"Will you state to the jury, when the last entombment took place in the vaults1 of St. Dunstan's?" was the question asked of him.
"On the 30th. of January, five years ago," he replied, "a gentleman named Shaw, from Chancery Lane, was placed in a vault2, but no one since then. The vaults were considered offensive to the living, and was not used."
"Let the medical men be called again," said the Attorney-General.
They were so called; and the question put to them was, as to the age of the bone produced in court. They both swore that it could not have been six months in its present condition. It had all the aspect of a fresh bone, and they entertained no sort of doubt upon the subject, but that the flesh had been roughly taken off it, and then the slight remainder had rapidly dried and decayed.
This, then, was the case for the prosecution3, and it will be seen that the evidence or confession4 of Mrs. Lovett was not at all made use of or attended to, so that even in her dying hope of doing vast injury to Todd, she failed. The case was considered to be good enough without such testimony5, and the lawyers, too, were of opinion that it would not be received by the judge, even if tendered, under all the circumstances.
The Attorney-General rose again, and said—
"That is the case, my lord, and gentlemen of the jury, for the prosecution; and we leave it in your hands to deal with as you shall think fit."
Todd's counsel now rose to commence the speech for the defence, and he spoke6 rather ingeniously, as follows—
"My lord, and gentlemen of the jury—
"I have, upon the part of my client, the prisoner at the bar, most seriously to complain of the vast amount of extraneous7 matter that has been mixed up with this case. To one grain of wheat, we have had whole bushels of chaff8; and gentlemen have been brought here surely to amuse the court with long-winded romances.
"Gentlemen, the prisoner at the bar is clearly and distinctly charged with the murder of one Francis Thornhill, and instead of any evidence, near or remote, fixing that deed upon him, we have nothing but long stories about vaults, and bad odours in churches, and moveable floor-boards, and chairs standing9 on their heads, and vaults, and secret passages, and pork pies! Really, gentlemen of the jury, I do think that the manner in which this prosecution has been got up against my virtuous10 and pious11 client, is an outrage12 to your common-sense."
Todd rather looked up at this. It was something to hear even an Old Bailey counsel call him virtuous and pious; and a gleam of hope shot across his heart that things might not be quite so hard with him after all.
"This, gentlemen of the jury," continued the counsel, "is an attempt, I must say, to take the life of a man from a variety of circumstances external to the real charge to which he is called upon here to plead. Let us examine the sort of evidence upon which it has been thought proper to put a fellow-creature to this bar upon a charge affecting his life.
"In the first place, we are told that a number of very respectable men went out from their various respectable houses, and never went back again. Pray, what has that to do with the death of one Francis Thornhill? Then we are told that the respectable men went to get shaved; and then that Sir Richard Blunt had a shave no less than eight times at the prisoner's shop, and yet here he is quite alive and well to give his evidence here to-day, and no one will say that Sir Richard Blunt is not a respectable man. Then we have a bad smell in the church of St. Dunstan's. Really, gentlemen of the jury, you might as well say that the prisoner at the bar committed felony, because this court was not well ventilated.
"We are told, to come more particularly to the evidence, such as it is, bearing upon the case, that Francis Thornhill left a certain shop intending to go into the City to a Miss Oakley, and that on the road he went into the prisoner's shop to be shaved, and from that we are asked to infer that he was murdered there, because nobody saw him come out. Really, this is too bad! Hundreds of people may have seen him come out, and no doubt did do so, but they happened not to know him, and so just because no one was passing who could say, 'Ah! Mr. Thornhill, how do you do? I see, you have had a clean shave to-day,' the prisoner at the bar is to be declared guilty of murder.
"Then we are told a long story about a bone, and that is declared to be a bone of the deceased. Gentlemen of the jury, what would you think of a man who should produce a brick, and swear that it belonged to a certain house? But this bone is to be identified on account of having been fractured, when the medical witness swears that such fractures are far from rare.
"Then again, a hat said to be the hat of the deceased is sworn to, as belonging to him, because of some injury it had received. Granted that it did belong to him. No doubt he sold it in Fleet Street and bought a new one, and there is no proof that that hat produced is the same one that is said to have been taken out of the prisoner's shop.
"I do think, gentlemen, that you will see upon what a string of sophistry14 the evidence against the prisoner at the bar rests. Who shall take upon himself to say that Mr. Thornhill is not now alive and well somewhere? We all know that persons connected with the sea are rather uncertain in their movements. But, gentlemen, the prisoner at the bar has a plain unvarnished tale to tell, which will clear him from any suspicions."
At this point, the learned counsel hitched15 up his gown upon his shoulders, and settled his wig16 upon his head, as though preparing for a grand effort, and then he continued—
"Gentlemen of the jury, my client is a religious man, as any one may see by the mild and gentlemanly look of his amiable17 countenance18. He took the premises19 in Fleet Street in the pursuit of his highly useful calling; and he had no more idea that there was a moveable board in his shop, and that his shaving-chair would go down with any one, than the child unborn. Is it likely that a man who could stoop to such baseness as to make money by murder would occupy himself with such a trivial employment as shaving for a penny? The deceased gentleman, Mr. Francis Thornhill, if he be deceased at all, came into my worthy20 client's shop to be shaved, and was, at that time, a little the worse for some small drops that he had indulged himself with, no doubt, as he came along. The prisoner at the bar did shave him; and then he said that he had to go and see a young lady, and that he should buy a new hat as he went along. The dog, about which so much has been said, came into the shop along with his master, and while the shaving was going on found out, and actually devoured21, half a pound of tripe22, off which the prisoner at the bar was going to make his humble23 dinner.
"Oh! gentlemen of the jury, ask yourselves if a murderer is likely to make half a pound of tripe satisfy him for dinner! Ask your own consciences, and your own common-sense, that question.
