,‘I
am
a
Donkey
,
that’s
what
I
am
.
I
am
as
obstinate
as
one
,
I
am
more
stupid
than
one
,
I
get
as
much
pleasure
as
one
,
and
I
should
like
to
kick
like
one.’
‘Not
me
,
I
hope
,
Tom
?
’
‘No
,
Loo
;
I
wouldn’t
hurt
you
.
I
made
an
exception
of
you
at
first
.
I
don’t
know
what
this
—
jolly
old
—
Jaundiced
Jail
,
’
Tom
had
paused
to
find
a
sufficiently
complimentary
and
expressive
name
for
the
parental
roof
,
and
seemed
to
relieve
his
mind
for
a
moment
by
the
strong
alliteration
of
this
one
,
‘would
be
without
you.’
‘Indeed
,
Tom
?
Do
you
really
and
truly
say
so
?
’
‘Why
,
of
course
I
do
.
What’s
the
use
of
talking
about
it
!
’
returned
Tom
,
chafing
his
face
on
his
coat-sleeve
,
as
if
to
mortify
his
flesh
,
and
have
it
in
unison
with
his
spirit
.
‘Because
,
Tom
,
’
said
his
sister
,
after
silently
watching
the
sparks
awhile
,
‘as
I
get
older
,
and
nearer
growing
up
,
I
often
sit
wondering
here
,
and
think
how
unfortunate
it
is
for
me
that
I
can’t
reconcile
you
to
home
better
than
I
am
able
to
do
.
I
don’t
know
what
other
girls
know
.
I
can’t
play
to
you
,
or
sing
to
you
.
I
can’t
talk
to
you
so
as
to
lighten
your
mind
,
for
I
never
see
any
amusing
sights
or
read
any
amusing
books
that
it
would
be
a
pleasure
or
a
relief
to
you
to
talk
about
,
when
you
are
tired.’
‘Well
,
no
more
do
I
.
I
am
as
bad
as
you
in
that
respect
;
and
I
am
a
Mule
too
,
which
you’re
not
.
If
father
was
determined
to
make
me
either
a
Prig
or
a
Mule
,
and
I
am
not
a
Prig
,
why
,
it
stands
to
reason
,
I
must
be
a
Mule
.
And
so
I
am
,
’
said
Tom
,
desperately
.
‘It’s
a
great
pity
,
’
said
Louisa
,
after
another
pause
,
and
speaking
thoughtfully
out
of
her
dark
corner
:
‘it’s
a
great
pity
,
Tom
.
It’s
very
unfortunate
for
both
of
us.’
‘Oh
!
You
,
’
said
Tom
;
‘you
are
a
girl
,
Loo
,
and
a
girl
comes
out
of
it
better
than
a
boy
does
.
I
don’t
miss
anything
in
you
.
You
are
the
only
pleasure
I
have
—
you
can
brighten
even
this
place
—
and
you
can
always
lead
me
as
you
like.’
‘You
are
a
dear
brother
,
Tom
;
and
while
you
think
I
can
do
such
things
,
I
don’t
so
much
mind
knowing
better
.
Though
I
do
know
better
,
Tom
,
and
am
very
sorry
for
it.’
She
came
and
kissed
him
,
and
went
back
into
her
corner
again
.
‘I
wish
I
could
collect
all
the
Facts
we
hear
so
much
about
,
’
said
Tom
,
spitefully
setting
his
teeth
,
‘and
all
the
Figures
,
and
all
the
people
who
found
them
out
:
and
I
wish
I
could
put
a
thousand
barrels
of
gunpowder
under
them
,
and
blow
them
all
up
together
!
However
,
when
I
go
to
live
with
old
Bounderby
,
I’ll
have
my
revenge.’
‘Your
revenge
,
Tom
?
’
‘I
mean
,
I’ll
enjoy
myself
a
little
,
and
go
about
and
see
something
,
and
hear
something
.
I’ll
recompense
myself
for
the
way
in
which
I
have
been
brought
up.’
‘But
don’t
disappoint
yourself
beforehand
,
Tom
.
Mr.
Bounderby
thinks
as
father
thinks
,
and
is
a
great
deal
rougher
,
and
not
half
so
kind.’
‘Oh
!
’
said
Tom
,
laughing
;
‘I
don’t
mind
that
.
I
shall
very
well
know
how
to
manage
and
smooth
old
Bounderby
!
’
Their
shadows
were
defined
upon
the
wall
,
but
those
of
the
high
presses
in
the
room
were
all
blended
together
on
the
wall
and
on
the
ceiling
,
as
if
the
brother
and
sister
were
overhung
by
a
dark
cavern
.
Or
,
a
fanciful
imagination
—
if
such
treason
could
have
been
there
—
might
have
made
it
out
to
be
the
shadow
of
their
subject
,
and
of
its
lowering
association
with
their
future
.
‘What
is
your
great
mode
of
smoothing
and
managing
,
Tom
?
Is
it
a
secret
?
’
‘Oh
!
