Daniel Quilp of Tower Hill, and Sampson Brass¹ of Bevis Marks in the city of London, Gentleman, one of her Majesty’s attornies of the Courts of the King’s Bench and Common Pleas at Westminster and a solicitor² of the High Court of Chancery, slumbered³ on, unconscious and unsuspicious of any mischance, until a knocking on the street door, often repeated and gradually mounting up from a modest single rap to a perfect battery of knocks, fired in long discharges with a very short interval⁴ between, caused the said Daniel Quilp to struggle into a horizontal position, and to stare at the ceiling with a drowsy⁵ indifference⁶, betokening⁷ that he heard the noise and rather wondered at the same, and couldn’t be at the trouble of bestowing⁸ any further thought upon the subject.

As the knocking, however, instead of accommodating itself to his lazy state, increased in vigour⁹ and became more importunate¹⁰, as if in earnest remonstrance¹¹ against his falling asleep again, now that he had once opened his eyes, Daniel Quilp began by degrees to comprehend the possibility of there being somebody at the door; and thus he gradually came to recollect¹² that it was Friday morning, and he had ordered Mrs Quilp to be in waiting upon him at an early hour.

分享到：