent of the connection he formed in early life. And she may have the pain of
knowing that he does so.'
'Mother,' said the young man, impatiently, 'he would be a selfish brute,
unworthy alike of the name of man and of the woman you describe, who acted
thus.'
'You think so now, Harry,' replied his mother.%
'And ever will!' said the young man. 'The mental agony I have suffered,
during the last two days, wrings from me the avowal to you of a passion which,
as you well know, is not one of yesterday, nor one I have lightly formed. On
Rose, sweet, gentle girl! my heart is set, as firmly as ever heart of man was set on
woman. I have no thought, no view, no hope in life, beyond her; and if you
oppose me in this great stake, you take my peace and happiness in your hands,
and cast them to the wind. Mother, think better of this, and of me, and do not
disregard the happiness of which you seem to think so little.'
'Harry,' said Mrs. Maylie, 'it is because I think so much of warm and sensitive
hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded. But we have said enough,
and more than enough, on this matter, just now.'
'Let it rest with Rose, then,' interposed Harry. 'You will not press these
overstrained opinions of yours, so far, as to throw any obstacle in my way?'
'I will not,' rejoined Mrs. Maylie; 'but I would have you consider--'
'I have considered!' was the impatient reply; 'Mother, I have considered, years
and years. I have considered, ever since I have been capable of serious reflection.
My feelings remain unchanged, as they ever will; and why should I suffer the
pain of a delay in giving them vent, which can be productive of no earthly good?
No! Before I leave this place, Rose shall hear me.'
'She shall,' said Mrs. Maylie.
Thesaurus
disregard: (n, v) disdain, slight, scorn; impossible, improbable,
submit, encourage, correspond,
(n) carelessness, contempt; (v)
inconceivable, celestial.
approve, favor.
obstacle: (n, v) hindrance, difficulty,
sordid: (adj) ignoble, nasty, foul, filthy,
discount, defy, despise, cut, flout;
(adj, v) overlook. ANTONYMS: (v)
block, check, interruption, delay; (n)
grimy, base, cheap, despicable,
notice, heed, value, obey, accept,
drawback, barrier, hitch, obstruction, dishonorable, mucky, low.
consider; (n) respect, thoughtfulness, bar. ANTONYMS: (n) asset, aid,
ANTONYMS: (adj) respectable,
consideration, attention; (n, v) regard. advantage, boost, incentive.
pleasant, wholesome, reputable,
earthly: (adj, n) terrestrial; (adj) carnal, oppose: (v) contest, contend, resist,
honorable, clean, attractive, humane.
stain: (n, v) spot, blemish, tarnish, blot,
worldly, conceivable, human, geotic, contradict, controvert, contravene,
secular, terrene, temporal, telluric,
counteract, fight, counter, disagree,
dye, smear, disgrace, mark, soil, dirt,
sublunary. ANTONYMS: (adj)
dissent. ANTONYMS: (v) advocate,
defile. ANTONYMS: (v) enhance,
spiritual, divine, ethereal, immortal,
agree, back, advise, promote, accept,
dignify, clean.
322
Oliver Twist
'There is something in your manner, which would almost imply that she will
hear me coldly, mother,' said the young man.%
'Not coldly,' rejoined the old lady; 'far from it.'
'How then?' urged the young man. 'She has formed no other attachment?'
'No, indeed,' replied his mother; 'you have, or I mistake, too strong a hold on
her affections already. What I would say,' resumed the old lady, stopping her
son as he was about to speak, 'is this. Before you stake your all on this chance;
before you suffer yourself to be carried to the highest point of hope; reflect for a
few moments, my dear child, on Rose's history, and consider what effect the
knowledge of her doubtful birth may have on her decision: devoted as she is to
us, with all the intensity of her noble mind, and with that perfect sacrifice of self
which, in all matters, great or trifling, has always been her characteristic.'
'What do you mean?'
'That I leave you to discover,' replied Mrs. Maylie. 'I must go back to her. God
bless you!'
'I shall see you again to-night?' said the young man, eagerly.
'By and by,' replied the lady; 'when I leave Rose.'
'You will tell her I am here?' said Harry.
'Of course,' replied Mrs. Maylie.
'And say how anxious I have been, and how much I have suffered, and how I
long to see her. You will not refuse to do this, mother?'
'No,' said the old lady; 'I will tell her all.' And pressing her son's hand,
affectionately, she hastened from the room.
Mr. Losberne and Oliver had remained at another end of the apartment while
this hurried conversation was proceeding. The former now held out his hand to
Harry Maylie; and hearty salutations were exchanged between them. The doctor
then communicated, in reply to multifarious questions from his young friend, a
precise account of his patient's situation; which was quite as consolatory and full
of promise, as Oliver's statement had encouraged him to hope; and to the whole
Thesaurus
affectionately: (adv) lovingly,
multifarious: (adj, v) diverse,
heterogeneous, different; (adj)
tenderly, warmly, dearly, caringly,
devotedly, kindly, ardently,
manifold, multifaceted, complex,
cordially, amorously, dotingly.
varied, miscellaneous, multiple,
ANTONYMS: (adv) disapprovingly,
many, multiform. ANTONYM: (adj)
frostily, roughly.
homogeneous.
hurried: (adj) fast, sudden, speedy,
sacrifice: (n, v) oblation, forfeit; (v)
rapid, quick, swift, headlong, abrupt, offer, immolate, offer up, give, give
up, relinquish; (n) immolation, loss,
cursory, precipitate, prompt.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unhurried,
forfeiture.
stopping: (n) stoppage, cessation,
leisurely, considered, patient,
meticulous, thorough.
shutdown, padding, fillet,
suspension, stay, discontinuance,
abeyance, interruption; (adv)
haltingly.
trifling: (adj) paltry, slight, petty,
negligible, immaterial, worthless,
trivial, minor, small; (adj, v)
inconsequential; (adj, n) frivolity.
ANTONYMS: (adj) significant,
worthwhile, major, considerable,
crucial, enormous, great, mature,
profound, substantial; (n)
importance.
Charles Dickens
323
of which, Mr. Giles, who affected to be busy about the luggage, listened with
greedy ears.%
'Have you shot anything particular, lately, Giles?' inquired the doctor, when
he had concluded.
'Nothing particular, sir,' replied Mr. Giles, colouring up to the eyes.
'Nor catching any thieves, nor identifying any house-breakers?' said the
doctor.
'None at all, sir,' replied Mr. Giles, with much gravity.
'Well,' said the doctor, 'I am sorry to hear it, because you do that sort of thing
admirably. Pray, how is Brittles?'
'The boy is very well, sir,' said Mr. Giles, recovering his usual tone of
patronage; 'and sends his respectful duty, sir.'
'That's well,' said the doctor. 'Seeing you here, reminds me, Mr. Giles, that on
the day before that on which I was called away so hurriedly, I executed, at the
request of your good mistress, a small commission in your favour. Just step into
this corner a moment, will you?'
Mr. Giles walked into the corner with much importance, and some wonder,
and was honoured with a short whispering conference with the doctor, on the
termination of which, he made a great many bows, and retired with steps of
unusual stateliness. The subject matter of this conference was not disclosed in the
parlour, but the kitchen was speedily enlightened concerning it; for Mr. Giles
walked straight thither, and having called for a mug of ale, announced, with an
air of majesty, which was highly effective, that it had pleased his mistress, in
consideration of his gallant behaviour on the occasion of that attempted robbery,
to deposit, in the local savings-bank, the sum of five-and-twenty pounds, for his
sole use and benefit. At this, the two women-servants lifted up their hands and
eyes, and supposed that Mr. Giles, pulling out his shirt-frill, replied, 'No, no'; and
that if they observed that he was at all haughty to his inferiors, he would thank
them to tell him so. And then he made a great many other remarks, no less
illustrative of his humility, which were received with equal favour and
Thesaurus
admirably: (adv) superbly, perfectly,
aware, informed, learned, lettered;
ascetic, unconcerned, abstemious,
excellently, admirable, marvellously, (adj, v) wise; (n, v) savant; (v) shrewd. moderate.
illustrative: (adj) demonstrative,
heroically, bravely, brilliantly, nicely, ANTONYMS: (adj) puzzled,
creditably, ably. ANTONYMS: (adv)
unenlightened, uninformed,
descriptive, representative,
badly, inadequately, dishonorably,
confounded, confused, ignorant,
expository, exemplary, instructive,
execrably, incompetently, poorly.
perplexed, wild, reactionary,
graphic, exemplifying, clarifying, in
colouring: (n) coloration, painting,
traditional; (n) uninitiate.
point, explicatory.
patronage: (n) condescension, aegis,
colour, coloring, color, tincture, tint, greedy: (adj) avid, gluttonous,
hue, colouration, dyeing, exterior
desirous, grasping, acquisitive,
clientele, favor, trade, backing,
condition.
glutton, piggish, voracious, selfish;
assistance, countenance, auspices,
enlightened: (adj) liberal,
(adj, v) avaricious, covetous.
aid, championship.
ANTONYMS: (adj) temperate,
disillusioned, progressive, cultured,
324
Oliver Twist
applause, and were, withal, as original and as much to the purpose, as the
remarks of great men commonly are.%
Above stairs, the remainder of the evening passed cheerfully away; for the
doctor was in high spirits; and however fatigued or thoughtful Harry Maylie
might have been at first, he was not proof against the worthy gentleman's good
humour, which displayed itself in a great variety of sallies and professional
recollections, and an abundance of small jokes, which struck Oliver as being the
drollest things he had ever heard, and caused him to laugh proportionately; to
the evident satisfaction of the doctor, who laughed immoderately at himself, and
made Harry laugh almost as heartily, by the very force of sympathy. So, they
were as pleasant a party as, under the circumstances, they could well have been;
and it was late before they retired, with light and thankful hearts, to take that
rest of which, after the doubt and suspense they had recently undergone, they
stood much in need.
Oliver rose next morning, in better heart, and went about his usual
occupations, with more hope and pleasure than he had known for many days.
The birds were once more hung out, to sing, in their old places; and the sweetest
wild flowers that could be found, were once more gathered to gladden Rose with
their beauty. The melancholy which had seemed to the sad eyes of the anxious
boy to hang, for days past, over every object, beautiful as all were, was dispelled
by magic. The dew seemed to sparkle more brightly on the green leaves; the air
to rustle among them with a sweeter music; and the sky itself to look more blue
and bright. Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts,
exercise, even over the appearance of external objects. Men who look on nature,
and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the
sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The
real hues are delicate, and need a clearer vision.
It is worthy of remark, and Oliver did not fail to note it at the time, that his
morning expeditions were no longer made alone. Harry Maylie, after the very
first morning when he met Oliver coming laden home, was seized with such a
passion for flowers, and displayed such a taste in their arrangement, as left his
Thesaurus
brightly: (adv) vividly, luminously,
monstrously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
radiantly, gaily, clearly, shiningly,
frugally, reasonably.
intensely, cheerfully, smartly, bright, jaundiced: (adj) yellow, jealous,
lustrously. ANTONYMS: (adv)
partial, biased, prejudiced; (v) bilious,
gloomily, drearily, bleakly, stupidly, in tears, hypped, splenetic, saturnine,
dully, blankly, seriously,
hypochondriacal.
proportionately: (adv) relatively, pro
pessimistically.
immoderately: (adv) exorbitantly,
rata, in proportion, correspondingly,
inordinately, extravagantly,
symmetrically, commensurately,
intemperately, extremely,
adequately, balancedly, equally,
unrestrainedly, unduely, unduly,
harmoniously, appropriately.
exaggeratedly, immensely; (adj, adv) rustle: (n, v) whisper; (v) lift, buzz,
steal, pilfer, whiz, pinch, abstract,
thieve, purloin; (n) rustling.
sparkle: (n, v) flicker, flash, shimmer,
spark, shine, blaze, fizz, gleam,
glitter; (v) blink, glare. ANTONYMS:
(n) apathy, dullness, lifelessness.
thankful: (adj) appreciative, indebted,
beholden, obliged, contented,
pleased, gratified, relieved, under
obligation, appreciatory, welcome.
ANTONYMS: (adj) worried,
unappreciative, unthankful, sorry.
Charles Dickens
325
young companion far behind. If Oliver were behindhand in these respects, he
knew where the best were to be found; and morning after morning they scoured
the country together, and brought home the fairest that blossomed. The window
of the young lady's chamber was opened now; for she loved to feel the rich
summer air stream in, and revive her with its freshness; but there always stood
in water, just inside the lattice, one particular little bunch, which was made up
with great care, every morning. Oliver could not help noticing that the withered
flowers were never thrown away, although the little vase was regularly
replenished; nor, could he help observing, that whenever the doctor came into
the garden, he invariably cast his eyes up to that particular corner, and nodded
his head most expressively, as he set forth on his morning's walk. Pending these
observations, the days were flying by; and Rose was rapidly recovering.%
Nor did Oliver's time hang heavy on his hands, although the young lady had
not yet left her chamber, and there were no evening walks, save now and then,
for a short distance, with Mrs. Maylie. He applied himself, with redoubled
assiduity, to the instructions of the white-headed old gentleman, and laboured
so hard that his quick progress surprised even himself. It was while he was
engaged in this pursuit, that he was greatly startled and distressed by a most
unexpected occurrence.
The little room in which he was accustomed to sit, when busy at his books,
was on the ground-floor, at the back of the house. It was quite a cottage-room,
with a lattice-window: around which were clusters of jessamine and
honeysuckle, that crept over the casement, and filled the place with their
delicious perfume. It looked into a garden, whence a wicket-gate opened into a
small paddock; all beyond, was fine meadow-land and wood. There was no
other dwelling near, in that direction; and the prospect it commanded was very
extensive.
One beautiful evening, when the first shades of twilight were beginning to
settle upon the earth, Oliver sat at this window, intent upon his books. He had
been poring over them for some time; and, as the day had been uncommonly
sultry, and he had exerted himself a great deal, it is no disparagement to the
Thesaurus
assiduity: (n) application, diligence,
calumny, contempt, depreciation,
assiduities, assiduousness, attention, defamation, degradation, disgrace,
scorn. ANTONYMS: (n) adoration,
ardour, tenacity, industriousness,
persistence, perseverance, intentness. credit, commendation, acclaim,
behindhand: (adv) behind; (adj, adv)
compliment, admiration,
backward; (adj) tardy, slow, belated,
glorification, respect.
overdue, dilatory, untimely, undone, freshness: (adj) coolness; (n)
serotine; (adj, v) remiss.
impertinence, gall, greenness,
casement: (n) embrasure, casement
impudence, insolence, newness,
cloth.
viridity, originality, crust, crispness.
disparagement: (n, v) detraction,
ANTONYMS: (n) oldness, clutter,
dispraise; (n) aspersion, derogation,
humidity, mustiness.
jessamine: (n) common jasmine,
Jasminum, genus Jasminum, true
jasmine, Jasminum officinale.
paddock: (n) field, enclosure, pasture,
meadow, corral, compound, pound,
stall, ground, hutch, parrock.
redoubled: (adj) ingeminate.
sultry: (adj) hot, humid, muggy,
oppressive, stifling, sticky, ardent,
sensual, stuffy, sweltering, torrid.
ANTONYMS: (adj) fresh, cool, cold,
temperate, dry.
326
Oliver Twist
authors, whoever they may have been, to say, that gradually and by slow
degrees, he fell asleep.%
There is a kind of sleep that steals upon us sometimes, which, while it holds
the body prisoner, does not free the mind from a sense of things about it, and
enable it to ramble at its pleasure. So far as an overpowering heaviness, a
prostration of strength, and an utter inability to control our thoughts or power of
motion, can be called sleep, this is it; and yet, we have a consciousness of all that
is going on about us, and, if we dream at such a time, words which are really
spoken, or sounds which really exist at the moment, accommodate themselves
with surprising readiness to our visions, until reality and imagination become so
strangely blended that it is afterwards almost matter of impossibility to separate
the two. Nor is this, the most striking phenomenon incidental to such a state. It is
an undoubted fact, that although our senses of touch and sight be for the time
dead, yet our sleeping thoughts, and the visionary scenes that pass before us,
will be influenced and materially influenced, by the mere silent presence of some
external object; which may not have been near us when we closed our eyes: and
of whose vicinity we have had no waking consciousness.
Oliver knew, perfectly well, that he was in his own little room; that his books
were lying on the table before him; that the sweet air was stirring among the
creeping plants outside. And yet he was asleep. Suddenly, the scene changed; the
air became close and confined; and he thought, with a glow of terror, that he was
in the Jew's house again. There sat the hideous old man, in his accustomed
corner, pointing at him, and whispering to another man, with his face averted,
who sat beside him.
'Hush, my dear!' he thought he heard the Jew say; 'it is he, sure enough.
Come away.'
'He!' the other man seemed to answer; 'could I mistake him, think you? If a
crowd of ghosts were to put themselves into his exact shape, and he stood
amongst them, there is something that would tell me how to point him out. If
you buried him fifty feet deep, and took me across his grave, I fancy I should
know, if there wasn't a mark above it, that he lay buried there?'
Thesaurus
blended: (adj) mixed, miscellaneous, overpowering: (adj) overwhelming,
steals: (adj) stolen; (n) stealing.
undoubted: (adj) unquestionable,
composite, assorted, alloyed,
oppressive, resistless, compelling,
amalgamated, beaten, adulterate,
intense, heavy, strong, onerous,
undisputed, indisputable,
conglomerate; (n) medley; (v) mingle. devastating, uncontrollable,
undeniable, sure, positive, true,
books: (n) notebook, account, ledger,
depressing. ANTONYMS: (adj) light, unquestioned, indubitable, definite,
literature, accountancy.
subtle, imperceptible, insignificant,
unchallenged.
heaviness: (n) dullness, fatness,
visionary: (adj, n) utopian; (adj, v)
shallow, weak, faint, bland.
prostration: (n) depression,
imaginary; (adj) airy, fanciful, unreal,
sadness, ponderosity,
dreamy, ideal, romantic; (n) seer,
ponderousness, weightiness, weight, exhaustion, kneeling, breakdown,
dreamer, prophet. ANTONYMS: (adj)
darkness, gloom, wideness, pressure. weakness, dejection, inanition,
ANTONYMS: (n) slenderness,
genuflexion, curtsy; (adj) decline; (adj, foolish, unromantic, practical, real,
n) syncope.
nimbleness, weightlessness.
realistic, unimaginative.
