In a certain county of England, bounded on one side by the sea, and at the distance of one hundred miles from the metropolis1, lived Gamaliel Pickle2, esq.; the father of that hero whose fortunes we propose to record. He was the son of a merchant in London, who, like Rome, from small beginnings had raised himself to the highest honours of the city, and acquired a plentiful3 fortune, though, to his infinite regret, he died before it amounted to a plum, conjuring4 his son, as he respected the last injunction of a parent, to imitate his industry, and adhere to his maxims5, until he should have made up the deficiency, which was a sum considerably6 less than fifteen thousand pounds.
This pathetic remonstrance7 had the desired effect upon his representative, who spared no pains to fulfil the request of the deceased: but exerted all the capacity with which nature had endowed him, in a series of efforts, which, however, did not succeed; for by the time he bad been fifteen years in trade, he found himself five thousand pounds worse than he was when he first took possession of his father’s effects; a circumstance that affected8 him so nearly, as to detach his inclinations9 from business, and induce him to retire from the world to some place where he might at leisure deplore11 his misfortunes, and, by frugality12, secure himself from want, and the apprehensions14 of a jail, with which his imagination was incessantly16 haunted. He was often heard to express his fears of coming upon the parish; and to bless God, that, on account of his having been so long a housekeeper18, he was entitled to that provision. In short, his talents were not naturally active, and there was a sort of inconsistency in his character; for, with all the desire of amassing19 which any citizen could possibly entertain, he was encumbered20 by a certain indolence and sluggishness21 that prevailed over every interested consideration, and even hindered him from profiting by that singleness of apprehension15, and moderation of appetites, which have so frequently conduced to the acquisition of immense fortunes; qualities which he possessed22 in a very remarkable23 degree. Nature, in all probability, had mixed little or nothing inflammable in his composition; or, whatever seeds of excess she might have sown within him, were effectually stifled24 and destroyed by the austerity of his education.
The sallies of his youth, far from being inordinate25 or criminal, never exceeded the bounds of that decent jollity which an extraordinary pot, on extraordinary occasions, may be supposed to have produced in a club of sedate26 book-keepers, whose imaginations were neither very warm nor luxuriant. Little subject to refined sensations, he was scarce ever disturbed with violent emotions of any kind. The passion of love never interrupted his tranquility; and if, as Mr. Creech says, after Horace,
Not to admire is all the art I know;
To make men happy, and to keep them so;
Mr. Pickle was undoubtedly27 possessed of that invaluable28 secret; at least, he was never known to betray the faintest symptom of transport, except one evening at the club, where he observed, with some demonstrations29 of vivacity30, that he had dined upon a delicate loin of veal31.
Notwithstanding this appearance of phlegm, he could not help feeling his disappointments in trade; and upon the failure of a certain underwriter, by which he lost five hundred pounds, declared his design of relinquishing32 business, and retiring to the country. In this resolution he was comforted and encouraged by his only sister, Mrs. Grizzle, who had managed his family since the death of his father, and was now in the thirtieth year of her maidenhood33, with a fortune of five thousand pounds, and a large stock of economy and devotion.
These qualifications, one would think, might have been the means of abridging34 the term of her celibacy35, as she never expressed any aversion to wedlock36; but, it seems, she was too delicate in her choice, to find a mate to her inclination10 in the city: for I cannot suppose that she remained so long unsolicited; though the charms of her person were not altogether enchanting37, nor her manner over and above agreeable. Exclusive of a very wan13 (not to call it sallow) complexion38, which, perhaps, was the effects of her virginity and mortification39, she had a cast in her eyes that was not at all engaging; and such an extent of mouth, as no art or affectation could contract into any proportionable dimension; then her piety40 was rather peevish41 than resigned, and did not in the least diminish a certain stateliness in her demeanour and conversation, that delighted in communicating the importance and honour of her family, which, by the bye, was not to be traced two generations back by all the power of heraldry or tradition.
She seemed to have renounced42 all the ideas she had acquired before her father served the office of sheriff; and the eye which regulated the dates of all her observation, was the mayoralty of her papa. Nay43, so solicitous44 was this good lady for the support and propagation of the family name, that, suppressing every selfish motive45, she actually prevailed upon her brother to combat with his own disposition46, and even surmount47 it so far, as to declare a passion for the person whom he afterwards wedded48, as we shall see in the sequel. Indeed, she was the spur that instigated49 him in all his extraordinary undertakings50; and I question, whether be would or not have been able to disengage himself from that course of life in which he had so long mechanically moved, unless he had been roused and actuated by her incessant17 exhortations51. London, she observed, was a receptacle of iniquity52, where an honest, unsuspecting man was every day in danger of falling a sacrifice to craft; where innocence53 was exposed to continual temptations, and virtue54 eternally persecuted55 by malice56 and slander57; where everything was ruled by caprice and corruption58, and merit utterly59 discouraged and despised. This last imputation60 she pronounced with such emphasis and chagrin61, as plainly denoted how far she considered herself as an example of what she advanced; and really the charge was justified62 by the constructions that were put upon her retreat by her female friends, who, far from imputing63 it to the laudable motives64 that induced her, insinuated65, in sarcastic66 commendations, that she had good reason to be dissatisfied with a place where she had been so overlooked; and that it was certainly her wisest course to make her last effort in the country, where, in all probability, her talents would be less eclipsed, and her fortune more attractive.