’
said
Tom
,
‘if
it
is
a
secret
,
it’s
not
far
off
.
It’s
you
.
You
are
his
little
pet
,
you
are
his
favourite
;
he’ll
do
anything
for
you
.
When
he
says
to
me
what
I
don’t
like
,
I
shall
say
to
him
,
“
My
sister
Loo
will
be
hurt
and
disappointed
,
Mr.
Bounderby
.
She
always
used
to
tell
me
she
was
sure
you
would
be
easier
with
me
than
this
.
”
That’ll
bring
him
about
,
or
nothing
will.’
After
waiting
for
some
answering
remark
,
and
getting
none
,
Tom
wearily
relapsed
into
the
present
time
,
and
twined
himself
yawning
round
and
about
the
rails
of
his
chair
,
and
rumpled
his
head
more
and
more
,
until
he
suddenly
looked
up
,
and
asked
:
‘Have
you
gone
to
sleep
,
Loo
?
’
‘No
,
Tom
.
I
am
looking
at
the
fire.’
‘You
seem
to
find
more
to
look
at
in
it
than
ever
I
could
find
,
’
said
Tom
.
‘Another
of
the
advantages
,
I
suppose
,
of
being
a
girl.’
‘Tom
,
’
enquired
his
sister
,
slowly
,
and
in
a
curious
tone
,
as
if
she
were
reading
what
she
asked
in
the
fire
,
and
it
was
not
quite
plainly
written
there
,
‘do
you
look
forward
with
any
satisfaction
to
this
change
to
Mr.
Bounderby’s
?
’
‘Why
,
there’s
one
thing
to
be
said
of
it
,
’
returned
Tom
,
pushing
his
chair
from
him
,
and
standing
up
;
‘it
will
be
getting
away
from
home.’
‘There
is
one
thing
to
be
said
of
it
,
’
Louisa
repeated
in
her
former
curious
tone
;
‘it
will
be
getting
away
from
home
.
Yes.’
‘Not
but
what
I
shall
be
very
unwilling
,
both
to
leave
you
,
Loo
,
and
to
leave
you
here
.
But
I
must
go
,
you
know
,
whether
I
like
it
or
not
;
and
I
had
better
go
where
I
can
take
with
me
some
advantage
of
your
influence
,
than
where
I
should
lose
it
altogether
.
Don’t
you
see
?
’
‘Yes
,
Tom.’
The
answer
was
so
long
in
coming
,
though
there
was
no
indecision
in
it
,
that
Tom
went
and
leaned
on
the
back
of
her
chair
,
to
contemplate
the
fire
which
so
engrossed
her
,
from
her
point
of
view
,
and
see
what
he
could
make
of
it
.
‘Except
that
it
is
a
fire
,
’
said
Tom
,
‘it
looks
to
me
as
stupid
and
blank
as
everything
else
looks
.
What
do
you
see
in
it
?
Not
a
circus
?
’
‘I
don’t
see
anything
in
it
,
Tom
,
particularly
.
But
since
I
have
been
looking
at
it
,
I
have
been
wondering
about
you
and
me
,
grown
up.’
‘Wondering
again
!
’
said
Tom
.
‘I
have
such
unmanageable
thoughts
,
’
returned
his
sister
,
‘that
they
will
wonder.’
‘Then
I
beg
of
you
,
Louisa
,
’
said
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
who
had
opened
the
door
without
being
heard
,
‘to
do
nothing
of
that
description
,
for
goodness’
sake
,
you
inconsiderate
girl
,
or
I
shall
never
hear
the
last
of
it
from
your
father
.
And
,
Thomas
,
it
is
really
shameful
,
with
my
poor
head
continually
wearing
me
out
,
that
a
boy
brought
up
as
you
have
been
,
and
whose
education
has
cost
what
yours
has
,
should
be
found
encouraging
his
sister
to
wonder
,
when
he
knows
his
father
has
expressly
said
that
she
is
not
to
do
it.’
Louisa
denied
Tom’s
participation
in
the
offence
;
but
her
mother
stopped
her
with
the
conclusive
answer
,
‘Louisa
,
don’t
tell
me
,
in
my
state
of
health
;
for
unless
you
had
been
encouraged
,
it
is
morally
and
physically
impossible
that
you
could
have
done
it.’
‘I
was
encouraged
by
nothing
,
mother
,
but
by
looking
at
the
red
sparks
dropping
out
of
the
fire
,
and
whitening
and
dying
.
It
made
me
think
,
after
all
,
how
short
my
life
would
be
,
and
how
little
I
could
hope
to
do
in
it.’
‘Nonsense
!
’
said
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
rendered
almost
energetic
.
‘Nonsense
!
Don’t
stand
there
and
tell
me
such
stuff
,
Louisa
,
to
my
face
,
when
you
know
very
well
that
if
it
was
ever
to
reach
your
father’s
ears
I
should
never
hear
the
last
of
it
.
After
all
the
trouble
that
has
been
taken
with
you
!