Charles Dickens
327
The man seemed to say this, with such dreadful hatred, that Oliver awoke
with the fear, and started up.%
Good Heaven! what was that, which sent the blood tingling to his heart, and
deprived him of his voice, and of power to move! There--there--at the window-close before him--so close, that he could have almost touched him before he
started back: with his eyes peering into the room, and meeting his: there stood
the Jew! And beside him, white with rage or fear, or both, were the scowling
features of the man who had accosted him in the inn-yard.
It was but an instant, a glance, a flash, before his eyes; and they were gone.
But they had recognised him, and he them; and their look was as firmly
impressed upon his memory, as if it had been deeply carved in stone, and set
before him from his birth. He stood transfixed for a moment; then, leaping from
the window into the garden, called loudly for help.
Thesaurus
carved: (adj) cut, incised, sculptured;
coruscate. ANTONYMS: (adj)
imprinted, stamped, carved.
(v) graven, engraved, stamped, fixed, tasteful; (n) age; (v) dawdle.
ANTONYM: (adj) unimpressed.
imprinted. ANTONYM: (adj)
hatred: (n, v) detestation, enmity,
leaping: (n) jump, bounce, bound,
animosity; (n) aversion, antipathy,
leap, spring, saltation, bouncing; (v)
uncarved.
deprived: (adj) bereft, poor, destitute,
jumping; (adj, v) bounding; (adj)
disgust, abhorrence, grudge, anger,
depressed, needy, broke, bankrupt,
abomination, hostility. ANTONYMS: springing; (adv) leapingly.
(n) liking, adoration, affection,
peering: (adj) nosy, prying, snoopy.
denuded, humble, indigent,
insolvent. ANTONYMS: (adj) rich,
transfixed: (adj) fascinated,
attraction, goodwill, kindness,
exalted, salubrious.
delight, friendliness, admiration.
hypnotized, mesmerised,
flash: (n, v) flicker, blaze, shimmer,
impressed: (adj) touched, bewildered, mesmerized, hypnotised, stranded;
(v) engrossed in, wrapped in,
glitter, gleam, glimmer, blink, flame; amazed, susceptible, stupefied,
(adj, n, v) twinkle; (n) instant; (v)
stunned, confused, bemused; (v)
absorbed, rapt; (adv) aground.
Charles Dickens
329
CHAPTER XXXV
CONTAINING THE UNSATISFACTORY RESULT
OF OLIVER'S ADVENTURE; AND A
CONVERSATION OF SOME IMPORTANCE
BETWEEN HARRY MAYLIE AND ROSE
When the inmates of the house, attracted by Oliver's cries, hurried to the spot
from which they proceeded, they found him, pale and agitated, pointing in the
direction of the meadows behind the house, and scarcely able to articulate the
words, 'The Jew! the Jew!'
Mr. Giles was at a loss to comprehend what this outcry meant; but Harry
Maylie, whose perceptions were something quicker, and who had heard Oliver's
history from his mother, understood it at once.%
'What direction did he take?' he asked, catching up a heavy stick which was
standing in a corner.
'That,' replied Oliver, pointing out the course the man had taken; 'I missed
them in an instant.'
'Then, they are in the ditch!' said Harry. 'Follow! And keep as near me, as you
can.' So saying, he sprang over the hedge, and darted off with a speed which
rendered it matter of exceeding difficulty for the others to keep near him.
Thesaurus
articulate: (v) speak, pronounce, utter, infectious, epidemic, gripping,
transcendent, extraordinary,
transferable, zymotic; (n) discovery,
vocalize, voice, state, say, joint,
exceptional, prodigious, surpassing,
enunciate, express; (adj) eloquent.
Olympian; (v) exceed.
take, playing, uncovering, getting.
ANTONYMS: (adj) incoherent,
ANTONYM: (adj) noncommunicable. outcry: (n, v) clamor, exclaim, call,
comprehend: (v) grasp, catch, see,
shout, vociferation; (n) noise,
unintelligible, illogical,
misrepresented, mumbled, unclear,
comprise, appreciate, feel, sense,
exclamation, din, uproar, commotion,
unarticulated; (v) mumble,
apperceive, read; (adj, v) understand; racket. ANTONYM: (n) acceptance.
(n, v) embrace. ANTONYMS: (v)
scarcely: (adv) narrowly, rarely,
disconnect, misrepresent, misspeak.
attracted: (adj) paying attention,
mistake, misapprehend, exclude,
hardly, just, scarce, uncommonly,
concerned, enamored, enthusiastic,
misunderstand, misconceive.
insufficiently, scantily, scantly, only
exceeding: (prep) beyond, more than,
just, seldom. ANTONYMS: (adv)
interested, involved, amatory.
catching: (adj) communicable,
greater than; (adj) excessive,
easily, liberally.
330
Oliver Twist
Giles followed as well as he could; and Oliver followed too; and in the course
of a minute or two, Mr. Losberne, who had been out walking, and just then
returned, tumbled over the hedge after them, and picking himself up with more
agility than he could have been supposed to possess, struck into the same course
at no contemptible speed, shouting all the while, most prodigiously, to know
what was the matter.%
On they all went; nor stopped they once to breathe, until the leader, striking
off into an angle of the field indicated by Oliver, began to search, narrowly, the
ditch and hedge adjoining; which afforded time for the remainder of the party to
come up; and for Oliver to communicate to Mr. Losberne the circumstances that
had led to so vigorous a pursuit.
The search was all in vain. There were not even the traces of recent footsteps,
to be seen. They stood now, on the summit of a little hill, commanding the open
fields in every direction for three or four miles. There was the village in the
hollow on the left; but, in order to gain that, after pursuing the track Oliver had
pointed out, the men must have made a circuit of open ground, which it was
impossible they could have accomplished in so short a time. A thick wood
skirted the meadow-land in another direction; but they could not have gained
that covert for the same reason.
'It must have been a dream, Oliver,' said Harry Maylie.
'Oh no, indeed, sir,' replied Oliver, shuddering at the very recollection of the
old wretch's countenance; 'I saw him too plainly for that. I saw them both, as
plainly as I see you now.'
'Who was the other?' inquired Harry and Mr. Losberne, together.
'The very same man I told you of, who came so suddenly upon me at the inn,'
said Oliver. 'We had our eyes fixed full upon each other; and I could swear to
him.'
'They took this way?' demanded Harry: 'are you sure?'
'As I am that the men were at the window,' replied Oliver, pointing down, as
he spoke, to the hedge which divided the cottage-garden from the meadow. 'The
Thesaurus
commanding: (adj) imperative,
shameful. ANTONYMS: (adj)
depression, cave, dell; (adj) empty,
false; (adj, n, v) concave; (n, v)
imperious, peremptory, bossy,
estimable, admired, deserving,
imposing, ascendant, compelling,
worthy, honorable, respectable,
excavate, dent, scoop. ANTONYMS:
magnificent; (adj, n) grand,
(adj) convex, sincere, true, full,
respectful, noble, generous,
impressive; (adv) commandingly.
meaningful, cramped, valid; (n)
commendable, good.
ANTONYMS: (adj) inferior,
covert: (adj) clandestine, hidden,
hump, bump, hill, lump.
prodigiously: (adv) astonishingly,
unassertive, indecisive,
concealed, secret, underground,
undercover; (n) cover, blind, refuge,
unimpressive, insignificant,
enormously, immensely, vastly,
subservient.
concealment, covering. ANTONYMS: marvelously, exceptionally,
contemptible: (adj) abject, mean, base, (adj) open, aboveboard, unconcealed, colossally, largely, wonderfully,
pitiful, little, worthless, unworthy,
public, blatant.
hugely, tremendously.
hollow: (adj, n) blank; (n) cavity,
miserable, ignoble, abominable,
Charles Dickens
331
tall man leaped over, just there; and the Jew, running a few paces to the right,
crept through that gap.'
The two gentlemen watched Oliver's earnest face, as he spoke, and looking
from him to each other, seemed to feel satisfied of the accuracy of what he said.
Still, in no direction were there any appearances of the trampling of men in
hurried flight. The grass was long; but it was trodden down nowhere, save
where their own feet had crushed it. The sides and brinks of the ditches were of
damp clay; but in no one place could they discern the print of men's shoes, or the
slightest mark which would indicate that any feet had pressed the ground for
hours before.%
'This is strange!' said Harry.
'Strange?' echoed the doctor. 'Blathers and Duff, themselves, could make
nothing of it.'
Notwithstanding the evidently useless nature of their search, they did not
desist until the coming on of night rendered its further prosecution hopeless; and
even then, they gave it up with reluctance. Giles was dispatched to the different
ale-houses in the village, furnished with the best description Oliver could give of
the appearance and dress of the strangers. Of these, the Jew was, at all events,
sufficiently remarkable to be remembered, supposing he had been seen drinking,
or loitering about; but Giles returned without any intelligence, calculated to
dispel or lessen the mystery.
On the next day, fresh search was made, and the inquiries renewed; but with
no better success. On the day following, Oliver and Mr. Maylie repaired to the
market-town, in the hope of seeing or hearing something of the men there; but
this effort was equally fruitless. After a few days, the affair began to be
forgotten, as most affairs are, when wonder, having no fresh food to support it,
dies away of itself.
Meanwhile, Rose was rapidly recovering. She had left her room: was able to
go out; and mixing once more with the family, carried joy into the hearts of all.
Thesaurus
desist: (v) abstain, discontinue, refrain, unproductive. ANTONYMS: (adj)
avoid, leave, knock off, halt, forbear,
fertile, useful, effective, satisfying,
end, stop, quit. ANTONYMS: (v)
fruitful, worthwhile, profitable,
continue, consume, persevere, go.
successful, productive, hopeful,
dispel: (v) dissipate, disperse, break
meaningful.
lessen: (v) decrease, abate, fall,
up, scatter, chase away, dissolve,
diffuse, disband, chase, dismiss,
decline, dwindle, assuage, allay,
resolve. ANTONYMS: (v) garner,
alleviate; (adj, v) abridge, curtail,
contract. ANTONYMS: (v) increase,
gather, appear, attract.
fruitless: (adj, v) abortive; (adj) barren, exacerbate, intensify, raise, grow,
useless, empty, futile, ineffective,
aggravate, accelerate, bolster,
idle, pointless, sterile, bootless,
worsen, strengthen, rise.
mixing: (n) mix, commixture,
admixture, mixed, compounding,
combination, amalgamation, mixture,
mingling, hybrid, intermixture.
supposing: (adv) admitting,
conditionally, in case; (n)
supposition, conjecture, thought,
theory, assumption; (conj) although,
what if; (v) suppose.
trodden: (adj) trampled, damaged,
beaten, compressed, packed down.
ANTONYM: (adj) loose.
332
Oliver Twist
But, although this happy change had a visible effect on the little circle; and
although cheerful voices and merry laughter were once more heard in the
cottage; there was at times, an unwonted restraint upon some there: even upon
Rose herself: which Oliver could not fail to remark. Mrs. Maylie and her son
were often closeted together for a long time; and more than once Rose appeared
with traces of tears upon her face. After Mr. Losberne had fixed a day for his
departure to Chertsey, these symptoms increased; and it became evident that
something was in progress which affected the peace of the young lady, and of
somebody else besides.%
At length, one morning, when Rose was alone in the breakfast-parlour, Harry
Maylie entered; and, with some hesitation, begged permission to speak with her
for a few moments.
'A few--a very few--will suffice, Rose,' said the young man, drawing his chair
towards her. 'What I shall have to say, has already presented itself to your mind;
the most cherished hopes of my heart are not unknown to you, though from my
lips you have not heard them stated.'
Rose had been very pale from the moment of his entrance; but that might
have been the effect of her recent illness. She merely bowed; and bending over
some plants that stood near, waited in silence for him to proceed.
'I--I--ought to have left here, before,' said Harry.
'You should, indeed,' replied Rose. 'Forgive me for saying so, but I wish you
had.'
'I was brought here, by the most dreadful and agonising of all
apprehensions,' said the young man; 'the fear of losing the one dear being on
whom my every wish and hope are fixed. You had been dying; trembling
between earth and heaven. We know that when the young, the beautiful, and
good, are visited with sickness, their pure spirits insensibly turn towards their
bright home of lasting rest; we know, Heaven help us! that the best and fairest of
our kind, too often fade in blooming.'
Thesaurus
agonising: (adj) agonizing,
flourish, enhance, surge, sharpen,
torturesome, torturing, torturous,
brighten, color, wax, stay, rally.
lasting: (adj) abiding, everlasting, firm,
excruciating, painful, harrowing.
bowed: (adj) arched, curved, inclined, eternal, enduring, continuous,
crooked, arciform, arching, arced,
permanent, constant, perpetual,
tough; (adj, v) fast. ANTONYMS: (adj)
bandy, arcuate, twisted, bended.
ANTONYMS: (adj) straight, concave, fleeting, impermanent, superficial,
plucked.
ephemeral, caducous, unstable,
fade: (adj, v) vanish, drop; (v) dissolve, occasional, insubstantial, erratic,
decline, evaporate, discolor, droop,
acute, fickle.
die, languish, expire; (n, v) wither.
restraint: (n) bridle, reserve,
ANTONYMS: (v) increase, grow,
moderation, modesty, constraint,
control, restriction, curb; (n, v)
hindrance, check, limit.
ANTONYMS: (n) excess, abandon,
incentive, decadence, freedom,
unrestraint, depravity, disorderliness,
indulgence, expression, incitement.
suffice: (v) satisfy, do, answer,
content, fulfill, be sufficient, qualify,
function, be enough, suit, fulfil.
voices: (n) chorus.
Charles Dickens
333
There were tears in the eyes of the gentle girl, as these words were spoken;
and when one fell upon the flower over which she bent, and glistened brightly in
its cup, making it more beautiful, it seemed as though the outpouring of her
fresh young heart, claimed kindred naturally, with the loveliest things in
nature.%
'A creature,' continued the young man, passionately, 'a creature as fair and
innocent of guile as one of God's own angels, fluttered between life and death.
Oh! who could hope, when the distant world to which she was akin, half opened
to her view, that she would return to the sorrow and calamity of this! Rose, Rose,
to know that you were passing away like some soft shadow, which a light from
above, casts upon the earth; to have no hope that you would be spared to those
who linger here; hardly to know a reason why you should be; to feel that you
belonged to that bright sphere whither so many of the fairest and the best have
winged their early flight; and yet to pray, amid all these consolations, that you
might be restored to those who loved you--these were distractions almost too
great to bear. They were mine, by day and night; and with them, came such a
rushing torrent of fears, and apprehensions, and selfish regrets, lest you should
die, and never know how devotedly I loved you, as almost bore down sense and
reason in its course. You recovered. Day by day, and almost hour by hour, some
drop of health came back, and mingling with the spent and feeble stream of life
which circulated languidly within you, swelled it again to a high and rushing
tide. I have watched you change almost from death, to life, with eyes that turned
blind with their eagerness and deep affection. Do not tell me that you wish I had
lost this; for it has softened my heart to all mankind.'
'I did not mean that,' said Rose, weeping; 'I only wish you had left here, that
you might have turned to high and noble pursuits again; to pursuits well worthy
of you.'
'There is no pursuit more worthy of me: more worthy of the highest nature
that exists: than the struggle to win such a heart as yours,' said the young man,
taking her hand. 'Rose, my own dear Rose! For years--for years--I have loved
you; hoping to win my way to fame, and then come proudly home and tell you it
Thesaurus
calamity: (n) disaster, adversity,
(adv) coldly, apathetically,
affliction, misfortune, plague,
unfaithfully, unenthusiastically,
catastrophe, tragedy, blow, bale,
carelessly, disobediently.
distress; (n, v) trouble. ANTONYMS: guile: (n) fraud, cunning, craft,
(n) blessing, boon, luck, joy,
duplicity, deception, trickery,
opportunity.
deceitfulness, wiliness, craftiness,
claimed: (adj) personal.
artifice, slyness. ANTONYMS: (n)
devotedly: (adv) affectionately,
honesty, straightforwardness,
lovingly, zealously, faithfully,
candor, frankness.
outpouring: (n) outpour, effusion,
piously, fondly, religiously,
passionately, enthusiastically,
flow, outflow, gush, jet, barrage,
eagerly, dutifully. ANTONYMS:
leakage, outburst, effluence,
overflow.
pursuits: (n) diversion, duties.
regrets: (n) regret, declination, RSVP
regrets only, acknowledgement,
acknowledgment, celestial latitude,
excuse, Dec.
swelled: (adj) big, inflated, bloated,
swollen, adult, boastful, bighearted,
bad, fully grown, crowing, elder.
winged: (adj) swift, rapid, speedy,
quick, flying, alate, sublime, lofty,
alated, aligerous, composed.
334
Oliver Twist
had been pursued only for you to share; thinking, in my daydreams, how I
would remind you, in that happy moment, of the many silent tokens I had given
of a boy's attachment, and claim your hand, as in redemption of some old mute
contract that had been sealed between us! That time has not arrived; but here,
with not fame won, and no young vision realised, I offer you the heart so long
your own, and stake my all upon the words with which you greet the offer.'
'Your behaviour has ever been kind and noble.' said Rose, mastering the
emotions by which she was agitated. 'As you believe that I am not insensible or
ungrateful, so hear my answer.'
'It is, that I may endeavour to deserve you; it is, dear Rose?'
'It is,' replied Rose, 'that you must endeavour to forget me; not as your old
and dearly-attached companion, for that would wound me deeply; but, as the
object of your love. Look into the world; think how many hearts you would be
proud to gain, are there. Confide some other passion to me, if you will; I will be
the truest, warmest, and most faithful friend you have.'
There was a pause, during which, Rose, who had covered her face with one
hand, gave free vent to her tears. Harry still retained the other.%
'And your reasons, Rose,' he said, at length, in a low voice; 'your reasons for
this decision?'