Be this as it will, her admonitions, though they were powerful enough to convince, would have been insufficient67 to overcome the languor68 and vis inertiae of her brother, had she not reinforced her arguments, by calling in question the credit of two or three merchants, with whom he was embarked69 in trade.
Alarmed at these hints of intelligence, be exerted himself effectually; he withdrew his money from trade, and laying it out in Bank-stock, and India-bonds, removed to a house in the country, which his father had built near the sea-side, for the convenience of carrying on a certain branch of traffic in which he had been deeply concerned.
Here then Mr. Pickle fixed70 his habitation for life, in the six-and-thirtieth year of his age; and though the pangs71 he felt at parting with his intimate companions, and quitting all his former connections, were not quite so keen as to produce any dangerous disorder72 in his constitution, he did not fail to be extremely disconcerted at his first entrance into a scene of life to which he was totally a stranger. Not but that he met with abundance of people in the country, who, in consideration of his fortune, courted his acquaintance, and breathed nothing but friendship and hospitality; yet, even the trouble of receiving and returning these civilities was an intolerable fatigue73 to a man of his habits and disposition. He therefore left the care of the ceremonial to his sister, who indulged herself in all the pride of formality; while he himself, having made a discovery of a public-house in the neighbourhood, went thither74 every evening and enjoyed his pipe and can; being very well satisfied with the behaviour of the landlord, whose communicative temper was a great comfort to his own taciturnity; for he shunned75 all superfluity of speech, as much as he avoided any other unnecessary expense.
1 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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2 pickle | |
n.腌汁,泡菜;v.腌,泡 | |
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3 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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4 conjuring | |
n.魔术 | |
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5 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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6 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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7 remonstrance | |
n抗议,抱怨 | |
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8 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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9 inclinations | |
倾向( inclination的名词复数 ); 倾斜; 爱好; 斜坡 | |
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10 inclination | |
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
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11 deplore | |
vt.哀叹,对...深感遗憾 | |
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12 frugality | |
n.节约,节俭 | |
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13 wan | |
(wide area network)广域网 | |
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14 apprehensions | |
疑惧 | |
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15 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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16 incessantly | |
ad.不停地 | |
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17 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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18 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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19 amassing | |
v.积累,积聚( amass的现在分词 ) | |
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20 encumbered | |
v.妨碍,阻碍,拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 sluggishness | |
不振,萧条,呆滞;惰性;滞性;惯性 | |
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22 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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23 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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24 stifled | |
(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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25 inordinate | |
adj.无节制的;过度的 | |
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26 sedate | |
adj.沉着的,镇静的,安静的 | |
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27 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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28 invaluable | |
adj.无价的,非常宝贵的,极为贵重的 | |
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29 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
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30 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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31 veal | |
n.小牛肉 | |
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32 relinquishing | |
交出,让给( relinquish的现在分词 ); 放弃 | |
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33 maidenhood | |
n. 处女性, 处女时代 | |
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34 abridging | |
节略( abridge的现在分词 ); 减少; 缩短; 剥夺(某人的)权利(或特权等) | |
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35 celibacy | |
n.独身(主义) | |
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36 wedlock | |
n.婚姻,已婚状态 | |
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37 enchanting | |
a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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38 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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39 mortification | |
n.耻辱,屈辱 | |
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40 piety | |
n.虔诚,虔敬 | |
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41 peevish | |
adj.易怒的,坏脾气的 | |
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42 renounced | |
v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃 | |
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43 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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44 solicitous | |
adj.热切的,挂念的 | |
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45 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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46 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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47 surmount | |
vt.克服;置于…顶上 | |
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48 wedded | |
adj.正式结婚的;渴望…的,执著于…的v.嫁,娶,(与…)结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49 instigated | |
v.使(某事物)开始或发生,鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 undertakings | |
企业( undertaking的名词复数 ); 保证; 殡仪业; 任务 | |
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51 exhortations | |
n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 );极力推荐;(正式的)演讲;(宗教仪式中的)劝诫 | |
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52 iniquity | |
n.邪恶;不公正 | |
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53 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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54 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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55 persecuted | |
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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56 malice | |
n.恶意,怨恨,蓄意;[律]预谋 | |
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57 slander | |
n./v.诽谤,污蔑 | |
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58 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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59 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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60 imputation | |
n.归罪,责难 | |
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61 chagrin | |
n.懊恼;气愤;委屈 | |
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62 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
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63 imputing | |
v.把(错误等)归咎于( impute的现在分词 ) | |
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64 motives | |
n.动机,目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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65 insinuated | |
v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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66 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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67 insufficient | |
adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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68 languor | |
n.无精力,倦怠 | |
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69 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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70 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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71 pangs | |
突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 ); 悲痛 | |
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72 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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73 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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74 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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75 shunned | |
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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