A ride of two hundred and odd miles in severe weather, is one of the best softeners of a hard bed that ingenuity1 can devise. Perhaps it is even a sweetener of dreams, for those which hovered2 over the rough couch of Nicholas, and whispered their airy nothings in his ear, were of an agreeable and happy kind. He was making his fortune very fast indeed, when the faint glimmer3 of an expiring candle shone before his eyes, and a voice he had no difficulty in recognising as part and parcel of Mr. Squeers, admonished4 him that it was time to rise.
‘Past seven, Nickleby,’ said Mr. Squeers.
‘Has morning come already?’ asked Nicholas, sitting up in bed.
‘Ah! that has it,’ replied Squeers, ‘and ready iced too. Now, Nickleby, come; tumble up, will you?’
Nicholas needed no further admonition, but ‘tumbled up’ at once, and proceeded to dress himself by the light of the taper5, which Mr. Squeers carried in his hand.
‘Here’s a pretty go,’ said that gentleman; ‘the pump’s froze.’
‘Indeed!’ said Nicholas, not much interested in the intelligence.
‘Yes,’ replied Squeers. ‘You can’t wash yourself this morning.’
‘Not wash myself!’ exclaimed Nicholas.
‘No, not a bit of it,’ rejoined Squeers tartly6. ‘So you must be content with giving yourself a dry polish till we break the ice in the well, and can get a bucketful out for the boys. Don’t stand staring at me, but do look sharp, will you?’
Offering no further observation, Nicholas huddled7 on his clothes. Squeers, meanwhile, opened the shutters8 and blew the candle out; when the voice of his amiable9 consort10 was heard in the passage, demanding admittance.
‘Come in, my love,’ said Squeers.
Mrs. Squeers came in, still habited in the primitive11 night-jacket which had displayed the symmetry of her figure on the previous night, and further ornamented12 with a beaver13 bonnet14 of some antiquity15, which she wore, with much ease and lightness, on the top of the nightcap before mentioned.
‘Drat the things,’ said the lady, opening the cupboard; ‘I can’t find the school spoon anywhere.’
‘No consequence, why how you talk!’ retorted Mrs. Squeers sharply; ‘isn’t it brimstone morning?’
‘I forgot, my dear,’ rejoined Squeers; ‘yes, it certainly is. We purify the boys’ bloods now and then, Nickleby.’
‘Purify fiddlesticks’ ends,’ said his lady. ‘Don’t think, young man, that we go to the expense of flower of brimstone and molasses, just to purify them; because if you think we carry on the business in that way, you’ll find yourself mistaken, and so I tell you plainly.’
‘My dear,’ said Squeers frowning. ‘Hem!’
‘Oh! nonsense,’ rejoined Mrs. Squeers. ‘If the young man comes to be a teacher here, let him understand, at once, that we don’t want any foolery about the boys. They have the brimstone and treacle17, partly because if they hadn’t something or other in the way of medicine they’d be always ailing18 and giving a world of trouble, and partly because it spoils their appetites and comes cheaper than breakfast and dinner. So, it does them good and us good at the same time, and that’s fair enough I’m sure.’
Having given this explanation, Mrs. Squeers put her head into the closet and instituted a stricter search after the spoon, in which Mr. Squeers assisted. A few words passed between them while they were thus engaged, but as their voices were partially19 stifled20 by the cupboard, all that Nicholas could distinguish was, that Mr. Squeers said what Mrs. Squeers had said, was injudicious, and that Mrs. Squeers said what Mr. Squeers said, was ‘stuff.’
A vast deal of searching and rummaging21 ensued, and it proving fruitless, Smike was called in, and pushed by Mrs. Squeers, and boxed by Mr. Squeers; which course of treatment brightening his intellects, enabled him to suggest that possibly Mrs. Squeers might have the spoon in her pocket, as indeed turned out to be the case. As Mrs. Squeers had previously22 protested, however, that she was quite certain she had not got it, Smike received another box on the ear for presuming to contradict his mistress, together with a promise of a sound thrashing if he were not more respectful in future; so that he took nothing very advantageous23 by his motion.
‘A most invaluable24 woman, that, Nickleby,’ said Squeers when his consort had hurried away, pushing the drudge25 before her.