'You have a right to know them,' rejoined Rose. 'You can say nothing to alter
my resolution. It is a duty that I must perform. I owe it, alike to others, and to
myself.'
'To yourself?'
'Yes, Harry. I owe it to myself, that I, a friendless, portionless, girl, with a
blight upon my name, should not give your friends reason to suspect that I had
sordidly yielded to your first passion, and fastened myself, a clog, on all your
hopes and projects. I owe it to you and yours, to prevent you from opposing, in
the warmth of your generous nature, this great obstacle to your progress in the
world.'
'If your inclinations chime with your sense of duty--' Harry began.
Thesaurus
blight: (n, v) blast, decay, plague; (v)
unblock.
damage, wither, blemish, perish; (n) confide: (v) commit, trust, entrust,
bane, pest, curse, rust. ANTONYMS: intrust, consign, rely, charge,
(v) aid, help, guard, protect, enhance, unbosom, whisper, lean, hope.
improve; (n) health, boon, bounty.
ANTONYMS: (v) suppress, keep,
chime: (n) carillon, melody; (adj)
conceal, retain.
harmonize; (v) go, jingle, clang, peal, endeavour: (n) attempt, effort, pains,
tinkle, buzz, ring, chimb.
trial, try, enterprise, striving,
clog: (n, v) block, bar, glut; (v) choke,
contribution, braving; (v) exert,
obstruct, foul, hinder, encumber,
strive.
back up; (n) obstruction, patten.
fastened: (adj) tied, fast, buttoned,
ANTONYMS: (v) free, clear, open,
closed, tight, secure, pinned, binding,
empight, steady, firm. ANTONYMS:
(adj) unfastened, unbuttoned.
mastering: (adj) victorious.
redemption: (n) atonement,
compensation, salvation, discharge,
expiation, repurchase, propitiation,
performance, absolution, buyback,
fulfillment.
sordidly: (adv) dirtily, foully, nastily,
meanly, filthily, basely, vilely,
grimily, covetously, cheaply, sleazily.
yours: (adj) own.
Charles Dickens
335
'They do not,' replied Rose, colouring deeply.%
'Then you return my love?' said Harry. 'Say but that, dear Rose; say but that;
and soften the bitterness of this hard disappointment!'
'If I could have done so, without doing heavy wrong to him I loved,' rejoined
Rose, 'I could have--'
'Have received this declaration very differently?' said Harry. 'Do not conceal
that from me, at least, Rose.'
'I could,' said Rose. 'Stay!' she added, disengaging her hand, 'why should we
prolong this painful interview? Most painful to me, and yet productive of lasting
happiness, notwithstanding; for it will be happiness to know that I once held the
high place in your regard which I now occupy, and every triumph you achieve in
life will animate me with new fortitude and firmness. Farewell, Harry! As we
have met to-day, we meet no more; but in other relations than those in which this
conversation have placed us, we may be long and happily entwined; and may
every blessing that the prayers of a true and earnest heart can call down from the
source of all truth and sincerity, cheer and prosper you!'
'Another word, Rose,' said Harry. 'Your reason in your own words. From
your own lips, let me hear it!'
'The prospect before you,' answered Rose, firmly, 'is a brilliant one. All the
honours to which great talents and powerful connections can help men in public
life, are in store for you. But those connections are proud; and I will neither
mingle with such as may hold in scorn the mother who gave me life; nor bring
disgrace or failure on the son of her who has so well supplied that mother's
place. In a word,' said the young lady, turning away, as her temporary firmness
forsook her, 'there is a stain upon my name, which the world visits on innocent
heads. I will carry it into no blood but my own; and the reproach shall rest alone
on me.'
'One word more, Rose. Dearest Rose! one more!' cried Harry, throwing
himself before her. 'If I had been less--less fortunate, the world would call it--if
some obscure and peaceful life had been my destiny--if I had been poor, sick,
Thesaurus
honours: (n) first, honors, degree,
grow, bloom, succeed, boom, get
v) ridicule, neglect, disregard, deride,
ahead, get on; (adj) luxuriate; (n, v)
slight; (n) contempt, derision,
academic degree.
mingle: (v) compound, combine,
fare. ANTONYMS: (v) deteriorate,
mockery. ANTONYMS: (n, v) respect,
praise; (v) appreciate, revere, value,
merge, amalgamate, intermix, mix,
collapse, decrease, dwindle, decline.
commingle, associate, confuse, join, reproach: (n, v) blame, rebuke, charge, approve, admire, accept; (n)
intermingle. ANTONYM: (v) part.
abuse, disgrace, reprimand,
admiration, commendation, humility.
prolong: (v) extend, delay, protract,
invective; (v) accuse, chide, condemn; soften: (adj, v) moderate, mitigate,
mollify, assuage, relieve; (v) melt,
keep up, expand, elongate, drag out, (n) condemnation. ANTONYMS: (n,
v) praise; (v) commend, approve; (n)
dull, relent, mute, alleviate; (adj, n, v)
maintain, lengthen, draw out,
procrastinate. ANTONYMS: (v) stop, compliment, commendation,
palliate. ANTONYMS: (v) harden,
cancel, curtail, quit.
approval.
solidify, set, congeal, exacerbate,
prosper: (v) advance, flower, thrive,
scorn: (v) despise, contemn, reject; (n,
freeze, sharpen, stand, increase.
336
Oliver Twist
helpless--would you have turned from me then? Or has my probable
advancement to riches and honour, given this scruple birth?'
'Do not press me to reply,' answered Rose. 'The question does not arise, and
never will. It is unfair, almost unkind, to urge it.'
'If your answer be what I almost dare to hope it is,' retorted Harry, 'it will
shed a gleam of happiness upon my lonely way, and light the path before me. It
is not an idle thing to do so much, by the utterance of a few brief words, for one
who loves you beyond all else. Oh, Rose: in the name of my ardent and enduring
attachment; in the name of all I have suffered for you, and all you doom me to
undergo; answer me this one question!'
'Then, if your lot had been differently cast,' rejoined Rose; 'if you had been
even a little, but not so far, above me; if I could have been a help and comfort to
you in any humble scene of peace and retirement, and not a blot and drawback
in ambitious and distinguished crowds; I should have been spared this trial. I
have every reason to be happy, very happy, now; but then, Harry, I own I should
have been happier.'
Busy recollections of old hopes, cherished as a girl, long ago, crowded into
the mind of Rose, while making this avowal; but they brought tears with them,
as old hopes will when they come back withered; and they relieved her.%
'I cannot help this weakness, and it makes my purpose stronger,' said Rose,
extending her hand. 'I must leave you now, indeed.'
'I ask one promise,' said Harry. 'Once, and only once more,--say within a
year, but it may be much sooner,--I may speak to you again on this subject, for
the last time.'
'Not to press me to alter my right determination,' replied Rose, with a
melancholy smile; 'it will be useless.'
'No,' said Harry; 'to hear you repeat it, if you will--finally repeat it! I will lay
at your feet, whatever of station of fortune I may possess; and if you still adhere
to your present resolution, will not seek, by word or act, to change it.'
Thesaurus
blot: (n, v) spot, blemish, smudge,
failing, inconvenience, disability,
mark, slur, taint, shame; (v) tarnish,
hurdle, encumbrance. ANTONYMS:
blob; (n) blotch; (adj, n) fault.
(n) benefit, bonus, edge, strength.
ANTONYMS: (v) dampen, grace,
enduring: (adj) durable, abiding,
soak, wet, beautify, improve,
lasting, permanent, continuing,
enhance.
constant, hardy, immortal, eternal,
doom: (n, v) sentence, destine, fate; (v) stable; (adv) enduringly.
condemn, convict, damn; (n) destiny, ANTONYMS: (adj) impatient,
day of reckoning, chance, luck, lot.
transient, fleeting, mortal, modern,
ANTONYMS: (n) plan; (v) absolve.
insubstantial, inconstant, fickle,
drawback: (n) catch, hitch, snag,
erratic, unstable.
extending: (adj) expanding.
shortcoming, defect, detriment,
gleam: (n, v) glance, beam, blaze,
shine, glimmer, glow, flash, flicker,
sparkle, glitter; (v) twinkle.
riches: (n, v) money; (n) affluence,
abundance, fortune, opulence, plenty,
prosperity, exuberance, treasure,
resources; (v) gold.
scruple: (adj, v) hesitate, demur, pause;
(n) hesitation, qualm, misgiving,
distrust, objection; (n, v) mistrust; (v)
falter, question.
Charles Dickens
337
'Then let it be so,' rejoined Rose; 'it is but one pang the more, and by that time
I may be enabled to bear it better.'
She extended her hand again. But the young man caught her to his bosom;
and imprinting one kiss on her beautiful forehead, hurried from the room.%
Thesaurus
bear: (v) accept, take, stand, acquit,
ample, extensive, wide, long,
abide, allow, wear, comport, tolerate, protracted, lengthened, prolonged,
convey, teem. ANTONYMS: (v)
elongated, enlarged. ANTONYMS:
(adj) brief, unextended, condensed,
release, avoid, destroy, dodge, take,
eradicate, evade, kill, refuse, erase;
contracted, shortened, reduced,
(n) bull.
narrow, partial, abridged,
caught: (adj) fixed, guilty,
abbreviated, tiny.
forehead: (n) brow, front, foreland,
accomplished, wedged, trapped,
interested, exposed, defenseless,
lineament, mut, phiz, physiognomy,
culpable; (v) seize, get. ANTONYM:
visage, eyebrow, skull; (adv)
(adj) loose.
foremost.
extended: (adj) broad, expanded,
hand: (v) give, pass, commit, bestow,
afford, communicate, consign; (n)
deal, worker, aid, applause.
ANTONYMS: (n) boss, foot; (v) take.
imprinting: (n) acquisition.
kiss: (n, v) caress, brush, embrace,
touch; (n) osculation, salute, lip, Kiss
of peace, kiss hands; (v) osculate,
love.
pang: (n) pain, torture, ache, agony,
twinge, affliction, sting, stab, distress,
ailment, cramp.
Charles Dickens
339
CHAPTER XXXVI
IS A VERY SHORT ONE, AND MAY APPEAR
OF NO GREAT IMPORTANCE IN ITS PLACE,
BUT IT SHOULD BE READ
NOTWITHSTANDING, AS A SEQUEL TO THE
LAST, AND A KEY TO ONE THAT WILL
FOLLOW WHEN ITS TIME ARRIVES
'And so you are resolved to be my travelling companion this morning; eh?'
said the doctor, as Harry Maylie joined him and Oliver at the breakfast-table.
'Why, you are not in the same mind or intention two half-hours together!'
'You will tell me a different tale one of these days,' said Harry, colouring
without any perceptible reason.%
'I hope I may have good cause to do so,' replied Mr. Losberne; 'though I
confess I don't think I shall. But yesterday morning you had made up your
mind, in a great hurry, to stay here, and to accompany your mother, like a dutiful
son, to the sea-side. Before noon, you announce that you are going to do me the
honour of accompanying me as far as I go, on your road to London. And at
night, you urge me, with great mystery, to start before the ladies are stirring; the
consequence of which is, that young Oliver here is pinned down to his breakfast
Thesaurus
accompanying: (adj) concomitant,
avow; (v) concede, profess, recognize,
concurrent, related, acceding,
divulge, disclose, reveal, receive.
ANTONYMS: (v) suppress, hide,
incidental, accessory, subservient,
auxiliary, collateral, minor,
dispute, conceal, repress, harbor.
perceptible: (adj) conspicuous,
supplementary.
announce: (v) advertise, declare,
appreciable, evident, discernible,
enunciate, proclaim, return,
obvious, visible, palpable, apparent,
promulgate, publicize, publish, tell,
detectable, manifest, observable.
communicate, foretell. ANTONYMS: ANTONYMS: (adj) intangible,
(v) withhold, conceal, repress,
unclear, inaudible, inconspicuous,
request.
obscure, undetectable, invisible.
confess: (adj, v) own, allow, admit,
pinned: (adj) fastened, engaged,
helpless, stapled, intended; (adv)
under.
travelling: (n) travel, peregrination,
riding, commuting, aviation, driving,
commutation, seafaring, junketing,
circumnavigation, journey.
urge: (v) push, press, advocate,
persuade, impel, induce; (n, v) spur,
drive, force; (n) impulse; (adj, v)
incite. ANTONYMS: (n) dislike, hate,
aversion, disinclination; (v) dissuade,
oppose, demand, prevent, restrain.
340
Oliver Twist
when he ought to be ranging the meadows after botanical phenomena of all
kinds. Too bad, isn't it, Oliver?'
'I should have been very sorry not to have been at home when you and Mr.
Maylie went away, sir,' rejoined Oliver.%
'That's a fine fellow,' said the doctor; 'you shall come and see me when you
return. But, to speak seriously, Harry; has any communication from the great
nobs produced this sudden anxiety on your part to be gone?'
'The great nobs,' replied Harry, 'under which designation, I presume, you
include my most stately uncle, have not communicated with me at all, since I
have been here; nor, at this time of the year, is it likely that anything would occur
to render necessary my immediate attendance among them.'
'Well,' said the doctor, 'you are a queer fellow. But of course they will get you
into parliament at the election before Christmas, and these sudden shiftings and
changes are no bad preparation for political life. There's something in that. Good
training is always desirable, whether the race be for place, cup, or sweepstakes.'
Harry Maylie looked as if he could have followed up this short dialogue by
one or two remarks that would have staggered the doctor not a little; but he
contented himself with saying, 'We shall see,' and pursued the subject no farther.
The post-chaise drove up to the door shortly afterwards; and Giles coming in for
the luggage, the good doctor bustled out, to see it packed.
'Oliver,' said Harry Maylie, in a low voice, 'let me speak a word with you.'
Oliver walked into the window-recess to which Mr. Maylie beckoned him;
much surprised at the mixture of sadness and boisterous spirits, which his whole
behaviour displayed.
'You can write well now?' said Harry, laying his hand upon his arm.
'I hope so, sir,' replied Oliver.
'I shall not be at home again, perhaps for some time; I wish you would write
to me--say once a fort-night: every alternate Monday: to the General Post Office
in London. Will you?'
Thesaurus
alternate: (adj, n, v) substitute; (n)
cognomen, description, appellative,
surrogate, standby, vice; (v)
identification, nomination,
reciprocate, vary, take turns,
classification.
fluctuate, change; (adj, n) alternative; dialogue: (n, v) talk; (n) colloquy,
(adj) secondary. ANTONYMS: (adj)
conversation, interview,
consecutive, successive, required,
interlocution, chat, conference,
opposite, necessary, essential; (v)
discussion, dialog, talks,
remain, continue.
communication.
botanical: (adj) vegetative, vegetal,
ranging: (adj) errant, itinerant,
plant, vegetation, phytological.
migrant.
designation: (n) appointment, title,
remarks: (n) commentary,
name, appellation, assignment,
explanation.
render: (v) interpret, explain, give,
offer, furnish, pay, construe, return,
provide, impart, translate.
sadness: (n, v) melancholy,
despondency; (adj, n) grief, distress;
(n) misery, sorrow, desolation, regret,
gloom, mourning, affliction.
ANTONYMS: (n) joy, amusement,
cheerfulness, laughter, contentment,
comfort, cheer, hopefulness.
Charles Dickens
341
'Oh! certainly, sir; I shall be proud to do it,' exclaimed Oliver, greatly
delighted with the commission.%
'I should like to know how--how my mother and Miss Maylie are,' said the
young man; 'and you can fill up a sheet by telling me what walks you take, and
what you talk about, and whether she--they, I mean--seem happy and quite well.
You understand me?'
'Oh! quite, sir, quite,' replied Oliver.
'I would rather you did not mention it to them,' said Harry, hurrying over his
words; 'because it might make my mother anxious to write to me oftener, and it
is a trouble and worry to her. Let it be a secret between you and me; and mind
you tell me everything! I depend upon you.'
Oliver, quite elated and honoured by a sense of his importance, faithfully
promised to be secret and explicit in his communications. Mr. Maylie took leave
of him, with many assurances of his regard and protection.
The doctor was in the chaise; Giles (who, it had been arranged, should be left
behind) held the door open in his hand; and the women-servants were in the
garden, looking on. Harry cast one slight glance at the latticed window, and
jumped into the carriage.
'Drive on!' he cried, 'hard, fast, full gallop! Nothing short of flying will keep
pace with me, to-day.'
'Halloa!' cried the doctor, letting down the front glass in a great hurry, and
shouting to the postillion; 'something very short of flying will keep pace with
me. Do you hear?'
Jingling and clattering, till distance rendered its noise inaudible, and its
rapid progress only perceptible to the eye, the vehicle wound its way along the
road, almost hidden in a cloud of dust: now wholly disappearing, and now
becoming visible again, as intervening objects, or the intricacies of the way,
permitted. It was not until even the dusty cloud was no longer to be seen, that
the gazers dispersed.
Thesaurus
clattering: (n) crash; (adj) clattery.
elated: (adj) joyful, delighted, jubilant,
exultant, gleeful, happy, triumphant,
overjoyed, proud, ecstatic; (n)
buoyant. ANTONYMS: (adj) dejected,
disappointed, sad, unhappy,
miserable, down, depressed,
despairing, blue, sorrowful, desolate.
faithfully: (adv) exactly, accurately,
sincerely, staunchly, precisely, truly,
authentically, dutifully, literally,
steadfastly, truely. ANTONYMS:
(adv) unfaithfully, approximately,
intervene, interposed, intermediate
colors, mediate, mesne; (adj, v)
falsely, insincerely, carelessly,
intercurrent, interjacent; (v)
inaccurately.
gallop: (v) speed, dart, dash, race,
intervenient; (n) middler.
spring, tear, hasten, sprint; (adj, v) fly; ANTONYM: (adj) permanent.
