Difference between revisions 3987348 and 5041983 on enwikisource

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 | title    = [[../]]
 | author   = Charles Dickens
 | section  = (Chapter 2)
 | previous = ←[[../Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
 | next     = [[../Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]→
 | notes    = 
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===Treats Of Oliver Twist's Growth, Education, And Board===

[[File:The Writings of Charles Dickens v4 p12 (engraving, cleaned).jpg|thumb|right|<div align="center">OLIVER ASKING FOR MORE</div>]]⏎
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For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a
systematic course of treachery and deception.  He was brought up
by hand.  The hungry and destitute situation of the infant orphan
was duly reported by the workhouse authorities to the parish
authorities.  The parish authorities inquired with dignity of the
workhouse authorities, whether there was no female then domiciled
in 'the house' who was in a situation to impart to Oliver Twist,
(contracted; show full)This was no very great consolation to the child.  Young as he
was, however, he had sense enough to make a feint of feeling
great regret at going away.  It was no very difficult matter for
the boy to call tears into his eyes.  Hunger and recent ill-usage
are great assistants if you want to cry; and Oliver cried very
naturally indeed.  Mrs. Mann gave him a thousand embraces, and
what Oliver wanted a great deal more, a piece of bread and
butter, les
ts he should seem too hungry when he got to the
workhouse. With the slice of bread in his hand, and the little
brown-cloth parish cap on his head, Oliver was then led away by
Mr. Bumble from the wretched home where one kind word or look had
never lighted the gloom of his infant years.  And yet he burst
into an agony of childish grief, as the cottage-gate closed after
him.  Wretched as were the little companions in misery he was
leaving behind, they were the only friends he had ever known; and
(contracted; show full)
no time.'  So, they established the rule, that all poor people
should have the alternative (for they would compel nobody, not
they), of being starved by a gradual process in the house, or by
a quick one out of it.  With this view, they contracted with the
water-works to lay on an unlimited supply of water; and with a
corn-factor to supply periodically small quantities of oatmeal;
and issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a
week, and half a roll o
fn Sundays.  They made a great many other
wise and humane regulations, having reference to the ladies,
which it is not necessary to repeat; kindly undertook to divorce
poor married people, in consequence of the great expense of a
suit in Doctors' Commons; and, instead of compelling a man to
support his family, as they had theretofore done, took his family
away from him, and made him a bachelor!  There is no saying how
many applicants for relief, under these last two heads, might
(contracted; show full)hung.'

As I purpose to show in the sequel whether the white waistcoated
gentleman was right or not, I should perhaps mar the interest of
this narrative (supposing it to possess any at all), if I
ventured to hint just yet, whether the life of Oliver Twist had
this violent termination or no.

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[[da:Oliver Twist/2]]
[[fr:{{footer|
chap_title=Oliver Twist: Chapter 2
|prior_chap=[[Oliver Twist/: Chapitre 2]]
[[sv:Oliver Twist/2]]ter 1]]
|next_chap=[[Oliver Twist: Chapter 3]]
|}}