In the month of June, thirty-seven years ago, I bought one of those pencil-cases from a boy whom I shall call Hawker, and who was in my form. Is he dead? Is he a millionnaire? Is he a bankrupt now? He was an immense screw at school, and I believe to this day that the value of the thing for which I owed and eventually paid three-and-sixpence, was in reality not one-and-nine.
I certainly enjoyed the case at first a good deal, and amused myself with twiddling round the movable calendar. But this pleasure wore off. The jewel, as I said, was not paid for, and Hawker, a large and violent boy, was exceedingly unpleasant as a creditor15. His constant remark was, “When are you going to pay me that three-and-sixpence? What sneaks16 your relations must be? They come to see you. You go out to them on Saturdays and Sundays, and they never give you anything! Don’t tell ME, you little humbug17!” and so forth. The truth is that my relations were respectable; but my parents were making a tour in Scotland; and my friends in London, whom I used to go and see, were most kind to me, certainly, but somehow never tipped me. That term, of May to August, 1823, passed in agonies then, in consequence of my debt to Hawker. What was the pleasure of a calendar pencil-case in comparison with the doubt and torture of mind occasioned by the sense of the debt, and the constant reproach of that fellow’s scowling18 eyes and gloomy, coarse reminders19? How was I to pay off such a debt out of sixpence a week? ludicrous! Why did not some one come to see me, and tip me? Ah! my dear sir, if you have any little friends at school, go and see them, and do the natural thing by them. You won’t miss the sovereign. You don’t know what a blessing21 it will be to them. Don’t fancy they are too old — try ’em. And they will remember you, and bless you in future days; and their gratitude22 shall accompany your dreary23 after life; and they shall meet you kindly24 when thanks for kindness are scant25. O mercy! shall I ever forget that sovereign you gave me, Captain Bob? or the agonies of being in debt to Hawker? In that very term, a relation of mine was going to India. I actually was fetched from school in order to take leave of him. I am afraid I told Hawker of this circumstance. I own I speculated upon my friend’s giving me a pound. A pound? Pooh! A relation going to India, and deeply affected26 at parting from his darling kinsman27, might give five pounds to the dear fellow! . . . There was Hawker when I came back — of course there he was. As he looked in my scared face, his turned livid with rage. He muttered curses, terrible from the lips of so young a boy. My relation, about to cross the ocean to fill a lucrative28 appointment, asked me with much interest about my progress at school, heard me construe29 a passage of Eutropius, the pleasing Latin work on which I was then engaged; gave me a God bless you, and sent me back to school; upon my word of honor, without so much as a half-crown! It is all very well, my dear sir, to say that boys contract habits of expecting tips from their parents’ friends, that they become avaricious30, and so forth. Avaricious! fudge! Boys contract habits of tart9 and toffee eating, which they do not carry into after life. On the contrary, I wish I DID like ’em. What raptures31 of pleasure one could have now for five shillings, if one could but pick it off the pastry-cook’s tray! No. If you have any little friends at school, out with your half-crowns, my friend, and impart to those little ones the little fleeting32 joys of their age.
Well, then. At the beginning of August, 1823, Bartlemy-tide holidays came, and I was to go to my parents, who were at Tunbridge Wells. My place in the coach was taken by my tutor’s servants —“Bolt-inTun,” Fleet Street, seven o’clock in the morning, was the word. My Tutor, the Rev33. Edward P— — to whom I hereby present my best compliments, had a parting interview with me: gave me my little account for my governor: the remaining part of the coach-hire; five shillings for my own expenses; and some five-and-twenty shillings on an old account which had been overpaid, and was to be restored to my family.
Away I ran and paid Hawker his three-and-six. Ouf! what a weight it was off my mind! (He was a Norfolk boy, and used to go home from Mrs. Nelson’s “Bell Inn,” Aldgate — but that is not to the point.) The next morning, of course, we were an hour before the time. I and another boy shared a hackney-coach; two-and-six: porter for putting luggage on coach, threepence. I had no more money of my own left. Rasherwell, my companion, went into the “Bolt-inTun” coffee-room, and had a good breakfast. I couldn’t; because, though I had five-and-twenty shillings of my parents’ money, I had none of my own, you see.