After
the
lectures
you
have
attended
,
and
the
experiments
you
have
seen
!
After
I
have
heard
you
myself
,
when
the
whole
of
my
right
side
has
been
benumbed
,
going
on
with
your
master
about
combustion
,
and
calcination
,
and
calorification
,
and
I
may
say
every
kind
of
ation
that
could
drive
a
poor
invalid
distracted
,
to
hear
you
talking
in
this
absurd
way
about
sparks
and
ashes
!
I
wish
,
’
whimpered
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
taking
a
chair
,
and
discharging
her
strongest
point
before
succumbing
under
these
mere
shadows
of
facts
,
‘yes
,
I
really
do
wish
that
I
had
never
had
a
family
,
and
then
you
would
have
known
what
it
was
to
do
without
me
!
’
CHAPTER
IX
SISSY’S
PROGRESS
Sissy
Jupe
had
not
an
easy
time
of
it
,
between
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
and
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
and
was
not
without
strong
impulses
,
in
the
first
months
of
her
probation
,
to
run
away
.
It
hailed
facts
all
day
long
so
very
hard
,
and
life
in
general
was
opened
to
her
as
such
a
closely
ruled
ciphering-book
,
that
assuredly
she
would
have
run
away
,
but
for
only
one
restraint
.
It
is
lamentable
to
think
of
;
but
this
restraint
was
the
result
of
no
arithmetical
process
,
was
self-imposed
in
defiance
of
all
calculation
,
and
went
dead
against
any
table
of
probabilities
that
any
Actuary
would
have
drawn
up
from
the
premises
.
The
girl
believed
that
her
father
had
not
deserted
her
;
she
lived
in
the
hope
that
he
would
come
back
,
and
in
the
faith
that
he
would
be
made
the
happier
by
her
remaining
where
she
was
.
The
wretched
ignorance
with
which
Jupe
clung
to
this
consolation
,
rejecting
the
superior
comfort
of
knowing
,
on
a
sound
arithmetical
basis
,
that
her
father
was
an
unnatural
vagabond
,
filled
Mr.
Gradgrind
with
pity
.
Yet
,
what
was
to
be
done
?
M’Choakumchild
reported
that
she
had
a
very
dense
head
for
figures
;
that
,
once
possessed
with
a
general
idea
of
the
globe
,
she
took
the
smallest
conceivable
interest
in
its
exact
measurements
;
that
she
was
extremely
slow
in
the
acquisition
of
dates
,
unless
some
pitiful
incident
happened
to
be
connected
therewith
;
that
she
would
burst
into
tears
on
being
required
(
by
the
mental
process
)
immediately
to
name
the
cost
of
two
hundred
and
forty-seven
muslin
caps
at
fourteen-pence
halfpenny
;
that
she
was
as
low
down
,
in
the
school
,
as
low
could
be
;
that
after
eight
weeks
of
induction
into
the
elements
of
Political
Economy
,
she
had
only
yesterday
been
set
right
by
a
prattler
three
feet
high
,
for
returning
to
the
question
,
‘What
is
the
first
principle
of
this
science
?
’
the
absurd
answer
,
‘To
do
unto
others
as
I
would
that
they
should
do
unto
me.’
Mr.
Gradgrind
observed
,
shaking
his
head
,
that
all
this
was
very
bad
;
that
it
showed
the
necessity
of
infinite
grinding
at
the
mill
of
knowledge
,
as
per
system
,
schedule
,
blue
book
,
report
,
and
tabular
statements
A
to
Z
;
and
that
Jupe
‘must
be
kept
to
it.’
So
Jupe
was
kept
to
it
,
and
became
low-spirited
,
but
no
wiser
.
‘It
would
be
a
fine
thing
to
be
you
,
Miss
Louisa
!
’
she
said
,
one
night
,
when
Louisa
had
endeavoured
to
make
her
perplexities
for
next
day
something
clearer
to
her
.
‘Do
you
think
so
?
’
‘I
should
know
so
much
,
Miss
Louisa
.
All
that
is
difficult
to
me
now
,
would
be
so
easy
then.’
‘You
might
not
be
the
better
for
it
,
Sissy.’
Sissy
submitted
,
after
a
little
hesitation
,
‘I
should
not
be
the
worse
,
Miss
Louisa.’
To
which
Miss
Louisa
answered
,
‘I
don’t
know
that.’
There
had
been
so
little
communication
between
these
two
—
both
because
life
at
Stone
Lodge
went
monotonously
round
like
a
piece
of
machinery
which
discouraged
human
interference
,
and
because
of
the
prohibition
relative
to
Sissy’s
past
career
—
that
they
were
still
almost
strangers
.
Sissy
,
with
her
dark
eyes
wonderingly
directed
to
Louisa’s
face
,
was
uncertain
whether
to
say
more
or
to
remain
silent
.
‘You
are
more
useful
to
my
mother
,
and
more
pleasant
with
her
than
I
can
ever
be
,
’
Louisa
resumed
.
‘You
are
pleasanter
to
yourself
,
than
I
am
to
my
self.’
