These Associates commit an Assault upon Crabtree, for which they are banished1 from the Fleet — Peregrine begins to feel the effects of Confinement2.
Our adventurer having dined at an ordinary, and in the afternoon retired3 to his own apartment, as usual, with his friend Cadwallader, Hatchway and his associate, after they had been obliged to discuss the provision for which they had paid, renewed their conference upon the old subject. Pipes giving his messmate to understand, that Peregrine’s chief confidant was the old deaf bachelor, whom he had seen at his lodging4 the preceding day, Mr. Hatchway, in his great penetration5, discovered, that the young gentleman’s obstinacy6 proceeded from the advice of the misanthrope7, whom, for that reason, it was their business to chastise8. Pipes entered into this opinion the more willingly, as he had all along believed the senior to be a sort of wizard, or some cacodaemon, whom it was not very creditable to be acquainted with. Indeed, he had been inspired with this notion by the insinuations of Hadgi, who had formerly9 dropped some hints touching10 Crabtree’s profound knowledge in the magic art; mentioning, in particular, his being possessed11 of the philosopher’s stone; an assertion to which Tom had given implicit12 credit, until his master was sent to prison for debt, when he could no longer suppose Cadwallader lord of such a valuable secret, or else he would have certainly procured13 the enlargement of his most intimate friend.
With these sentiments, he espoused14 the resentment15 of Hatchway. They determined16 to seize the supposed conjurer, with the first opportunity, on his return from his visit to Peregrine, and, without hesitation17, exercise upon him the discipline of the pump. This plan they would have executed that same evening, had not the misanthrope luckily withdrawn18 himself, by accident, before it was dark, and even before they had intelligence of his retreat. But, next day, they kept themselves upon the watch till he appeared, and Pipes lifting his hat, as Crabtree passed, “O d — ye, old Dunny,” said he, “you and I must grapple by and by; and a’gad I shall lie so near your quarter, that your ear-ports will let in the sound, thof they are double caulked19 with oakum.”
The misanthrope’s ears were not quite so fast closed, but that they received this intimation; which, though delivered in terms that he did not well understand, had such an effect upon his apprehension20, that he signified his doubts to Peregrine, observing, that he did not much like the looks of that same ruffian with the wooden leg. Pickle21 assured him, he had nothing to fear from the two sailors, who could have no cause of resentment against him; or, if they had, would not venture to take any step, which they knew must block up all the avenues to that reconcilement, about which they were so anxious; and, moreover, give such offence to the governor of the place as would infallibly induce him to expel them both from his territories.
Notwithstanding this assurance, the young gentleman was not so confident of the lieutenant22’s discretion23, as to believe that Crabtree’s fears were altogether without foundation; he forthwith conjectured24 that Jack25 had taken umbrage26 at an intimacy27 from which he found himself excluded, and imputed28 his disgrace to the insinuations of Cadwallader, whom, in all likelihood, he intended to punish for his supposed advice. He knew his friend could sustain no great damage from the lieutenant’s resentment, in a place which he could immediately alarm with his cries, and therefore wished he might fall into the snare29, because it would furnish him with a pretence30 of complaint; in consequence of which, the sailors would be obliged to shift their quarters, so as that he should be rid of their company, in which he at present could find no enjoyment31.
Everything happened as he had foreseen; the misanthrope, in his retreat from Peregrine’s chamber32, was assaulted by Hatchway and his associate, who seized him by the collar without ceremony, and began to drag him towards the pump, at which they would have certainly complimented him with a very disagreeable bath, had not he exalted33 his voice in such a manner, as in a moment brought a number of the inhabitants, and Pickle himself, to his aid. The assailants would have persisted in their design, had the opposition34 been such as they could have faced with any possibility of success; nor did they quit their prey35, before a dozen, at least, had come to his rescue, and Peregrine with a menacing aspect and air of authority, commanded his old valet to withdraw. Then they thought proper to sheer off, and betake themselves to close quarters, while our hero accompanied the affrighted Cadwallader to the gate, and exhibited to the warden36 a formal complaint against the rioters, upon whom he retorted the charge of lunacy, which was supported by the evidence of twenty persons, who had been eye-witnesses of the outrage37 committed against the old gentleman. The governor, in consequence of this information, sent a message to Mr. Hatchway, warning him to move his lodging next day, on pain of being expelled. The lieutenant contumaciously38 refusing to comply with this intimation, was in the morning, while he amused himself in walking upon the Bare, suddenly surrounded by the constables40 of the court, who took him and his adherent41 prisoners, before they were aware, and delivered them into the hands of the turnkeys, by whom they were immediately dismissed, and their baggage conveyed to the side of the ditch.
This expulsion was not performed without an obstinate42 opposition on the part of the delinquents43, who, had they not been surprised, would have set the whole Fleet at defiance44, and, in all probability, have acted divers45 tragedies, before they could have been overpowered. Things being circumstanced as they were, the lieutenant did not part with his conductor without tweaking his nose, by way of farewell; and Pipes, in imitation of such a laudable example, communicated a token of remembrance, in an application to the sole eye of his attendant, who, scorning to be outdone in this kind of courtesy, returned the compliment with such good-will, that Tom’s organ performed the office of a multiplying-glass. These were mutual46 hints for stripping, and, accordingly, each was naked from the waist upwards47 in a trice. A ring of butchers from the market was immediately formed; a couple of the reverend flamens, who, in morning gowns, ply39 for marriages in that quarter of the town, constituted themselves seconds and umpires of the approaching contest, and the battle began without further preparation. The combatants were, in point of strength and agility48, pretty equally matched; but the jailor had been regularly trained in the art of bruising49: he had more than once signalized himself in public, by his prowess and skill in this exercise, and lost one eye upon the stage in the course of his exploits. This was a misfortune of which Pipes did not fail to take the advantage. He had already sustained several hard knocks upon his temples and jaws50, and found it impracticable to smite51 his antagonist52 upon the victualling-office, so dexterously53 was it defended against assault. He then changed his battery, and being ambidexter, raised such a clatter54 upon the turnkey’s blind side, that this hero, believing him left-handed, converted his attention that way, and opposed the unenlightened side of his face to the right hand of Pipes, which being thus unprovided against, slyly bestowed55 upon him a peg56 under the fifth rib57, that in an instant laid him senseless on the pavement, at the feet of his conqueror58. Pipes was congratulated upon his victory, not only by his friend Hatchway, but also by all the by-standers, particularly the priest who had espoused his cause, and now invited the strangers to his lodgings59 in a neighbouring alehouse, where they were entertained so much to their liking60, that they determined to seek no other habitation while they should continue in town; and, notwithstanding the disgrace and discouragement they had met with, in their endeavours to serve our adventurer, they were still resolved to persevere61 in their good offices, or, in the vulgar phrase, to see him out.
While they settled themselves in this manner, and acquired familiar connections round all the purlieus of the ditch, Peregrine found himself deprived of the company of Cadwallader, who signified, by letter, that he did not choose to hazard his person again in visiting him, while such assassins occupied the avenues through which he must pass; for he had been at pains to inquire into the motions of the seamen62, and informed himself exactly of the harbour in which they were moored63.
Our hero had been so much accustomed to the conversation of Crabtree, which was altogether suitable to the singularity of his own disposition64, that he could very ill afford to be debarred of it at this juncture65, when almost every other source of enjoyment was stopped. He was, however, obliged to submit to the hardships of his situation; and as the characters of his fellow-prisoners did not at all improve upon him, he was compelled to seek for satisfaction within himself. Not but that he had an opportunity of conversing66 with some people who neither wanted sense, nor were deficient67 in point of principle; yet there appeared in the behaviour of them all, without exception, a certain want of decorum, a squalor of sentiment, a sort of jailish cast contracted in the course of confinement, which disgusted the delicacy68 of our hero’s observation. He, therefore, detached himself from their parties as much as he could, without giving offence to those among whom he was obliged to live, and resumed his labours with incredible eagerness and perseverance69, his spirits being supported by the success of some severe philippics, which he occasionally published against the author of his misfortune.