I certainly intended to go without breakfast, and still remember how strongly I had that resolution in my mind. But there was that hour to wait. A beautiful August morning — I am very hungry. There is Rasherwell “tucking” away in the coffee-room. I pace the street, as sadly almost as if I had been coming to school, not going thence. I turn into a court by mere34 chance — I vow35 it was by mere chance — and there I see a coffee-shop with a placard in the window, Coffee, Twopence. Round of buttered toast, Twopence. And here am I, hungry, penniless, with five-and-twenty shillings of my parents’ money in my pocket.
What would you have done? You see I had had my money, and spent it in that pencil-case affair. The five-and-twenty shillings were a trust — by me to be handed over.
But then would my parents wish their only child to be actually without breakfast? Having this money, and being so hungry, so VERY hungry, mightn’t I take ever so little? Mightn’t I at home eat as much as I chose?
Well, I went into the coffee-shop, and spent fourpence. I remember the taste of the coffee and toast to this day — a peculiar36, muddy, not-sweet-enough, most fragrant37 coffee — a rich, rancid, yet not-buttered-enough delicious toast. The waiter had nothing. At any rate, fourpence I know was the sum I spent. And the hunger appeased38, I got on the coach a guilty being.
At the last stage — what is its name? I have forgotten in seven-and-thirty years — there is an inn with a little green and trees before it; and by the trees there is an open carriage. It is our carriage. Yes, there are Prince and Blucher, the horses; and my parents in the carriage. Oh! how I had been counting the days until this one came! Oh! how happy had I been to see them yesterday! But there was that fourpence. All the journey down the toast had choked me, and the coffee poisoned me.
I was in such a state of remorse39 about the fourpence, that I forgot the maternal40 joy and caresses41, the tender paternal42 voice. I pull out the twenty-four shillings and eightpence with a trembling hand.
“Here’s your money,” I gasp43 out, “which Mr. P—— owes you, all but fourpence. I owed three-and-sixpence to Hawker out of my money for a pencil-case, and I had none left, and I took fourpence of yours, and had some coffee at a shop.”
I suppose I must have been choking whilst uttering this confession44.
“My dear boy,” says the governor, “why didn’t you go and breakfast at the hotel?”
“He must be starved,” says my mother.
I had confessed; I had been a prodigal; I had been taken back to my parents’ arms again. It was not a very great crime as yet, or a very long career of prodigality45; but don’t we know that a boy who takes a pin which is not his own, will take a thousand pounds when occasion serves, bring his parents’ gray heads with sorrow to the grave, and carry his own to the gallows46? Witness the career of Dick Idle, upon whom our friend Mr. Sala has been discoursing47. Dick only began by playing pitch-and-toss on a tombstone: playing fair, for what we know: and even for that sin he was promptly48 caned49 by the beadle. The bamboo was ineffectual to cane50 that reprobate’s bad courses out of him. From pitch-and-toss he proceeded to manslaughter if necessary: to highway robbery; to Tyburn and the rope there. Ah! heaven be thanked, my parents’ heads are still above the grass, and mine still out of the noose51.
As I look up from my desk, I see Tunbridge Wells Common and the rocks, the strange familiar place which I remember forty years ago. Boys saunter over the green with stumps52 and cricket-bats. Other boys gallop53 by on the riding-master’s hacks54. I protest it is Cramp55, Riding master, as it used to be in the reign20 of George IV., and that Centaur56 Cramp must be at least a hundred years old. Yonder comes a footman with a bundle of novels from the library. Are they as good as OUR novels? Oh! how delightful57 they were! Shades of Valancour, awful ghost of Manfroni, how I shudder58 at your appearance! Sweet image of Thaddeus of Warsaw, how often has this almost infantile hand tried to depict59 you in a Polish cap and richly embroidered60 tights! And as for Corinthian Tom in light blue pantaloons and Hessians, and Jerry Hawthorn61 from the country, can all the fashion, can all the splendor62 of real life which these eyes have subsequently beheld63, can all the wit I have heard or read in later times, compare with your fashion, with your brilliancy, with your delightful grace, and sparkling vivacious64 rattle65?