(n, v) trot; (n) gait.
latticed: (adj) interlaced, fretted,
inaudible: (adj) indistinct,
lattice, reticulate, reticulated,
imperceptible, inarticulate, noiseless, latticelike, tabernacular, having frets,
quiet, faint, out of hearing, muffled,
common, reticular.
postillion: (n) equestrian, horseback
silent, unheard, low. ANTONYMS:
(adj) audible, obvious.
rider, horseman.
intervening: (adj) middle, interstitial,
342
Oliver Twist
And there was one looker-on, who remained with eyes fixed upon the spot
where the carriage had disappeared, long after it was many miles away; for,
behind the white curtain which had shrouded her from view when Harry raised
his eyes towards the window, sat Rose herself.%
'He seems in high spirits and happy,' she said, at length. 'I feared for a time
he might be otherwise. I was mistaken. I am very, very glad.'
Tears are signs of gladness as well as grief; but those which coursed down
Rose's face, as she sat pensively at the window, still gazing in the same direction,
seemed to tell more of sorrow than of joy.
Thesaurus
curtain: (n, v) cover; (n) barrier,
anguish, distress, agony, pain,
drapery, blind, screen, mantle, mask, wound, chagrin, concern; (n, v)
shade, pall, shroud; (v) hide.
regret; (adj) sore. ANTONYMS: (n)
disappeared: (adj) lost, missing,
joy, happiness, comfort, content,
extinct, vanished, left. ANTONYM:
peace.
(adj) remaining.
mistaken: (adj) wrong, erroneous,
gladness: (n) joy, gaiety, pleasure,
false, misguided, inaccurate,
delight, bliss, glee, happiness,
fallacious, untrue, misleading,
exhilaration, joyfulness, mirth,
confused, improper, error.
cheerfulness. ANTONYMS: (n)
ANTONYMS: (adj) accurate, wise,
unhappiness, dismay, displeasure.
right.
grief: (adj, n, v) affliction; (n) dolor,
pensively: (adv) thoughtfully,
reflectively, wistfully,
contemplatively, sadly, ponderingly,
musingly, mournfully, abstractedly,
dreamily, broodingly. ANTONYMS:
(adv) rashly, unthinkingly, alertly.
spirits: (n) alcohol, booze, humor,
frame of mind, liqueur, strong drink,
hard drink; (adj) cheer, geniality,
good humor; (v) wine.
spot: (n, v) place, speck, blemish,
speckle, fleck, dirty, dapple; (adj, n, v)
stain, soil; (n) dot, space.
Charles Dickens
343
CHAPTER XXXVII
IN WHICH THE READER MAY PERCEIVE A
CONTRAST, NOT UNCOMMON IN
MATRIMONIAL CASES
Mr. Bumble sat in the workhouse parlour, with his eyes moodily fixed on the
cheerless grate, whence, as it was summer time, no brighter gleam proceeded,
than the reflection of certain sickly rays of the sun, which were sent back from its
cold and shining surface. A paper fly-cage dangled from the ceiling, to which he
occasionally raised his eyes in gloomy thought; and, as the heedless insects
hovered round the gaudy net-work, Mr. Bumble would heave a deep sigh, while
a more gloomy shadow overspread his countenance. Mr. Bumble was
meditating; it might be that the insects brought to mind, some painful passage in
his own past life.%
Nor was Mr. Bumble's gloom the only thing calculated to awaken a pleasing
melancholy in the bosom of a spectator. There were not wanting other
appearances, and those closely connected with his own person, which
announced that a great change had taken place in the position of his affairs. The
laced coat, and the cocked hat; where were they? He still wore knee-breeches,
and dark cotton stockings on his nether limbs; but they were not the breeches.
The coat was wide-skirted; and in that respect like the coat, but, oh how different!
Thesaurus
announced: (adj) proclaimed,
declared.
gaudy: (adj) flashy, loud, showy,
garish, flamboyant, tasteless, colorful,
tacky, brassy, tawdry, florid.
ANTONYMS: (adj) tasteful,
restrained, muted, drab, modest,
dull, quality.
heave: (n, v) cast, fling, raise, gasp,
toss, lift; (v) chuck, haul, elevate,
pitch, billow. ANTONYMS: (v) push,
drop.
heedless: (adj) careless, reckless,
petulantly, saturninely, crossly,
erratically. ANTONYM: (adv)
inattentive, neglectful, negligent,
thoughtless, rash, regardless,
cheerily.
unwary, indifferent; (adj, v) wanton. overspread: (v) cover, spread,
ANTONYMS: (adj) heedful, attentive, disseminate, distribute, scatter,
mindful, conscientious, prudent,
diffuse, disperse, broadcast, overlay,
careful, cautious.
mantle, clothe.
laced: (adj) even, fastened, spiked,
sickly: (adj, adv) poorly; (n) invalid;
(adj) sick, ailing, pale, sallow,
drunk, decorated, alcoholic.
moodily: (adv) morosely, peevishly,
indisposed, morbid, diseased; (adj, n,
v) infirm; (adj, v) faint. ANTONYMS:
glumly, sulkily, grumpily,
(adj) healthy, bitter, robust.
capriciously, temperamentally,
344
Oliver Twist
The mighty cocked hat was replaced by a modest round one. Mr. Bumble was no
longer a beadle.%
There are some promotions in life, which, independent of the more
substantial rewards they offer, require peculiar value and dignity from the coats
and waistcoats connected with them. A field-marshal has his uniform; a bishop
his silk apron; a counsellor his silk gown; a beadle his cocked hat. Strip the
bishop of his apron, or the beadle of his hat and lace; what are they? Men. Mere
men. Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and
waistcoat than some people imagine.
Mr. Bumble had married Mrs. Corney, and was master of the workhouse.
Another beadle had come into power. On him the cocked hat, gold-laced coat,
and staff, had all three descended.
'And to-morrow two months it was done!' said Mr. Bumble, with a sigh. 'It
seems a age.'
Mr. Bumble might have meant that he had concentrated a whole existence of
happiness into the short space of eight weeks; but the sigh--there was a vast deal
of meaning in the sigh.
'I sold myself,' said Mr. Bumble, pursuing the same train of relection, 'for six
teaspoons, a pair of sugar-tongs, and a milk-pot; with a small quantity of secondhand furniture, and twenty pound in money. I went very reasonable. Cheap, dirt
cheap!'
'Cheap!' cried a shrill voice in Mr. Bumble's ear: 'you would have been dear at
any price; and dear enough I paid for you, Lord above knows that!'
Mr. Bumble turned, and encountered the face of his interesting consort, who,
imperfectly comprehending the few words she had overheard of his complaint,
had hazarded the foregoing remark at a venture.
'Mrs. Bumble, ma'am!' said Mr. Bumble, with a sentimental sternness.
'Well!' cried the lady.
Thesaurus
comprehending: (adj) intelligent,
rewards: (n) booty, loot.
solicitor.
holiness: (n) sanctity, godliness, piety, sentimental: (adj) maudlin, mushy,
general, observant, sympathetic,
brotherly, conversant.
religion, righteousness, goodness,
romantic, tender, soft, mawkish,
consort: (n, v) associate, husband; (n)
devotion, divinity, faithfulness,
schmaltzy, sappy, schmalzy, bathetic,
companion; (v) agree, affiliate, assort, halidom; (adj, n) religiousness.
slushy. ANTONYMS: (adj)
accord, mix, keep company, socialize, ANTONYMS: (n) wickedness,
hardhearted, cool.
group. ANTONYMS: (v) disagree,
sternness: (n) harshness, rigor,
unholiness.
estrange, differ, dissociate, avoid; (n) mighty: (adj) immense, huge, grand,
strictness, austerity, rigour, asperity,
foe, rival, antagonist, enemy.
intense, high, big, forcible, strong,
inclemency, hardness, grimness,
counsellor: (n) counselor, advocate,
large, great; (adj, adv) powerful.
unpermissiveness, acrimony.
ANTONYMS: (adj) puny, tiny, weak, ANTONYMS: (n) leniency, warmth,
adviser, councillor, advisor, mentor,
pleader, attorney, lawyer, consultant, insignificant.
pleasantness, cheerfulness.
Charles Dickens
345
'Have the goodness to look at me,' said Mr. Bumble, fixing his eyes upon her.
(If she stands such a eye as that,' said Mr. Bumble to himself, 'she can stand
anything. It is a eye I never knew to fail with paupers. If it fails with her, my
power is gone.')
Whether an exceedingly small expansion of eye be sufficient to quell
paupers, who, being lightly fed, are in no very high condition; or whether the
late Mrs. Corney was particularly proof against eagle glances; are matters of
opinion. The matter of fact, is, that the matron was in no way overpowered by
Mr. Bumble's scowl, but, on the contrary, treated it with great disdain, and even
raised a laugh thereat, which sounded as though it were genuine.%
On hearing this most unexpected sound, Mr. Bumble looked, first
incredulous, and afterwards amazed. He then relapsed into his former state; nor
did he rouse himself until his attention was again awakened by the voice of his
partner.
'Are you going to sit snoring there, all day?' inquired Mrs. Bumble.
'I am going to sit here, as long as I think proper, ma'am,' rejoined Mr. Bumble;
'and although I was not snoring, I shall snore, gape, sneeze, laugh, or cry, as the
humour strikes me; such being my prerogative.'
'Your prerogative!' sneered Mrs. Bumble, with ineffable contempt.
'I said the word, ma'am,' said Mr. Bumble. 'The prerogative of a man is to
command.'
'And what's the prerogative of a woman, in the name of Goodness?' cried the
relict of Mr. Corney deceased.
'To obey, ma'am,' thundered Mr. Bumble. 'Your late unfortunate husband
should have taught it you; and then, perhaps, he might have been alive now. I
wish he was, poor man!'
Mrs. Bumble, seeing at a glance, that the decisive moment had now arrived,
and that a blow struck for the mastership on one side or other, must necessarily
be final and conclusive, no sooner heard this allusion to the dead and gone, than
Thesaurus
gape: (v) gawk, yawn, open, glare,
goggle, split, dehisce, ogle, see; (adj,
n) stare; (n, v) look.
incredulous: (adj) dubious, doubtful,
suspicious, unbelieving, faithless,
skeptical, doubting, lacking faith,
questioning, cynical, mistrustful.
ANTONYM: (adj) convinced.
ineffable: (adj) indescribable,
unspeakable, unutterable,
indefinable, inexpressible, beyond
expression, unimaginable, beyond
words, unpronounceable, dreadful,
form, formation, being, organism,
untellable.
geological formation.
mastership: (n) dominion, command, sneeze: (n) sneezing, physiological
reaction, reflex; (v) arrest, despise,
situation, office, skill, superiority,
excellence, knack, masterdom; (adj)
loathe, act involuntarily, Neese, act
panurgy.
reflexively.
quell: (adj, v) appease, pacify, calm; (v) snore: (n) snoring; (v) snort, saw logs,
overpower, crush, allay, put down,
snooze, siesta, hibernation, breathe,
suppress, conquer, defeat, quash.
doze, saw wood, coma, dream.
ANTONYMS: (v) prompt, submit,
snoring: (n) stertor, respiration; (adj)
resist, aggravate, incite.
stertorous, asleep.
relict: (n) geology, living thing, life
346
Oliver Twist
she dropped into a chair, and with a loud scream that Mr. Bumble was a hardhearted brute, fell into a paroxysm of tears.%
But, tears were not the things to find their way to Mr. Bumble's soul; his heart
was waterproof. Like washable beaver hats that improve with rain, his nerves
were rendered stouter and more vigorous, by showers of tears, which, being
tokens of weakness, and so far tacit admissions of his own power, pleased and
exalted him. He eyed his good lady with looks of great satisfaction, and begged,
in an encouraging manner, that she should cry her hardest: the exercise being
looked upon, by the faculty, as strongly conducive to health.
'It opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens
down the temper,' said Mr. Bumble. 'So cry away.'
As he discharged himself of this pleasantry, Mr. Bumble took his hat from a
peg, and putting it on, rather rakishly, on one side, as a man might, who felt he
had asserted his superiority in a becoming manner, thrust his hands into his
pockets, and sauntered towards the door, with much ease and waggishness
depicted in his whole appearance.
Now, Mrs. Corney that was, had tried the tears, because they were less
troublesome than a manual assault; but, she was quite prepared to make trial of
the latter mode of proceeding, as Mr. Bumble was not long in discovering.
The first proof he experienced of the fact, was conveyed in a hollow sound,
immediately succeeded by the sudden flying off of his hat to the opposite end of
the room. This preliminary proceeding laying bare his head, the expert lady,
clasping him tightly round the throat with one hand, inflicted a shower of blows
(dealt with singular vigour and dexterity) upon it with the other. This done, she
created a little variety by scratching his face, and tearing his hair; and, having, by
this time, inflicted as much punishment as she deemed necessary for the offence,
she pushed him over a chair, which was luckily well situated for the purpose:
and defied him to talk about his prerogative again, if he dared.
'Get up!' said Mrs. Bumble, in a voice of command. 'And take yourself away
from here, unless you want me to do something desperate.'
Thesaurus
beaver: (n) whiskers, opera hat,
topper, top hat, stovepipe, alpha
geminorum, silk hat, high hat, eager
beaver, dress hat; (adj) irrepressible.
conducive: (n) advantageous,
favorable; (adj) instrumental, helpful,
contributory, tending, subservient,
profitable, auspicious, beneficial; (v)
working towards. ANTONYMS: (adj)
unconducive, hindering, deleterious,
counter, adverse.
depicted: (adj) pictured, represented,
graphic, delineated; (v) depict.
abrasion, mark, scar, poor
exercises: (n) military exercises,
handwriting, incision, excoriation,
chicken feed; (adj) hoarse, abrasive.
athletics.
prerogative: (n) franchise, claim,
showers: (n) rain.
power, immunity, liberty, perquisite, tacit: (adj) silent, implicit, understood,
right, influence, concession, due,
implied, undeclared, unspoken,
voiceless, mute, mum; (n) tace; (v) not
authority.
rakishly: (adv) debauchedly, smartly,
expressed. ANTONYMS: (adj)
carelessly, snappily, sprucely, fastly,
spoken, express.
waggishness: (n) flippancy, waggish
dissolutely, dashingly, stylishly,
nattily, dissipatedly.
behavior, sport, play, fun, drollery,
scratching: (n) scrape, scraping,
cleverness, archness, mischief.
Charles Dickens
347
Mr. Bumble rose with a very rueful countenance: wondering much what
something desperate might be. Picking up his hat, he looked towards the door.%
'Are you going?' demanded Mrs. Bumble.
'Certainly, my dear, certainly,' rejoined Mr. Bumble, making a quicker motion
towards the door. 'I didn't intend to--I'm going, my dear! You are so very violent,
that really I--'
At this instant, Mrs. Bumble stepped hastily forward to replace the carpet,
which had been kicked up in the scuffle. Mr. Bumble immediately darted out of
the room, without bestowing another thought on his unfinished sentence:
leaving the late Mrs. Corney in full possession of the field.
Mr. Bumble was fairly taken by surprise, and fairly beaten. He had a decided
propensity for bullying: derived no inconsiderable pleasure from the exercise of
petty cruelty; and, consequently, was (it is needless to say) a coward. This is by
no means a disparagement to his character; for many official personages, who
are held in high respect and admiration, are the victims of similar infirmities. The
remark is made, indeed, rather in his favour than otherwise, and with a view of
impressing the reader with a just sense of his qualifications for office.
But, the measure of his degradation was not yet full. After making a tour of
the house, and thinking, for the first time, that the poor-laws really were too hard
on people; and that men who ran away from their wives, leaving them
chargeable to the parish, ought, in justice to be visited with no punishment at all,
but rather rewarded as meritorious individuals who had suffered much; Mr.
Bumble came to a room where some of the female paupers were usually
employed in washing the parish linen: when the sound of voices in conversation,
now proceeded.
'Hem!' said Mr. Bumble, summoning up all his native dignity. 'These women
at least shall continue to respect the prerogative. Hallo! hallo there! What do you
mean by this noise, you hussies?'
Thesaurus
bullying: (adj) blustery, frightening,
debasement, decadence,
excellent, praiseworthy, desertful,
meritable. ANTONYMS: (adj)
intimidating, domineering, truculent; degeneration, humiliation,
(n) terrorization, harassment,
deposition, disgrace. ANTONYMS:
discreditable, worthless.
maltreatment, aggression, threats; (v) (n) elevation, glorification, honor.
needless: (adj, v) unnecessary,
inconsiderable: (adj) inconsequential,
superfluous; (adj) futile, dispensable,
intimidate.
chargeable: (adj) guilty, amenable,
immaterial, small, petty, slight,
bootless, excessive, preventable,
indictable, responsible, due,
negligible, trivial, fractional, minute,
meaningless, pointless, wanton,
unavailing. ANTONYMS: (adj)
assessable, payable, rateable,
imperceptible, slender. ANTONYM:
(adj) major.
attributable, accusable, answerable.
essential, worthwhile, inevitable,
ANTONYM: (adj) innocent.
meritorious: (adj) commendable,
justifiable.
degradation: (n) fall, abasement,
wondering: (adj) inquisitive,
laudable, deserving, estimable,
degeneracy, corruption, abjection,
creditable, worthy, admirable,
speculative, suspicious.
348
Oliver Twist
With these words, Mr. Bumble opened the door, and walked in with a very
fierce and angry manner: which was at once exchanged for a most humiliated
and cowering air, as his eyes unexpectedly rested on the form of his lady wife.%
'My dear,' said Mr. Bumble, 'I didn't know you were here.'
'Didn't know I was here!' repeated Mrs. Bumble. 'What do you do here?'
'I thought they were talking rather too much to be doing their work properly,
my dear,' replied Mr. Bumble: glancing distractedly at a couple of old women at
the wash-tub, who were comparing notes of admiration at the workhousemaster's humility.
'You thought they were talking too much?' said Mrs. Bumble. 'What business
is it of yours?'
'Why, my dear--' urged Mr. Bumble submissively.
'What business is it of yours?' demanded Mrs. Bumble, again.
'It's very true, you're matron here, my dear,' submitted Mr. Bumble; 'but I
thought you mightn't be in the way just then.'
