AUTHOR'S PREFACE

 A small portion of this tale appeared in Once a Week, July-September, 1859, under the title of “A Good Fight.”

 

After writing it, I took wider views of the subject, and also felt uneasy at having deviated¹ unnecessarily from the historical outline of a true story. These two sentiments have cost me more than a year's very hard labour, which I venture to think has not been wasted. After this plain statement I trust all who comment on this work will see that to describe it as a reprint would be unfair to the public and to me. The English language is copious², and, in any true man's hands, quite able to convey the truth—namely, that one-fifth of the present work is a reprint, and four-fifths of it a new composition.

 

CHARLES READE

该作者的其它作品
《white lies》

1 deviated   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• On this occasion the plane deviated from its usual flight path. 这一次那架飞机偏离了正常的航线。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His statements sometimes deviated from the truth. 他的陈述有时偏离事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。