CHAPTER XXVI. PRISON LIFE.

 “This is the last day of the year,” observed Io to her husband, when they stood together on the deck as the vessel¹, sailing up the muddy Hoogly after a very rapid voyage, neared the city of palaces—“the last day of the year which begun with such hope and joy.”

“And closes with such sorrow,” thought Oscar. Husband and wife each silently revolved² the question, “What will the new year bring?”

“Even what God will,” was the answer in Coldstream’s heart. “The worst is over, and I can peacefully await whatever He may send.”

The new year began to Oscar within the walls of a prison, but he was subjected to no rigorous confinement³. The man who had been his own accuser was treated as a gentleman by the officials; was allowed a separate cell, and permitted to receive daily visits from his wife. Io would have entreated⁴ to be allowed to share the cell, but Oscar forbade her making any such application. A quiet home was found for the poor young wife in a missionary’s dwelling⁵, situated⁶ not very far from the prison; and every morning a palanquin might be seen going from that house in the direction of the gloomy building which held all that Io loved best upon earth; every day a slight form, dressed in deep mourning, passed through its stern archway. Io heard the heavy bolts drawn⁷ behind her, and glided⁸, under the jailer’s escort, along the dreary⁹ passages which none so fair and innocent as she had ever trodden before. Something of the spirit of a Gertrude von Wart¹⁰ was in the bosom¹¹ of Io. In a yet more terrible trial she could have said from her inmost soul,—

“Hath the world aught for me to fear

When death is on thy brow?

The world—what means it? mine is here,

I will not leave thee now.”

But the long hours spent daily by Io in her husband’s cell were by no means hours of unmitigated grief. Oscar’s calmness had an effect upon the spirit of his wife, naturally so buoyant and cheerful. It was a real pleasure to Io to sit beside her husband whilst he read aloud to her, for books were not denied him. Sometimes Io would write to Oscar’s dictation—a privilege which she highly prized. The prisoner found congenial occupation in composing short meditations¹² on the fifty-first psalm¹³. Each day brought its verse for prayerful reflection, and each verse seemed to contain exactly the spiritual food which the penitent’s spirit required. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O Lord! found a strong echo in the prisoner’s soul, while the broken and contrite¹⁴ heart drank in with thanksgiving the assurance that it was not despised even by a perfectly¹⁵ holy God. Io, by Oscar’s permission, sent these meditations to the press, and they were read with profit by many who little imagined that they had been penned in a prison.

Even hymns¹⁶ of praise, where two voices blended in humble¹⁷ thanksgiving, arose from Coldstream’s cell. Criminals confined near it listened and wondered, and the head jailer declared that he thought that God’s angels had begun to visit the prison. Oscar was no longer in darkness, though he was rather in twilight¹⁸ than in sunshine; not the evening twilight, resembling sweet memories of a happy day passed away, but rather the early twilight of hope, after a gloomy starless night, seen before the full glory bursts forth¹⁹ in the Eastern sky.

By her husband’s express desire, Io wrote a letter to Dr. Pinfold, thanking him for kindness shown in old days, and not containing any allusion²⁰ to the offer made by him which had given so much pain to the wife. Io also wrote repeatedly to her brother. But neither her letters to Thud nor that addressed to Dr. Pinfold ever received a reply. The Coldstreams were uneasy about the youth whom they had left at Moulmein, and at length made inquiries²¹ regarding him from Smith, his employer. The reply received was unsatisfactory. For some weeks young Thorn had worked fairly well under constant supervision²²; but as soon as he had received his first month’s salary, Thud had thrown up his situation as one unworthy of his merits, and had started off for Rangoon. Here all trace of the lad was lost. Letters sent to Rangoon were returned by the dead-letter office; nothing was known of him to whom they had been addressed. Io was never to find out what had become of her brother. In the ensuing chapter, however, the reader will find information regarding the career of Thucydides Thorn.

1 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

2 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

4 entreated   

恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They entreated and threatened, but all this seemed of no avail. 他们时而恳求，时而威胁，但这一切看来都没有用。
• 'One word,' the Doctor entreated. 'Will you tell me who denounced him?' “还有一个问题，”医生请求道，“你可否告诉我是谁告发他的？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

5 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

6 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

10 wart   

n.疣，肉赘；瑕疵

参考例句：

• What does the medicaments with remedial acuteness wet best wart have?治疗尖锐湿疣最好的药物有什么？
• Flat wart is generally superficial,or sometimes a slight itching.扁平疣一般是不痛不痒的，或偶有轻微痒感。

11 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

12 meditations   

默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想

参考例句：

• Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。

13 psalm   

n.赞美诗，圣诗

参考例句：

• The clergyman began droning the psalm.牧师开始以单调而低沈的语调吟诵赞美诗。
• The minister droned out the psalm.牧师喃喃地念赞美诗。

14 contrite   

adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的

参考例句：

• She was contrite the morning after her angry outburst.她发了一顿脾气之后一早上追悔莫及。
• She assumed a contrite expression.她装出一副后悔的表情。

15 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

16 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

17 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

18 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

19 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

20 allusion   

n.暗示，间接提示

参考例句：

• He made an allusion to a secret plan in his speech.在讲话中他暗示有一项秘密计划。
• She made no allusion to the incident.她没有提及那个事件。

21 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

22 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。