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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
有声名著之双城记
CHAPTER II A Sight
`YOU know the Old Bailey well, no doubt?' said one of the oldest of clerksto Jerry the messenger.
`Ye-es, sir,' returned Jerry, in something of a dogged manner. `I do knowthe Bailey.'
`Just so. And you know Mr. Lorry.'
`I know Mr. Lorry, sir, much better than I know the Bailey. Much better,'
said Jerry, not unlike a reluctant witness at the establishment in question,`than I, as a honest tradesman, wish to know the Bailey.'
`Very well. Find the door where the witnesses go in, and show the door-keeper this note for Mr. Lorry. He will then let you in.'
`Into the court, sir?'
`Into the court.'
Mr. Cruncher's eyes seemed to get a little closer to one another, and tointerchange the inquiry1, `What do you think of this?'
`Am I to wait in the court, sir?' he asked, as the result of thatconference.
`I am going to tell you. The door-keeper will pass the note to Mr. Lorry,and do you make any gesture that will attract Mr. Lorry's attention, andshow him where you stand. Then what you have to do, is, to remain thereuntil he wants you.'
`Is that all, sir?'
`That's all. He wishes to have a messenger at hand. This is to tell him youare there.'
As the ancient clerk deliberately2 folded and superscribed the note, Mr.
Cruncher, after surveying him in silence until he came to the blotting-paperstage, remarked:
`I suppose they'll be trying Forgeries3 this morning?'
`Treason!'
`That's quartering,' said Jerry. `Barbarous!'
`It is the law,' remarked the ancient clerk, turning his surprisedspectacles upon him. `It is the law.
`It `shard in the law to spile a man, I think. It `shard enough to killhim, but it's wery hard to spile him, sir.'
`Not at all,' returned the ancient clerk. `Speak well of the law. Take careof your chest and voice, my good friend, and leave the law to take care ofitself. I give you that advice.'
`It's the damp, sir, what settles on my chest and voice,' said Jerry. `Ileave you to judge what a damp way of earning a living mine is.'
`Well, well,' said the old clerk; `we all have our various ways of gaininga livelihood4. Some of us have damp ways, and some of us have dry ways. Hereis the letter. Go along.'
Jerry took the letter, and, remarking to himself with less internaldeference than he made an outward show of, `You are a lean old one, too,'
made his bow, informed his son, in passing, of [`is destination, and wenthis way.
They hanged at Tyburn, in those days, so the street outside Newgate had notobtained one infamous5 notoriety that has since attached to it. But, the gaolwas a vile7 place, in which most kinds of debauchery and villainy werepractised, and where dire8 diseases were bred, that came into court with theprisoners, and sometimes rushed straight from the dock at my Lord ChiefJustice himself, and pulled him off the bench. It had more than oncehappened, that the Judge in the black cap pronounced his own doom9 ascertainly as the prisoner's, and even died before him. For the rest, the OldBailey was famous as a kind of deadly inn-yard, from which pale travellersset out continually, in carts and coaches, on a violent passage into theother world: traversing some two miles and a half of public street and road,and shaming few good citizens, if any. So powerful is use, and so desirableto be good use in the beginning. It was famous, too, for the pillory10, a wiseold institution, that inflicted11 a punishment of which no one could foreseethe extent; also, for the whipping-post, another dear old institution, veryhumanising and softening12 to behold13 in action; also, for extensivetransactions in blood-money, another fragment of ancestral wisdom,systematically leading to the most frightful14 mercenary crimes that could becommitted under Heaven. Altogether, the Old Bailey, at that date, was achoice illustration of the precept15, that `Whatever is is right;' an aphorismthat would be as final as it is lazy, did it not include the troublesomeconsequence, that nothing that ever was, was wrong.
1 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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2 deliberately | |
adv.审慎地;蓄意地;故意地 | |
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3 forgeries | |
伪造( forgery的名词复数 ); 伪造的文件、签名等 | |
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4 livelihood | |
n.生计,谋生之道 | |
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5 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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6 gaol | |
n.(jail)监狱;(不加冠词)监禁;vt.使…坐牢 | |
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7 vile | |
adj.卑鄙的,可耻的,邪恶的;坏透的 | |
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8 dire | |
adj.可怕的,悲惨的,阴惨的,极端的 | |
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9 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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10 pillory | |
n.嘲弄;v.使受公众嘲笑;将…示众 | |
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11 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 softening | |
变软,软化 | |
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13 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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14 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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15 precept | |
n.戒律;格言 | |
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16 tainted | |
adj.腐坏的;污染的;沾污的;感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏 | |
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17 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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18 demur | |
v.表示异议,反对 | |
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19 grudgingly | |
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20 relish | |
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味 | |
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21 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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22 hurdle | |
n.跳栏,栏架;障碍,困难;vi.进行跨栏赛 | |
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23 wigs | |
n.假发,法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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24 wigged | |
adj.戴假发的 | |
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25 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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26 ledges | |
n.(墙壁,悬崖等)突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 );(平窄的)壁架;横档;(尤指)窗台 | |
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27 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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28 spiked | |
adj.有穗的;成锥形的;有尖顶的 | |
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29 whet | |
v.磨快,刺激 | |
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30 mingle | |
vt.使混合,使相混;vi.混合起来;相交往 | |
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31 impure | |
adj.不纯净的,不洁的;不道德的,下流的 | |
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32 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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33 engendered | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34 peril | |
n.(严重的)危险;危险的事物 | |
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35 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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36 fascination | |
n.令人着迷的事物,魅力,迷恋 | |
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37 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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38 shamefully | |
可耻地; 丢脸地; 不体面地; 羞耻地 | |
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39 mangled | |
vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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40 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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41 gloss | |
n.光泽,光滑;虚饰;注释;vt.加光泽于;掩饰 | |
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42 jingle | |
n.叮当声,韵律简单的诗句;v.使叮当作响,叮当响,押韵 | |
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43 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
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44 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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45 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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46 divers | |
adj.不同的;种种的 | |
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47 dominions | |
统治权( dominion的名词复数 ); 领土; 疆土; 版图 | |
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48 traitorously | |
叛逆地,不忠地 | |
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49 spiky | |
adj.长而尖的,大钉似的 | |
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50 circuitously | |
曲折地 | |
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51 flinched | |
v.(因危险和痛苦)退缩,畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 theatrical | |
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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53 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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54 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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55 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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56 abominable | |
adj.可厌的,令人憎恶的 | |
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57 infamy | |
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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58 intensity | |
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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59 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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60 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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61 engrossing | |
adj.使人全神贯注的,引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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62 compassion | |
n.同情,怜悯 | |
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63 rust | |
n.锈;v.生锈;(脑子)衰退 | |
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64 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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65 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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