‘But
,
if
you
please
,
Miss
Louisa
,
’
Sissy
pleaded
,
‘I
am
—
O
so
stupid
!
’
Louisa
,
with
a
brighter
laugh
than
usual
,
told
her
she
would
be
wiser
by-and-by
.
‘You
don’t
know
,
’
said
Sissy
,
half
crying
,
‘what
a
stupid
girl
I
am
.
All
through
school
hours
I
make
mistakes
.
Mr.
and
Mrs.
M’Choakumchild
call
me
up
,
over
and
over
again
,
regularly
to
make
mistakes
.
I
can’t
help
them
.
They
seem
to
come
natural
to
me.’
‘Mr
.
and
Mrs.
M’Choakumchild
never
make
any
mistakes
themselves
,
I
suppose
,
Sissy
?
’
‘O
no
!
’
she
eagerly
returned
.
‘They
know
everything.’
‘Tell
me
some
of
your
mistakes.’
‘I
am
almost
ashamed
,
’
said
Sissy
,
with
reluctance
.
‘But
to-day
,
for
instance
,
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
was
explaining
to
us
about
Natural
Prosperity.’
‘National
,
I
think
it
must
have
been
,
’
observed
Louisa
.
‘Yes
,
it
was
.
—
But
isn’t
it
the
same
?
’
she
timidly
asked
.
‘You
had
better
say
,
National
,
as
he
said
so
,
’
returned
Louisa
,
with
her
dry
reserve
.
‘National
Prosperity
.
And
he
said
,
Now
,
this
schoolroom
is
a
Nation
.
And
in
this
nation
,
there
are
fifty
millions
of
money
.
Isn’t
this
a
prosperous
nation
?
Girl
number
twenty
,
isn’t
this
a
prosperous
nation
,
and
a’n’t
you
in
a
thriving
state
?
’
‘What
did
you
say
?
’
asked
Louisa
.
‘Miss
Louisa
,
I
said
I
didn’t
know
.
I
thought
I
couldn’t
know
whether
it
was
a
prosperous
nation
or
not
,
and
whether
I
was
in
a
thriving
state
or
not
,
unless
I
knew
who
had
got
the
money
,
and
whether
any
of
it
was
mine
.
But
that
had
nothing
to
do
with
it
.
It
was
not
in
the
figures
at
all
,
’
said
Sissy
,
wiping
her
eyes
.
‘That
was
a
great
mistake
of
yours
,
’
observed
Louisa
.
‘Yes
,
Miss
Louisa
,
I
know
it
was
,
now
.
Then
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
said
he
would
try
me
again
.
And
he
said
,
This
schoolroom
is
an
immense
town
,
and
in
it
there
are
a
million
of
inhabitants
,
and
only
five-and-twenty
are
starved
to
death
in
the
streets
,
in
the
course
of
a
year
.
What
is
your
remark
on
that
proportion
?
And
my
remark
was
—
for
I
couldn’t
think
of
a
better
one
—
that
I
thought
it
must
be
just
as
hard
upon
those
who
were
starved
,
whether
the
others
were
a
million
,
or
a
million
million
.
And
that
was
wrong
,
too.’
‘Of
course
it
was.’
‘Then
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
said
he
would
try
me
once
more
.
And
he
said
,
Here
are
the
stutterings
—
’
‘Statistics
,
’
said
Louisa
.
‘Yes
,
Miss
Louisa
—
they
always
remind
me
of
stutterings
,
and
that’s
another
of
my
mistakes
—
of
accidents
upon
the
sea
.
And
I
find
(
Mr.
M’Choakumchild
said
)
that
in
a
given
time
a
hundred
thousand
persons
went
to
sea
on
long
voyages
,
and
only
five
hundred
of
them
were
drowned
or
burnt
to
death
.
What
is
the
percentage
?
And
I
said
,
Miss
;
’
here
Sissy
fairly
sobbed
as
confessing
with
extreme
contrition
to
her
greatest
error
;
‘I
said
it
was
nothing.’
‘Nothing
,
Sissy
?
’
‘Nothing
,
Miss
—
to
the
relations
and
friends
of
the
people
who
were
killed
.
I
shall
never
learn
,
’
said
Sissy
.
‘And
the
worst
of
all
is
,
that
although
my
poor
father
wished
me
so
much
to
learn
,
and
although
I
am
so
anxious
to
learn
,
because
he
wished
me
to
,
I
am
afraid
I
don’t
like
it.’
Louisa
stood
looking
at
the
pretty
modest
head
,
as
it
drooped
abashed
before
her
,
until
it
was
raised
again
to
glance
at
her
face
.
Then
she
asked
:
‘Did
your
father
know
so
much
himself
,
that
he
wished
you
to
be
well
taught
too
,
Sissy
?
’
Sissy
hesitated
before
replying
,
and
so
plainly
showed
her
sense
that
they
were
entering
on
forbidden
ground
,
that
Louisa
added
,
‘No
one
hears
us
;
and
if
any
one
did
,
I
am
sure
no
harm
could
be
found
in
such
an
innocent
question.’