'I'll tell you what, Mr. Bumble,' returned his lady. 'We don't want any of your
interference. You're a great deal too fond of poking your nose into things that
don't concern you, making everybody in the house laugh, the moment your back
is turned, and making yourself look like a fool every hour in the day. Be off;
come!'
Mr. Bumble, seeing with excruciating feelings, the delight of the two old
paupers, who were tittering together most rapturously, hesitated for an instant.
Mrs. Bumble, whose patience brooked no delay, caught up a bowl of soap-suds,
and motioning him towards the door, ordered him instantly to depart, on pain of
receiving the contents upon his portly person.
What could Mr. Bumble do? He looked dejectedly round, and slunk away;
and, as he reached the door, the titterings of the paupers broke into a shrill
chuckle of irrepressible delight. It wanted but this. He was degraded in their
eyes; he had lost caste and station before the very paupers; he had fallen from all
Thesaurus
caste: (n) rank, class, sort, variety,
downcastly, dismally,
estate, tribe, race, genus; (adj) degree, downheartedly, depressedly,
baccalaureate, condition.
disheartenedly, melancholy, lowly.
comparing: (n) collation, contrast,
ANTONYMS: (adv) cheerfully,
comparison, analogy, collating,
enthusiastically.
excruciating: (adj) agonizing,
comparability.
degraded: (adj) debased, low, ignoble, harrowing, painful, sharp,
debauched, depraved, abject, sordid, intolerable, acute, violent,
dishonored, corrupted, contemptible, insupportable, intense, torturing; (v)
base. ANTONYM: (adj) good.
cutting. ANTONYMS: (adj) bearable,
dejectedly: (adv) despondently,
painless, pleasant, pleasing, soothing,
dispiritedly, gloomily, glumly,
wonderful, dull.
humiliated: (adj) humbled, mortified,
embarrassed, humble, broken,
abashed, crushed, miserable,
shamefaced, abject, feeling guilty.
nose: (n) hooter, neb, nozzle,
proboscis, honker, bow, odour; (v)
wind, pry, scent; (n, v) sniff.
poking: (n) thrusting, jabbing, jab,
driving force, dalliance, Phytolacca
Americana, dig, biff, drive, carrier
bag, garget.
tittering: (adj) thoriated; (n) laughter.
Charles Dickens
349
the height and pomp of beadleship, to the lowest depth of the most snubbed
hen-peckery.%
'All in two months!' said Mr. Bumble, filled with dismal thoughts. 'Two
months! No more than two months ago, I was not only my own master, but
everybody else's, so far as the porochial workhouse was concerned, and now!--'
It was too much. Mr. Bumble boxed the ears of the boy who opened the gate
for him (for he had reached the portal in his reverie); and walked, distractedly,
into the street.
He walked up one street, and down another, until exercise had abated the
first passion of his grief; and then the revulsion of feeling made him thirsty. He
passed a great many public-houses; but, at length paused before one in a by-way,
whose parlour, as he gathered from a hasty peep over the blinds, was deserted,
save by one solitary customer. It began to rain, heavily, at the moment. This
determined him. Mr. Bumble stepped in; and ordering something to drink, as he
passed the bar, entered the apartment into which he had looked from the street.
The man who was seated there, was tall and dark, and wore a large cloak. He
had the air of a stranger; and seemed, by a certain haggardness in his look, as
well as by the dusty soils on his dress, to have travelled some distance. He eyed
Bumble askance, as he entered, but scarcely deigned to nod his head in
acknowledgment of his salutation.
Mr. Bumble had quite dignity enough for two; supposing even that the
stranger had been more familiar: so he drank his gin-and-water in silence, and
read the paper with great show of pomp and circumstance.
It so happened, however: as it will happen very often, when men fall into
company under such circumstances: that Mr. Bumble felt, every now and then, a
powerful inducement, which he could not resist, to steal a look at the stranger:
and that whenever he did so, he withdrew his eyes, in some confusion, to find
that the stranger was at that moment stealing a look at him. Mr. Bumble's
awkwardness was enhanced by the very remarkable expression of the stranger's
eye, which was keen and bright, but shadowed by a scowl of distrust and
Thesaurus
abated: (adj) slack.
gracefulness, grace, comfort,
askance: (adj) asquint, awry, askant,
coordination, pride, urbanity, ease,
sidelong, oblique, indirect, squint;
assurance, liveliness, confidence,
(adv) suspiciously, obliquely,
cooperation.
mistrustfully, edgewise. ANTONYM: boxed: (adj) bordered, enclosed.
(adv) trustingly.
inducement: (n) enticement,
awkwardness: (n) embarrassment,
attraction, cause, incitement, impulse,
stiffness, unwieldiness,
temptation, bait, impetus, occasion,
motive, goad. ANTONYMS: (n)
inconvenience, gawkiness,
inelegance, troublesomeness,
disincentive, deterrent.
ineptitude, ineptness, gaucherie; (adj, pomp: (n) grandeur, parade,
n) delicacy. ANTONYMS: (n)
ostentation, show, ceremony, glory,
luxury, pageantry, magnificence,
state, splendor. ANTONYMS: (n)
understatement, modesty.
portal: (n) gate, door, mouth, gateway,
porch, entry, entrance, inlet, portals,
entree, lips.
shadowed: (adj) shady, shaded,
shadowy, queer, dim, louche, funny,
incensed, indignant, faint, fishy.
snubbed: (adj) upset, hurt, affronted,
offended, slighted.
travelled: (adj) cosmopolitan.
350
Oliver Twist
suspicion, unlike anything he had ever observed before, and repulsive to
behold.%
When they had encountered each other's glance several times in this way, the
stranger, in a harsh, deep voice, broke silence.
'Were you looking for me,' he said, 'when you peered in at the window?'
'Not that I am aware of, unless you're Mr. --' Here Mr. Bumble stopped short;
for he was curious to know the stranger's name, and thought in his impatience,
he might supply the blank.
'I see you were not,' said the stranger; an expression of quiet sarcasm playing
about his mouth; 'or you have known my name. You don't know it. I would
recommend you not to ask for it.'
'I meant no harm, young man,' observed Mr. Bumble, majestically.
'And have done none,' said the stranger.
Another silence succeeded this short dialogue: which was again broken by
the stranger.
'I have seen you before, I think?' said he. 'You were differently dressed at that
time, and I only passed you in the street, but I should know you again. You were
beadle here, once; were you not?'
'I was,' said Mr. Bumble, in some surprise; 'porochial beadle.'
'Just so,' rejoined the other, nodding his head. 'It was in that character I saw
you. What are you now?'
'Master of the workhouse,' rejoined Mr. Bumble, slowly and impressively, to
check any undue familiarity the stranger might otherwise assume. 'Master of the
workhouse, young man!'
'You have the same eye to your own interest, that you always had, I doubt
not?' resumed the stranger, looking keenly into Mr. Bumble's eyes, as he raised
them in astonishment at the question.
'Don't scruple to answer freely, man. I know you pretty well, you see.'
Thesaurus
blank: (adj) bare, empty, unfilled,
unfamiliarity, formality, abnormality,
pure, vacant, clean; (n) space,
distance, animosity.
blankness, form, vacuity; (v) addle.
harsh: (adj, v) sharp, bitter; (adj, n)
ANTONYMS: (adj) full, expressive,
grating, coarse, austere, discordant;
(adj) grim, cruel, crude, unkind, stern.
used, understanding, thoughtful,
ANTONYMS: (adj) gentle, soft,
incomplete, marked, filled, excited,
lively, aware.
harmonious, pleasant, lenient, kind,
familiarity: (adj, n) acquaintance; (n)
melodious, sweet, mild, lush,
intimacy, closeness, experience,
friendly.
casualness, conversancy, knowledge, majestically: (adv) magnificently,
conversance, naturalness, nearness,
regally, imperially, splendidly, nobly,
friendship. ANTONYMS: (n)
sublimely, solemnly, grandly, loftily,
impressively, gloriously.
sarcasm: (adj, n) irony, ridicule, satire,
humor; (n) gibe, bitterness, jeer,
scorn, insinuation, taunt; (adj)
sarcastic. ANTONYM: (n) kindness.
undue: (adj) excessive, immoderate,
unreasonable, unwarranted,
inordinate, extravagant, exorbitant,
extreme, unfair, improper,
unjustified. ANTONYMS: (adj)
reasonable, due, appropriate,
sensible, justified, just, fair.
Charles Dickens
351
'I suppose, a married man,' replied Mr. Bumble, shading his eyes with his
hand, and surveying the stranger, from head to foot, in evident perplexity, 'is not
more averse to turning an honest penny when he can, than a single one.
Porochial officers are not so well paid that they can afford to refuse any little
extra fee, when it comes to them in a civil and proper manner.'
The stranger smiled, and nodded his head again: as much to say, he had not
mistaken his man; then rang the bell.%
'Fill this glass again,' he said, handing Mr. Bumble's empty tumbler to the
landlord. 'Let it be strong and hot. You like it so, I suppose?'
'Not too strong,' replied Mr. Bumble, with a delicate cough.
'You understand what that means, landlord!' said the stranger, drily.
The host smiled, disappeared, and shortly afterwards returned with a
steaming jorum: of which, the first gulp brought the water into Mr. Bumble's
eyes.
'Now listen to me,' said the stranger, after closing the door and window. 'I
came down to this place, to-day, to find you out; and, by one of those chances
which the devil throws in the way of his friends sometimes, you walked into the
very room I was sitting in, while you were uppermost in my mind. I want some
information from you. I don't ask you to give it for nothing, slight as it is. Put up
that, to begin with.'
As he spoke, he pushed a couple of sovereigns across the table to his
companion, carefully, as though unwilling that the chinking of money should be
heard without. When Mr. Bumble had scrupulously examined the coins, to see
that they were genuine, and had put them up, with much satisfaction, in his
waistcoat-pocket, he went on:
'Carry your memory back--let me see--twelve years, last winter.'
'It's a long time,' said Mr. Bumble. 'Very good. I've done it.'
'The scene, the workhouse.'
'Good!'
Thesaurus
averse: (adj) reluctant, indisposed,
backward, opposed, unwilling,
disinclined, loth, antagonistic,
antipathetical, repugnant,
antipathetic. ANTONYMS: (adj)
inclined, sympathetic, caring, eager,
willing, keen.
cough: (v) clear the throat, to cough,
spit up, cough up, expectorate; (n)
expiration, exhalation, symptom,
sneeze, breathing out.
drily: (adv) parchedly, thirstily,
waterlessly, monotonously, stalely,
driedly, sharply, sardonically,
tediously, hardly, plainly.
gulp: (v) gobble, devour, bolt, gorge,
sip, quaff, swallow, down; (n, v)
swig, gasp; (n) draft. ANTONYMS:
(v) nibble, regurgitate, exhale.
jorum: (n) basin, joram.
perplexity: (n) confusion, dilemma,
bewilderment, maze, labyrinth,
embarrassment, quandary,
complication, enigma; (adj, n)
difficulty, distress. ANTONYM: (n)
understanding.
scrupulously: (adv) carefully,
painstakingly, strictly, meticulously,
religiously, thoroughly, nicely,
exactly, fastidiously, particularly,
accurately. ANTONYM: (adv)
negligently.
steaming: (adj) hot, sweltering,
roasting, baking, hot under the collar,
hazy, scorching; (adv) piping; (n)
fumigation.
352
Oliver Twist
'And the time, night.'
'Yes.'
'And the place, the crazy hole, wherever it was, in which miserable drabs
brought forth the life and health so often denied to themselves--gave birth to
puling children for the parish to rear; and hid their shame, rot 'em in the grave!'
'The lying-in room, I suppose?' said Mr. Bumble, not quite following the
stranger's excited description.%
'Yes,' said the stranger. 'A boy was born there.'
'A many boys,' observed Mr. Bumble, shaking his head, despondingly.
'A murrain on the young devils!' cried the stranger; 'I speak of one; a meeklooking, pale-faced boy, who was apprenticed down here, to a coffin-maker--I
wish he had made his coffin, and screwed his body in it--and who afterwards ran
away to London, as it was supposed.
'Why, you mean Oliver! Young Twist!' said Mr. Bumble; 'I remember him, of
course. There wasn't a obstinater young rascal--'
'It's not of him I want to hear; I've heard enough of him,' said the stranger,
stopping Mr. Bumble in the outset of a tirade on the subject of poor Oliver's
vices. 'It's of a woman; the hag that nursed his mother. Where is she?'
'Where is she?' said Mr. Bumble, whom the gin-and-water had rendered
facetious. 'It would be hard to tell. There's no midwifery there, whichever place
she's gone to; so I suppose she's out of employment, anyway.'
'What do you mean?' demanded the stranger, sternly.
'That she died last winter,' rejoined Mr. Bumble.
The man looked fixedly at him when he had given this information, and
although he did not withdraw his eyes for some time afterwards, his gaze
gradually became vacant and abstracted, and he seemed lost in thought. For
some time, he appeared doubtful whether he ought to be relieved or
disappointed by the intelligence; but at length he breathed more freely; and
Thesaurus
abstracted: (adj) absentminded,
separate, absent-minded, abstract,
distrait, inattentive, pensive,
preoccupied, remote, lost, vacant.
ANTONYM: (adj) alert.
despondingly: (adv) sombrely.
lying-in: (n) childbirth, accouchement,
parturition; (v) delivery.
midwifery: (n) tocology, obstetrics,
dentistry, gynecology, Ob; (v) labor,
confinement, childbirth, birth,
accouchement, travail.
murrain: (n) pestilence, animal
ANTONYMS: (n) calm, harmony,
disease, epizootic.
praise.
outset: (n) opening, beginning, onset, vacant: (adj) blank, hollow, unfilled,
commencement, origin, birth,
void, free, unoccupied, bare, idle,
expressionless, open; (adj, v) devoid.
inception, start, threshold, offset,
first. ANTONYM: (n) middle.
ANTONYMS: (adj) full, cognizant,
screwed: (adj) threaded, firm,
overflowing, inhabited, aware,
maudlin, muddled, muzzy, raddled,
comprehending, animated, solid,
corned; (n) whittled.
expressive, knowing.
tirade: (n) diatribe, invective, sermon, whichever: (adv) any; (adj) a few, one,
speech, recitation, Philippic, oration,
several, some.
delivery, broadside, lecture, say.
Charles Dickens
353
withdrawing his eyes, observed that it was no great matter. With that he rose, as
if to depart.%
But Mr. Bumble was cunning enough; and he at once saw that an opportunity
was opened, for the lucrative disposal of some secret in the possession of his
better half. He well remembered the night of old Sally's death, which the
occurrences of that day had given him good reason to recollect, as the occasion
on which he had proposed to Mrs. Corney; and although that lady had never
confided to him the disclosure of which she had been the solitary witness, he
had heard enough to know that it related to something that had occurred in the
old woman's attendance, as workhouse nurse, upon the young mother of Oliver
Twist. Hastily calling this circumstance to mind, he informed the stranger, with
an air of mystery, that one woman had been closeted with the old harridan
shortly before she died; and that she could, as he had reason to believe, throw
some light on the subject of his inquiry.
'How can I find her?' said the stranger, thrown off his guard; and plainly
showing that all his fears (whatever they were) were aroused afresh by the
intelligence.
'Only through me,' rejoined Mr. Bumble.
'When?' cried the stranger, hastily.
'To-morrow,' rejoined Bumble.
'At nine in the evening,' said the stranger, producing a scrap of paper, and
writing down upon it, an obscure address by the water-side, in characters that
betrayed his agitation; 'at nine in the evening, bring her to me there. I needn't tell
you to be secret. It's your interest.'
With these words, he led the way to the door, after stopping to pay for the
liquor that had been drunk. Shortly remarking that their roads were different, he
departed, without more ceremony than an emphatic repetition of the hour of
appointment for the following night.
On glancing at the address, the parochial functionary observed that it
contained no name. The stranger had not gone far, so he made after him to ask it.
Thesaurus
disclosure: (n) discovery, exposure,
ANTONYMS: (adj) unbeneficial,
understated, unemphatic,
declaration, confession,
halfhearted.
unproductive.
harridan: (n) bitch, scolder, nagger,
scrap: (n, v) fight, brawl, clash, quarrel,
announcement, betrayal, display,
junk; (adj, n) remnant, fragment; (n)
divulgence, leak, manifestation,
termagant, quean, hussy, trollop,
publication. ANTONYMS: (n) denial, slut, skit; (adj) specter, scarecrow.
end, remainder, bit, piece.
liquor: (n) fluid, broth, alcohol, booze, ANTONYMS: (v) keep, restore,
hiding.
emphatic: (adj) decided, categorical,
preserve, adopt, insert; (n) chunk, lot.
brew, brandy, arrack, spirits,
schnapps; (n, v) drink; (adj, n) liquid. withdrawing: (adj) receding, outgoing,
expressive, forceful, pronounced,
lucrative: (adj, v) profitable, gainful,
assertive, loud, important,
retiring, moving back, modest, lowly;
emphatical, insistent; (adj, v)
remunerative; (adj) fat, fruitful,
(n) departure, privacy, seclusion,
absolute. ANTONYMS: (adj)
moneymaking, favourable, helpful,
cancellation.
beneficial, worthwhile; (v) paying.
insignificant, unassertive,
354
Oliver Twist
'What do you want?' cried the man, turning quickly round, as Bumble
touched him on the arm. 'Following me?'
'Only to ask a question,' said the other, pointing to the scrap of paper. 'What
name am I to ask for?'
