Hard
Times
and
Reprinted
Pieces
By
CHARLES
DICKENS
LONDON
:
CHAPMAN
+
HALL
,
LD
.
NEW
YORK
:
CHARLES
SCRIBNER’S
SONS
1905
BOOK
THE
FIRST
SOWING
CHAPTER
I
THE
ONE
THING
NEEDFUL
‘
Now
,
what
I
want
is
,
Facts
.
Teach
these
boys
and
girls
nothing
but
Facts
.
Facts
alone
are
wanted
in
life
.
Plant
nothing
else
,
and
root
out
everything
else
.
You
can
only
form
the
minds
of
reasoning
animals
upon
Facts
:
nothing
else
will
ever
be
of
any
service
to
them
.
This
is
the
principle
on
which
I
bring
up
my
own
children
,
and
this
is
the
principle
on
which
I
bring
up
these
children
.
Stick
to
Facts
,
sir
!
’
The
scene
was
a
plain
,
bare
,
monotonous
vault
of
a
school-room
,
and
the
speaker’s
square
forefinger
emphasized
his
observations
by
underscoring
every
sentence
with
a
line
on
the
schoolmaster’s
sleeve
.
The
emphasis
was
helped
by
the
speaker’s
square
wall
of
a
forehead
,
which
had
his
eyebrows
for
its
base
,
while
his
eyes
found
commodious
cellarage
in
two
dark
caves
,
overshadowed
by
the
wall
.
The
emphasis
was
helped
by
the
speaker’s
mouth
,
which
was
wide
,
thin
,
and
hard
set
.
The
emphasis
was
helped
by
the
speaker’s
voice
,
which
was
inflexible
,
dry
,
and
dictatorial
.
The
emphasis
was
helped
by
the
speaker’s
hair
,
which
bristled
on
the
skirts
of
his
bald
head
,
a
plantation
of
firs
to
keep
the
wind
from
its
shining
surface
,
all
covered
with
knobs
,
like
the
crust
of
a
plum
pie
,
as
if
the
head
had
scarcely
warehouse-room
for
the
hard
facts
stored
inside
.
The
speaker’s
obstinate
carriage
,
square
coat
,
square
legs
,
square
shoulders
,
—
nay
,
his
very
neckcloth
,
trained
to
take
him
by
the
throat
with
an
unaccommodating
grasp
,
like
a
stubborn
fact
,
as
it
was
,
—
all
helped
the
emphasis
.
‘In
this
life
,
we
want
nothing
but
Facts
,
sir
;
nothing
but
Facts
!
’
The
speaker
,
and
the
schoolmaster
,
and
the
third
grown
person
present
,
all
backed
a
little
,
and
swept
with
their
eyes
the
inclined
plane
of
little
vessels
then
and
there
arranged
in
order
,
ready
to
have
imperial
gallons
of
facts
poured
into
them
until
they
were
full
to
the
brim
.
CHAPTER
II
MURDERING
THE
INNOCENTS
Thomas
Gradgrind
,
sir
.
A
man
of
realities
.
A
man
of
facts
and
calculations
.
A
man
who
proceeds
upon
the
principle
that
two
and
two
are
four
,
and
nothing
over
,
and
who
is
not
to
be
talked
into
allowing
for
anything
over
.
Thomas
Gradgrind
,
sir
—
peremptorily
Thomas
—
Thomas
Gradgrind
.
With
a
rule
and
a
pair
of
scales
,
and
the
multiplication
table
always
in
his
pocket
,
sir
,
ready
to
weigh
and
measure
any
parcel
of
human
nature
,
and
tell
you
exactly
what
it
comes
to
.
It
is
a
mere
question
of
figures
,
a
case
of
simple
arithmetic
.
You
might
hope
to
get
some
other
nonsensical
belief
into
the
head
of
George
Gradgrind
,
or
Augustus
Gradgrind
,
or
John
Gradgrind
,
or
Joseph
Gradgrind
(
all
supposititious
,
non-existent
persons
)
,
but
into
the
head
of
Thomas
Gradgrind
—
no
,
sir
!
In
such
terms
Mr.
Gradgrind
always
mentally
introduced
himself
,
whether
to
his
private
circle
of
acquaintance
,
or
to
the
public
in
general
.
In
such
terms
,
no
doubt
,
substituting
the
words
‘boys
and
girls
,
’
for
‘sir
,
’
Thomas
Gradgrind
now
presented
Thomas
Gradgrind
to
the
little
pitchers
before
him
,
who
were
to
be
filled
so
full
of
facts
.
Indeed
,
as
he
eagerly
sparkled
at
them
from
the
cellarage
before
mentioned
,
he
seemed
a
kind
of
cannon
loaded
to
the
muzzle
with
facts
,
and
prepared
to
blow
them
clean
out
of
the
regions
of
childhood
at
one
discharge
.
He
seemed
a
galvanizing
apparatus
,
too
,
charged
with
a
grim
mechanical
substitute
for
the
tender
young
imaginations
that
were
to
be
stormed
away
.
‘Girl
number
twenty
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
squarely
pointing
with
his
square
forefinger
,
‘I
don’t
know
that
girl
.
Who
is
that
girl
?
’
‘Sissy
Jupe
,
sir
,
’
explained
number
twenty
,
blushing
,
standing
up
,
and
curtseying
.
‘Sissy
is
not
a
name
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘Don’t
call
yourself
Sissy
.
Call
yourself
Cecilia.’
‘It’s
father
as
calls
me
Sissy
,
sir
,
’
returned
the
young
girl
in
a
trembling
voice
,
and
with
another
curtsey
.
‘Then
he
has
no
business
to
do
it
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘Tell
him
he
mustn’t
.
Cecilia
Jupe
.
Let
me
see
.
What
is
your
father
?
’
‘He
belongs
to
the
horse-riding
,
if
you
please
,
sir.’
Mr.
Gradgrind
frowned
,
and
waved
off
the
objectionable
calling
with
his
hand
.
‘We
don’t
want
to
know
anything
about
that
,
here
.
You
mustn’t
tell
us
about
that
,
here
.
Your
father
breaks
horses
,
don’t
he
?
’
‘If
you
please
,
sir
,
when
they
can
get
any
to
break
,
they
do
break
horses
in
the
ring
,
sir.’
‘You
mustn’t
tell
us
about
the
ring
,
here
.
Very
well
,
then
.
Describe
your
father
as
a
horsebreaker
.
He
doctors
sick
horses
,
I
dare
say
?
’
‘Oh
yes
,
sir.’
‘Very
well
,
then
.
He
is
a
veterinary
surgeon
,
a
farrier
,
and
horsebreaker
.
Give
me
your
definition
of
a
horse.’
(
Sissy
Jupe
thrown
into
the
greatest
alarm
by
this
demand
.
)
‘Girl
number
twenty
unable
to
define
a
horse
!
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
for
the
general
behoof
of
all
the
little
pitchers
.
‘Girl
number
twenty
possessed
of
no
facts
,
in
reference
to
one
of
the
commonest
of
animals
!
Some
boy’s
definition
of
a
horse
.
Bitzer
,
yours.’
The
square
finger
,
moving
here
and
there
,
lighted
suddenly
on
Bitzer
,
perhaps
because
he
chanced
to
sit
in
the
same
ray
of
sunlight
which
,
darting
in
at
one
of
the
bare
windows
of
the
intensely
white-washed
room
,
irradiated
Sissy
.
For
,
the
boys
and
girls
sat
on
the
face
of
the
inclined
plane
in
two
compact
bodies
,
divided
up
the
centre
by
a
narrow
interval
;
and
Sissy
,
being
at
the
corner
of
a
row
on
the
sunny
side
,
came
in
for
the
beginning
of
a
sunbeam
,
of
which
Bitzer
,
being
at
the
corner
of
a
row
on
the
other
side
,
a
few
rows
in
advance
,
caught
the
end
.
But
,
whereas
the
girl
was
so
dark-eyed
and
dark-haired
,
that
she
seemed
to
receive
a
deeper
and
more
lustrous
colour
from
the
sun
,
when
it
shone
upon
her
,
the
boy
was
so
light-eyed
and
light-haired
that
the
self-same
rays
appeared
to
draw
out
of
him
what
little
colour
he
ever
possessed
.