‘No
,
Miss
Louisa
,
’
answered
Sissy
,
upon
this
encouragement
,
shaking
her
head
;
‘father
knows
very
little
indeed
.
It’s
as
much
as
he
can
do
to
write
;
and
it’s
more
than
people
in
general
can
do
to
read
his
writing
.
Though
it’s
plain
to
me
.’
‘Your
mother
?
’
‘Father
says
she
was
quite
a
scholar
.
She
died
when
I
was
born
.
She
was
;
’
Sissy
made
the
terrible
communication
nervously
;
‘she
was
a
dancer.’
‘Did
your
father
love
her
?
’
Louisa
asked
these
questions
with
a
strong
,
wild
,
wandering
interest
peculiar
to
her
;
an
interest
gone
astray
like
a
banished
creature
,
and
hiding
in
solitary
places
.
‘O
yes
!
As
dearly
as
he
loves
me
.
Father
loved
me
,
first
,
for
her
sake
.
He
carried
me
about
with
him
when
I
was
quite
a
baby
.
We
have
never
been
asunder
from
that
time.’
‘Yet
he
leaves
you
now
,
Sissy
?
’
‘Only
for
my
good
.
Nobody
understands
him
as
I
do
;
nobody
knows
him
as
I
do
.
When
he
left
me
for
my
good
—
he
never
would
have
left
me
for
his
own
—
I
know
he
was
almost
broken-hearted
with
the
trial
.
He
will
not
be
happy
for
a
single
minute
,
till
he
comes
back.’
‘Tell
me
more
about
him
,
’
said
Louisa
,
‘I
will
never
ask
you
again
.
Where
did
you
live
?
’
‘We
travelled
about
the
country
,
and
had
no
fixed
place
to
live
in
.
Father’s
a
;
’
Sissy
whispered
the
awful
word
,
‘a
clown.’
‘To
make
the
people
laugh
?
’
said
Louisa
,
with
a
nod
of
intelligence
.
‘Yes
.
But
they
wouldn’t
laugh
sometimes
,
and
then
father
cried
.
Lately
,
they
very
often
wouldn’t
laugh
,
and
he
used
to
come
home
despairing
.
Father’s
not
like
most
.
Those
who
didn’t
know
him
as
well
as
I
do
,
and
didn’t
love
him
as
dearly
as
I
do
,
might
believe
he
was
not
quite
right
.
Sometimes
they
played
tricks
upon
him
;
but
they
never
knew
how
he
felt
them
,
and
shrunk
up
,
when
he
was
alone
with
me
.
He
was
far
,
far
timider
than
they
thought
!
’
‘And
you
were
his
comfort
through
everything
?
’
She
nodded
,
with
the
tears
rolling
down
her
face
.
‘I
hope
so
,
and
father
said
I
was
.
It
was
because
he
grew
so
scared
and
trembling
,
and
because
he
felt
himself
to
be
a
poor
,
weak
,
ignorant
,
helpless
man
(
those
used
to
be
his
words
)
,
that
he
wanted
me
so
much
to
know
a
great
deal
,
and
be
different
from
him
.
I
used
to
read
to
him
to
cheer
his
courage
,
and
he
was
very
fond
of
that
.
They
were
wrong
books
—
I
am
never
to
speak
of
them
here
—
but
we
didn’t
know
there
was
any
harm
in
them.’
‘And
he
liked
them
?
’
said
Louisa
,
with
a
searching
gaze
on
Sissy
all
this
time
.
‘O
very
much
!
They
kept
him
,
many
times
,
from
what
did
him
real
harm
.
And
often
and
often
of
a
night
,
he
used
to
forget
all
his
troubles
in
wondering
whether
the
Sultan
would
let
the
lady
go
on
with
the
story
,
or
would
have
her
head
cut
off
before
it
was
finished.’
‘And
your
father
was
always
kind
?
To
the
last
?
’
asked
Louisa
contravening
the
great
principle
,
and
wondering
very
much
.
‘Always
,
always
!
’
returned
Sissy
,
clasping
her
hands
.
‘Kinder
and
kinder
than
I
can
tell
.
He
was
angry
only
one
night
,
and
that
was
not
to
me
,
but
Merrylegs
.
Merrylegs
;
’
she
whispered
the
awful
fact
;
‘is
his
performing
dog.’
‘Why
was
he
angry
with
the
dog
?
’
Louisa
demanded
.
‘Father
,
soon
after
they
came
home
from
performing
,
told
Merrylegs
to
jump
up
on
the
backs
of
the
two
chairs
and
stand
across
them
—
which
is
one
of
his
tricks
.
He
looked
at
father
,
and
didn’t
do
it
at
once
.
Everything
of
father’s
had
gone
wrong
that
night
,
and
he
hadn’t
pleased
the
public
at
all
.
He
cried
out
that
the
very
dog
knew
he
was
failing
,
and
had
no
compassion
on
him
.