‘Indeed, sir!’ observed Nicholas.
‘I don’t know her equal,’ said Squeers; ‘I do not know her equal. That woman, Nickleby, is always the same—always the same bustling26, lively, active, saving creetur that you see her now.’
Nicholas sighed involuntarily at the thought of the agreeable domestic prospect27 thus opened to him; but Squeers was, fortunately, too much occupied with his own reflections to perceive it.
‘It’s my way to say, when I am up in London,’ continued Squeers, ‘that to them boys she is a mother. But she is more than a mother to them; ten times more. She does things for them boys, Nickleby, that I don’t believe half the mothers going, would do for their own sons.’
‘I should think they would not, sir,’ answered Nicholas.
Now, the fact was, that both Mr. and Mrs. Squeers viewed the boys in the light of their proper and natural enemies; or, in other words, they held and considered that their business and profession was to get as much from every boy as could by possibility be screwed out of him. On this point they were both agreed, and behaved in unison28 accordingly. The only difference between them was, that Mrs. Squeers waged war against the enemy openly and fearlessly, and that Squeers covered his rascality29, even at home, with a spice of his habitual30 deceit; as if he really had a notion of someday or other being able to take himself in, and persuade his own mind that he was a very good fellow.
‘But come,’ said Squeers, interrupting the progress of some thoughts to this effect in the mind of his usher31, ‘let’s go to the schoolroom; and lend me a hand with my school-coat, will you?’
Nicholas assisted his master to put on an old fustian32 shooting-jacket, which he took down from a peg33 in the passage; and Squeers, arming himself with his cane34, led the way across a yard, to a door in the rear of the house.
‘There,’ said the schoolmaster as they stepped in together; ‘this is our shop, Nickleby!’
It was such a crowded scene, and there were so many objects to attract attention, that, at first, Nicholas stared about him, really without seeing anything at all. By degrees, however, the place resolved itself into a bare and dirty room, with a couple of windows, whereof a tenth part might be of glass, the remainder being stopped up with old copy-books and paper. There were a couple of long old rickety desks, cut and notched36, and inked, and damaged, in every possible way; two or three forms; a detached desk for Squeers; and another for his assistant. The ceiling was supported, like that of a barn, by cross-beams and rafters; and the walls were so stained and discoloured, that it was impossible to tell whether they had ever been touched with paint or whitewash37.
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But the pupils—the young noblemen! How the last faint traces of hope, the remotest glimmering38 of any good to be derived39 from his efforts in this den40, faded from the mind of Nicholas as he looked in dismay around! Pale and haggard faces, lank41 and bony figures, children with the countenances42 of old men, deformities with irons upon their limbs, boys of stunted43 growth, and others whose long meagre legs would hardly bear their stooping bodies, all crowded on the view together; there were the bleared eye, the hare-lip, the crooked44 foot, and every ugliness or distortion that told of unnatural45 aversion conceived by parents for their offspring, or of young lives which, from the earliest dawn of infancy46, had been one horrible endurance of cruelty and neglect. There were little faces which should have been handsome, darkened with the scowl47 of sullen48, dogged suffering; there was childhood with the light of its eye quenched49, its beauty gone, and its helplessness alone remaining; there were vicious-faced boys, brooding, with leaden eyes, like malefactors in a jail; and there were young creatures on whom the sins of their frail50 parents had descended51, weeping even for the mercenary nurses they had known, and lonesome even in their loneliness. With every kindly52 sympathy and affection blasted in its birth, with every young and healthy feeling flogged and starved down, with every revengeful passion that can fester in swollen53 hearts, eating its evil way to their core in silence, what an incipient54 Hell was breeding here!