His
cold
eyes
would
hardly
have
been
eyes
,
but
for
the
short
ends
of
lashes
which
,
by
bringing
them
into
immediate
contrast
with
something
paler
than
themselves
,
expressed
their
form
.
His
short-cropped
hair
might
have
been
a
mere
continuation
of
the
sandy
freckles
on
his
forehead
and
face
.
His
skin
was
so
unwholesomely
deficient
in
the
natural
tinge
,
that
he
looked
as
though
,
if
he
were
cut
,
he
would
bleed
white
.
‘Bitzer
,
’
said
Thomas
Gradgrind
.
‘Your
definition
of
a
horse.’
‘Quadruped
.
Graminivorous
.
Forty
teeth
,
namely
twenty-four
grinders
,
four
eye-teeth
,
and
twelve
incisive
.
Sheds
coat
in
the
spring
;
in
marshy
countries
,
sheds
hoofs
,
too
.
Hoofs
hard
,
but
requiring
to
be
shod
with
iron
.
Age
known
by
marks
in
mouth.’
Thus
(
and
much
more
)
Bitzer
.
‘Now
girl
number
twenty
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘You
know
what
a
horse
is.’
She
curtseyed
again
,
and
would
have
blushed
deeper
,
if
she
could
have
blushed
deeper
than
she
had
blushed
all
this
time
.
Bitzer
,
after
rapidly
blinking
at
Thomas
Gradgrind
with
both
eyes
at
once
,
and
so
catching
the
light
upon
his
quivering
ends
of
lashes
that
they
looked
like
the
antennæ
of
busy
insects
,
put
his
knuckles
to
his
freckled
forehead
,
and
sat
down
again
.
The
third
gentleman
now
stepped
forth
.
A
mighty
man
at
cutting
and
drying
,
he
was
;
a
government
officer
;
in
his
way
(
and
in
most
other
people’s
too
)
,
a
professed
pugilist
;
always
in
training
,
always
with
a
system
to
force
down
the
general
throat
like
a
bolus
,
always
to
be
heard
of
at
the
bar
of
his
little
Public-office
,
ready
to
fight
all
England
.
To
continue
in
fistic
phraseology
,
he
had
a
genius
for
coming
up
to
the
scratch
,
wherever
and
whatever
it
was
,
and
proving
himself
an
ugly
customer
.
He
would
go
in
and
damage
any
subject
whatever
with
his
right
,
follow
up
with
his
left
,
stop
,
exchange
,
counter
,
bore
his
opponent
(
he
always
fought
All
England
)
to
the
ropes
,
and
fall
upon
him
neatly
.
He
was
certain
to
knock
the
wind
out
of
common
sense
,
and
render
that
unlucky
adversary
deaf
to
the
call
of
time
.
And
he
had
it
in
charge
from
high
authority
to
bring
about
the
great
public-office
Millennium
,
when
Commissioners
should
reign
upon
earth
.
‘Very
well
,
’
said
this
gentleman
,
briskly
smiling
,
and
folding
his
arms
.
‘That’s
a
horse
.
Now
,
let
me
ask
you
girls
and
boys
,
Would
you
paper
a
room
with
representations
of
horses
?
’
After
a
pause
,
one
half
of
the
children
cried
in
chorus
,
‘Yes
,
sir
!
’
Upon
which
the
other
half
,
seeing
in
the
gentleman’s
face
that
Yes
was
wrong
,
cried
out
in
chorus
,
‘No
,
sir
!
’
—
as
the
custom
is
,
in
these
examinations
.
‘Of
course
,
No.
Why
wouldn’t
you
?
’
A
pause
.
One
corpulent
slow
boy
,
with
a
wheezy
manner
of
breathing
,
ventured
the
answer
,
Because
he
wouldn’t
paper
a
room
at
all
,
but
would
paint
it
.
‘You
must
paper
it
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
rather
warmly
.
‘You
must
paper
it
,
’
said
Thomas
Gradgrind
,
‘whether
you
like
it
or
not
.
Don’t
tell
us
you
wouldn’t
paper
it
.
What
do
you
mean
,
boy
?
’
‘I’ll
explain
to
you
,
then
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
after
another
and
a
dismal
pause
,
‘why
you
wouldn’t
paper
a
room
with
representations
of
horses
.
Do
you
ever
see
horses
walking
up
and
down
the
sides
of
rooms
in
reality
—
in
fact
?
Do
you
?
’
‘Yes
,
sir
!
’
from
one
half
.
‘No
,
sir
!
’
from
the
other
.
‘Of
course
no
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
with
an
indignant
look
at
the
wrong
half
.
‘Why
,
then
,
you
are
not
to
see
anywhere
,
what
you
don’t
see
in
fact
;
you
are
not
to
have
anywhere
,
what
you
don’t
have
in
fact
.
What
is
called
Taste
,
is
only
another
name
for
Fact.’
Thomas
Gradgrind
nodded
his
approbation
.
‘This
is
a
new
principle
,
a
discovery
,
a
great
discovery
,
’
said
the
gentleman
.
‘Now
,
I’ll
try
you
again
.
Suppose
you
were
going
to
carpet
a
room
.
Would
you
use
a
carpet
having
a
representation
of
flowers
upon
it
?
’
There
being
a
general
conviction
by
this
time
that
‘No
,
sir
!
’
was
always
the
right
answer
to
this
gentleman
,
the
chorus
of
No
was
very
strong
.
Only
a
few
feeble
stragglers
said
Yes
:
among
them
Sissy
Jupe
.
‘Girl
number
twenty
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
smiling
in
the
calm
strength
of
knowledge
.
Sissy
blushed
,
and
stood
up
.
‘So
you
would
carpet
your
room
—
or
your
husband’s
room
,
if
you
were
a
grown
woman
,
and
had
a
husband
—
with
representations
of
flowers
,
would
you
?
’
said
the
gentleman
.
‘Why
would
you
?
’
‘If
you
please
,
sir
,
I
am
very
fond
of
flowers
,
’
returned
the
girl
.
‘And
is
that
why
you
would
put
tables
and
chairs
upon
them
,
and
have
people
walking
over
them
with
heavy
boots
?
’
‘It
wouldn’t
hurt
them
,
sir
.
They
wouldn’t
crush
and
wither
,
if
you
please
,
sir
.
They
would
be
the
pictures
of
what
was
very
pretty
and
pleasant
,
and
I
would
fancy
—
’
‘Ay
,
ay
,
ay
!
But
you
mustn’t
fancy
,
’
cried
the
gentleman
,
quite
elated
by
coming
so
happily
to
his
point
.
‘That’s
it
!
You
are
never
to
fancy.’
‘You
are
not
,
Cecilia
Jupe
,
’
Thomas
Gradgrind
solemnly
repeated
,
‘to
do
anything
of
that
kind.’
‘Fact
,
fact
,
fact
!
’
said
the
gentleman
.
And
‘Fact
,
fact
,
fact
!
’
repeated
Thomas
Gradgrind
.
‘You
are
to
be
in
all
things
regulated
and
governed
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
‘by
fact
.
We
hope
to
have
,
before
long
,
a
board
of
fact
,
composed
of
commissioners
of
fact
,
who
will
force
the
people
to
be
a
people
of
fact
,
and
of
nothing
but
fact
.
You
must
discard
the
word
Fancy
altogether
.
You
have
nothing
to
do
with
it
.
You
are
not
to
have
,
in
any
object
of
use
or
ornament
,
what
would
be
a
contradiction
in
fact
.
You
don’t
walk
upon
flowers
in
fact
;
you
cannot
be
allowed
to
walk
upon
flowers
in
carpets
.
You
don’t
find
that
foreign
birds
and
butterflies
come
and
perch
upon
your
crockery
;
you
cannot
be
permitted
to
paint
foreign
birds
and
butterflies
upon
your
crockery
.
You
never
meet
with
quadrupeds
going
up
and
down
walls
;
you
must
not
have
quadrupeds
represented
upon
walls
.
You
must
use
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
‘for
all
these
purposes
,
combinations
and
modifications
(
in
primary
colours
)
of
mathematical
figures
which
are
susceptible
of
proof
and
demonstration
.