Then
he
beat
the
dog
,
and
I
was
frightened
,
and
said
,
“
Father
,
father
!
Pray
don’t
hurt
the
creature
who
is
so
fond
of
you
!
O
Heaven
forgive
you
,
father
,
stop
!
”
And
he
stopped
,
and
the
dog
was
bloody
,
and
father
lay
down
crying
on
the
floor
with
the
dog
in
his
arms
,
and
the
dog
licked
his
face.’
Louisa
saw
that
she
was
sobbing
;
and
going
to
her
,
kissed
her
,
took
her
hand
,
and
sat
down
beside
her
.
‘Finish
by
telling
me
how
your
father
left
you
,
Sissy
.
Now
that
I
have
asked
you
so
much
,
tell
me
the
end
.
The
blame
,
if
there
is
any
blame
,
is
mine
,
not
yours.’
‘Dear
Miss
Louisa
,
’
said
Sissy
,
covering
her
eyes
,
and
sobbing
yet
;
‘I
came
home
from
the
school
that
afternoon
,
and
found
poor
father
just
come
home
too
,
from
the
booth
.
And
he
sat
rocking
himself
over
the
fire
,
as
if
he
was
in
pain
.
And
I
said
,
“
Have
you
hurt
yourself
,
father
?
”
(
as
he
did
sometimes
,
like
they
all
did
)
,
and
he
said
,
“
A
little
,
my
darling
.
”
And
when
I
came
to
stoop
down
and
look
up
at
his
face
,
I
saw
that
he
was
crying
.
The
more
I
spoke
to
him
,
the
more
he
hid
his
face
;
and
at
first
he
shook
all
over
,
and
said
nothing
but
“
My
darling
;
”
and
“
My
love
!
”
’
Here
Tom
came
lounging
in
,
and
stared
at
the
two
with
a
coolness
not
particularly
savouring
of
interest
in
anything
but
himself
,
and
not
much
of
that
at
present
.
‘I
am
asking
Sissy
a
few
questions
,
Tom
,
’
observed
his
sister
.
‘You
have
no
occasion
to
go
away
;
but
don’t
interrupt
us
for
a
moment
,
Tom
dear.’
‘Oh
!
very
well
!
’
returned
Tom
.
‘Only
father
has
brought
old
Bounderby
home
,
and
I
want
you
to
come
into
the
drawing-room
.
Because
if
you
come
,
there’s
a
good
chance
of
old
Bounderby’s
asking
me
to
dinner
;
and
if
you
don’t
,
there’s
none.’
‘I’ll
come
directly.’
‘I’ll
wait
for
you
,
’
said
Tom
,
‘to
make
sure.’
Sissy
resumed
in
a
lower
voice
.
‘At
last
poor
father
said
that
he
had
given
no
satisfaction
again
,
and
never
did
give
any
satisfaction
now
,
and
that
he
was
a
shame
and
disgrace
,
and
I
should
have
done
better
without
him
all
along
.
I
said
all
the
affectionate
things
to
him
that
came
into
my
heart
,
and
presently
he
was
quiet
and
I
sat
down
by
him
,
and
told
him
all
about
the
school
and
everything
that
had
been
said
and
done
there
.
When
I
had
no
more
left
to
tell
,
he
put
his
arms
round
my
neck
,
and
kissed
me
a
great
many
times
.
Then
he
asked
me
to
fetch
some
of
the
stuff
he
used
,
for
the
little
hurt
he
had
had
,
and
to
get
it
at
the
best
place
,
which
was
at
the
other
end
of
town
from
there
;
and
then
,
after
kissing
me
again
,
he
let
me
go
.
When
I
had
gone
down-stairs
,
I
turned
back
that
I
might
be
a
little
bit
more
company
to
him
yet
,
and
looked
in
at
the
door
,
and
said
,
“
Father
dear
,
shall
I
take
Merrylegs
?
”
Father
shook
his
head
and
said
,
“
No
,
Sissy
,
no
;
take
nothing
that’s
known
to
be
mine
,
my
darling
;
”
and
I
left
him
sitting
by
the
fire
.
Then
the
thought
must
have
come
upon
him
,
poor
,
poor
father
!
of
going
away
to
try
something
for
my
sake
;
for
when
I
came
back
,
he
was
gone.’
‘I
say
!
Look
sharp
for
old
Bounderby
,
Loo
!
’
Tom
remonstrated
.
‘There’s
no
more
to
tell
,
Miss
Louisa
.
I
keep
the
nine
oils
ready
for
him
,
and
I
know
he
will
come
back
.
Every
letter
that
I
see
in
Mr.
Gradgrind’s
hand
takes
my
breath
away
and
blinds
my
eyes
,
for
I
think
it
comes
from
father
,
or
from
Mr.
Sleary
about
father
.
Mr.
Sleary
promised
to
write
as
soon
as
ever
father
should
be
heard
of
,
and
I
trust
to
him
to
keep
his
word.’
‘Do
look
sharp
for
old
Bounderby
,
Loo
!