And yet this scene, painful as it was, had its grotesque55 features, which, in a less interested observer than Nicholas, might have provoked a smile. Mrs. Squeers stood at one of the desks, presiding over an immense basin of brimstone and treacle, of which delicious compound she administered a large instalment to each boy in succession: using for the purpose a common wooden spoon, which might have been originally manufactured for some gigantic top, and which widened every young gentleman’s mouth considerably56: they being all obliged, under heavy corporal penalties, to take in the whole of the bowl at a gasp57. In another corner, huddled together for companionship, were the little boys who had arrived on the preceding night, three of them in very large leather breeches, and two in old trousers, a something tighter fit than drawers are usually worn; at no great distance from these was seated the juvenile58 son and heir of Mr Squeers—a striking likeness59 of his father—kicking, with great vigour60, under the hands of Smike, who was fitting upon him a pair of new boots that bore a most suspicious resemblance to those which the least of the little boys had worn on the journey down—as the little boy himself seemed to think, for he was regarding the appropriation61 with a look of most rueful amazement62. Besides these, there was a long row of boys waiting, with countenances of no pleasant anticipation63, to be treacled; and another file, who had just escaped from the infliction64, making a variety of wry65 mouths indicative of anything but satisfaction. The whole were attired66 in such motley, ill-assorted, extraordinary garments, as would have been irresistibly67 ridiculous, but for the foul68 appearance of dirt, disorder69, and disease, with which they were associated.
‘Now,’ said Squeers, giving the desk a great rap with his cane, which made half the little boys nearly jump out of their boots, ‘is that physicking over?’
‘Just over,’ said Mrs. Squeers, choking the last boy in her hurry, and tapping the crown of his head with the wooden spoon to restore him. ‘Here, you Smike; take away now. Look sharp!’
Smike shuffled70 out with the basin, and Mrs. Squeers having called up a little boy with a curly head, and wiped her hands upon it, hurried out after him into a species of wash-house, where there was a small fire and a large kettle, together with a number of little wooden bowls which were arranged upon a board.
Into these bowls, Mrs. Squeers, assisted by the hungry servant, poured a brown composition, which looked like diluted71 pincushions without the covers, and was called porridge. A minute wedge of brown bread was inserted in each bowl, and when they had eaten their porridge by means of the bread, the boys ate the bread itself, and had finished their breakfast; whereupon Mr. Squeers said, in a solemn voice, ‘For what we have received, may the Lord make us truly thankful!’—and went away to his own.
Nicholas distended72 his stomach with a bowl of porridge, for much the same reason which induces some savages73 to swallow earth—lest they should be inconveniently74 hungry when there is nothing to eat. Having further disposed of a slice of bread and butter, allotted75 to him in virtue76 of his office, he sat himself down, to wait for school-time.
He could not but observe how silent and sad the boys all seemed to be. There was none of the noise and clamour of a schoolroom; none of its boisterous77 play, or hearty78 mirth. The children sat crouching79 and shivering together, and seemed to lack the spirit to move about. The only pupil who evinced the slightest tendency towards locomotion80 or playfulness was Master Squeers, and as his chief amusement was to tread upon the other boys’ toes in his new boots, his flow of spirits was rather disagreeable than otherwise.
After some half-hour’s delay, Mr. Squeers reappeared, and the boys took their places and their books, of which latter commodity the average might be about one to eight learners. A few minutes having elapsed, during which Mr. Squeers looked very profound, as if he had a perfect apprehension81 of what was inside all the books, and could say every word of their contents by heart if he only chose to take the trouble, that gentleman called up the first class.
Obedient to this summons there ranged themselves in front of the schoolmaster’s desk, half-a-dozen scarecrows, out at knees and elbows, one of whom placed a torn and filthy82 book beneath his learned eye.
‘This is the first class in English spelling and philosophy, Nickleby,’ said Squeers, beckoning83 Nicholas to stand beside him. ‘We’ll get up a Latin one, and hand that over to you. Now, then, where’s the first boy?’
‘Please, sir, he’s cleaning the back-parlour window,’ said the temporary head of the philosophical84 class.
‘So he is, to be sure,’ rejoined Squeers. ‘We go upon the practical mode of teaching, Nickleby; the regular education system. C-l-e-a-n, clean, verb active, to make bright, to scour85. W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, winder, a casement86. When the boy knows this out of book, he goes and does it. It’s just the same principle as the use of the globes. Where’s the second boy?’
‘Please, sir, he’s weeding the garden,’ replied a small voice.