This
is
the
new
discovery
.
This
is
fact
.
This
is
taste.’
The
girl
curtseyed
,
and
sat
down
.
She
was
very
young
,
and
she
looked
as
if
she
were
frightened
by
the
matter-of-fact
prospect
the
world
afforded
.
‘Now
,
if
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
,
’
said
the
gentleman
,
‘will
proceed
to
give
his
first
lesson
here
,
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
I
shall
be
happy
,
at
your
request
,
to
observe
his
mode
of
procedure.’
Mr.
Gradgrind
was
much
obliged
.
‘Mr
.
M’Choakumchild
,
we
only
wait
for
you.’
So
,
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
began
in
his
best
manner
.
He
and
some
one
hundred
and
forty
other
schoolmasters
,
had
been
lately
turned
at
the
same
time
,
in
the
same
factory
,
on
the
same
principles
,
like
so
many
pianoforte
legs
.
He
had
been
put
through
an
immense
variety
of
paces
,
and
had
answered
volumes
of
head-breaking
questions
.
Orthography
,
etymology
,
syntax
,
and
prosody
,
biography
,
astronomy
,
geography
,
and
general
cosmography
,
the
sciences
of
compound
proportion
,
algebra
,
land-surveying
and
levelling
,
vocal
music
,
and
drawing
from
models
,
were
all
at
the
ends
of
his
ten
chilled
fingers
.
He
had
worked
his
stony
way
into
Her
Majesty’s
most
Honourable
Privy
Council’s
Schedule
B
,
and
had
taken
the
bloom
off
the
higher
branches
of
mathematics
and
physical
science
,
French
,
German
,
Latin
,
and
Greek
.
He
knew
all
about
all
the
Water
Sheds
of
all
the
world
(
whatever
they
are
)
,
and
all
the
histories
of
all
the
peoples
,
and
all
the
names
of
all
the
rivers
and
mountains
,
and
all
the
productions
,
manners
,
and
customs
of
all
the
countries
,
and
all
their
boundaries
and
bearings
on
the
two
and
thirty
points
of
the
compass
.
Ah
,
rather
overdone
,
M’Choakumchild
.
If
he
had
only
learnt
a
little
less
,
how
infinitely
better
he
might
have
taught
much
more
!
He
went
to
work
in
this
preparatory
lesson
,
not
unlike
Morgiana
in
the
Forty
Thieves
:
looking
into
all
the
vessels
ranged
before
him
,
one
after
another
,
to
see
what
they
contained
.
Say
,
good
M’Choakumchild
.
When
from
thy
boiling
store
,
thou
shalt
fill
each
jar
brim
full
by-and-by
,
dost
thou
think
that
thou
wilt
always
kill
outright
the
robber
Fancy
lurking
within
—
or
sometimes
only
maim
him
and
distort
him
!
CHAPTER
III
A
LOOPHOLE
Mr.
Gradgrind
walked
homeward
from
the
school
,
in
a
state
of
considerable
satisfaction
.
It
was
his
school
,
and
he
intended
it
to
be
a
model
.
He
intended
every
child
in
it
to
be
a
model
—
just
as
the
young
Gradgrinds
were
all
models
.
There
were
five
young
Gradgrinds
,
and
they
were
models
every
one
.
They
had
been
lectured
at
,
from
their
tenderest
years
;
coursed
,
like
little
hares
.
Almost
as
soon
as
they
could
run
alone
,
they
had
been
made
to
run
to
the
lecture-room
.
The
first
object
with
which
they
had
an
association
,
or
of
which
they
had
a
remembrance
,
was
a
large
black
board
with
a
dry
Ogre
chalking
ghastly
white
figures
on
it
.
Not
that
they
knew
,
by
name
or
nature
,
anything
about
an
Ogre
Fact
forbid
!
I
only
use
the
word
to
express
a
monster
in
a
lecturing
castle
,
with
Heaven
knows
how
many
heads
manipulated
into
one
,
taking
childhood
captive
,
and
dragging
it
into
gloomy
statistical
dens
by
the
hair
.
No
little
Gradgrind
had
ever
seen
a
face
in
the
moon
;
it
was
up
in
the
moon
before
it
could
speak
distinctly
.
No
little
Gradgrind
had
ever
learnt
the
silly
jingle
,
Twinkle
,
twinkle
,
little
star
;
how
I
wonder
what
you
are
!
No
little
Gradgrind
had
ever
known
wonder
on
the
subject
,
each
little
Gradgrind
having
at
five
years
old
dissected
the
Great
Bear
like
a
Professor
Owen
,
and
driven
Charles’s
Wain
like
a
locomotive
engine-driver
.
No
little
Gradgrind
had
ever
associated
a
cow
in
a
field
with
that
famous
cow
with
the
crumpled
horn
who
tossed
the
dog
who
worried
the
cat
who
killed
the
rat
who
ate
the
malt
,
or
with
that
yet
more
famous
cow
who
swallowed
Tom
Thumb
:
it
had
never
heard
of
those
celebrities
,
and
had
only
been
introduced
to
a
cow
as
a
graminivorous
ruminating
quadruped
with
several
stomachs
.
To
his
matter-of-fact
home
,
which
was
called
Stone
Lodge
,
Mr.
Gradgrind
directed
his
steps
.
He
had
virtually
retired
from
the
wholesale
hardware
trade
before
he
built
Stone
Lodge
,
and
was
now
looking
about
for
a
suitable
opportunity
of
making
an
arithmetical
figure
in
Parliament
.
Stone
Lodge
was
situated
on
a
moor
within
a
mile
or
two
of
a
great
town
—
called
Coketown
in
the
present
faithful
guide-book
.
A
very
regular
feature
on
the
face
of
the
country
,
Stone
Lodge
was
.
Not
the
least
disguise
toned
down
or
shaded
off
that
uncompromising
fact
in
the
landscape
.
A
great
square
house
,
with
a
heavy
portico
darkening
the
principal
windows
,
as
its
master’s
heavy
brows
overshadowed
his
eyes
.
A
calculated
,
cast
up
,
balanced
,
and
proved
house
.
Six
windows
on
this
side
of
the
door
,
six
on
that
side
;
a
total
of
twelve
in
this
wing
,
a
total
of
twelve
in
the
other
wing
;
four-and-twenty
carried
over
to
the
back
wings
.
A
lawn
and
garden
and
an
infant
avenue
,
all
ruled
straight
like
a
botanical
account-book
.
Gas
and
ventilation
,
drainage
and
water-service
,
all
of
the
primest
quality
.
Iron
clamps
and
girders
,
fire-proof
from
top
to
bottom
;
mechanical
lifts
for
the
housemaids
,
with
all
their
brushes
and
brooms
;
everything
that
heart
could
desire
.
Everything
?
Well
,
I
suppose
so
.
The
little
Gradgrinds
had
cabinets
in
various
departments
of
science
too
.
They
had
a
little
conchological
cabinet
,
and
a
little
metallurgical
cabinet
,
and
a
little
mineralogical
cabinet
;
and
the
specimens
were
all
arranged
and
labelled
,
and
the
bits
of
stone
and
ore
looked
as
though
they
might
have
been
broken
from
the
parent
substances
by
those
tremendously
hard
instruments
their
own
names
;
and
,
to
paraphrase
the
idle
legend
of
Peter
Piper
,
who
had
never
found
his
way
into
their
nursery
,
If
the
greedy
little
Gradgrinds
grasped
at
more
than
this
,
what
was
it
for
good
gracious
goodness’
sake
,
that
the
greedy
little
Gradgrinds
grasped
it
!
Their
father
walked
on
in
a
hopeful
and
satisfied
frame
of
mind
.
He
was
an
affectionate
father
,
after
his
manner
;
but
he
would
probably
have
described
himself
(
if
he
had
been
put
,
like
Sissy
Jupe
,
upon
a
definition
)
as
‘an
eminently
practical’
father
.
He
had
a
particular
pride
in
the
phrase
eminently
practical
,
which
was
considered
to
have
a
special
application
to
him
.
Whatsoever
the
public
meeting
held
in
Coketown
,
and
whatsoever
the
subject
of
such
meeting
,
some
Coketowner
was
sure
to
seize
the
occasion
of
alluding
to
his
eminently
practical
friend
Gradgrind
.
This
always
pleased
the
eminently
practical
friend
.
He
knew
it
to
be
his
due
,
but
his
due
was
acceptable
.
He
had
reached
the
neutral
ground
upon
the
outskirts
of
the
town
,
which
was
neither
town
nor
country
,
and
yet
was
either
spoiled
,
when
his
ears
were
invaded
by
the
sound
of
music
.
The
clashing
and
banging
band
attached
to
the
horse-riding
establishment
,
which
had
there
set
up
its
rest
in
a
wooden
pavilion
,
was
in
full
bray
.
A
flag
,
floating
from
the
summit
of
the
temple
,
proclaimed
to
mankind
that
it
was
‘Sleary’s
Horse-riding’
which
claimed
their
suffrages
.
Sleary
himself
,
a
stout
modern
statue
with
a
money-box
at
its
elbow
,
in
an
ecclesiastical
niche
of
early
Gothic
architecture
,
took
the
money
.
Miss
Josephine
Sleary
,
as
some
very
long
and
very
narrow
strips
of
printed
bill
announced
,
was
then
inaugurating
the
entertainments
with
her
graceful
equestrian
Tyrolean
flower-act
.
Among
the
other
pleasing
but
always
strictly
moral
wonders
which
must
be
seen
to
be
believed
,
Signor
Jupe
was
that
afternoon
to
‘elucidate
the
diverting
accomplishments
of
his
highly
trained
performing
dog
Merrylegs.’
He
was
also
to
exhibit
‘his
astounding
feat
of
throwing
seventy-five
hundred-weight
in
rapid
succession
backhanded
over
his
head
,
thus
forming
a
fountain
of
solid
iron
in
mid-air
,
a
feat
never
before
attempted
in
this
or
any
other
country
,
and
which
having
elicited
such
rapturous
plaudits
from
enthusiastic
throngs
it
cannot
be
withdrawn.’
The
same
Signor
Jupe
was
to
‘enliven
the
varied
performances
at
frequent
intervals
with
his
chaste
Shaksperean
quips
and
retorts.’
Lastly
,
he
was
to
wind
them
up
by
appearing
in
his
favourite
character
of
Mr.
William
Button
,
of
Tooley
Street
,
in
‘the
highly
novel
and
laughable
hippo-comedietta
of
The
Tailor’s
Journey
to
Brentford.’
Thomas
Gradgrind
took
no
heed
of
these
trivialities
of
course
,
but
passed
on
as
a
practical
man
ought
to
pass
on
,
either
brushing
the
noisy
insects
from
his
thoughts
,
or
consigning
them
to
the
House
of
Correction
.
But
,
the
turning
of
the
road
took
him
by
the
back
of
the
booth
,
and
at
the
back
of
the
booth
a
number
of
children
were
congregated
in
a
number
of
stealthy
attitudes
,
striving
to
peep
in
at
the
hidden
glories
of
the
place
.
This
brought
him
to
a
stop
.
‘Now
,
to
think
of
these
vagabonds
,
’
said
he
,
‘attracting
the
young
rabble
from
a
model
school.’
A
space
of
stunted
grass
and
dry
rubbish
being
between
him
and
the
young
rabble
,
he
took
his
eyeglass
out
of
his
waistcoat
to
look
for
any
child
he
knew
by
name
,
and
might
order
off
.
Phenomenon
almost
incredible
though
distinctly
seen
,
what
did
he
then
behold
but
his
own
metallurgical
Louisa
,
peeping
with
all
her
might
through
a
hole
in
a
deal
board
,
and
his
own
mathematical
Thomas
abasing
himself
on
the
ground
to
catch
but
a
hoof
of
the
graceful
equestrian
Tyrolean
flower-act
!
Dumb
with
amazement
,
Mr.
Gradgrind
crossed
to
the
spot
where
his
family
was
thus
disgraced
,
laid
his
hand
upon
each
erring
child
,
and
said
:
‘Louisa
!
!
Thomas
!
!
’
Both
rose
,
red
and
disconcerted
.
But
,
Louisa
looked
at
her
father
with
more
boldness
than
Thomas
did
.
Indeed
,
Thomas
did
not
look
at
him
,
but
gave
himself
up
to
be
taken
home
like
a
machine
.
‘In
the
name
of
wonder
,
idleness
,
and
folly
!
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
leading
each
away
by
a
hand
;
‘what
do
you
do
here
?
’
‘Wanted
to
see
what
it
was
like
,
’
returned
Louisa
,
shortly
.
‘What
it
was
like
?
’
‘Yes
,
father.’
There
was
an
air
of
jaded
sullenness
in
them
both
,
and
particularly
in
the
girl
:
yet
,
struggling
through
the
dissatisfaction
of
her
face
,
there
was
a
light
with
nothing
to
rest
upon
,
a
fire
with
nothing
to
burn
,
a
starved
imagination
keeping
life
in
itself
somehow
,
which
brightened
its
expression
.
Not
with
the
brightness
natural
to
cheerful
youth
,
but
with
uncertain
,
eager
,
doubtful
flashes
,
which
had
something
painful
in
them
,
analogous
to
the
changes
on
a
blind
face
groping
its
way
.
She
was
a
child
now
,
of
fifteen
or
sixteen
;
but
at
no
distant
day
would
seem
to
become
a
woman
all
at
once
.
Her
father
thought
so
as
he
looked
at
her
.
She
was
pretty
.
Would
have
been
self-willed
(
he
thought
in
his
eminently
practical
way
)
but
for
her
bringing-up
.
‘Thomas
,
though
I
have
the
fact
before
me
,
I
find
it
difficult
to
believe
that
you
,
with
your
education
and
resources
,
should
have
brought
your
sister
to
a
scene
like
this.’
‘I
brought
him
,
father
,
’
said
Louisa
,
quickly
.
‘I
asked
him
to
come.’
‘I
am
sorry
to
hear
it
.
I
am
very
sorry
indeed
to
hear
it
.
It
makes
Thomas
no
better
,
and
it
makes
you
worse
,
Louisa.’
She
looked
at
her
father
again
,
but
no
tear
fell
down
her
cheek
.
‘You
!
Thomas
and
you
,
to
whom
the
circle
of
the
sciences
is
open
;
Thomas
and
you
,
who
may
be
said
to
be
replete
with
facts
;
Thomas
and
you
,
who
have
been
trained
to
mathematical
exactness
;
Thomas
and
you
,
here
!
’
cried
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘In
this
degraded
position
!
I
am
amazed.’
‘I
was
tired
,
father
.
I
have
been
tired
a
long
time
,
’
said
Louisa
.
‘Tired
?
Of
what
?
’
asked
the
astonished
father
.
‘I
don’t
know
of
what
—
of
everything
,
I
think.’
‘Say
not
another
word
,
’
returned
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘You
are
childish
.
I
will
hear
no
more.’
He
did
not
speak
again
until
they
had
walked
some
half-a-mile
in
silence
,
when
he
gravely
broke
out
with
:
‘What
would
your
best
friends
say
,
Louisa
?
Do
you
attach
no
value
to
their
good
opinion
?
What
would
Mr.
Bounderby
say
?
’
At
the
mention
of
this
name
,
his
daughter
stole
a
look
at
him
,
remarkable
for
its
intense
and
searching
character
.
He
saw
nothing
of
it
,
for
before
he
looked
at
her
,
she
had
again
cast
down
her
eyes
!
‘What
,
’
he
repeated
presently
,
‘would
Mr.
Bounderby
say
?
’
All
the
way
to
Stone
Lodge
,
as
with
grave
indignation
he
led
the
two
delinquents
home
,
he
repeated
at
intervals
‘What
would
Mr.
Bounderby
say
?
’
—
as
if
Mr.
Bounderby
had
been
Mrs.
Grundy
.
CHAPTER
IV
MR.
BOUNDERBY
Not
being
Mrs.
Grundy
,
who
was
Mr.
Bounderby
?
Why
,
Mr.
Bounderby
was
as
near
being
Mr.
Gradgrind’s
bosom
friend
,
as
a
man
perfectly
devoid
of
sentiment
can
approach
that
spiritual
relationship
towards
another
man
perfectly
devoid
of
sentiment
.
So
near
was
Mr.
Bounderby
—
or
,
if
the
reader
should
prefer
it
,
so
far
off
.
He
was
a
rich
man
:
banker
,
merchant
,
manufacturer
,
and
what
not
.
A
big
,
loud
man
,
with
a
stare
,
and
a
metallic
laugh
.
A
man
made
out
of
a
coarse
material
,
which
seemed
to
have
been
stretched
to
make
so
much
of
him
.
A
man
with
a
great
puffed
head
and
forehead
,
swelled
veins
in
his
temples
,
and
such
a
strained
skin
to
his
face
that
it
seemed
to
hold
his
eyes
open
,
and
lift
his
eyebrows
up
.
A
man
with
a
pervading
appearance
on
him
of
being
inflated
like
a
balloon
,
and
ready
to
start
.
A
man
who
could
never
sufficiently
vaunt
himself
a
self-made
man
.
A
man
who
was
always
proclaiming
,
through
that
brassy
speaking-trumpet
of
a
voice
of
his
,
his
old
ignorance
and
his
old
poverty
.
A
man
who
was
the
Bully
of
humility
.
A
year
or
two
younger
than
his
eminently
practical
friend
,
Mr.
Bounderby
looked
older
;
his
seven
or
eight
and
forty
might
have
had
the
seven
or
eight
added
to
it
again
,
without
surprising
anybody
.
He
had
not
much
hair
.
One
might
have
fancied
he
had
talked
it
off
;
and
that
what
was
left
,
all
standing
up
in
disorder
,
was
in
that
condition
from
being
constantly
blown
about
by
his
windy
boastfulness
.
In
the
formal
drawing-room
of
Stone
Lodge
,
standing
on
the
hearthrug
,
warming
himself
before
the
fire
,
Mr.
Bounderby
delivered
some
observations
to
Mrs.
Gradgrind
on
the
circumstance
of
its
being
his
birthday
.
He
stood
before
the
fire
,
partly
because
it
was
a
cool
spring
afternoon
,
though
the
sun
shone
;
partly
because
the
shade
of
Stone
Lodge
was
always
haunted
by
the
ghost
of
damp
mortar
;
partly
because
he
thus
took
up
a
commanding
position
,
from
which
to
subdue
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
‘I
hadn’t
a
shoe
to
my
foot
.
As
to
a
stocking
,
I
didn’t
know
such
a
thing
by
name
.
I
passed
the
day
in
a
ditch
,
and
the
night
in
a
pigsty
.
That’s
the
way
I
spent
my
tenth
birthday
.
Not
that
a
ditch
was
new
to
me
,
for
I
was
born
in
a
ditch.’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
a
little
,
thin
,
white
,
pink-eyed
bundle
of
shawls
,
of
surpassing
feebleness
,
mental
and
bodily
;
who
was
always
taking
physic
without
any
effect
,
and
who
,
whenever
she
showed
a
symptom
of
coming
to
life
,
was
invariably
stunned
by
some
weighty
piece
of
fact
tumbling
on
her
;
Mrs.
Gradgrind
hoped
it
was
a
dry
ditch
?
‘No
!
As
wet
as
a
sop
.
A
foot
of
water
in
it
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘Enough
to
give
a
baby
cold
,
’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
considered
.
‘Cold
?
I
was
born
with
inflammation
of
the
lungs
,
and
of
everything
else
,
I
believe
,
that
was
capable
of
inflammation
,
’
returned
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘For
years
,
ma’am
,
I
was
one
of
the
most
miserable
little
wretches
ever
seen
.
I
was
so
sickly
,
that
I
was
always
moaning
and
groaning
.
I
was
so
ragged
and
dirty
,
that
you
wouldn’t
have
touched
me
with
a
pair
of
tongs.’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
faintly
looked
at
the
tongs
,
as
the
most
appropriate
thing
her
imbecility
could
think
of
doing
.
‘How
I
fought
through
it
,
I
don’t
know
,
’
said
Bounderby
.
‘I
was
determined
,
I
suppose
.
I
have
been
a
determined
character
in
later
life
,
and
I
suppose
I
was
then
.
Here
I
am
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
anyhow
,
and
nobody
to
thank
for
my
being
here
,
but
myself.’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
meekly
and
weakly
hoped
that
his
mother
—
‘
My
mother
?
Bolted
,
ma’am
!
’
said
Bounderby
.
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
stunned
as
usual
,
collapsed
and
gave
it
up
.
‘My
mother
left
me
to
my
grandmother
,
’
said
Bounderby
;
‘and
,
according
to
the
best
of
my
remembrance
,
my
grandmother
was
the
wickedest
and
the
worst
old
woman
that
ever
lived
.
If
I
got
a
little
pair
of
shoes
by
any
chance
,
she
would
take
’em
off
and
sell
’em
for
drink
.
Why
,
I
have
known
that
grandmother
of
mine
lie
in
her
bed
and
drink
her
four-teen
glasses
of
liquor
before
breakfast
!
’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
weakly
smiling
,
and
giving
no
other
sign
of
vitality
,
looked
(
as
she
always
did
)
like
an
indifferently
executed
transparency
of
a
small
female
figure
,
without
enough
light
behind
it
.
‘She
kept
a
chandler’s
shop
,
’
pursued
Bounderby
,
‘and
kept
me
in
an
egg-box
.
That
was
the
cot
of
my
infancy
;
an
old
egg-box
.
As
soon
as
I
was
big
enough
to
run
away
,
of
course
I
ran
away
.
Then
I
became
a
young
vagabond
;
and
instead
of
one
old
woman
knocking
me
about
and
starving
me
,
everybody
of
all
ages
knocked
me
about
and
starved
me
.
They
were
right
;
they
had
no
business
to
do
anything
else
.
I
was
a
nuisance
,
an
incumbrance
,
and
a
pest
.
I
know
that
very
well.’
His
pride
in
having
at
any
time
of
his
life
achieved
such
a
great
social
distinction
as
to
be
a
nuisance
,
an
incumbrance
,
and
a
pest
,
was
only
to
be
satisfied
by
three
sonorous
repetitions
of
the
boast
.
‘I
was
to
pull
through
it
,
I
suppose
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
Whether
I
was
to
do
it
or
not
,
ma’am
,
I
did
it
.
I
pulled
through
it
,
though
nobody
threw
me
out
a
rope
.
Vagabond
,
errand-boy
,
vagabond
,
labourer
,
porter
,
clerk
,
chief
manager
,
small
partner
,
Josiah
Bounderby
of
Coketown
.
Those
are
the
antecedents
,
and
the
culmination
.
Josiah
Bounderby
of
Coketown
learnt
his
letters
from
the
outsides
of
the
shops
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
and
was
first
able
to
tell
the
time
upon
a
dial-plate
,
from
studying
the
steeple
clock
of
St.
Giles’s
Church
,
London
,
under
the
direction
of
a
drunken
cripple
,
who
was
a
convicted
thief
,
and
an
incorrigible
vagrant
.
Tell
Josiah
Bounderby
of
Coketown
,
of
your
district
schools
and
your
model
schools
,
and
your
training
schools
,
and
your
whole
kettle-of-fish
of
schools
;
and
Josiah
Bounderby
of
Coketown
,
tells
you
plainly
,
all
right
,
all
correct
—
he
hadn’t
such
advantages
—
but
let
us
have
hard-headed
,
solid-fisted
people
—
the
education
that
made
him
won’t
do
for
everybody
,
he
knows
well
—
such
and
such
his
education
was
,
however
,
and
you
may
force
him
to
swallow
boiling
fat
,
but
you
shall
never
force
him
to
suppress
the
facts
of
his
life.’
Being
heated
when
he
arrived
at
this
climax
,
Josiah
Bounderby
of
Coketown
stopped
.
He
stopped
just
as
his
eminently
practical
friend
,
still
accompanied
by
the
two
young
culprits
,
entered
the
room
.
His
eminently
practical
friend
,
on
seeing
him
,
stopped
also
,
and
gave
Louisa
a
reproachful
look
that
plainly
said
,
‘Behold
your
Bounderby
!
’
‘Well
!
’
blustered
Mr.
Bounderby
,
‘what’s
the
matter
?
What
is
young
Thomas
in
the
dumps
about
?
’
He
spoke
of
young
Thomas
,
but
he
looked
at
Louisa
.
‘We
were
peeping
at
the
circus
,
’
muttered
Louisa
,
haughtily
,
without
lifting
up
her
eyes
,
‘and
father
caught
us.’
‘And
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
’
said
her
husband
in
a
lofty
manner
,
‘I
should
as
soon
have
expected
to
find
my
children
reading
poetry.’
‘Dear
me
,
’
whimpered
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
‘How
can
you
,
Louisa
and
Thomas
!
I
wonder
at
you
.
I
declare
you’re
enough
to
make
one
regret
ever
having
had
a
family
at
all
.
I
have
a
great
mind
to
say
I
wish
I
hadn’t
.
Then
what
would
you
have
done
,
I
should
like
to
know
?
’
Mr.
Gradgrind
did
not
seem
favourably
impressed
by
these
cogent
remarks
.
He
frowned
impatiently
.
‘As
if
,
with
my
head
in
its
present
throbbing
state
,
you
couldn’t
go
and
look
at
the
shells
and
minerals
and
things
provided
for
you
,
instead
of
circuses
!
’
said
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
‘You
know
,
as
well
as
I
do
,
no
young
people
have
circus
masters
,
or
keep
circuses
in
cabinets
,
or
attend
lectures
about
circuses
.
What
can
you
possibly
want
to
know
of
circuses
then
?
I
am
sure
you
have
enough
to
do
,
if
that’s
what
you
want
.
With
my
head
in
its
present
state
,
I
couldn’t
remember
the
mere
names
of
half
the
facts
you
have
got
to
attend
to.’
‘That’s
the
reason
!
’
pouted
Louisa
.
‘Don’t
tell
me
that’s
the
reason
,
because
it
can’t
be
nothing
of
the
sort
,
’
said
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
‘Go
and
be
somethingological
directly.’
Mrs.
Gradgrind
was
not
a
scientific
character
,
and
usually
dismissed
her
children
to
their
studies
with
this
general
injunction
to
choose
their
pursuit
.
In
truth
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind’s
stock
of
facts
in
general
was
woefully
defective
;
but
Mr.
Gradgrind
in
raising
her
to
her
high
matrimonial
position
,
had
been
influenced
by
two
reasons
.
Firstly
,
she
was
most
satisfactory
as
a
question
of
figures
;
and
,
secondly
,
she
had
‘no
nonsense’
about
her
.
By
nonsense
he
meant
fancy
;
and
truly
it
is
probable
she
was
as
free
from
any
alloy
of
that
nature
,
as
any
human
being
not
arrived
at
the
perfection
of
an
absolute
idiot
,
ever
was
.
The
simple
circumstance
of
being
left
alone
with
her
husband
and
Mr.
Bounderby
,
was
sufficient
to
stun
this
admirable
lady
again
without
collision
between
herself
and
any
other
fact
.
So
,
she
once
more
died
away
,
and
nobody
minded
her
.
‘Bounderby
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
drawing
a
chair
to
the
fireside
,
‘you
are
always
so
interested
in
my
young
people
—
particularly
in
Louisa
—
that
I
make
no
apology
for
saying
to
you
,
I
am
very
much
vexed
by
this
discovery
.
I
have
systematically
devoted
myself
(
as
you
know
)
to
the
education
of
the
reason
of
my
family
.
The
reason
is
(
as
you
know
)
the
only
faculty
to
which
education
should
be
addressed
.
‘And
yet
,
Bounderby
,
it
would
appear
from
this
unexpected
circumstance
of
to-day
,
though
in
itself
a
trifling
one
,
as
if
something
had
crept
into
Thomas’s
and
Louisa’s
minds
which
is
—
or
rather
,
which
is
not
—
I
don’t
know
that
I
can
express
myself
better
than
by
saying
—
which
has
never
been
intended
to
be
developed
,
and
in
which
their
reason
has
no
part.’
‘There
certainly
is
no
reason
in
looking
with
interest
at
a
parcel
of
vagabonds
,
’
returned
Bounderby
.
‘When
I
was
a
vagabond
myself
,
nobody
looked
with
any
interest
at
me
;
I
know
that.’
‘Then
comes
the
question
;
said
the
eminently
practical
father
,
with
his
eyes
on
the
fire
,
‘in
what
has
this
vulgar
curiosity
its
rise
?
’
‘I’ll
tell
you
in
what
.
In
idle
imagination.’
‘I
hope
not
,
’
said
the
eminently
practical
;
‘I
confess
,
however
,
that
the
misgiving
has
crossed
me
on
my
way
home.’
‘In
idle
imagination
,
Gradgrind
,
’
repeated
Bounderby
.
‘A
very
bad
thing
for
anybody
,
but
a
cursed
bad
thing
for
a
girl
like
Louisa
.
I
should
ask
Mrs.
Gradgrind’s
pardon
for
strong
expressions
,
but
that
she
knows
very
well
I
am
not
a
refined
character
.
Whoever
expects
refinement
in
me
will
be
disappointed
.
I
hadn’t
a
refined
bringing
up.’
‘Whether
,
’
said
Gradgrind
,
pondering
with
his
hands
in
his
pockets
,
and
his
cavernous
eyes
on
the
fire
,
‘whether
any
instructor
or
servant
can
have
suggested
anything
?
Whether
Louisa
or
Thomas
can
have
been
reading
anything
?
Whether
,
in
spite
of
all
precautions
,
any
idle
story-book
can
have
got
into
the
house
?
Because
,
in
minds
that
have
been
practically
formed
by
rule
and
line
,
from
the
cradle
upwards
,
this
is
so
curious
,
so
incomprehensible.’
‘Stop
a
bit
!
’
cried
Bounderby
,
who
all
this
time
had
been
standing
,
as
before
,
on
the
hearth
,
bursting
at
the
very
furniture
of
the
room
with
explosive
humility
.
‘You
have
one
of
those
strollers’
children
in
the
school.’
‘Cecilia
Jupe
,
by
name
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
with
something
of
a
stricken
look
at
his
friend
.
‘Now
,
stop
a
bit
!
’
cried
Bounderby
again
.
‘How
did
she
come
there
?
’
‘Why
,
the
fact
is
,
I
saw
the
girl
myself
,
for
the
first
time
,
only
just
now
.
She
specially
applied
here
at
the
house
to
be
admitted
,
as
not
regularly
belonging
to
our
town
,
and
—
yes
,
you
are
right
,
Bounderby
,
you
are
right.’
‘Now
,
stop
a
bit
!
’
cried
Bounderby
,
once
more
.
‘Louisa
saw
her
when
she
came
?
’
‘Louisa
certainly
did
see
her
,
for
she
mentioned
the
application
to
me
.
But
Louisa
saw
her
,
I
have
no
doubt
,
in
Mrs.
Gradgrind’s
presence.’
‘Pray
,
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
’
said
Bounderby
,
‘what
passed
?
’
‘Oh
,
my
poor
health
!
’
returned
Mrs.
Gradgrind
.
‘The
girl
wanted
to
come
to
the
school
,
and
Mr.
Gradgrind
wanted
girls
to
come
to
the
school
,
and
Louisa
and
Thomas
both
said
that
the
girl
wanted
to
come
,
and
that
Mr.
Gradgrind
wanted
girls
to
come
,
and
how
was
it
possible
to
contradict
them
when
such
was
the
fact
!
’
‘Now
I
tell
you
what
,
Gradgrind
!
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘Turn
this
girl
to
the
right
about
,
and
there’s
an
end
of
it.’
‘I
am
much
of
your
opinion.’
‘Do
it
at
once
,
’
said
Bounderby
,
‘has
always
been
my
motto
from
a
child
.
When
I
thought
I
would
run
away
from
my
egg-box
and
my
grandmother
,
I
did
it
at
once
.
Do
you
the
same
.
Do
this
at
once
!
’
‘Are
you
walking
?
’
asked
his
friend
.
‘I
have
the
father’s
address
.
Perhaps
you
would
not
mind
walking
to
town
with
me
?
’
‘Not
the
least
in
the
world
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
‘as
long
as
you
do
it
at
once
!
’
So
,
Mr.
Bounderby
threw
on
his
hat
—
he
always
threw
it
on
,
as
expressing
a
man
who
had
been
far
too
busily
employed
in
making
himself
,
to
acquire
any
fashion
of
wearing
his
hat
—
and
with
his
hands
in
his
pockets
,
sauntered
out
into
the
hall
.
‘I
never
wear
gloves
,
’
it
was
his
custom
to
say
.
‘I
didn’t
climb
up
the
ladder
in
them
.
—
Shouldn’t
be
so
high
up
,
if
I
had.’
Being
left
to
saunter
in
the
hall
a
minute
or
two
while
Mr.
Gradgrind
went
up-stairs
for
the
address
,
he
opened
the
door
of
the
children’s
study
and
looked
into
that
serene
floor-clothed
apartment
,
which
,
notwithstanding
its
book-cases
and
its
cabinets
and
its
variety
of
learned
and
philosophical
appliances
,
had
much
of
the
genial
aspect
of
a
room
devoted
to
hair-cutting
.
Louisa
languidly
leaned
upon
the
window
looking
out
,
without
looking
at
anything
,
while
young
Thomas
stood
sniffing
revengefully
at
the
fire
.
Adam
Smith
and
Malthus
,
two
younger
Gradgrinds
,
were
out
at
lecture
in
custody
;
and
little
Jane
,
after
manufacturing
a
good
deal
of
moist
pipe-clay
on
her
face
with
slate-pencil
and
tears
,
had
fallen
asleep
over
vulgar
fractions
.
‘It’s
all
right
now
,
Louisa
:
it’s
all
right
,
young
Thomas
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
;
‘you
won’t
do
so
any
more
.
I’ll
answer
for
it’s
being
all
over
with
father
.
Well
,
Louisa
,
that’s
worth
a
kiss
,
isn’t
it
?
’
‘You
can
take
one
,
Mr.
Bounderby
,
’
returned
Louisa
,
when
she
had
coldly
paused
,
and
slowly
walked
across
the
room
,
and
ungraciously
raised
her
cheek
towards
him
,
with
her
face
turned
away
.
‘Always
my
pet
;
ain’t
you
,
Louisa
?
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘Good-bye
,
Louisa
!
’
He
went
his
way
,
but
she
stood
on
the
same
spot
,
rubbing
the
cheek
he
had
kissed
,
with
her
handkerchief
,
until
it
was
burning
red
.
She
was
still
doing
this
,
five
minutes
afterwards
.
‘What
are
you
about
,
Loo
?
’
her
brother
sulkily
remonstrated
.
‘You’ll
rub
a
hole
in
your
face.’
‘You
may
cut
the
piece
out
with
your
penknife
if
you
like
,
Tom
.
I
wouldn’t
cry
!
’
CHAPTER
V
THE
KEYNOTE
Coketown
,
to
which
Messrs.
Bounderby
and
Gradgrind
now
walked
,
was
a
triumph
of
fact
;
it
had
no
greater
taint
of
fancy
in
it
than
Mrs.
Gradgrind
herself
.
Let
us
strike
the
key-note
,
Coketown
,
before
pursuing
our
tune
.
It
was
a
town
of
red
brick
,
or
of
brick
that
would
have
been
red
if
the
smoke
and
ashes
had
allowed
it
;
but
as
matters
stood
,
it
was
a
town
of
unnatural
red
and
black
like
the
painted
face
of
a
savage
.
It
was
a
town
of
machinery
and
tall
chimneys
,
out
of
which
interminable
serpents
of
smoke
trailed
themselves
for
ever
and
ever
,
and
never
got
uncoiled
.
It
had
a
black
canal
in
it
,
and
a
river
that
ran
purple
with
ill-smelling
dye
,
and
vast
piles
of
building
full
of
windows
where
there
was
a
rattling
and
a
trembling
all
day
long
,
and
where
the
piston
of
the
steam-engine
worked
monotonously
up
and
down
,
like
the
head
of
an
elephant
in
a
state
of
melancholy
madness
.
It
contained
several
large
streets
all
very
like
one
another
,
and
many
small
streets
still
more
like
one
another
,
inhabited
by
people
equally
like
one
another
,
who
all
went
in
and
out
at
the
same
hours
,
with
the
same
sound
upon
the
same
pavements
,
to
do
the
same
work
,
and
to
whom
every
day
was
the
same
as
yesterday
and
to-morrow
,
and
every
year
the
counterpart
of
the
last
and
the
next
.
These
attributes
of
Coketown
were
in
the
main
inseparable
from
the
work
by
which
it
was
sustained
;
against
them
were
to
be
set
off
,
comforts
of
life
which
found
their
way
all
over
the
world
,
and
elegancies
of
life
which
made
,
we
will
not
ask
how
much
of
the
fine
lady
,
who
could
scarcely
bear
to
hear
the
place
mentioned
.
The
rest
of
its
features
were
voluntary
,
and
they
were
these
.
You
saw
nothing
in
Coketown
but
what
was
severely
workful
.
If
the
members
of
a
religious
persuasion
built
a
chapel
there
—
as
the
members
of
eighteen
religious
persuasions
had
done
—
they
made
it
a
pious
warehouse
of
red
brick
,
with
sometimes
(
but
this
is
only
in
highly
ornamental
examples
)
a
bell
in
a
birdcage
on
the
top
of
it
.
The
solitary
exception
was
the
New
Church
;
a
stuccoed
edifice
with
a
square
steeple
over
the
door
,
terminating
in
four
short
pinnacles
like
florid
wooden
legs
.
All
the
public
inscriptions
in
the
town
were
painted
alike
,
in
severe
characters
of
black
and
white
.
The
jail
might
have
been
the
infirmary
,
the
infirmary
might
have
been
the
jail
,
the
town-hall
might
have
been
either
,
or
both
,
or
anything
else
,
for
anything
that
appeared
to
the
contrary
in
the
graces
of
their
construction
.
Fact
,
fact
,
fact
,
everywhere
in
the
material
aspect
of
the
town
;
fact
,
fact
,
fact
,
everywhere
in
the
immaterial
.
The
M’Choakumchild
school
was
all
fact
,
and
the
school
of
design
was
all
fact
,
and
the
relations
between
master
and
man
were
all
fact
,
and
everything
was
fact
between
the
lying-in
hospital
and
the
cemetery
,
and
what
you
couldn’t
state
in
figures
,
or
show
to
be
purchaseable
in
the
cheapest
market
and
saleable
in
the
dearest
,
was
not
,
and
never
should
be
,
world
without
end
,
Amen
.
A
town
so
sacred
to
fact
,
and
so
triumphant
in
its
assertion
,
of
course
got
on
well
?
Why
no
,
not
quite
well
.
No
?
Dear
me
!
No.
Coketown
did
not
come
out
of
its
own
furnaces
,
in
all
respects
like
gold
that
had
stood
the
fire
.
First
,
the
perplexing
mystery
of
the
place
was
,
Who
belonged
to
the
eighteen
denominations
?
Because
,
whoever
did
,
the
labouring
people
did
not
.
It
was
very
strange
to
walk
through
the
streets
on
a
Sunday
morning
,
and
note
how
few
of
them
the
barbarous
jangling
of
bells
that
was
driving
the
sick
and
nervous
mad
,
called
away
from
their
own
quarter
,
from
their
own
close
rooms
,
from
the
corners
of
their
own
streets
,
where
they
lounged
listlessly
,
gazing
at
all
the
church
and
chapel
going
,
as
at
a
thing
with
which
they
had
no
manner
of
concern
.
Nor
was
it
merely
the
stranger
who
noticed
this
,
because
there
was
a
native
organization
in
Coketown
itself
,
whose
members
were
to
be
heard
of
in
the
House
of
Commons
every
session
,
indignantly
petitioning
for
acts
of
parliament
that
should
make
these
people
religious
by
main
force
.
Then
came
the
Teetotal
Society
,
who
complained
that
these
same
people
would
get
drunk
,
and
showed
in
tabular
statements
that
they
did
get
drunk
,
and
proved
at
tea
parties
that
no
inducement
,
human
or
Divine
(
except
a
medal
)
,
would
induce
them
to
forego
their
custom
of
getting
drunk
.
Then
came
the
chemist
and
druggist
,
with
other
tabular
statements
,
showing
that
when
they
didn’t
get
drunk
,
they
took
opium
.
Then
came
the
experienced
chaplain
of
the
jail
,
with
more
tabular
statements
,
outdoing
all
the
previous
tabular
statements
,
and
showing
that
the
same
people
would
resort
to
low
haunts
,
hidden
from
the
public
eye
,
where
they
heard
low
singing
and
saw
low
dancing
,
and
mayhap
joined
in
it
;
and
where
A
.
B
.
,
aged
twenty-four
next
birthday
,
and
committed
for
eighteen
months’
solitary
,
had
himself
said
(
not
that
he
had
ever
shown
himself
particularly
worthy
of
belief
)
his
ruin
began
,
as
he
was
perfectly
sure
and
confident
that
otherwise
he
would
have
been
a
tip-top
moral
specimen
.
Then
came
Mr.
Gradgrind
and
Mr.
Bounderby
,
the
two
gentlemen
at
this
present
moment
walking
through
Coketown
,
and
both
eminently
practical
,
who
could
,
on
occasion
,
furnish
more
tabular
statements
derived
from
their
own
personal
experience
,
and
illustrated
by
cases
they
had
known
and
seen
,
from
which
it
clearly
appeared
—
in
short
,
it
was
the
only
clear
thing
in
the
case
—
that
these
same
people
were
a
bad
lot
altogether
,
gentlemen
;
that
do
what
you
would
for
them
they
were
never
thankful
for
it
,
gentlemen
;
that
they
were
restless
,
gentlemen
;
that
they
never
knew
what
they
wanted
;
that
they
lived
upon
the
best
,
and
bought
fresh
butter
;
and
insisted
on
Mocha
coffee
,
and
rejected
all
but
prime
parts
of
meat
,
and
yet
were
eternally
dissatisfied
and
unmanageable
.
In
short
,
it
was
the
moral
of
the
old
nursery
fable
:
There
was
an
old
woman
,
and
what
do
you
think
?
She
lived
upon
nothing
but
victuals
and
drink
;
Victuals
and
drink
were
the
whole
of
her
diet
,
And
yet
this
old
woman
would
NEVER
be
quiet
.
Is
it
possible
,
I
wonder
,
that
there
was
any
analogy
between
the
case
of
the
Coketown
population
and
the
case
of
the
little
Gradgrinds
?
Surely
,
none
of
us
in
our
sober
senses
and
acquainted
with
figures
,
are
to
be
told
at
this
time
of
day
,
that
one
of
the
foremost
elements
in
the
existence
of
the
Coketown
working-people
had
been
for
scores
of
years
,
deliberately
set
at
nought
?
That
there
was
any
Fancy
in
them
demanding
to
be
brought
into
healthy
existence
instead
of
struggling
on
in
convulsions
?
That
exactly
in
the
ratio
as
they
worked
long
and
monotonously
,
the
craving
grew
within
them
for
some
physical
relief
—
some
relaxation
,
encouraging
good
humour
and
good
spirits
,
and
giving
them
a
vent
—
some
recognized
holiday
,
though
it
were
but
for
an
honest
dance
to
a
stirring
band
of
music
—
some
occasional
light
pie
in
which
even
M’Choakumchild
had
no
finger
—
which
craving
must
and
would
be
satisfied
aright
,
or
must
and
would
inevitably
go
wrong
,
until
the
laws
of
the
Creation
were
repealed
?
‘This
man
lives
at
Pod’s
End
,
and
I
don’t
quite
know
Pod’s
End
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘Which
is
it
,
Bounderby
?
’
Mr.
Bounderby
knew
it
was
somewhere
down
town
,
but
knew
no
more
respecting
it
.
So
they
stopped
for
a
moment
,
looking
about
.
Almost
as
they
did
so
,
there
came
running
round
the
corner
of
the
street
at
a
quick
pace
and
with
a
frightened
look
,
a
girl
whom
Mr.
Gradgrind
recognized
.
‘Halloa
!
’
said
he
.
‘Stop
!
Where
are
you
going
!
Stop
!
’
Girl
number
twenty
stopped
then
,
palpitating
,
and
made
him
a
curtsey
.
‘Why
are
you
tearing
about
the
streets
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
‘in
this
improper
manner
?
’
‘I
was
—
I
was
run
after
,
sir
,
’
the
girl
panted
,
‘and
I
wanted
to
get
away.’
‘Run
after
?
’
repeated
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘Who
would
run
after
you
?
’
The
question
was
unexpectedly
and
suddenly
answered
for
her
,
by
the
colourless
boy
,
Bitzer
,
who
came
round
the
corner
with
such
blind
speed
and
so
little
anticipating
a
stoppage
on
the
pavement
,
that
he
brought
himself
up
against
Mr.
Gradgrind’s
waistcoat
and
rebounded
into
the
road
.
‘What
do
you
mean
,
boy
?
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘What
are
you
doing
?
How
dare
you
dash
against
—
everybody
—
in
this
manner
?
’
Bitzer
picked
up
his
cap
,
which
the
concussion
had
knocked
off
;
and
backing
,
and
knuckling
his
forehead
,
pleaded
that
it
was
an
accident
.
‘Was
this
boy
running
after
you
,
Jupe
?
’
asked
Mr.
Gradgrind
.
‘Yes
,
sir
,
’
said
the
girl
reluctantly
.
‘No
,
I
wasn’t
,
sir
!
’
cried
Bitzer
.
‘Not
till
she
run
away
from
me
.
But
the
horse-riders
never
mind
what
they
say
,
sir
;
they’re
famous
for
it
.
You
know
the
horse-riders
are
famous
for
never
minding
what
they
say
,
’
addressing
Sissy
.
‘It’s
as
well
known
in
the
town
as
—
please
,
sir
,
as
the
multiplication
table
isn’t
known
to
the
horse-riders.’
Bitzer
tried
Mr.
Bounderby
with
this
.
‘He
frightened
me
so
,
’
said
the
girl
,
‘with
his
cruel
faces
!
’
‘Oh
!
’
cried
Bitzer
.
‘Oh
!
An’t
you
one
of
the
rest
!
An’t
you
a
horse-rider
!
I
never
looked
at
her
,
sir
.
I
asked
her
if
she
would
know
how
to
define
a
horse
to-morrow
,
and
offered
to
tell
her
again
,
and
she
ran
away
,
and
I
ran
after
her
,
sir
,
that
she
might
know
how
to
answer
when
she
was
asked
.
You
wouldn’t
have
thought
of
saying
such
mischief
if
you
hadn’t
been
a
horse-rider
?
’
‘Her
calling
seems
to
be
pretty
well
known
among
’em
,
’
observed
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘You’d
have
had
the
whole
school
peeping
in
a
row
,
in
a
week.’
‘Truly
,
I
think
so
,
’
returned
his
friend
.
‘Bitzer
,
turn
you
about
and
take
yourself
home
.
Jupe
,
stay
here
a
moment
.
Let
me
hear
of
your
running
in
this
manner
any
more
,
boy
,
and
you
will
hear
of
me
through
the
master
of
the
school
.
You
understand
what
I
mean
.
Go
along.’
The
boy
stopped
in
his
rapid
blinking
,
knuckled
his
forehead
again
,
glanced
at
Sissy
,
turned
about
,
and
retreated
.
‘Now
,
girl
,
’
said
Mr.
Gradgrind
,
‘take
this
gentleman
and
me
to
your
father’s
;
we
are
going
there
.
What
have
you
got
in
that
bottle
you
are
carrying
?
’
‘Gin
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘Dear
,
no
,
sir
!
It’s
the
nine
oils.’
‘The
what
?
’
cried
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘The
nine
oils
,
sir
,
to
rub
father
with.’
‘Then
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
with
a
loud
short
laugh
,
‘what
the
devil
do
you
rub
your
father
with
nine
oils
for
?
’
‘It’s