’
said
Tom
,
with
an
impatient
whistle
.
‘He’ll
be
off
if
you
don’t
look
sharp
!
’
After
this
,
whenever
Sissy
dropped
a
curtsey
to
Mr.
Gradgrind
in
the
presence
of
his
family
,
and
said
in
a
faltering
way
,
‘I
beg
your
pardon
,
sir
,
for
being
troublesome
—
but
—
have
you
had
any
letter
yet
about
me
?
’
Louisa
would
suspend
the
occupation
of
the
moment
,
whatever
it
was
,
and
look
for
the
reply
as
earnestly
as
Sissy
did
.
And
when
Mr.
Gradgrind
regularly
answered
,
‘No
,
Jupe
,
nothing
of
the
sort
,
’
the
trembling
of
Sissy’s
lip
would
be
repeated
in
Louisa’s
face
,
and
her
eyes
would
follow
Sissy
with
compassion
to
the
door
.
Mr.
Gradgrind
usually
improved
these
occasions
by
remarking
,
when
she
was
gone
,
that
if
Jupe
had
been
properly
trained
from
an
early
age
she
would
have
remonstrated
to
herself
on
sound
principles
the
baselessness
of
these
fantastic
hopes
.
Yet
it
did
seem
(
though
not
to
him
,
for
he
saw
nothing
of
it
)
as
if
fantastic
hope
could
take
as
strong
a
hold
as
Fact
.
This
observation
must
be
limited
exclusively
to
his
daughter
.
As
to
Tom
,
he
was
becoming
that
not
unprecedented
triumph
of
calculation
which
is
usually
at
work
on
number
one
.
As
to
Mrs.
Gradgrind
,
if
she
said
anything
on
the
subject
,
she
would
come
a
little
way
out
of
her
wrappers
,
like
a
feminine
dormouse
,
and
say
:
‘Good
gracious
bless
me
,
how
my
poor
head
is
vexed
and
worried
by
that
girl
Jupe’s
so
perseveringly
asking
,
over
and
over
again
,
about
her
tiresome
letters
!
Upon
my
word
and
honour
I
seem
to
be
fated
,
and
destined
,
and
ordained
,
to
live
in
the
midst
of
things
that
I
am
never
to
hear
the
last
of
.
It
really
is
a
most
extraordinary
circumstance
that
it
appears
as
if
I
never
was
to
hear
the
last
of
anything
!
’
At
about
this
point
,
Mr.
Gradgrind’s
eye
would
fall
upon
her
;
and
under
the
influence
of
that
wintry
piece
of
fact
,
she
would
become
torpid
again
.
CHAPTER
X
STEPHEN
BLACKPOOL
I
entertain
a
weak
idea
that
the
English
people
are
as
hard-worked
as
any
people
upon
whom
the
sun
shines
.
I
acknowledge
to
this
ridiculous
idiosyncrasy
,
as
a
reason
why
I
would
give
them
a
little
more
play
.
In
the
hardest
working
part
of
Coketown
;
in
the
innermost
fortifications
of
that
ugly
citadel
,
where
Nature
was
as
strongly
bricked
out
as
killing
airs
and
gases
were
bricked
in
;
at
the
heart
of
the
labyrinth
of
narrow
courts
upon
courts
,
and
close
streets
upon
streets
,
which
had
come
into
existence
piecemeal
,
every
piece
in
a
violent
hurry
for
some
one
man’s
purpose
,
and
the
whole
an
unnatural
family
,
shouldering
,
and
trampling
,
and
pressing
one
another
to
death
;
in
the
last
close
nook
of
this
great
exhausted
receiver
,
where
the
chimneys
,
for
want
of
air
to
make
a
draught
,
were
built
in
an
immense
variety
of
stunted
and
crooked
shapes
,
as
though
every
house
put
out
a
sign
of
the
kind
of
people
who
might
be
expected
to
be
born
in
it
;
among
the
multitude
of
Coketown
,
generically
called
‘the
Hands
,
’
—
a
race
who
would
have
found
more
favour
with
some
people
,
if
Providence
had
seen
fit
to
make
them
only
hands
,
or
,
like
the
lower
creatures
of
the
seashore
,
only
hands
and
stomachs
—
lived
a
certain
Stephen
Blackpool
,
forty
years
of
age
.
Stephen
looked
older
,
but
he
had
had
a
hard
life
.
It
is
said
that
every
life
has
its
roses
and
thorns
;
there
seemed
,
however
,
to
have
been
a
misadventure
or
mistake
in
Stephen’s
case
,
whereby
somebody
else
had
become
possessed
of
his
roses
,
and
he
had
become
possessed
of
the
same
somebody
else’s
thorns
in
addition
to
his
own
.
He
had
known
,
to
use
his
words
,
a
peck
of
trouble
.
He
was
usually
called
Old
Stephen
,
in
a
kind
of
rough
homage
to
the
fact
.