‘To be sure,’ said Squeers, by no means disconcerted. ‘So he is. B-o-t, bot, t-i-n, tin, bottin, n-e-y, ney, bottinney, noun substantive87, a knowledge of plants. When he has learned that bottinney means a knowledge of plants, he goes and knows ‘em. That’s our system, Nickleby: what do you think of it?’
‘It’s very useful one, at any rate,’ answered Nicholas.
‘I believe you,’ rejoined Squeers, not remarking the emphasis of his usher. ‘Third boy, what’s horse?’
‘A beast, sir,’ replied the boy.
‘So it is,’ said Squeers. ‘Ain’t it, Nickleby?’
‘I believe there is no doubt of that, sir,’ answered Nicholas.
‘Of course there isn’t,’ said Squeers. ‘A horse is a quadruped, and quadruped’s Latin for beast, as everybody that’s gone through the grammar knows, or else where’s the use of having grammars at all?’
‘Where, indeed!’ said Nicholas abstractedly.
‘As you’re perfect in that,’ resumed Squeers, turning to the boy, ‘go and look after my horse, and rub him down well, or I’ll rub you down. The rest of the class go and draw water up, till somebody tells you to leave off, for it’s washing-day tomorrow, and they want the coppers88 filled.’
So saying, he dismissed the first class to their experiments in practical philosophy, and eyed Nicholas with a look, half cunning and half doubtful, as if he were not altogether certain what he might think of him by this time.
‘That’s the way we do it, Nickleby,’ he said, after a pause.
Nicholas shrugged89 his shoulders in a manner that was scarcely perceptible, and said he saw it was.
‘And a very good way it is, too,’ said Squeers. ‘Now, just take them fourteen little boys and hear them some reading, because, you know, you must begin to be useful. Idling about here won’t do.’
Mr. Squeers said this, as if it had suddenly occurred to him, either that he must not say too much to his assistant, or that his assistant did not say enough to him in praise of the establishment. The children were arranged in a semicircle round the new master, and he was soon listening to their dull, drawling, hesitating recital90 of those stories of engrossing91 interest which are to be found in the more antiquated92 spelling-books.
In this exciting occupation, the morning lagged heavily on. At one o’clock, the boys, having previously had their appetites thoroughly93 taken away by stir-about and potatoes, sat down in the kitchen to some hard salt beef, of which Nicholas was graciously permitted to take his portion to his own solitary94 desk, to eat it there in peace. After this, there was another hour of crouching in the schoolroom and shivering with cold, and then school began again.
It was Mr. Squeer’s custom to call the boys together, and make a sort of report, after every half-yearly visit to the metropolis95, regarding the relations and friends he had seen, the news he had heard, the letters he had brought down, the bills which had been paid, the accounts which had been left unpaid96, and so forth97. This solemn proceeding98 always took place in the afternoon of the day succeeding his return; perhaps, because the boys acquired strength of mind from the suspense99 of the morning, or, possibly, because Mr. Squeers himself acquired greater sternness and inflexibility100 from certain warm potations in which he was wont101 to indulge after his early dinner. Be this as it may, the boys were recalled from house-window, garden, stable, and cow-yard, and the school were assembled in full conclave102, when Mr. Squeers, with a small bundle of papers in his hand, and Mrs. S. following with a pair of canes103, entered the room and proclaimed silence.
‘Let any boy speak a word without leave,’ said Mr. Squeers mildly, ‘and I’ll take the skin off his back.’
This special proclamation had the desired effect, and a deathlike silence immediately prevailed, in the midst of which Mr. Squeers went on to say:
‘Boys, I’ve been to London, and have returned to my family and you, as strong and well as ever.’
According to half-yearly custom, the boys gave three feeble cheers at this refreshing104 intelligence. Such cheers! Sights of extra strength with the chill on.
‘I have seen the parents of some boys,’ continued Squeers, turning over his papers, ‘and they’re so glad to hear how their sons are getting on, that there’s no prospect at all of their going away, which of course is a very pleasant thing to reflect upon, for all parties.’
Two or three hands went to two or three eyes when Squeers said this, but the greater part of the young gentlemen having no particular parents to speak of, were wholly uninterested in the thing one way or other.
‘I have had disappointments to contend against,’ said Squeers, looking very grim; ‘Bolder’s father was two pound ten short. Where is Bolder?’
