Oliver Twist

 

Oliver's early life（3）

And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse.Without clothes, under his first blanket,he could have been the child of a king or a beggar. But when the woman dressed nim later in rough cotton clothes, yellow with age , he looked exactly what he was -an orphan in a workhouse,ready for a life of misery , hunger,and neglect.

 

Oliver cried loudly. If he could have known that he was a workhouse orphan, perhaps he would have cried even more loudly.

 

There was no one to look after the baby in the workhouse, so Oliver was went to a spevial ‘baby farm’nearby. There,he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day , without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing. Mrs Mann,the old woman who 'looked after' them,was very experenced .She knew what was good for children, and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health .

She also knew what was good for herself , so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children's food. The board responsible for the orphans sometimes checked on the health o fthe children , but they always sent the beadle, a kind of local policeman, to announce their visit the day before. So whenever the board arrived, of course, the children were always neat and clean.

 

（待续）

 

《雾都孤儿》

奥利弗的童年（3）

 

奥利弗就这样被捕留下了，由那位醉醺醺的看护一个人看着。他光着身子，裹在毕生第一块毯子里，既可以是国王的狮子，也可以是乞丐的狮子。可后来老女人给他穿上了由于看着太久而发了黄的粗棉布衣服，这时，他看上去和他的身份完全一致了--一个济贫院的孤儿，准备好了去过一种充满苦难、饥饿和忽视的生活。

 

奥利弗大声哭着。假如他已经知道自己是一个济贫院的孤儿，他可能会哭喊得更响些。

 

在济贫院里没有专人照顾婴儿，所以然奥利弗被送进了附近地区一家专门的“育婴堂”。在这里，奥利弗与其他三十多个孩子每天在地上滚爬着，没有过多的衣物和食物来麻烦他们。曼太太“照顾”着这些孩子，这老女人非常有经验。她知道什么对孩子们有好处，知道听懂饮肚子对孩子气们的身体是非常有害的。山时她也知道什么对她自己有好处，于是她把人家给孩子气们的伙食费都留给自己。负责孤儿事务的地方董事会有时会来检查孩子们的健康状况，可他们往往在前一天派执事去通告他们 要来访问，执事是一咱地方警察。所以，进化论他们什么时候来，孩子们准是个个头净脚净的。

 

（待续）