Preface

A Chancery judge once had the kindness to inform me, as one of acompany of some hundred and fifty men and women not labouring underany suspicions of lunacy, that the Court of Chancery, though theshining subject of much popular prejudice (at which point I thoughtthe judge's eye had a cast in my direction), was almost immaculate.

　　There had been, he admitted, a trivial blemish¹ or so in its rate ofprogress, but this was exaggerated and had been entirely² owing tothe "parsimony³ of the public," which guilty public, it appeared,had been until lately bent⁴ in the most determined⁵ manner on by nomeans enlarging the number of Chancery judges appointed--I believeby Richard the Second, but any other king will do as well.

　　This seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body ofthis book or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or toMr. Vholes, with one or other of whom I think it must haveoriginated. In such mouths I might have coupled it with an aptquotation from one of Shakespeare's sonnets⁶:

　　"My nature is subduedTo what it works in, like the dyer's hand:

　　Pity me, then, and wish I were renewed!"But as it is wholesome⁷ that the parsimonious⁸ public should knowwhat has been doing, and still is doing, in this connexion, Imention here that everything set forth⁹ in these pages concerningthe Court of Chancery is substantially true, and within the truth.

　　The case of Gridley is in no essential altered from one of actualoccurrence, made public by a disinterested¹⁰ person who wasprofessionally acquainted with the whole of the monstrous¹¹ wrongfrom beginning to end. At the present moment (August, 1853) thereis a suit before the court which was commenced nearly twenty yearsago, in which from thirty to forty counsel have been known toappear at one time, in which costs have been incurred¹² to the amountof seventy thousand pounds, which is A FRIENDLY SUIT, and which is(I am assured) no nearer to its termination now than when it wasbegun. There is another well-known suit in Chancery, not yetdecided, which was commenced before the close of the last centuryand in which more than double the amount of seventy thousand poundshas been swallowed up in costs. If I wanted other authorities forJarndyce and Jarndyce, I could rain them on these pages, to theshame of--a parsimonious public.

　　There is only one other point on which I offer a word of remark.

　　The possibility of what is called spontaneous combustion¹³ has beendenied since the death of Mr. Krook; and my good friend Mr. Lewes(quite mistaken, as he soon found, in supposing the thing to havebeen abandoned by all authorities) published some ingenious lettersto me at the time when that event was chronicled, arguing thatspontaneous combustion could not possibly be. I have no need toobserve that I do not wilfully¹⁴ or negligently¹⁵ mislead my readersand that before I wrote that description I took pains toinvestigate the subject. There are about thirty cases on record,of which the most famous, that of the Countess Cornelia de BaudiCesenate, was minutely investigated and described by GiuseppeBianchini, a prebendary of Verona, otherwise distinguished¹⁶ inletters, who published an account of it at Verona in 1731, which heafterwards republished at Rome. The appearances, beyond allrational doubt, observed in that case are the appearances observedin Mr. Krook's case. The next most famous instance happened atRheims six years earlier, and the historian in that case is Le Cat,one of the most renowned¹⁷ surgeons produced by France. The subjectwas a woman, whose husband was ignorantly convicted of havingmurdered her; but on solemn appeal to a higher court, he wasacquitted because it was shown upon the evidence that she had diedthe death of which this name of spontaneous combustion is given. Ido not think it necessary to add to these notable facts, and thatgeneral reference to the authorities which will be found at page30, vol. ii.,* the recorded opinions and experiences ofdistinguished medical professors, French, English, and Scotch¹⁸, inmore modern days, contenting myself with observing that I shall notabandon the facts until there shall have been a considerablespontaneous combustion of the testimony¹⁹ on which human occurrencesare usually received.

　　In Bleak²⁰ House I have purposely dwelt upon the romantic side offamiliar things.

1 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 parsimony   

n.过度节俭，吝啬

参考例句：

• A classic example comes from comedian Jack Benny, famous for his parsimony.有个经典例子出自以吝啬著称的喜剧演员杰克?班尼。
• Due to official parsimony only the one machine was built.由于官方过于吝啬，仅制造了那一台机器。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 sonnets   

n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Keats' reputation as a great poet rests largely upon the odes and the later sonnets. 作为一个伟大的诗人，济慈的声誉大部分建立在他写的长诗和后期的十四行诗上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He referred to the manuscript circulation of the sonnets. 他谈到了十四行诗手稿的流行情况。 来自辞典例句

7 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

8 parsimonious   

adj.吝啬的，质量低劣的

参考例句：

• Many scrollbars are quite parsimonious in doling out information to users.很多滚动条都很吝啬，给用户传递的信息太少。
• His parsimonious nature did not permit him to enjoy any luxuries.他那吝啬的本性不容许他享受任何奢侈品。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

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

10 disinterested   

adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的

参考例句：

• He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
• He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。

11 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

12 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

13 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

14 wilfully   

adv.任性固执地；蓄意地

参考例句：

• Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
• These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒，干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书

15 negligently   

参考例句：

• Losses caused intentionally or negligently by the lessee shall be borne by the lessee. 如因承租人的故意或过失造成损失的，由承租人负担。 来自经济法规部分
• Did the other person act negligently? 他人的行为是否有过失？ 来自口语例句

16 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

17 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

18 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

19 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

20 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。