'Monks!' rejoined the man; and strode hastily, away.%
Thesaurus
following: (adj) consequent, ensuing,
swiftly, suddenly, hastily; (adj, adv)
not right, daft, crazy, nutty; (v)
subsequent, consecutive, succeeding; immediately, shortly; (adv, n)
compassionate, sympathetic, pitiful,
(adj, v) consequential; (n) entourage,
instantly. ANTONYMS: (adv) slowly, mucid. ANTONYMS: (adj)
pursuit, followers; (adv) under, after. gradually, permanently, later,
untouched, sane, unemotional,
ANTONYMS: (adj) leading, previous, eventually, thoroughly.
unmoved, well.
alternate, earlier; (n) nonbelievers.
round: (n) bout, circuit, beat; (n, v)
turning: (n) turn, revolution, bend,
paper: (n) article, newspaper,
ring, compass; (adv, prep) about; (adj) rotation, deviation, gyration,
circular, entire; (adj, v) plump; (adj, n, conversion, veering; (adj) rotating,
discourse, newsprint, publication,
v) turn; (v) gird. ANTONYMS: (adj)
journal, essay, periodical, report,
revolving, rotary.
magazine, certificate.
sharp, slender, thin, square, harsh,
quickly: (adv) promptly, rapidly,
reedy, evasive; (prep) exactly.
touched: (adj) insane, cracked, tinged,
expeditiously, readily, speedily,
Charles Dickens
355
CHAPTER XXXVIII
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT PASSED
BETWEEN MR. AND MRS. BUMBLE, AND MR.
MONKS, AT THEIR NOCTURNAL INTERVIEW
It was a dull, close, overcast summer evening. The clouds, which had been
threatening all day, spread out in a dense and sluggish mass of vapour, already
yielded large drops of rain, and seemed to presage a violent thunder-storm,
when Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, turning out of the main street of the town, directed
their course towards a scattered little colony of ruinous houses, distant from it
some mile and a-half, or thereabouts, and erected on a low unwholesome
swamp, bordering upon the river.%
They were both wrapped in old and shabby outer garments, which might,
perhaps, serve the double purpose of protecting their persons from the rain, and
sheltering them from observation. The husband carried a lantern, from which,
however, no light yet shone; and trudged on, a few paces in front, as though--the
way being dirty--to give his wife the benefit of treading in his heavy footprints.
They went on, in profound silence; every now and then, Mr. Bumble relaxed his
pace, and turned his head as if to make sure that his helpmate was following;
then, discovering that she was close at his heels, he mended his rate of walking,
Thesaurus
bordering: (adj) abutting, adjoining,
cloud; (adj, v) obscure; (v) darken.
ANTONYMS: (adj) energetic, fast,
ANTONYMS: (adj) sunny, clear.
conterminous, contiguous, frontier,
brisk, lively, alert, speedy,
presage: (v) foretell, foreshadow,
next, neighboring, nearby, near,
industrious.
thereabouts: (adj, adv) about; (adv)
approximate, fringent.
indicate, portend, augur,
footprints: (n) track, road, footpath,
prognosticate, predict; (n, v)
nearly, generally, around,
forebode; (n) foreboding, portent,
route, path, way.
approximately, in the region of, more
helpmate: (n) helpmeet, mate, wife,
sign.
or less, something like, almost, so;
sheltering: (adj) defensive, affording
(adv, n) hereabouts.
partner, better half, help, husband,
spouse, helper; (v) old woman, old
protection, motherly; (n) housing.
vapour: (n) vapor, evaporation, gas,
sluggish: (adj) inert, indolent, inactive, vaporization, vaporisation, boiling,
lady.
overcast: (adj) dark, cloudy, dim, dull, idle, slow, torpid, slack, languid; (adj, clouding, mist, fog, damp, smoke.
gloomy, heavy, muddy, dismal; (n, v) n) lazy, drowsy, heavy.
356
Oliver Twist
and proceeded, at a considerable increase of speed, towards their place of
destination.%
This was far from being a place of doubtful character; for it had long been
known as the residence of none but low ruffians, who, under various pretences
of living by their labour, subsisted chiefly on plunder and crime. It was a
collection of mere hovels: some, hastily built with loose bricks: others, of old
worm-eaten ship-timber: jumbled together without any attempt at order or
arrangement, and planted, for the most part, within a few feet of the river's bank.
A few leaky boats drawn up on the mud, and made fast to the dwarf wall which
skirted it: and here and there an oar or coil of rope: appeared, at first, to indicate
that the inhabitants of these miserable cottages pursued some avocation on the
river; but a glance at the shattered and useless condition of the articles thus
displayed, would have led a passer-by, without much difficulty, to the
conjecture that they were disposed there, rather for the preservation of
appearances, than with any view to their being actually employed.
In the heart of this cluster of huts; and skirting the river, which its upper
stories overhung; stood a large building, formerly used as a manufactory of some
kind. It had, in its day, probably furnished employment to the inhabitants of the
surrounding tenements. But it had long since gone to ruin. The rat, the worm,
and the action of the damp, had weakened and rotted the piles on which it stood;
and a considerable portion of the building had already sunk down into the
water; while the remainder, tottering and bending over the dark stream, seemed
to wait a favourable opportunity of following its old companion, and involving
itself in the same fate.
It was before this ruinous building that the worthy couple paused, as the first
peal of distant thunder reverberated in the air, and the rain commenced pouring
violently down.
'The place should be somewhere here,' said Bumble, consulting a scrap of
paper he held in his hand.
'Halloa there!' cried a voice from above.
Thesaurus
avocation: (n) hobby, call, pursuit,
roar.
jumbled: (adj) confused, disorganized,
work, berth, sideline, employment,
profession, function, occupation,
disordered, untidy, muddled, mixed,
recreation. ANTONYMS: (n)
cluttered, incoherent, chaotic,
promiscuous; (adj, adv) topsy-turvy.
profession, vocation, work.
conjecture: (n) supposition,
ANTONYMS: (adj) tidy, systematic,
speculation, assumption, surmise,
coherent, clear, organized, sound.
hypothesis; (v) suppose, believe,
leaky: (adj) leak, cracked, permeable,
anticipate, assume, speculate; (n, v)
porous, holey, blabbermouthed,
estimate. ANTONYMS: (n) certainty; unseaworthy, tattling, talebearing,
(v) demonstrate, know, learn, prove.
incontinent, faulty. ANTONYMS:
halloa: (v) shout, bawl, brawl, cry,
(adj) tight, watertight.
passer-by: (n) eyewitness.
peal: (n) ding, noise, clang, dingdong,
blast; (v) chime, knell, toll, echo; (adj,
n) swell; (n, v) bang.
plunder: (n, v) pillage, spoil; (v)
despoil, harry, devastate, maraud,
destroy, strip, ransack; (n) booty,
depredation.
reverberated: (adj) rebounding,
repellent, driven back.
rotted: (adj) roted, crappy, icky, lousy,
rotten, unsound.
Charles Dickens
357
Following the sound, Mr. Bumble raised his head and descried a man looking
out of a door, breast-high, on the second story.%
'Stand still, a minute,' cried the voice; 'I'll be with you directly.' With which
the head disappeared, and the door closed.
'Is that the man?' asked Mr. Bumble's good lady.
Mr. Bumble nodded in the affirmative.
'Then, mind what I told you,' said the matron: 'and be careful to say as little
as you can, or you'll betray us at once.'
Mr. Bumble, who had eyed the building with very rueful looks, was
apparently about to express some doubts relative to the advisability of
proceeding any further with the enterprise just then, when he was prevented by
the appearance of Monks: who opened a small door, near which they stood, and
beckoned them inwards.
'Come in!' he cried impatiently, stamping his foot upon the ground. 'Don't
keep me here!'
The woman, who had hesitated at first, walked boldly in, without any other
invitation. Mr. Bumble, who was ashamed or afraid to lag behind, followed:
obviously very ill at ease and with scarcely any of that remarkable dignity which
was usually his chief characteristic.
'What the devil made you stand lingering there, in the wet?' said Monks,
turning round, and addressing Bumble, after he had bolted the door behind
them.
'We--we were only cooling ourselves,' stammered Bumble, looking
apprehensively about him.
'Cooling yourselves!' retorted Monks. 'Not all the rain that ever fell, or ever
will fall, will put as much of hell's fire out, as a man can carry about with him.
You won't cool yourself so easily; don't think it!'
Thesaurus
advisability: (n) suitability, fitness,
wiseness, advisableness, desirability,
wisdom, soundness, appropriateness,
propriety, advantage, adventure.
ANTONYMS: (n) foolishness,
unsuitability.
ashamed: (adj) hangdog, guilty,
embarrassed, sheepish, remorseful,
regretful, bashful, disconcerted,
contrite, chagrined; (v) dashed.
ANTONYMS: (adj) proud, arrogant,
unremorseful, unashamed, pleased,
inwards: (adv) in, indoors, inwardly,
blatant, bold, happy, unabashed,
within, at home, here; (n) gut; (adj)
unrepentant.
betray: (v) deceive, bewray, sell, grass, inner, interior, domestic, intimate.
ANTONYMS: (adv) out, outward.
dupe, reveal, mislead, disclose,
lingering: (adj) long, chronic,
accuse, befool, bamboozle.
ANTONYMS: (v) protect, undeceive, extended, dilatory, protracted,
hide, defend, withhold.
prolonged, residual, lengthy,
bolted: (adj) barred, Bolten, secured,
inactive, dull; (n) delay. ANTONYM:
(adj) quick.
firm, barricaded, blockaded, bolted
prevented: (adj) disallowed, barred,
attachment, fast, fastened, latched,
banned. ANTONYM: (adj) legitimate.
tight.
doubts: (adj) doubting.
358
Oliver Twist
With this agreeable speech, Monks turned short upon the matron, and bent
his gaze upon her, till even she, who was not easily cowed, was fain to withdraw
her eyes, and turn them towards the ground.%
'This is the woman, is it?' demanded Monks.
'Hem! That is the woman,' replied Mr. Bumble, mindful of his wife's caution.
'You think women never can keep secrets, I suppose?' said the matron,
interposing, and returning, as she spoke, the searching look of Monks.
'I know they will always keep one till it's found out,' said Monks.
'And what may that be?' asked the matron.
'The loss of their own good name,' replied Monks. 'So, by the same rule, if a
woman's a party to a secret that might hang or transport her, I'm not afraid of her
telling it to anybody; not I! Do you understand, mistress?'
'No,' rejoined the matron, slightly colouring as she spoke.
'Of course you don't!' said Monks. 'How should you?'
Bestowing something half-way between a smile and a frown upon his two
companions, and again beckoning them to follow him, the man hastened across
the apartment, which was of considerable extent, but low in the roof. He was
preparing to ascend a steep staircase, or rather ladder, leading to another floor of
warehouses above: when a bright flash of lightning streamed down the aperture,
and a peal of thunder followed, which shook the crazy building to its centre.
'Hear it!' he cried, shrinking back. 'Hear it! Rolling and crashing on as if it
echoed through a thousand caverns where the devils were hiding from it. I hate
the sound!'
He remained silent for a few moments; and then, removing his hands
suddenly from his face, showed, to the unspeakable discomposure of Mr.
Bumble, that it was much distorted and discoloured.
'These fits come over me, now and then,' said Monks, observing his alarm;
'and thunder sometimes brings them on. Don't mind me now; it's all over for this
once.'
Thesaurus
ascend: (n, v) mount; (v) arise, scale,
uprise, climb, go up, come up,
increase, elevate; (n) ascending,
ascent. ANTONYMS: (v) descend,
drop, decline, fall, lower, set, sink.
cowed: (adj) afraid, browbeaten,
bullied, timid, crestfallen, frightened,
hangdog, intimidated, passive.
crashing: (n) destruction, thunder;
(adj) roaring, deafening, wicked,
booming.
devils: (n) unclean spirits.
discoloured: (adj) faded.
discomposure: (n) discomfort,
disconcertion, confusion, commotion,
perturbation, embarrassment,
unease, uneasiness, anxiety,
temperament, disposition.
fain: (adj) willing, prepared, ready,
favorable, heart and soul, prone; (adv)
gladly, lief, readily, willingly; (v)
optative.
mindful: (adj) aware, attentive,
careful, observant, conscious,
heedful, considerate, cautious,
cognizant, regardful, thoughtful.
ANTONYMS: (adj) unmindful,
heedless, inattentive, oblivious,
forgetful.
shrinking: (n) contraction, recoil,
reduction, decrease, condensation; (n,
v) lessening; (adj) timid, fearful, shy,
bashful; (adj, adv) cowardly.
ANTONYM: (adj) confident.
Charles Dickens
359
Thus speaking, he led the way up the ladder; and hastily closing the windowshutter of the room into which it led, lowered a lantern which hung at the end of
a rope and pulley passed through one of the heavy beams in the ceiling: and
which cast a dim light upon an old table and three chairs that were placed
beneath it.%
'Now,' said Monks, when they had all three seated themselves, 'the sooner we
come to our business, the better for all. The woman know what it is, does she?'
The question was addressed to Bumble; but his wife anticipated the reply, by
intimating that she was perfectly acquainted with it.
'He is right in saying that you were with this hag the night she died; and that
she told you something--'
'About the mother of the boy you named,' replied the matron interrupting
him. 'Yes.'
'The first question is, of what nature was her communication?' said Monks.
'That's the second,' observed the woman with much deliberation. 'The first is,
what may the communication be worth?'
'Who the devil can tell that, without knowing of what kind it is?' asked
Monks.
'Nobody better than you, I am persuaded,' answered Mrs. Bumble: who did
not want for spirit, as her yoke-fellow could abundantly testify.
'Humph!' said Monks significantly, and with a look of eager inquiry; 'there
may be money's worth to get, eh?'
'Perhaps there may,' was the composed reply.
'Something that was taken from her,' said Monks. 'Something that she wore.
Something that--'
'You had better bid,' interrupted Mrs. Bumble. 'I have heard enough, already,
to assure me that you are the man I ought to talk to.'
Mr. Bumble, who had not yet been admitted by his better half into any
greater share of the secret than he had originally possessed, listened to this
Thesaurus
anticipated: (adj) expected, foreseen,
bated, humbled. ANTONYM: (adj)
imperturbable, temperate, level,
predictable, due, estimated,
impassive, unflappable.
raised.
ANTONYMS: (adj) distressed,
pulley: (n) sheave, tackle, crane,
appointed, awaited, coming,
forthcoming, natural, planned.
trembling, nervous, excited, tense,
bollock, windlass, winch, wheel,
assure: (n, v) certify, warrant, vouch;
ruffled, jumpy, intemperate,
hoist, spool, blockage, auction block.
(v) secure, persuade, satisfy, reassure, discomposed, upset, worried.
rope: (n, v) lasso, leash, tie, tape; (n)
affirm, promise, ascertain; (adj, v)
interrupted: (adj) discontinuous, fitful, lariat, noose, hawser, line, string,
ensure. ANTONYMS: (v) alarm,
intermittent, discontinued,
cord, thread.
testify: (v) declare, certify, affirm,
disclaim, deny, disbelieve,
disconnected, unsuccessive,
undermine.
intervallic, episodic, gaping, periodic; evidence, protest, prove,
composed: (adj) calm, dispassionate,
(prep) interrupt.
demonstrate, manifest, express,
lowered: (adj) lower, reduced, cheap,
cool, peaceable, pacific, staid,
show, vouch.
360
Oliver Twist
dialogue with outstretched neck and distended eyes: which he directed towards
his wife and Monks, by turns, in undisguised astonishment; increased, if
possible, when the latter sternly demanded, what sum was required for the
disclosure.%
'What's it worth to you?' asked the woman, as collectedly as before.
'It may be nothing; it may be twenty pounds,' replied Monks. 'Speak out, and
let me know which.'
'Add five pounds to the sum you have named; give me five-and-twenty
pounds in gold,' said the woman; 'and I'll tell you all I know. Not before.'
'Five-and-twenty pounds!' exclaimed Monks, drawing back.
'I spoke as plainly as I could,' replied Mrs. Bumble. 'It's not a large sum,
either.'
'Not a large sum for a paltry secret, that may be nothing when it's told!' cried
Monks impatiently; 'and which has been lying dead for twelve years past or
more!'
'Such matters keep well, and, like good wine, often double their value in
course of time,' answered the matron, still preserving the resolute indifference
she had assumed. 'As to lying dead, there are those who will lie dead for twelve
thousand years to come, or twelve million, for anything you or I know, who will
tell strange tales at last!'
'What if I pay it for nothing?' asked Monks, hesitating.
'You can easily take it away again,' replied the matron. 'I am but a woman;
alone here; and unprotected.'
'Not alone, my dear, nor unprotected, neither,' submitted Mr. Bumble, in a
voice tremulous with fear: 'I am here, my dear. And besides,' said Mr. Bumble,
his teeth chattering as he spoke, 'Mr. Monks is too much of a gentleman to
attempt any violence on porochial persons. Mr. Monks is aware that I am not a
young man, my dear, and also that I am a little run to seed, as I may say; but he
has heerd: I say I have no doubt Mr. Monks has heerd, my dear: that I am a very
Thesaurus
chattering: (n) chatter, cackle, yak,
impassivity, disinterest.
world.
grabbing, claver; (adj) talkative,
ANTONYMS: (n) fervor, interest,
resolute: (adj, n) constant, firm, fixed,
steady; (adj, v) determined; (adj)
loquacious, noisy, gabby, garrulous;
eagerness, dedication, sympathy,
(v) natter.
favorite, compassion, anxiety,
inflexible, brave, adamant, dogged,
distended: (adj) inflated, bloated,
responsiveness, forcefulness, care.
unbending, courageous.
paltry: (adj, n) mean; (adj)
ANTONYMS: (adj) weak, uncertain,
turgid, puffed, bombastic, distent,
expanded, enlarged; (adj, v) puffy; (v) contemptible, measly, trifling, abject, uncommitted, timid, fickle, feeble,
blowzy, bigswoln.
insignificant, inconsiderable, puny,
indecisive, flexible, flippant, hesitant,
indifference: (adj, n) coldness,
little, trivial, low. ANTONYMS: (adj) undecided.
phlegm; (n) detachment,
undisguised: (adj) downright, plain,
generous, substantial, plentiful,
impassiveness, disregard, aloofness,
enormous, important, profound.
overt, naked, bare, frank, literal,
persons: (n) folk, public, society,
nonchalance, neglect, unconcern,
obvious, ingenuous, simple, honest.
Charles Dickens
361
determined officer, with very uncommon strength, if I'm once roused. I only
want a little rousing; that's all.'
As Mr. Bumble spoke, he made a melancholy feint of grasping his lantern
with fierce determination; and plainly showed, by the alarmed expression of
every feature, that he did want a little rousing, and not a little, prior to making
any very warlike demonstration: unless, indeed, against paupers, or other person
or persons trained down for the purpose.%
'You are a fool,' said Mrs. Bumble, in reply; 'and had better hold your tongue.'
'He had better have cut it out, before he came, if he can't speak in a lower
tone,' said Monks, grimly. 'So! He's your husband, eh?'
'He my husband!' tittered the matron, parrying the question.
'I thought as much, when you came in,' rejoined Monks, marking the angry
glance which the lady darted at her spouse as she spoke. 'So much the better; I
have less hesitation in dealing with two people, when I find that there's only one
will between them. I'm in earnest. See here!'
He thrust his hand into a side-pocket; and producing a canvas bag, told out
twenty-five sovereigns on the table, and pushed them over to the woman.
'Now,' he said, 'gather them up; and when this cursed peal of thunder, which
I feel is coming up to break over the house-top, is gone, let's hear your story.'
The thunder, which seemed in fact much nearer, and to shiver and break
almost over their heads, having subsided, Monks, raising his face from the table,
bent forward to listen to what the woman should say. The faces of the three
nearly touched, as the two men leant over the small table in their eagerness to
hear, and the woman also leant forward to render her whisper audible. The
sickly rays of the suspended lantern falling directly upon them, aggravated the
paleness and anxiety of their countenances: which, encircled by the deepest
gloom and darkness, looked ghastly in the extreme.
'When this woman, that we called old Sally, died,' the matron began, 'she and
I were alone.'
Thesaurus
aggravated: (adj) angry, infuriated,
incensed, annoyed, vexed, intense,
grievous, provoked, exasperated,
afflictive. ANTONYMS: (adj) calm,
pleased.
canvas: (n) duck, sail, sheet, tarpaulin,
cloth, tarp, burlap; (n, v) canvass; (v)
painting, tableau, solicit.
cursed: (adj) damned, doomed,
execrable, cussed, wretched, unlucky,
accursed, blamed, blasted,
confounded; (v) accurst.
ANTONYMS: (adj) commendable,
dogfishes, elasmobranch,
honorable, nice, sweet, kine.
Elasmobranchii, emission, daylight,
deepest: (adj) inmost, center, cordial,
sunshine, selachian, subclass
earnest, genuine, hearty, warm,
Elasmobranchii.
sincere, innermost. ANTONYM: (adj) shiver: (n, v) shake, tremble, shudder,
fragment, thrill, splinter, tingle; (v)
outermost.
encircled: (adj) enclosed, bounded,
quake, shatter, palpitate; (adj, v)
circinate, circular, decorated,
break.
spouse: (n) consort, husband,
delimited, ringed, wreathed,
bordered, annulated, annular.
helpmate, wife, man, mate, match,
leant: (adj) inclined.
lady, hubby, companion; (n, v)
rays: (n) light, sunlight, Selachii,
partner.
362
Oliver Twist
'Was there no one by?' asked Monks, in the same hollow whisper; 'No sick
wretch or idiot in some other bed? No one who could hear, and might, by
possibility, understand?'
'Not a soul,' replied the woman; 'we were alone. I stood alone beside the body
when death came over it.'
'Good,' said Monks, regarding her attentively. 'Go on.'
'She spoke of a young creature,' resumed the matron, 'who had brought a
child into the world some years before; not merely in the same room, but in the
same bed, in which she then lay dying.'
'Ay?' said Monks, with quivering lip, and glancing over his shoulder, 'Blood!
How things come about!'
'The child was the one you named to him last night,' said the matron,
nodding carelessly towards her husband; 'the mother this nurse had robbed.'
'In life?' asked Monks.%
'In death,' replied the woman, with something like a shudder. 'She stole from
the corpse, when it had hardly turned to one, that which the dead mother had
prayed her, with her last breath, to keep for the infant's sake.'
'She sold it,' cried Monks, with desperate eagerness; 'did she sell it? Where?
When? To whom? How long before?'
'As she told me, with great difficulty, that she had done this,' said the matron,
'she fell back and died.'
'Without saying more?' cried Monks, in a voice which, from its very
suppression, seemed only the more furious. 'It's a lie! I'll not be played with. She
said more. I'll tear the life out of you both, but I'll know what it was.'
'She didn't utter another word,' said the woman, to all appearance unmoved
(as Mr. Bumble was very far from being) by the strange man's violence; 'but she
clutched my gown, violently, with one hand, which was partly closed; and when
I saw that she was dead, and so removed the hand by force, I found it clasped a
scrap of dirty paper.'
Thesaurus
corpse: (n) carcass, body, carcase, dead
person, stiff, dead body, remains,
corse, clay, dry bones; (adj) lich.
furious: (adj, v) fierce, violent,
vehement, wild, rampant; (adj)
frantic, enraged, ferocious,
boisterous, raging, frenzied.
ANTONYMS: (adj) happy, mild,
gentle, pleased, mellow, quiet, slow.
idiot: (n) dolt, blockhead, dunce,
dimwit, moron, cretin, ass, imbecile,
oaf, changeling, idiocy. ANTONYM:
(n) intellectual.
subjugation, prevention; (n, v)
quivering: (adj, n) trembling, tremor,
overthrow. ANTONYMS: (n)
quaking, trepidation; (n) palpitation, emancipation, development,
quiver, vibration; (adj) flutter,
expression, revelation.
unmoved: (adj) apathetic, unaffected,
quavering, shivering, tremulous.
ANTONYM: (adj) steady.
indifferent, unconcerned,
shoulder: (v) carry, push, hold, jostle,
unimpressed, uninspired,
sustain, support, assume, accept; (n,
dispassionate, imperturbable, calm,
v) elbow; (n) back, flange.
undisturbed, fixed. ANTONYMS:
suppression: (n) repression, restraint,
(adj) affected, compliant, uptight,
quelling, crushing, stifling,
concerned, enthusiastic, tolerant,
constraint, extinction, abolition,
sensitive.
Charles Dickens
363
'Which contained--' interposed Monks, stretching forward.%
'Nothing,' replied the woman; 'it was a pawnbroker's duplicate.'
'For what?' demanded Monks.
'In good time I'll tell you.' said the woman. 'I judge that she had kept the
trinket, for some time, in the hope of turning it to better account; and then had
pawned it; and had saved or scraped together money to pay the pawnbroker's
interest year by year, and prevent its running out; so that if anything came of it, it
could still be redeemed. Nothing had come of it; and, as I tell you, she died with
the scrap of paper, all worn and tattered, in her hand. The time was out in two
days; I thought something might one day come of it too; and so redeemed the
pledge.'
'Where is it now?' asked Monks quickly.
'There,' replied the woman. And, as if glad to be relieved of it, she hastily
threw upon the table a small kid bag scarcely large enough for a French watch,
which Monks pouncing upon, tore open with trembling hands. It contained a
little gold locket: in which were two locks of hair, and a plain gold weddingring.
'It has the word "Agnes" engraved on the inside,' said the woman.
'There is a blank left for the surname; and then follows the date; which is
within a year before the child was born. I found out that.'
'And this is all?' said Monks, after a close and eager scrutiny of the contents
of the little packet.
'All,' replied the woman.
Mr. Bumble drew a long breath, as if he were glad to find that the story was
over, and no mention made of taking the five-and-twenty pounds back again;
and now he took courage to wipe the perspiration which had been trickling over
his nose, unchecked, during the whole of the previous dialogue.
Thesaurus
engraved: (adj) carved, inscribed,
etched, sculptured, chased, cut in,
graphic, graven; (prep) insculptured;
(v) fixed, imprinted.
locket: (n) jewelry, medallion,
pendant, case, ornament, bracelet,
anklet, adornment, accessory,
carcanet.
locks: (n) hair, tresses, head of hair.
packet: (n) bundle, bale, container,
parcel, pack, wad, carton, mail boat,
wrap, deck, envelope.
redeemed: (adj) ransomed, blessed.
seedy, worn out, torn, shattered; (adj,
saved: (adj) protected, economized,
v) bedraggled. ANTONYMS: (adj)
rescued, blessed.
elegant, smart, new.
scraped: (adj) scratched, worn out,
trinket: (n) trifle, novelty, charm,
gaud, jewel, fallal; (adj, n) bauble,
worn, threadbare, frayed, hurt,
gewgaw, gimcrack; (adj) toy, paper
skinned, damaged, raw.
surname: (n) cognomen, name,
pellet.
sobriquet, family name, soubriquet, unchecked: (adj) unbridled,
last name, nickname, maiden name,
uncontrolled, rampant, uncaught,
moniker, first name, agnomen.
unbuttoned, uninhibited,
tattered: (adj) shabby, ragged, scruffy, unconstrained, unprevented,
dilapidated, threadbare, frayed,
untrammeled, wild, unrestricted.
364
Oliver Twist
'I know nothing of the story, beyond what I can guess at,' said his wife
addressing Monks, after a short silence; 'and I want to know nothing; for it's safer
not. But I may ask you two questions, may I?'
'You may ask,' said Monks, with some show of surprise; 'but whether I
answer or not is another question.'
'--Which makes three,' observed Mr. Bumble, essaying a stroke of
facetiousness.%
'Is that what you expected to get from me?' demanded the matron.
'It is,' replied Monks. 'The other question?'
'What do you propose to do with it? Can it be used against me?'
'Never,' rejoined Monks; 'nor against me either. See here! But don't move a
step forward, or your life is not worth a bulrush.'
With these words, he suddenly wheeled the table aside, and pulling an iron
ring in the boarding, threw back a large trap-door which opened close at Mr.
Bumble's feet, and caused that gentleman to retire several paces backward, with
great precipitation.
'Look down,' said Monks, lowering the lantern into the gulf. 'Don't fear me. I
could have let you down, quietly enough, when you were seated over it, if that
had been my game.'
Thus encouraged, the matron drew near to the brink; and even Mr. Bumble
himself, impelled by curiousity, ventured to do the same. The turbid water,
swollen by the heavy rain, was rushing rapidly on below; and all other sounds
were lost in the noise of its plashing and eddying against the green and slimy
piles. There had once been a water-mill beneath; the tide foaming and chafing
round the few rotten stakes, and fragments of machinery that yet remained,
seemed to dart onward, with a new impulse, when freed from the obstacles
which had unavailingly attempted to stem its headlong course.
'If you flung a man's body down there, where would it be to-morrow
morning?' said Monks, swinging the lantern to and fro in the dark well.
Thesaurus
boarding: (n) embarkation,
impetuous, sudden, precipitate.
ANTONYMS: (adj) cautiously,
embarkment, boards, construction,
considered; (adv) carefully.
departure, going, leaving, escalade,
impelled: (adj) prompted, provoked,
structure, lodging, board fence.
ANTONYM: (n) debarkation.
determined, compulsive, encouraged,
chafing: (n) abrasion, soreness,
goaded, motivated, bound.
lowering: (adj) heavy, dismal, gloomy,
tenderness, rubbing, resistance,
roughness; (v) irritate, to chafe; (adj)
threatening, dark, glum, murky; (n)
impatient.
fall, drop, cut, decline.
headlong: (adj, adv) headfirst; (adv)
slimy: (adj) greasy, slippery, muddy,
directly, hastily, precipitately; (adj)
sludgy, squalid, oily, oozy, ropy,
rash, hurried, desperate, precipitous, viscous, slimed, sordid. ANTONYM:
(adj) reputable.
turbid: (adj, v) thick; (adj) murky,
opaque, cloudy, dirty, misty, foggy,
mirky, feculent, vaporous, nebulous.
ANTONYM: (adj) clear.
unavailingly: (adv) vainly, uselessly,
inefficaciously, ineffectively, futilely,
inutilely, otiosely, ineffectually,
bootlessly, abortively, pointlessly.
wheeled: (adj) on wheels. ANTONYM:
(adj) wheelless.
Charles Dickens
365
'Twelve miles down the river, and cut to pieces besides,' replied Bumble,
recoiling at the thought.
Monks drew the little packet from his breast, where he had hurriedly thrust
it; and tying it to a leaden weight, which had formed a part of some pulley, and
was lying on the floor, dropped it into the stream. It fell straight, and true as a
die; clove the water with a scarcely audible splash; and was gone.%
The three looking into each other's faces, seemed to breathe more freely.
'There!' said Monks, closing the trap-door, which fell heavily back into its
former position. 'If the sea ever gives up its dead, as books say it will, it will keep
its gold and silver to itself, and that trash among it. We have nothing more to
say, and may break up our pleasant party.'
'By all means,' observed Mr. Bumble, with great alacrity.
'You'll keep a quiet tongue in your head, will you?' said Monks, with a
threatening look. 'I am not afraid of your wife.'
'You may depend upon me, young man,' answered Mr. Bumble, bowing
himself gradually towards the ladder, with excessive politeness. 'On everybody's
account, young man; on my own, you know, Mr. Monks.'
'I am glad, for your sake, to hear it,' remarked Monks. 'Light your lantern!
And get away from here as fast as you can.'
It was fortunate that the conversation terminated at this point, or Mr.
Bumble, who had bowed himself to within six inches of the ladder, would
infallibly have pitched headlong into the room below. He lighted his lantern
from that which Monks had detached from the rope, and now carried in his
hand; and making no effort to prolong the discourse, descended in silence,
followed by his wife. Monks brought up the rear, after pausing on the steps to
satisfy himself that there were no other sounds to be heard than the beating of
the rain without, and the rushing of the water.
They traversed the lower room, slowly, and with caution; for Monks started
at every shadow; and Mr. Bumble, holding his lantern a foot above the ground,
walked not only with remarkable care, but with a marvellously light step for a
Thesaurus
alacrity: (n) rapidity, speed,
promptness, activity, preparedness,
velocity, haste, swiftness, quickness,
expedition; (adj) life. ANTONYMS:
(n) aversion, reservation, reluctance,
indifference, hesitance, dullness,
disinclination, apathy, tardiness,
delay.
clove: (n) syzygium aromaticum, clove
tree, Eugenia aromaticum, garlic,
gulch, gap, chasm, ravine, garlic
clove; (v) cleave.
infallibly: (adv) unerringly,
ANTONYMS: (n) vulgarity,
unfailingly, inerrably, assuredly,
rudeness, incivility, neglect.
splash: (n, v) spatter, dash, plash, spot,
certainly, firmly.
leaden: (adj) heavy, gray, sluggish,
splatter, drop; (v) spill, slop, slosh,
grey, inert, torpid, grave, languid,
moisten, lap.
trash: (n) rubbish, litter, scum,
drab, burdensome, livid.
ANTONYM: (adj) bright.
garbage, refuse, rubble, debris; (n, v)
pieces: (n) debris, trash.
scrap, junk; (v) destroy; (adj, n)
politeness: (n) civility, courteousness, trumpery. ANTONYMS: (n)
courtliness, manners, decorum,
valuables, sense, possessions, assets,
fact; (v) renovate, conserve.
gentility, good manners, niceness,
refinement, gallantry, decency.
366
Oliver Twist
gentleman of his figure: looking nervously about him for hidden trap-doors. The
gate at which they had entered, was softly unfastened and opened by Monks;
merely exchanging a nod with their mysterious acquaintance, the married
couple emerged into the wet and darkness outside.%
They were no sooner gone, than Monks, who appeared to entertain an
invincible repugnance to being left alone, called to a boy who had been hidden
somewhere below. Bidding him go first, and bear the light, he returned to the
chamber he had just quitted.
Thesaurus
acquaintance: (n) connection, friend,
repugnance: (n) horror, hatred,
displease.
acquaintanceship, mate, awareness, gate: (n) door, mouth, entry, doorway, antipathy, inconsistency, repulsion,
associate, buddy, friendship,
port, exit, goal, barrier, approach,
nausea, revulsion, loathing,
intercourse, companion; (n, v)
inlet, threshold.
detestation, aversion, hate.
knowledge. ANTONYMS: (n)
invincible: (adj) insurmountable,
ANTONYMS: (n) pleasantness, love,
ignorance, inexperience,
unbeatable, insuperable,
attractiveness, adoration, liking.
unfastened: (adj) open, movable,
unfamiliarity, animosity, enemy.
impregnable, irresistible,
entertain: (v) amuse, delight, bear,
unconquerable, unyielding,
loose, unbuttoned, overt, opened,
cherish, beguile, admit,
unquenchable, proof against,
opened out, slack, undecided,
accommodate, harbor, hold, distract; impassable, invulnerable.
undetermined, assailable.
(n, v) interest. ANTONYMS: (v)
ANTONYMS: (adj) defenseless,
ANTONYMS: (adj) buttoned, fixed,
disregard, ignore, banish, forget, tire, powerless, weak, feeble.
shut, tied.
Charles Dickens
367
CHAPTER XXXIX
INTRODUCES SOME RESPECTABLE
CHARACTERS WITH WHOM THE READER IS
ALREADY ACQUAINTED, AND SHOWS HOW
MONKS AND THE JEW LAID THEIR WORTHY
HEADS TOGETHER
On the evening following that upon which the three worthies mentioned in
the last chapter, disposed of their little matter of business as therein narrated, Mr.
William Sikes, awakening from a nap, drowsily growled forth an inquiry what
time of night it was.%
The room in which Mr. Sikes propounded this question, was not one of those
he had tenanted, previous to the Chertsey expedition, although it was in the
same quarter of the town, and was situated at no great distance from his former
lodgings. It was not, in appearance, so desirable a habitation as his old quarters:
being a mean and badly-furnished apartment, of very limited size; lighted only
by one small window in the shelving roof, and abutting on a close and dirty
lane. Nor were there wanting other indications of the good gentleman's having
gone down in the world of late: for a great scarcity of furniture, and total absence
of comfort, together with the disappearance of all such small moveables as spare
Thesaurus
abutting: (adj) contiguous,
conterminous, adjacent, bordering,
next, near, close, coterminous,
connected; (prep) touching, at the side
of.
disappearance: (n) vanishing, loss,
going, fade, evaporation,
disappearing, departure, passing,
death, receding, ending.