"Well, gentlemen of the jury, when he was shaved, and after my client had had to turn this dog twice out of his shop, Mr. Thornhill left and went towards Fleet Market. The prisoner watched him from his door, and actually saw him begin fighting with a porter at the top of the market; and then as another person came in to be shaved, the prisoner at the bar returned into his shop to attend to that customer, and saw no more of Mr. Thornhill. In the course of a quarter of an hour, however, the dog pushed the door of the shop open, and brought in a hat in his mouth, but the prisoner turned him out again, and that is all he knows of the transaction.
"Gentlemen of the jury, the prisoner at the bar is well known for his benevolence24 and his piety25. Even at a time when the bad odour in St. Dunstan's induced many of the parishioners to go elsewhere, he always attended his own church, and in the most pious and exemplary manner made the responses. I ask you as men, gentlemen of the jury, if you could do that with the consciousness that you had committed a murder?
"Gentlemen, it is for my client a most unfortunate thing that a person named Lovett, who kept the pie-shop in Bell Yard, is not now in the land of the living. If she were so, there is no doubt but that she would have told some true tale of how the vaults beneath the old church connected with her shop, and so have cleared the prisoner at the bar of all participation26 in her crimes.
"That murder has been committed in conjunction with that woman, who committed suicide rather than come forward and clear the prisoner at the bar, against whom she had a spite, there can be no doubt; but, gentlemen, it is the wrong man who now stands at this bar. The real murderer has yet to be discovered; and therefore it is that I call upon you, in the sacred name of justice, to acquit27 my client."
With this the counsel sat down, and Todd looked positively28 hopeful. He drew a long breath or two, and ventured a keen glance towards the jury-box.
"Do you call any witnesses," asked the junior counsel, "for the prosecution?"
Upon this, nothing remained for the judge to do but to sum up the evidence; and after arranging his notes, he proceeded to do so, in that clear and lucid31 style, for which some of our judges are so famous.
"The prisoner at the bar, Sweeney Todd, stands charged with the wilful32 murder of Francis Thornhill. It appears that Francis Thornhill left a certain ship for the purpose of proceeding33 to a Miss Oakley in the City of London, with a String of Pearls, which had been confided34 to him to deliver to that lady by a Mr. Mark Ingestrie.
"We have it in evidence, that Francis Thornhill on his route down or along the northern side of Fleet Street, went into the shaving shop, kept by the prisoner at the bar, and from that instant he is not again seen alive. The prisoner at the bar takes a String of Pearls, similar to those which were in the possession of Francis Thornhill, and raises upon them a considerable sum of money of a man named John Mundell. It appears then, that the hat of Mr. Francis Thornhill is taken from the premises of the prisoner by a dog; and it further appears, upon the clear testimony of respectable persons, that beneath the prisoner's shop is a contrivance by which people might be killed; and there or thereabouts contiguous to that contrivance, a certain bone is found, which is proved to be the thigh-bone of Francis Thornhill.
"Gentlemen of the jury, the sequence of evidence by which it is attempted to bring this crime home to the prisoner at the bar, lies in a very small compass indeed. Firstly, there is the tracing of Francis Thornhill to the prisoner's shop, and his disappearance35 from thence. Then there is the hat found there or taken from there, and then there is the thigh-bone sworn to be that of Francis Thornhill, and certainly found in such contiguity36 to his premises, as to warrant a belief that he placed it there.
"Gentlemen of the jury, the case is in your hands."
This was a very short summing up, but the bar quite understood it to mean that the guilt13 of the prisoner was so clear and transparent37, that it was not at all necessary for the judge to go elaborately through the evidence, but merely as a matter of form, leave the facts in evidence to the jury.
And now came that awful moment to Todd, when the question of guilty or not guilty hovered38 on the lips of those twelve men, who were to decide upon his fate. The jury laid their heads together for a few moments only, and then they turned round and faced the court again.
"Gentleman of the jury. How say you? Do you find the prisoner at the bar guilty or not guilty of the crime laid to his charge in the indictment40?"
"Guilty!" said the foreman.
"Officers, repress this unmanly exultation42 that a fellow-creature is found guilty of a dreadful crime. I beg that any person so offending may be brought before me at once."
The officer could not or would not find anybody so offending, but the judge's words had the effect of calming the tumult43 at all events, and then all eyes were turned upon Sweeney Todd, who stood in the dock glaring at the foreman of the jury, as though he had only imperfectly heard what he had said, or if he had perfectly44 heard him, doubting the evidence of his own senses, as regarded the real, full, and true meaning of the dreadful word "guilty!"
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
vaults
|
|
| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
vault
|
|
| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
prosecution
|
|
| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
extraneous
|
|
| adj.体外的；外来的；外部的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
chaff
|
|
| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
virtuous
|
|
| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
pious
|
|
| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
outrage
|
|
| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sophistry
|
|
| n.诡辩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
hitched
|
|
| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
wig
|
|
| n.假发 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
countenance
|
|
| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
premises
|
|
| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
tripe
|
|
| n.废话，肚子, 内脏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
benevolence
|
|
| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
piety
|
|
| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
participation
|
|
| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
acquit
|
|
| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
innocence
|
|
| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
waive
|
|
| vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
lucid
|
|
| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
wilful
|
|
| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
proceeding
|
|
| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
confided
|
|
| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
contiguity
|
|
| n.邻近，接壤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
hovered
|
|
| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
arraigns
|
|
| v.告发( arraign的第三人称单数 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
40
indictment
|
|
| n.起诉；诉状 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
auditors
|
|
| n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
exultation
|
|
| n.狂喜，得意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
tumult
|
|
| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |