London was fifteen hundred years old, and was a great town—for that day. It had a hundred thousand inhabitants—some think double as many. The streets were very narrow, and crooked1, and dirty, especially in the part where Tom Canty lived, which was not far from London Bridge. The houses were of wood, with the second story projecting over the first, and the third sticking its elbows out beyond the second. The higher the houses grew, the broader they grew. They were skeletons of strong criss-cross beams, with solid material between, coated with plaster. The beams were painted red or blue or black, according to the owner’s taste, and this gave the houses a very picturesque2 look. The windows were small, glazed3 with little diamond-shaped panes4, and they opened outward, on hinges, like doors.
The house which Tom’s father lived in was up a foul5 little pocket called Offal Court, out of Pudding Lane. It was small, decayed, and rickety, but it was packed full of wretchedly poor families. Canty’s tribe occupied a room on the third floor. The mother and father had a sort of bedstead in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters, Bet and Nan, were not restricted—they had all the floor to themselves, and might sleep where they chose. There were the remains6 of a blanket or two, and some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could not rightly be called beds, for they were not organised; they were kicked into a general pile, mornings, and selections made from the mass at night, for service.
Bet and Nan were fifteen years old—twins. They were good-hearted girls, unclean, clothed in rags, and profoundly ignorant. Their mother was like them. But the father and the grandmother were a couple of fiends. They got drunk whenever they could; then they fought each other or anybody else who came in the way; they cursed and swore always, drunk or sober; John Canty was a thief, and his mother a beggar. They made beggars of the children, but failed to make thieves of them. Among, but not of, the dreadful rabble7 that inhabited the house, was a good old priest whom the King had turned out of house and home with a pension of a few farthings, and he used to get the children aside and teach them right ways secretly. Father Andrew also taught Tom a little Latin, and how to read and write; and would have done the same with the girls, but they were afraid of the jeers8 of their friends, who could not have endured such a queer accomplishment9 in them.
All Offal Court was just such another hive as Canty’s house. Drunkenness, riot and brawling10 were the order, there, every night and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard time of it, but did not know it. It was the sort of time that all the Offal Court boys had, therefore he supposed it was the correct and comfortable thing. When he came home empty-handed at night, he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother would slip to him stealthily with any miserable11 scrap12 or crust she had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and soundly beaten for it by her husband.
No, Tom’s life went along well enough, especially in summer. He only begged just enough to save himself, for the laws against mendicancy13 were stringent14, and the penalties heavy; so he put in a good deal of his time listening to good Father Andrew’s charming old tales and legends about giants and fairies, dwarfs15 and genii, and enchanted16 castles, and gorgeous kings and princes. His head grew to be full of these wonderful things, and many a night as he lay in the dark on his scant17 and offensive straw, tired, hungry, and smarting from a thrashing, he unleashed18 his imagination and soon forgot his aches and pains in delicious picturings to himself of the charmed life of a petted prince in a regal palace. One desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a real prince, with his own eyes. He spoke19 of it once to some of his Offal Court comrades; but they jeered20 him and scoffed21 him so unmercifully that he was glad to keep his dream to himself after that.
He often read the priest’s old books and got him to explain and enlarge upon them. His dreamings and readings worked certain changes in him, by- and-by. His dream-people were so fine that he grew to lament22 his shabby clothing and his dirt, and to wish to be clean and better clad. He went on playing in the mud just the same, and enjoying it, too; but, instead of splashing around in the Thames solely23 for the fun of it, he began to find an added value in it because of the washings and cleansings it afforded.
Tom could always find something going on around the Maypole in Cheapside, and at the fairs; and now and then he and the rest of London had a chance to see a military parade when some famous unfortunate was carried prisoner to the Tower, by land or boat. One summer’s day he saw poor Anne Askew24 and three men burned at the stake in Smithfield, and heard an ex-Bishop preach a sermon to them which did not interest him. Yes, Tom’s life was varied25 and pleasant enough, on the whole.
By-and-by Tom’s reading and dreaming about princely life wrought26 such a strong effect upon him that he began to act the prince, unconsciously. His speech and manners became curiously27 ceremonious and courtly, to the vast admiration28 and amusement of his intimates. But Tom’s influence among these young people began to grow now, day by day; and in time he came to be looked up to, by them, with a sort of wondering awe29, as a superior being. He seemed to know so much! and he could do and say such marvellous things! and withal, he was so deep and wise! Tom’s remarks, and Tom’s performances, were reported by the boys to their elders; and these, also, presently began to discuss Tom Canty, and to regard him as a most gifted and extraordinary creature. Full-grown people brought their perplexities to Tom for solution, and were often astonished at the wit and wisdom of his decisions. In fact he was become a hero to all who knew him except his own family—these, only, saw nothing in him.
Privately30, after a while, Tom organised a royal court! He was the prince; his special comrades were guards, chamberlains, equerries, lords and ladies in waiting, and the royal family. Daily the mock prince was received with elaborate ceremonials borrowed by Tom from his romantic readings; daily the great affairs of the mimic31 kingdom were discussed in the royal council, and daily his mimic highness issued decrees to his imaginary armies, navies, and viceroyalties.
After which, he would go forth32 in his rags and beg a few farthings, eat his poor crust, take his customary cuffs33 and abuse, and then stretch himself upon his handful of foul straw, and resume his empty grandeurs in his dreams.
And still his desire to look just once upon a real prince, in the flesh, grew upon him, day by day, and week by week, until at last it absorbed all other desires, and became the one passion of his life.
One January day, on his usual begging tour, he tramped despondently34 up and down the region round about Mincing35 Lane and Little East Cheap, hour after hour, bare-footed and cold, looking in at cook-shop windows and longing36 for the dreadful pork-pies and other deadly inventions displayed there—for to him these were dainties fit for the angels; that is, judging by the smell, they were—for it had never been his good luck to own and eat one. There was a cold drizzle37 of rain; the atmosphere was murky38; it was a melancholy39 day. At night Tom reached home so wet and tired and hungry that it was not possible for his father and grandmother to observe his forlorn condition and not be moved—after their fashion; wherefore they gave him a brisk cuffing40 at once and sent him to bed. For a long time his pain and hunger, and the swearing and fighting going on in the building, kept him awake; but at last his thoughts drifted away to far, romantic lands, and he fell asleep in the company of jewelled and gilded41 princelings who live in vast palaces, and had servants salaaming42 before them or flying to execute their orders. And then, as usual, he dreamed that he was a princeling himself.
All night long the glories of his royal estate shone upon him; he moved among great lords and ladies, in a blaze of light, breathing perfumes, drinking in delicious music, and answering the reverent43 obeisances44 of the glittering throng45 as it parted to make way for him, with here a smile, and there a nod of his princely head.
And when he awoke in the morning and looked upon the wretchedness about him, his dream had had its usual effect—it had intensified46 the sordidness47 of his surroundings a thousandfold. Then came bitterness, and heart-break, and tears.
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收听单词发音
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1
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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2
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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3
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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4
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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5
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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6
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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7
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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8
jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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10
brawling
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| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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11
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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12
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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13
mendicancy
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| n.乞丐，托钵，行乞修道士 | |
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14
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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15
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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16
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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17
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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18
unleashed
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| v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
spoke
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| 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 | |
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20
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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23
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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24
askew
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| adv.斜地；adj.歪斜的 | |
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25
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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26
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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27
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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28
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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29
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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30
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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31
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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32
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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33
cuffs
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| n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打，拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
despondently
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| adv.沮丧地，意志消沉地 | |
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35
mincing
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| adj.矫饰的；v.切碎；切碎 | |
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36
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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37
drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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38
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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39
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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40
cuffing
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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41
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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42
salaaming
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| 行额手礼( salaam的现在分词 ) | |
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43
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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44
obeisances
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| n.敬礼，行礼( obeisance的名词复数 )；敬意 | |
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45
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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46
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
sordidness
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| n.肮脏；污秽；卑鄙；可耻 | |
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