ANTONYMS: (n) recurrence,
appearing, arrival, renaissance,
revitalization, show, emergence,
survival.
forth: (adv) away, along, onward,
ahead, before, on, off, on the high
road, on the road, on the way, under
way.
habitation: (adj, n) abode; (n) domicile,
residence, house, home, habitat,
lodging, place, occupancy,
inhabitation, inhabitancy.
ANTONYM: (n) vacancy.
narrated: (adj) oral, narrative.
scarcity: (n) paucity, dearth, lack,
deficiency, rarity, insufficiency,
scarceness, infrequency, defect,
deficit, rareness. ANTONYMS: (n)
plethora, abundance, affluence,
excess, frequency, provision, glut,
profusion, intensity.
shelving: (n) racking, shelf, bookshelf;
(adj) shelvy.
situated: (adj) set, situate, placed,
sited, fixed, laid, contextualized,
hardened, dictated; (v) locate; (prep)
circumstanced.
368
Oliver Twist
clothes and linen, bespoke a state of extreme poverty; while the meagre and
attenuated condition of Mr. Sikes himself would have fully confirmed these
symptoms, if they had stood in any need of corroboration.%
The housebreaker was lying on the bed, wrapped in his white great-coat, by
way of dressing-gown, and displaying a set of features in no degree improved by
the cadaverous hue of illness, and the addition of a soiled nightcap, and a stiff,
black beard of a week's growth. The dog sat at the bedside: now eyeing his
master with a wistful look, and now pricking his ears, and uttering a low growl
as some noise in the street, or in the lower part of the house, attracted his
attention. Seated by the window, busily engaged in patching an old waistcoat
which formed a portion of the robber's ordinary dress, was a female: so pale and
reduced with watching and privation, that there would have been considerable
difficulty in recognising her as the same Nancy who has already figured in this
tale, but for the voice in which she replied to Mr. Sikes's question.
'Not long gone seven,' said the girl. 'How do you feel to-night, Bill?'
'As weak as water,' replied Mr. Sikes, with an imprecation on his eyes and
limbs. 'Here; lend us a hand, and let me get off this thundering bed anyhow.'
Illness had not improved Mr. Sikes's temper; for, as the girl raised him up
and led him to a chair, he muttered various curses on her awkwardness, and
struck her.
'Whining are you?' said Sikes. 'Come! Don't stand snivelling there. If you
can't do anything better than that, cut off altogether. D'ye hear me?'
'I hear you,' replied the girl, turning her face aside, and forcing a laugh. 'What
fancy have you got in your head now?'
'Oh! you've thought better of it, have you?' growled Sikes, marking the tear
which trembled in her eye. 'All the better for you, you have.'
'Why, you don't mean to say, you'd be hard upon me to-night, Bill,' said the
girl, laying her hand upon his shoulder.
'No!' cried Mr. Sikes. 'Why not?'
Thesaurus
attenuated: (adj) weakened, shriveled, (adj) rosy, ruddy, flushed, glowing,
rawboned, marcid, barebone, tabid,
lifelike, lively, plump.
patching: (n) patch, tiling, fix, repair,
extenuated, diminished, reduced,
rare, decreased.
reparation, plugging, connection,
bespoke: (adj) bespoken, custom,
burning, fixing.
pricking: (adj, v) keen, poignant,
engaged, affianced, commissioned,
customized, made to measure, made sharp; (v) suffer, smart, penetrating;
(adj) pointed, piercing, urchin, thistly;
to order, modified, personalized,
(n) Peter.
specially made.
cadaverous: (adj) gaunt, wan, ghastly, privation: (n) hardship, need,
thin, haggard, deathly, pale, ashen,
deprivation, necessity, poverty,
dead, skeletal, bony. ANTONYMS:
deficiency, misery, impoverishment,
destitution, dearth; (n, v) loss.
ANTONYM: (n) affluence.
whining: (adj) whimpering, whiny,
sniveling pitiful, Snively, tearful,
whiney, singing, peevish; (v) fretful,
lamenting; (n) sniveling.
wistful: (adj, v) reflective, meditative,
thoughtful; (adj) contemplative, sad,
melancholy, longing, plaintive,
wishful, yearning; (v) anxious.
ANTONYMS: (adj) alert, satisfied,
shallow.
Charles Dickens
369
'Such a number of nights,' said the girl, with a touch of woman's tenderness,
which communicated something like sweetness of tone, even to her voice: 'such
a number of nights as I've been patient with you, nursing and caring for you, as
if you had been a child: and this the first that I've seen you like yourself; you
wouldn't have served me as you did just now, if you'd thought of that, would
you? Come, come; say you wouldn't.'
'Well, then,' rejoined Mr. Sikes, 'I wouldn't. Why, damme, now, the girls's
whining again!'
'It's nothing,' said the girl, throwing herself into a chair. 'Don't you seem to
mind me. It'll soon be over.'
'What'll be over?' demanded Mr. Sikes in a savage voice. 'What foolery are
you up to, now, again? Get up and bustle about, and don't come over me with
your woman's nonsense.'
At any other time, this remonstrance, and the tone in which it was delivered,
would have had the desired effect; but the girl being really weak and exhausted,
dropped her head over the back of the chair, and fainted, before Mr. Sikes could
get out a few of the appropriate oaths with which, on similar occasions, he was
accustomed to garnish his threats. Not knowing, very well, what to do, in this
uncommon emergency; for Miss Nancy's hysterics were usually of that violent
kind which the patient fights and struggles out of, without much assistance; Mr.
Sikes tried a little blasphemy: and finding that mode of treatment wholly
ineffectual, called for assistance.%
'What's the matter here, my dear?' said Fagin, looking in.
'Lend a hand to the girl, can't you?' replied Sikes impatiently. 'Don't stand
chattering and grinning at me!'
With an exclamation of surprise, Fagin hastened to the girl's assistance, while
Mr. John Dawkins (otherwise the Artful Dodger), who had followed his
venerable friend into the room, hastily deposited on the floor a bundle with
which he was laden; and snatching a bottle from the grasp of Master Charles
Bates who came close at his heels, uncorked it in a twinkling with his teeth, and
Thesaurus
blasphemy: (n) profanity, desecration, adornment, embellishment,
tenderness: (n) fondness, soreness,
decoration; (n, v) trim, ornament.
love, affection, sympathy; (adj, n)
violation, profanation, oath,
hysterics: (adj) frenzy, hysterical,
irreverence, curse, profaneness,
clemency, mildness, compassion,
phrensy; (n) panic, mirth, emotional
discourtesy, cursing, insult.
gentleness, softness, delicacy.
ANTONYMS: (n) adoration, respect,
behavior, dramatics, paroxysm, rage, ANTONYMS: (n) pleasure, dryness,
reverence.
tantrum, affected behavior.
hatred, strength, detachment.
foolery: (n) folly, tomfoolery,
sweetness: (n) sugariness, sweet,
venerable: (adj) ancient, reverend,
foolishness, buffoonery, clowning,
redolence, pleasantness, fragrance,
estimable, August, respectable, aged,
inanity, romp, gambol, frolic,
aroma, charm, perfume, amenity,
distinguished, sacred, worthy, of
niceness, kindness. ANTONYMS: (n) long standing, revered. ANTONYMS:
imbecility, lunacy.
garnish: (v) decorate, embellish,
sourness, sharpness, unpleasantness, (adj) unworthy, unimpressive,
beautify, adorn, dress, deck; (n)
harshness, tastelessness, unkindness. undignified, disreputable.
370
Oliver Twist
poured a portion of its contents down the patient's throat: previously taking a
taste, himself, to prevent mistakes.%
'Give her a whiff of fresh air with the bellows, Charley,' said Mr. Dawkins;
'and you slap her hands, Fagin, while Bill undoes the petticuts.'
These united restoratives, administered with great energy: especially that
department consigned to Master Bates, who appeared to consider his share in the
proceedings, a piece of unexampled pleasantry: were not long in producing the
desired effect. The girl gradually recovered her senses; and, staggering to a chair
by the bedside, hid her face upon the pillow: leaving Mr. Sikes to confront the
new comers, in some astonishment at their unlooked-for appearance.
'Why, what evil wind has blowed you here?' he asked Fagin.
'No evil wind at all, my dear, for evil winds blow nobody any good; and I've
brought something good with me, that you'll be glad to see. Dodger, my dear,
open the bundle; and give Bill the little trifles that we spent all our money on,
this morning.'
In compliance with Mr. Fagin's request, the Artful untied this bundle, which
was of large size, and formed of an old table-cloth; and handed the articles it
contained, one by one, to Charley Bates: who placed them on the table, with
various encomiums on their rarity and excellence.
'Sitch a rabbit pie, Bill,' exclaimed that young gentleman, disclosing to view a
huge pasty; 'sitch delicate creeturs, with sitch tender limbs, Bill, that the wery
bones melt in your mouth, and there's no occasion to pick 'em; half a pound of
seven and six-penny green, so precious strong that if you mix it with biling
water, it'll go nigh to blow the lid of the tea-pot off; a pound and a half of moist
sugar that the niggers didn't work at all at, afore they got it up to sitch a pitch of
goodness,--oh no! Two half-quartern brans; pound of best fresh; piece of double
Glo'ster; and, to wind up all, some of the richest sort you ever lushed!'
Uttering this last panegyric, Master Bates produced, from one of his
extensive pockets, a full-sized wine-bottle, carefully corked; while Mr. Dawkins,
at the same instant, poured out a wine-glassful of raw spirits from the bottle he
Thesaurus
corked: (adj) bad.
disclosing: (n) confession,
communication.
melt: (v) dissolve, deliquesce, vanish,
coalesce, relent, meld, fade, defrost;
(adj, v) run, liquefy; (n, v) thaw.
ANTONYMS: (v) freeze, solidify,
cool, set.
panegyric: (n, v) encomium, praise,
commendation, applause; (adj, n)
encomiastic; (v) laud, laudation; (adj)
panegyrical; (n) kudos, paean, eloge.
pasty: (adj) pale, gluey, gummy, wan,
glutinous, doughy, bloodless, white,
adhesive, sallow; (n, v) pie.
ANTONYMS: (adj) rosy, dark.
rarity: (n) rareness, curiosity,
infrequency, curio, peculiarity,
dearth, scarcity, tenuity, paucity,
scarceness, antique. ANTONYM: (n)
frequency.
trifles: (n) jests, nonsense, nugae,
trivia.
unexampled: (adj) new, unique,
unparalleled, rare, novel,
undescribed, peerless, inimitable,
singular, fantastic, fresh.
unlooked-for: (adj) unforeseen.
untied: (adj) unfastened, unchained,
unshackled, unlaced, unbound,
unfettered, free, unsewed, open,
unconnected, rambling.
ANTONYMS: (adj) tied, laced.
whiff: (n, v) blow, smell, drag; (n)
scent, breath, aroma, odor, trace,
taste, touch; (v) sniff.
Charles Dickens
371
carried: which the invalid tossed down his throat without a moment's
hesitation.%
'Ah!' said Fagin, rubbing his hands with great satisfaction. 'You'll do, Bill;
you'll do now.'
'Do!' exclaimed Mr. Sikes; 'I might have been done for, twenty times over,
afore you'd have done anything to help me. What do you mean by leaving a man
in this state, three weeks and more, you false-hearted wagabond?'
'Only hear him, boys!' said Fagin, shrugging his shoulders. 'And us come to
bring him all these beau-ti-ful things.'
'The things is well enough in their way,' observed Mr. Sikes: a little soothed
as he glanced over the table; 'but what have you got to say for yourself, why you
should leave me here, down in the mouth, health, blunt, and everything else; and
take no more notice of me, all this mortal time, than if I was that 'ere dog.--Drive
him down, Charley!'
'I never see such a jolly dog as that,' cried Master Bates, doing as he was
desired. 'Smelling the grub like a old lady a going to market! He'd make his
fortun' on the stage that dog would, and rewive the drayma besides.'
'Hold your din,' cried Sikes, as the dog retreated under the bed: still growling
angrily. 'What have you got to say for yourself, you withered old fence, eh?'
'I was away from London, a week and more, my dear, on a plant,' replied the
Jew.
'And what about the other fortnight?' demanded Sikes. 'What about the other
fortnight that you've left me lying here, like a sick rat in his hole?'
'I couldn't help it, Bill. I can't go into a long explanation before company; but I
couldn't help it, upon my honour.'
'Upon your what?' growled Sikes, with excessive disgust. 'Here! Cut me off a
piece of that pie, one of you boys, to take the taste of that out of my mouth, or it'll
choke me dead.'
Thesaurus
choke: (v) asphyxiate, block, stifle,
back up, clog up, gag, suffocate, foul,
strangle, smother, obstruct.
ANTONYMS: (v) free, open, release,
unblock.
disgust: (n) antipathy, aversion,
abhorrence, abomination, detestation,
dislike, repugnance; (n, v) shock,
distaste; (v) nauseate, displease.
ANTONYMS: (n, v) delight; (n) love,
attraction, liking, adoration; (v)
attract, allure, charm, entice, please.
false-hearted: (adj) treacherous,
unfaithful.
invalid: (adj) false, illogical,
unreasonable, null, weak, void,
unhealthy, sick, flawed; (n) infirm; (v)
disable. ANTONYMS: (adj) valid,
legitimate, current, healthy, true,
watertight, correct.
jolly: (adj) gay, cheerful, happy,
festive, genial, bright, cheery, merry,
jocund; (v) chaff; (adv) lively.
ANTONYMS: (adj) gloomy,
miserable, serious.
retreated: (adj) withdrawn, people.
rubbing: (n) friction, abrasion,
grinding, detrition, rub, grip,
resistance, chafe, sweat, travail,
massage. ANTONYM: (n)
smoothness.
smelling: (n) smell, flavor, scent,
olfactory modality, sensing, sense of
smell; (adj) redolent, scented,
odorous, stinking, rotten.
372
Oliver Twist
'Don't be out of temper, my dear,' urged Fagin, submissively. 'I have never
forgot you, Bill; never once.'
'No! I'll pound it that you han't,' replied Sikes, with a bitter grin. 'You've been
scheming and plotting away, every hour that I have laid shivering and burning
here; and Bill was to do this; and Bill was to do that; and Bill was to do it all, dirt
cheap, as soon as he got well: and was quite poor enough for your work. If it
hadn't been for the girl, I might have died.'
'There now, Bill,' remonstrated Fagin, eagerly catching at the word. 'If it
hadn't been for the girl! Who but poor ould Fagin was the means of your having
such a handy girl about you?'
'He says true enough there!' said Nancy, coming hastily forward. 'Let him be;
let him be.'
Nancy's appearance gave a new turn to the conversation; for the boys,
receiving a sly wink from the wary old Jew, began to ply her with liquor: of
which, however, she took very sparingly; while Fagin, assuming an unusual
flow of spirits, gradually brought Mr. Sikes into a better temper, by affecting to
regard his threats as a little pleasant banter; and, moreover, by laughing very
heartily at one or two rough jokes, which, after repeated applications to the
spirit-bottle, he condescended to make.%
'It's all very well,' said Mr. Sikes; 'but I must have some blunt from you tonight.'
'I haven't a piece of coin about me,' replied the Jew.
'Then you've got lots at home,' retorted Sikes; 'and I must have some from
there.'
'Lots!' cried Fagin, holding up is hands. 'I haven't so much as would--'
'I don't know how much you've got, and I dare say you hardly know
yourself, as it would take a pretty long time to count it,' said Sikes; 'but I must
have some to-night; and that's flat.'
'Well, well,' said Fagin, with a sigh, 'I'll send the Artful round presently.'
Thesaurus
banter: (n, v) chaff, badinage, jest,
quiz; (v) kid, tease, joke, deride, twit;
(n) raillery, fun. ANTONYMS: (v)
flatter, placate, soothe.
dirt: (n, v) soil, grime; (n) filth, dust,
scandal, garbage, ground, earth, crap,
mire, contamination. ANTONYMS:
(n) cleanness, purity, luxury,
cleanliness, newness.
gave: (v) deliver, allow, allot, provide,
furnish, impart, administer; (n) gives.
plotting: (n) machinations, intrigues,
evaluation; (adj) scheming,
meagerly, sparely, poorly, stingily,
moderately. ANTONYMS: (adv)
perfidious, sly, treacherous, deep,
insidious, false, faithless.
amply, extravagantly, thickly,
scheming: (adj) designing, artful,
liberally, generously, densely,
crafty, wily, tricky, sly, shrewd,
wastefully.
devious, astute, intriguing; (adj, n)
wary: (adj) cautious, vigilant, careful,
cunning. ANTONYMS: (adj) honest,
guarded, circumspect, suspicious,
ingenuous, straightforward, open,
shy, alert, chary, attentive, leery.
straight, guileless; (n) ingenuousness. ANTONYMS: (adj) unwary, careless,
sparingly: (adv) frugally,
trusting, reckless, heedless, foolish,
economically, parsimoniously,
unsuspecting, thoughtless, oblivious,
cautiously, thriftily, prudently,
forgetful, eager.
Charles Dickens
373
'You won't do nothing of the kind,' rejoined Mr. Sikes. 'The Artful's a deal too
artful, and would forget to come, or lose his way, or get dodged by traps and so
be perwented, or anything for an excuse, if you put him up to it. Nancy shall go
to the ken and fetch it, to make all sure; and I'll lie down and have a snooze while
she's gone.'
After a great deal of haggling and squabbling, Fagin beat down the amount
of the required advance from five pounds to three pounds four and sixpence:
protesting with many solemn asseverations that that would only leave him
eighteen-pence to keep house with; Mr. Sikes sullenly remarking that if he
couldn't get any more he must accompany him home; with the Dodger and
Master Bates put the eatables in the cupboard. The Jew then, taking leave of his
affectionate friend, returned homeward, attended by Nancy and the boys: Mr.
Sikes, meanwhile, flinging himself on the bed, and composing himself to sleep
away the time until the young lady's return.%
In due course, they arrived at Fagin's abode, where they found Toby Crackit
and Mr. Chitling intent upon their fifteenth game at cribbage, which it is scarcely
necessary to say the latter gentleman lost, and