Transcription of Oliver Twist - Ataun
1 Oliver TwistCharles DickensWork reproduced with no editorial responsibilityNotice by Luarna EdicionesThis book is in the public domain becausethe copyrights have expired under Spanish presents it here as a gift to its cus-tomers, while clarifying the following:1)Because this edition has not been super-vised by our editorial deparment, wedisclaim responsibility for the fidelity ofits )Luarna has only adapted the work tomake it easily viewable on common six-inch )To all effects, this book must not be con-sidered to have been published ITREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVERTWIST WAS BORNAND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTEND-ING HIS BIRTHA mong other public buildings in a certaintown, which for many reasons it will be pru-dent to refrain from mentioning, and to which Iwill assign no fictitious name, there is one an-ciently common to most towns, great or small:to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhousewas born.
2 On a day and date which I need nottrouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can beof no possible consequence to the reader, in thisstage of the business at all events; the item ofmortality whose name is prefixed to the head ofthis a long time after it was ushered into thisworld of sorrow and trouble, by the parish sur-geon, it remained a matter of considerabledoubt whether the child would survive to bearany name at all; in which case it is somewhatmore than probable that these memoirs wouldnever have appeared; or, if they had, that beingcomprised within a couple of pages, theywould have possessed the inestimable merit ofbeing the most concise and faithful specimen ofbiography, extant in the literature of any age I am not disposed to maintain thatthe being born in a workhouse, is in itself themost fortunate and enviable circumstance thatcan possibly befall a human being, I do mean tosay that in this particular instance, it was thebest thing for Oliver Twist that could by possi-bility have occurred.
3 The fact is, that there wasconsiderable difficulty in inducing Oliver totake upon himself the office of respiration, atroublesome practice, but one which customhas rendered necessary to our easy existence;and for some time he lay gasping on a littleflock mattress, rather unequally poised be-tween this world and the next: the balance be-ing decidedly in favour of the latter. Now, if,during this brief period, Oliver had been sur-rounded by careful grandmothers, anxiousaunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of pro-found wisdom, he would most inevitably andindubitably have been killed in no time.
4 Therebeing nobody by, however, but a pauper oldwoman, who was rendered rather misty by anunwonted allowance of beer; and a parish sur-geon who did such matters by contract; Oliverand Nature fought out the point between result was, that, after a few struggles, Oliver breathed, sneezed, and proceeded toadvertise to the inmates of the workhouse thefact of a new burden having been imposedupon the parish, by setting up as loud a cry ascould reasonably have been expected from amale infant who had not been possessed of thatvery useful appendage, a voice, for a muchlonger space of time than three minutes and Oliver gave this first proof of the free andproper action of his lungs.
5 The patchwork cov-erlet which was carelessly flung over the ironbedstead, rustled; the pale face of a youngwoman was raised feebly from the pillow; anda faint voice imperfectly articulated the words,'Let me see the child, and die.'The surgeon had been sitting with his faceturned towards the fire: giving the palms of hishands a warm and a rub alternately. As theyoung woman spoke, he rose, and advancing tothe bed's head, said, with more kindness thanmight have been expected of him:'Oh, you must not talk about dying yet.''Lor bless her dear heart, no!' interposed thenurse, hastily depositing in her pocket a greenglass bottle, the contents of which she had beentasting in a corner with evident satisfaction.
6 'Lor bless her dear heart, when she has lived aslong as I have, sir, and had thirteen children ofher own, and all on 'em dead except two, andthem in the wurkus with me, she'll know betterthan to take on in that way, bless her dearheart! Think what it is to be a mother, there's adear young lamb do.'Apparently this consolatory perspective of amother's prospects failed in producing its dueeffect. The patient shook her head, andstretched out her hand towards the surgeon deposited it in her arms. She im-printed her cold white lips passionately on itsforehead; passed her hands over her face;gazed wildly round; shuddered; fell back anddied.
7 They chafed her breast, hands, and tem-ples; but the blood had stopped forever. Theytalked of hope and comfort. They had beenstrangers too long.'It's all over, Mrs. Thingummy!' said the sur-geon at last.'Ah, poor dear, so it is!' said the nurse, pickingup the cork of the green bottle, which hadfallen out on the pillow, as she stooped to takeup the child. 'Poor dear!''You needn't mind sending up to me, if thechild cries, nurse,' said the surgeon, putting onhis gloves with great deliberation. 'It's verylikely itwill be troublesome. Give it a littlegruel if it is.' He put on his hat, and, pausing bythe bed-side on his way to the door, added,'She was a good-looking girl, too; where didshe come from?
8 ''She was brought here last night,' replied theold woman, 'by the overseer's order. She wasfound lying in the street. She had walked somedistance, for her shoes were worn to pieces; butwhere she came from, or where she was goingto, nobody knows.'The surgeon leaned over the body, and raisedthe left hand. 'The old story,' he said, shakinghis head: 'no wedding-ring, I see. Ah! Good-night!'The medical gentleman walked away to dinner;and the nurse, having once more applied her-self to the green bottle, sat down on a low chairbefore the fire, and proceeded to dress the an excellent example of the power ofdress, young Oliver Twist was!
9 Wrapped in theblanket which had hitherto formed his onlycovering, he might have been the child of anobleman or a beggar; it would have been hardfor the haughtiest stranger to have assignedhim his proper station in society. But now thathe was enveloped in the old calico robes whichhad grown yellow in the same service, he wasbadged and ticketed, and fell into his place atonce a parish child the orphan of a work-house the humble, half-starved drudge to becuffed and buffeted through the world despised by all, and pitied by cried lustily. If he could have knownthat he was an orphan, left to the tender mer-cies of church-wardens and overseers, perhapshe would have cried the IITREATS OF Oliver Twist 'S GROWTH,EDUCATION, AND BOARDFor the next eight or ten months, Oliver was thevictim of a systematic course of treachery anddeception.
10 He was brought up by hand. Thehungry and destitute situation of the infantorphan was duly reported by the workhouseauthorities to the parish authorities. The parishauthorities inquired with dignity of the work-house authorities, whether there was no femalethen domiciled in 'the house' who was in asituation to impart to Oliver Twist , the consola-tion and nourishment of which he stood inneed. The workhouse authorities replied withhumility, that there was not. Upon this, theparish authorities magnanimously and hu-manely resolved, that Oliver should be'farmed,' or, in other words, that he should bedispatched to a branch-workhouse some threemiles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenileoffenders against the poor-laws, rolled aboutthe floor all day, without the inconvenience oftoo much food or too much clothing, under theparental superintendence of an elderly female,who received the culprits at and for the consid-eration of sevenpence-halfpenny per smallhead per week.