‘Here he is, please sir,’ rejoined twenty officious voices. Boys are very like men to be sure.
‘Come here, Bolder,’ said Squeers.
An unhealthy-looking boy, with warts105 all over his hands, stepped from his place to the master’s desk, and raised his eyes imploringly106 to Squeers’s face; his own, quite white from the rapid beating of his heart.
‘Bolder,’ said Squeers, speaking very slowly, for he was considering, as the saying goes, where to have him. ‘Bolder, if you father thinks that because—why, what’s this, sir?’
As Squeers spoke107, he caught up the boy’s hand by the cuff108 of his jacket, and surveyed it with an edifying109 aspect of horror and disgust.
‘What do you call this, sir?’ demanded the schoolmaster, administering a cut with the cane to expedite the reply.
‘I can’t help it, indeed, sir,’ rejoined the boy, crying. ‘They will come; it’s the dirty work I think, sir—at least I don’t know what it is, sir, but it’s not my fault.’
‘Bolder,’ said Squeers, tucking up his wristbands, and moistening the palm of his right hand to get a good grip of the cane, ‘you’re an incorrigible110 young scoundrel, and as the last thrashing did you no good, we must see what another will do towards beating it out of you.’
With this, and wholly disregarding a piteous cry for mercy, Mr. Squeers fell upon the boy and caned111 him soundly: not leaving off, indeed, until his arm was tired out.
‘There,’ said Squeers, when he had quite done; ‘rub away as hard as you like, you won’t rub that off in a hurry. Oh! you won’t hold that noise, won’t you? Put him out, Smike.’
The drudge knew better from long experience, than to hesitate about obeying, so he bundled the victim out by a side-door, and Mr. Squeers perched himself again on his own stool, supported by Mrs. Squeers, who occupied another at his side.
‘Now let us see,’ said Squeers. ‘A letter for Cobbey. Stand up, Cobbey.’
Another boy stood up, and eyed the letter very hard while Squeers made a mental abstract of the same.
‘Oh!’ said Squeers: ‘Cobbey’s grandmother is dead, and his uncle John has took to drinking, which is all the news his sister sends, except eighteenpence, which will just pay for that broken square of glass. Mrs Squeers, my dear, will you take the money?’
The worthy112 lady pocketed the eighteenpence with a most business-like air, and Squeers passed on to the next boy, as coolly as possible.
‘Graymarsh,’ said Squeers, ‘he’s the next. Stand up, Graymarsh.’
Another boy stood up, and the schoolmaster looked over the letter as before.
‘Graymarsh’s maternal113 aunt,’ said Squeers, when he had possessed114 himself of the contents, ‘is very glad to hear he’s so well and happy, and sends her respectful compliments to Mrs. Squeers, and thinks she must be an angel. She likewise thinks Mr. Squeers is too good for this world; but hopes he may long be spared to carry on the business. Would have sent the two pair of stockings as desired, but is short of money, so forwards a tract35 instead, and hopes Graymarsh will put his trust in Providence115. Hopes, above all, that he will study in everything to please Mr. and Mrs Squeers, and look upon them as his only friends; and that he will love Master Squeers; and not object to sleeping five in a bed, which no Christian116 should. Ah!’ said Squeers, folding it up, ‘a delightful117 letter. Very affecting indeed.’
It was affecting in one sense, for Graymarsh’s maternal aunt was strongly supposed, by her more intimate friends, to be no other than his maternal parent; Squeers, however, without alluding118 to this part of the story (which would have sounded immoral119 before boys), proceeded with the business by calling out ‘Mobbs,’ whereupon another boy rose, and Graymarsh resumed his seat.
‘Mobbs’s step-mother,’ said Squeers, ‘took to her bed on hearing that he wouldn’t eat fat, and has been very ill ever since. She wishes to know, by an early post, where he expects to go to, if he quarrels with his vittles; and with what feelings he could turn up his nose at the cow’s-liver broth120, after his good master had asked a blessing121 on it. This was told her in the London newspapers—not by Mr. Squeers, for he is too kind and too good to set anybody against anybody—and it has vexed122 her so much, Mobbs can’t think. She is sorry to find he is discontented, which is sinful and horrid123, and hopes Mr. Squeers will flog him into a happier state of mind; with which view, she has also stopped his halfpenny a week pocket-money, and given a double-bladed knife with a corkscrew in it to the Missionaries124, which she had bought on purpose for him.’