Who knows? They MAY have kept those very books at the library still — at the well-remembered library on the Pantiles, where they sell that delightful, useful Tunbridge ware66. I will go and see. I went my way to the Pantiles, the queer little old-world Pantiles, where, a hundred years since, so much good company came to take its pleasure. Is it possible, that in the past century, gentlefolks of the first rank (as I read lately in a lecture on George II. in the Cornhill Magazine) assembled here and entertained each other with gaming, dancing, fiddling67, and tea? There are fiddlers, harpers, and trumpeters performing at this moment in a weak little old balcony, but where is the fine company? Where are the earls, duchesses, bishops68, and magnificent embroidered gamesters? A half-dozen of children and their nurses are listening to the musicians; an old lady or two in a poke69 bonnet70 passes, and for the rest, I see but an uninteresting population of native tradesmen. As for the library, its window is full of pictures of burly theologians, and their works, sermons, apologues, and so forth. Can I go in and ask the young ladies at the counters for “Manfroni, or the One-Handed Monk,” and “Life in London, or the Adventures of Corinthian Tom, Jeremiah Hawthorn, Esq., and their friend Bob Logic71?”— absurd. I turn away abashed72 from the casement73 — from the Pantiles — no longer Pantiles, but Parade. I stroll over the Common and survey the beautiful purple hills around, twinkling with a thousand bright villas74, which have sprung up over this charming ground since first I saw it. What an admirable scene of peace and plenty! What a delicious air breathes over the heath, blows the cloud shadows across it, and murmurs75 through the full-clad trees! Can the world show a land fairer, richer, more cheerful? I see a portion of it when I look up from the window at which I write. But fair scene, green woods, bright terraces gleaming in sunshine, and purple clouds swollen76 with summer rain — nay77, the very pages over which my head bends — disappear from before my eyes. They are looking backwards78, back into forty years off, into a dark room, into a little house hard by on the Common here, in the Bartlemy-tide holidays. The parents have gone to town for two days: the house is all his own, his own and a grim old maid-servant’s, and a little boy is seated at night in the lonely drawing-room, poring over “Manfroni, or the One-Handed Monk,” so frightened that he scarcely dares to turn round.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
butt
|
|
| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
implements
|
|
| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
hawk
|
|
| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
rustics
|
|
| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
prodigal
|
|
| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
tarts
|
|
| n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
tart
|
|
| adj.酸的；尖酸的，刻薄的；n.果馅饼；淫妇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
puffs
|
|
| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
rattling
|
|
| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
ram
|
|
| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
creditor
|
|
| n.债仅人，债主，贷方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
sneaks
|
|
| abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
humbug
|
|
| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
scowling
|
|
| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
reminders
|
|
| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
blessing
|
|
| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
scant
|
|
| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
kinsman
|
|
| n.男亲属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
lucrative
|
|
| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
construe
|
|
| v.翻译，解释 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
avaricious
|
|
| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
raptures
|
|
| 极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
fleeting
|
|
| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
rev
|
|
| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
vow
|
|
| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
fragrant
|
|
| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
appeased
|
|
| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
remorse
|
|
| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
caresses
|
|
| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
paternal
|
|
| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
gasp
|
|
| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
prodigality
|
|
| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
gallows
|
|
| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
discoursing
|
|
| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
caned
|
|
| vt.用苔杖打（cane的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
cane
|
|
| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
noose
|
|
| n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
stumps
|
|
| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
hacks
|
|
| 黑客 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
cramp
|
|
| n.痉挛；[pl.](腹)绞痛；vt.限制，束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
centaur
|
|
| n.人首马身的怪物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
shudder
|
|
| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
depict
|
|
| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
embroidered
|
|
| adj．绣花的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
hawthorn
|
|
| 山楂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
splendor
|
|
| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
vivacious
|
|
| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
ware
|
|
| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
fiddling
|
|
| 微小的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
bishops
|
|
| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
poke
|
|
| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
bonnet
|
|
| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
logic
|
|
| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
abashed
|
|
| adj.窘迫的，尴尬的v.使羞愧，使局促，使窘迫( abash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
casement
|
|
| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
villas
|
|
| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
murmurs
|
|
| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
swollen
|
|
| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
nay
|
|
| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |