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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
有声名著之双城记
BOOK THE SECONDTHE GOLDEN THREAD
CHAPTER IFive Years Later
TELLSON'S Bank by Temple Bar was an old-fashioned place, even in the yearone thousand seven hundred and eighty. It was very small, very dark, veryugly, very incommodious. It was an old-fashioned place, moreover, in themoral attribute that the partners in the House were proud of its smallness,proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness.
They were even boastful of its eminence2 in those particulars, and were firedby an empress conviction that, if it were less objectionable, it would beless respectable. This was no passive belief, but an active weapon whichthey flashed at more convenient places of business. Tellson's (they said)wanted no elbow-room, Tellson's wanted no light, Tellson's wanted noembellishment. Noakes and Co.'s might, or Snooks Brothers' might; butTellson's, thank Heaven!---Any one of these partners would have disinherited his son on the questionof rebuilding Tellson's. In this respect the House was much on a par1 withthe Country; which did very often disinherit its sons for suggestingimprovements in laws and customs that had long been highly objectionable,but were only the more respectable.
Thus it had come to pass, that Tellson's was the triumphant3 perfection ofinconvenience. After bursting open a door of idiotic4 obstinacy5 with a weakrattle in its throat, you fell into Tellson's down two steps, and came toyour senses in a miser-able little shop, with two little counters, where theoldest of men made your cheque shake as if the wind rustled7 it, while theyexamined the signature by the dingiest8 of windows, which were always under ashower-bath of mud from Fleet-street, and which were made the dingier9 bytheir own iron bars proper, and the heavy shadow of Temple Bar. If yourbusiness necessitated10 your seeing `the House,' you were put into a speciesof Condemned11 Hold at the back, where you meditated12 on a misspent life, untilthe House came with its hands in its pockets, and you could hardly blink atit in the dismal13 twilight14. Your money came out of' or went into, wormy oldwooden drawers, particles of which flew up your nose and down your throatwhen they were opened and shut. Your bank-notes had a musty odour, as ifthey were fast decomposing15 into rags again. Your plate was stowed away amongthe neighbouring cesspools, and evil communications corrupted16 its goodpolish in a day or two. Your deeds got into extemporised strong-rooms madeof kitchens and sculleries, and fretted17 all the fat out of their parchmentsinto the banking18 house air. Your lighter19 boxes of family papers went up-stairs into a Barmecide room, that always had a great dining-table in it andnever had a dinner, and where, even in the year one thousand seven hundredand eighty, the first letters written to you by your old love, or by yourlittle children, were but newly released from the horror of being ogledthrough the windows, by the heads exposed on Temple Bar with an insensatebrutality and ferocity worthy20 of Abyssinia or Ashantee.
But indeed, at that time, putting to death was a recipe much in vogue21 withall trades and professions, and not least of all with Tellson's. Death isNature's remedy for all things, and why not Legislation's? Accordingly, theforger was put to death; the utterer of a bad note was put to Death; theunlawful opener of a letter was put to Death; the purloiner22 of fortyshillings and sixpence was put to Death; the holder23 of a horse at Tellson'sdoor, who made off with it, was put to Death; the coiner of a bad shillingwas put to Death; the sounders of three-fourths of the notes in the wholegamut of Grime, were put to Death. Not that it did the least good in the wayof prevention--it might almost have been worth remarking that the fact wasexactly the reverse--but, it cleared off (as to this world) the trouble ofeach particular case, and left nothing else connected with it to be lookedafter. Thus, Tellson's, in its day, like greater places of business, itscontemporaries, had taken so many lives, that, if the heads laid low beforeit had been ranged on Temple Bar instead of being privately24 disposed of'
they would probably have excluded what little light the ground floor had, ina rather significant manner.
Cramped25 in all kinds of dim cupboards and hutches at Tellson's, the oldestof men carried on the business gravely.
When they took a young man into Tellson's London house, they hid himsomewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese,until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him. Then only washe permitted to be seen, spectacularly poring over large books, and castinghis breeches and gaiters into the general weight of the establishment.
Outside Tellson's--never by any means in it, unless called in--was an odd-job-man, an occasional porter and messenger, who served as the live sign ofthe house. He was never absent during business hours, unless upon an errand,and then he was represented by his son: a grisly urchin26 of twelve, who washis express image. People understood that Tellson's, in a stately way,tolerated the odd-job-man. The house had always tolerated some person inthat capacity, and time and tide had drifted this person to the post. Hissurname was Cruncher, and on the youthful occasion of his renouncing27 byproxy the works of darkness, in the easterly parish church of Houndsditch,he had received the added appellation28 of Jerry.
The scene was Mr. Cruncher's private lodging29 in Hanging-sword-alley,Whitefriars: the time, half-past seven of the clock on a windy Marchmorning, Anno Domini seventeen hundred and eighty. (Mr. Cruncher himselfalways spoke30 of the year of our Lord as Anna Dominoes: apparently31 under theimpression that the Christian32 era dated from the invention of a populargame, by a lady who had bestowed33 her name upon it.)Mr. Cruncher's apartments were not in a savoury neighbourhood, and were buttwo in number, even if a closet with a single pane34 of glass in it might becounted as one. But they were very decently kept. Early as it was, on thewindy March morning, the room in which he lay a-bed was already scrubbedthroughout; and between the cups and saucers arranged for breakfast, and thelumbering deal table, a very clean white cloth was spread.
Mr. Cruncher reposed35 under a patchwork36 counterpane, like a Harlequin athome. At first, he slept heavily, but, by degrees, began to roll and surgein bed, until he rose above the surface, with his spiky37 hair looking as ifit must tear the sheets to ribbons. At which juncture38, he exclaimed, in avoice of dire39 exasperation40:
`Bust me, if she ain't at it agin!'
A woman of orderly and industrious41 appearance rose from her knees in acorner, with sufficient haste and trepidation42 to show that she was theperson referred to.
`What!' said Mr. Cruncher, looking out of bed for a boot.
`You're at it agin, are you?
After hailing the morn with this second salutation, he threw a boot at thewoman as a third. It was a very muddy boot, and may introduce the oddcircumstance connected with Mr. Cruncher's domestic economy, that, whereashe often came home after banking hours with clean boots, he often got upnext morning to find the same boots covered with clay.
`What,' said Mr. Cruncher, varying his apostrophe after missing his mark--'what are you, up to, Aggerawayter?'
1 par | |
n.标准,票面价值,平均数量;adj.票面的,平常的,标准的 | |
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2 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
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3 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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4 idiotic | |
adj.白痴的 | |
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5 obstinacy | |
n.顽固;(病痛等)难治 | |
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6 rust | |
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退 | |
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7 rustled | |
v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8 dingiest | |
adj.暗淡的,乏味的( dingy的最高级 );肮脏的 | |
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9 dingier | |
adj.暗淡的,乏味的( dingy的比较级 );肮脏的 | |
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10 necessitated | |
使…成为必要,需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 condemned | |
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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12 meditated | |
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 ); 内心策划,考虑 | |
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13 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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14 twilight | |
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期 | |
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15 decomposing | |
腐烂( decompose的现在分词 ); (使)分解; 分解(某物质、光线等) | |
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16 corrupted | |
(使)败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)腐化; 引起(计算机文件等的)错误; 破坏 | |
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17 fretted | |
焦躁的,附有弦马的,腐蚀的 | |
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18 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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19 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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20 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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21 Vogue | |
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的 | |
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22 purloiner | |
[法] 小偷,窃盗者 | |
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23 holder | |
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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24 privately | |
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地 | |
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25 cramped | |
a.狭窄的 | |
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26 urchin | |
n.顽童;海胆 | |
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27 renouncing | |
v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃 | |
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28 appellation | |
n.名称,称呼 | |
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29 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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30 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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31 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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32 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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33 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 pane | |
n.窗格玻璃,长方块 | |
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35 reposed | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36 patchwork | |
n.混杂物;拼缝物 | |
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37 spiky | |
adj.长而尖的,大钉似的 | |
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38 juncture | |
n.时刻,关键时刻,紧要关头 | |
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39 dire | |
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的 | |
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40 exasperation | |
n.愤慨 | |
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41 industrious | |
adj.勤劳的,刻苦的,奋发的 | |
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42 trepidation | |
n.惊恐,惶恐 | |
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43 flop | |
n.失败(者),扑通一声;vi.笨重地行动,沉重地落下 | |
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44 flopping | |
n.贬调v.(指书、戏剧等)彻底失败( flop的现在分词 );(因疲惫而)猛然坐下;(笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地)移动或落下;砸锅 | |
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45 conceited | |
adj.自负的,骄傲自满的 | |
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46 sneaking | |
a.秘密的,不公开的 | |
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47 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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48 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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49 growling | |
n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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50 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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51 garnished | |
v.给(上餐桌的食物)加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 spikes | |
n.穗( spike的名词复数 );跑鞋;(防滑)鞋钉;尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 );偷偷地给某人的饮料加入(更多)酒精( 或药物);把尖状物钉入;打乱某人的计划 | |
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53 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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54 darting | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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55 fictitious | |
adj.虚构的,假设的;空头的 | |
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56 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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57 convivial | |
adj.狂欢的,欢乐的 | |
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58 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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59 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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60 gleaned | |
v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的过去式和过去分词 );(收割后)拾穗 | |
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61 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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62 inflict | |
vt.(on)把…强加给,使遭受,使承担 | |
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63 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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64 lessened | |
减少的,减弱的 | |
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65 spat | |
n.口角,掌击;v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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66 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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67 cogitated | |
v.认真思考,深思熟虑( cogitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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