‘A sulky state of feeling,’ said Squeers, after a terrible pause, during which he had moistened the palm of his right hand again, ‘won’t do. Cheerfulness and contentment must be kept up. Mobbs, come to me!’
Mobbs moved slowly towards the desk, rubbing his eyes in anticipation of good cause for doing so; and he soon afterwards retired125 by the side-door, with as good cause as a boy need have.
Mr. Squeers then proceeded to open a miscellaneous collection of letters; some enclosing money, which Mrs. Squeers ‘took care of;’ and others referring to small articles of apparel, as caps and so forth, all of which the same lady stated to be too large, or too small, and calculated for nobody but young Squeers, who would appear indeed to have had most accommodating limbs, since everything that came into the school fitted him to a nicety. His head, in particular, must have been singularly elastic126, for hats and caps of all dimensions were alike to him.
This business dispatched, a few slovenly127 lessons were performed, and Squeers retired to his fireside, leaving Nicholas to take care of the boys in the school-room, which was very cold, and where a meal of bread and cheese was served out shortly after dark.
There was a small stove at that corner of the room which was nearest to the master’s desk, and by it Nicholas sat down, so depressed128 and self-degraded by the consciousness of his position, that if death could have come upon him at that time, he would have been almost happy to meet it. The cruelty of which he had been an unwilling129 witness, the coarse and ruffianly behaviour of Squeers even in his best moods, the filthy place, the sights and sounds about him, all contributed to this state of feeling; but when he recollected130 that, being there as an assistant, he actually seemed—no matter what unhappy train of circumstances had brought him to that pass—to be the aider and abettor of a system which filled him with honest disgust and indignation, he loathed131 himself, and felt, for the moment, as though the mere132 consciousness of his present situation must, through all time to come, prevent his raising his head again.
But, for the present, his resolve was taken, and the resolution he had formed on the preceding night remained undisturbed. He had written to his mother and sister, announcing the safe conclusion of his journey, and saying as little about Dotheboys Hall, and saying that little as cheerfully, as he possibly could. He hoped that by remaining where he was, he might do some good, even there; at all events, others depended too much on his uncle’s favour, to admit of his awakening133 his wrath134 just then.
One reflection disturbed him far more than any selfish considerations arising out of his own position. This was the probable destination of his sister Kate. His uncle had deceived him, and might he not consign135 her to some miserable136 place where her youth and beauty would prove a far greater curse than ugliness and decrepitude137? To a caged man, bound hand and foot, this was a terrible idea—but no, he thought, his mother was by; there was the portrait-painter, too—simple enough, but still living in the world, and of it. He was willing to believe that Ralph Nickleby had conceived a personal dislike to himself. Having pretty good reason, by this time, to reciprocate138 it, he had no great difficulty in arriving at this conclusion, and tried to persuade himself that the feeling extended no farther than between them.
As he was absorbed in these meditations139, he all at once encountered the upturned face of Smike, who was on his knees before the stove, picking a few stray cinders140 from the hearth141 and planting them on the fire. He had paused to steal a look at Nicholas, and when he saw that he was observed, shrunk back, as if expecting a blow.
‘You need not fear me,’ said Nicholas kindly. ‘Are you cold?’
‘N-n-o.’
‘You are shivering.’
‘I am not cold,’ replied Smike quickly. ‘I am used to it.’
There was such an obvious fear of giving offence in his manner, and he was such a timid, broken-spirited creature, that Nicholas could not help exclaiming, ‘Poor fellow!’
If he had struck the drudge, he would have slunk away without a word. But, now, he burst into tears.
‘Oh dear, oh dear!’ he cried, covering his face with his cracked and horny hands. ‘My heart will break. It will, it will.’
‘Hush!’ said Nicholas, laying his hand upon his shoulder. ‘Be a man; you are nearly one by years, God help you.’
‘By years!’ cried Smike. ‘Oh dear, dear, how many of them! How many of them since I was a little child, younger than any that are here now! Where are they all!’