Nor was his humanity unemployed70 in the vacations of his revenge. A man must be void of all sympathy and compassion71, who can reside among so many miserable72 objects, without feeling an inclination73 to relieve their distress74. Every day almost presented to his view such lamentable75 scenes as were most likely to attract his notice, and engage his benevolence76. Reverses of fortune, attended with the most deplorable circumstances of domestic woe77, were continually intruding78 upon his acquaintance; his ears were invaded with the cries of the hapless wife, who, from the enjoyment of affluence79 and pleasure, was forced to follow her husband to this abode80 of wretchedness and want; his eyes were every minute assailed81 with the naked and meagre appearances of hunger and cold; and his fancy teemed82 with a thousand aggravations of their misery83.
Thus situated84, his purse was never shut while his heart remained open. Without reflecting upon the slenderness of his store, he exercised his charity to all the children of distress, and acquired a popularity, which, though pleasing, was far from being profitable. In short, his bounty85 kept no pace with his circumstances, and in a little time he was utterly86 exhausted87. He had recourse to his bookseller, from whom, with great difficulty, he obtained a small reinforcement; and immediately relapsed into the same want of retention88. He was conscious of his infirmity, and found it incurable89: he foresaw that by his own industry he should never be able to defray the expense of these occasions; and this reflection sunk deep into his mind. The approbation90 of the public, which he had earned or might acquire like a cordial often repeated, began to lose its effect upon his imagination; his health suffered by his sedentary life and austere91 application, his eyesight failed, his appetite forsook92 him, his spirits decayed; so that he became melancholy93, listless, and altogether incapable94 of prosecuting95 the only means he had left for his subsistence; and, what did not at all contribute to the alleviation96 of these particulars, he was given to understand by his lawyer, that he had lost his cause, and was condemned97 in costs. Even this was not the most mortifying98 piece of intelligence he received: he at the same time learned that his bookseller was bankrupt, and his friend Crabtree at the point of death.
These were comfortable considerations to a youth of Peregrine’s disposition, which was so capricious, that the more his misery increased, the more haughty99 and inflexible100 he became. Rather than be beholden to Hatchway, who still hovered101 about the gate, eager for an opportunity to assist him, he chose to undergo the want of almost every convenience of life, and actually pledged his wearing apparel to an Irish pawnbroker102 in the Fleet, for money to purchase those things, without which he must have absolutely perished. He was gradually irritated by his misfortunes into a rancorous resentment against mankind in general, and his heart so alienated103 from the enjoyments104 of life, that he did not care how soon he quitted his miserable existence. Though he had shocking examples of the vicissitudes105 of fortune continually before his eyes, he could never be reconciled to the idea of living like his fellow-sufferers, in the most abject106 degree of dependence107. If he refused to accept of favours from his own allies and intimate friends, whom he had formerly obliged, it is not to be supposed that he would listen to proposals of that kind from any of his fellow-prisoners, with whom he had contracted acquaintance: he was even more cautious than ever of incurring108 obligations; he now shunned109 his former messmates, in order to avoid disagreeable tenders of friendship. Imagining that he perceived an inclination in the clergyman to learn the state of his finances, he discouraged and declined the explanation, and at length secluded110 himself from all society.
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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misanthrope
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| n.恨人类的人；厌世者 | |
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chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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caulked
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| v.堵（船的）缝( caulk的过去式和过去分词 )；泥…的缝；填塞；使不漏水 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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umbrage
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| n.不快；树荫 | |
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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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imputed
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| v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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warden
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| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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contumaciously
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ply
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| v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲 | |
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constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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adherent
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| n.信徒，追随者，拥护者 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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delinquents
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| n.（尤指青少年）有过失的人，违法的人( delinquent的名词复数 ) | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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bruising
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| adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式) | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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dexterously
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| adv.巧妙地，敏捷地 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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conqueror
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| n.征服者，胜利者 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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unemployed
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| adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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teemed
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| v.充满( teem的过去式和过去分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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83
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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84
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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85
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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86
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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87
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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88
retention
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| n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力 | |
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89
incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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90
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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91
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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92
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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93
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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94
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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95
prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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96
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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97
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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98
mortifying
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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99
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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100
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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101
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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102
pawnbroker
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| n.典当商，当铺老板 | |
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103
alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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104
enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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105
vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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106
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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107
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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108
incurring
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| 遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 ) | |
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109
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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