‘Whom do you speak of?’ inquired Nicholas, wishing to rouse the poor half-witted creature to reason. ‘Tell me.’
‘My friends,’ he replied, ‘myself—my—oh! what sufferings mine have been!’
‘There is always hope,’ said Nicholas; he knew not what to say.
‘No,’ rejoined the other, ‘no; none for me. Do you remember the boy that died here?’
‘I was not here, you know,’ said Nicholas gently; ‘but what of him?’
‘Why,’ replied the youth, drawing closer to his questioner’s side, ‘I was with him at night, and when it was all silent he cried no more for friends he wished to come and sit with him, but began to see faces round his bed that came from home; he said they smiled, and talked to him; and he died at last lifting his head to kiss them. Do you hear?’
‘Yes, yes,’ rejoined Nicholas.
‘What faces will smile on me when I die!’ cried his companion, shivering. ‘Who will talk to me in those long nights! They cannot come from home; they would frighten me, if they did, for I don’t know what it is, and shouldn’t know them. Pain and fear, pain and fear for me, alive or dead. No hope, no hope!’
The bell rang to bed: and the boy, subsiding142 at the sound into his usual listless state, crept away as if anxious to avoid notice. It was with a heavy heart that Nicholas soon afterwards—no, not retired; there was no retirement143 there—followed—to his dirty and crowded dormitory.
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1
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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2
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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4
admonished
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| v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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14
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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15
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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16
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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17
treacle
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| n.糖蜜 | |
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18
ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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19
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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20
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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21
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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22
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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23
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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24
invaluable
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| adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的 | |
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25
drudge
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| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 | |
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26
bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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27
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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28
unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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29
rascality
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| 流氓性，流氓集团 | |
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30
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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31
usher
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| n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员 | |
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32
fustian
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| n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布 | |
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33
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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34
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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35
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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36
notched
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| a.有凹口的，有缺口的 | |
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37
whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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38
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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39
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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40
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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41
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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42
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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43
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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44
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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45
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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46
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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47
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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48
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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49
quenched
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| 解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却 | |
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50
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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51
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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52
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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53
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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54
incipient
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| adj.起初的，发端的，初期的 | |
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55
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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56
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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57
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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58
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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59
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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60
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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61
appropriation
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| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
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62
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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63
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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64
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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65
wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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66
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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68
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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69
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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70
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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71
diluted
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| 无力的，冲淡的 | |
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72
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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74
inconveniently
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| ad.不方便地 | |
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75
allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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76
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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77
boisterous
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| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
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78
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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79
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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80
locomotion
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| n.运动，移动 | |
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81
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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82
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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83
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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84
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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85
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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86
casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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87
substantive
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| adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体 | |
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88
coppers
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| 铜( copper的名词复数 )； 铜币 | |
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89
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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90
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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91
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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92
antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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93
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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94
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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95
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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96
unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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97
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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98
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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99
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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100
inflexibility
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| n.不屈性，顽固，不变性；不可弯曲；非挠性；刚性 | |
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101
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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102
conclave
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| n.秘密会议，红衣主教团 | |
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103
canes
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| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
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104
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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105
warts
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| n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点 | |
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106
imploringly
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| adv. 恳求地, 哀求地 | |
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107
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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108
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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109
edifying
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| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
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110
incorrigible
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| adj.难以纠正的，屡教不改的 | |
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111
caned
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| vt.用苔杖打（cane的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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112
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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113
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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114
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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115
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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116
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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117
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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118
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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119
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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120
broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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121
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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122
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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123
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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124
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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125
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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126
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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127
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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128
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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129
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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130
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
loathed
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| v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的过去式和过去分词 )；极不喜欢 | |
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132
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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133
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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134
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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135
consign
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| vt.寄售（货品），托运，交托，委托 | |
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136
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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137
decrepitude
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| n.衰老；破旧 | |
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138
reciprocate
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| v.往复运动；互换；回报，酬答 | |
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139
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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140
cinders
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| n.煤渣( cinder的名词复数 )；炭渣；煤渣路；煤渣跑道 | |
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141
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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142
subsiding
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的现在分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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143
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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