A
rather
stooping
man
,
with
a
knitted
brow
,
a
pondering
expression
of
face
,
and
a
hard-looking
head
sufficiently
capacious
,
on
which
his
iron-grey
hair
lay
long
and
thin
,
Old
Stephen
might
have
passed
for
a
particularly
intelligent
man
in
his
condition
.
Yet
he
was
not
.
He
took
no
place
among
those
remarkable
‘Hands
,
’
who
,
piecing
together
their
broken
intervals
of
leisure
through
many
years
,
had
mastered
difficult
sciences
,
and
acquired
a
knowledge
of
most
unlikely
things
.
He
held
no
station
among
the
Hands
who
could
make
speeches
and
carry
on
debates
.
Thousands
of
his
compeers
could
talk
much
better
than
he
,
at
any
time
.
He
was
a
good
power-loom
weaver
,
and
a
man
of
perfect
integrity
.
What
more
he
was
,
or
what
else
he
had
in
him
,
if
anything
,
let
him
show
for
himself
.
The
lights
in
the
great
factories
,
which
looked
,
when
they
were
illuminated
,
like
Fairy
palaces
—
or
the
travellers
by
express-train
said
so
—
were
all
extinguished
;
and
the
bells
had
rung
for
knocking
off
for
the
night
,
and
had
ceased
again
;
and
the
Hands
,
men
and
women
,
boy
and
girl
,
were
clattering
home
.
Old
Stephen
was
standing
in
the
street
,
with
the
old
sensation
upon
him
which
the
stoppage
of
the
machinery
always
produced
—
the
sensation
of
its
having
worked
and
stopped
in
his
own
head
.
‘Yet
I
don’t
see
Rachael
,
still
!
’
said
he
.
It
was
a
wet
night
,
and
many
groups
of
young
women
passed
him
,
with
their
shawls
drawn
over
their
bare
heads
and
held
close
under
their
chins
to
keep
the
rain
out
.
He
knew
Rachael
well
,
for
a
glance
at
any
one
of
these
groups
was
sufficient
to
show
him
that
she
was
not
there
.
At
last
,
there
were
no
more
to
come
;
and
then
he
turned
away
,
saying
in
a
tone
of
disappointment
,
‘Why
,
then
,
ha’
missed
her
!
’
But
,
he
had
not
gone
the
length
of
three
streets
,
when
he
saw
another
of
the
shawled
figures
in
advance
of
him
,
at
which
he
looked
so
keenly
that
perhaps
its
mere
shadow
indistinctly
reflected
on
the
wet
pavement
—
if
he
could
have
seen
it
without
the
figure
itself
moving
along
from
lamp
to
lamp
,
brightening
and
fading
as
it
went
—
would
have
been
enough
to
tell
him
who
was
there
.
Making
his
pace
at
once
much
quicker
and
much
softer
,
he
darted
on
until
he
was
very
near
this
figure
,
then
fell
into
his
former
walk
,
and
called
‘Rachael
!
’
She
turned
,
being
then
in
the
brightness
of
a
lamp
;
and
raising
her
hood
a
little
,
showed
a
quiet
oval
face
,
dark
and
rather
delicate
,
irradiated
by
a
pair
of
very
gentle
eyes
,
and
further
set
off
by
the
perfect
order
of
her
shining
black
hair
.
It
was
not
a
face
in
its
first
bloom
;
she
was
a
woman
five
and
thirty
years
of
age
.
‘Ah
,
lad
!
’Tis
thou
?
’
When
she
had
said
this
,
with
a
smile
which
would
have
been
quite
expressed
,
though
nothing
of
her
had
been
seen
but
her
pleasant
eyes
,
she
replaced
her
hood
again
,
and
they
went
on
together
.
‘I
thought
thou
wast
ahind
me
,
Rachael
?
’
‘No.’
‘Early
t’night
,
lass
?
’
‘’Times
I’m
a
little
early
,
Stephen
!
’times
a
little
late
.
I’m
never
to
be
counted
on
,
going
home.’
‘Nor
going
t’other
way
,
neither
,
’t
seems
to
me
,
Rachael
?
’
‘No
,
Stephen.’
He
looked
at
her
with
some
disappointment
in
his
face
,
but
with
a
respectful
and
patient
conviction
that
she
must
be
right
in
whatever
she
did
.
The
expression
was
not
lost
upon
her
;
she
laid
her
hand
lightly
on
his
arm
a
moment
as
if
to
thank
him
for
it
.
‘We
are
such
true
friends
,
lad
,
and
such
old
friends
,
and
getting
to
be
such
old
folk
,
now.’
‘No
,
Rachael
,
thou’rt
as
young
as
ever
thou
wast.’
‘One
of
us
would
be
puzzled
how
to
get
old
,
Stephen
,
without
’t
other
getting
so
too
,
both
being
alive
,
’
she
answered
,
laughing
;
‘but
,
anyways
,
we’re
such
old
friends
,
and
t’
hide
a
word
of
honest
truth
fro’
one
another
would
be
a
sin
and
a
pity
.
’Tis
better
not
to
walk
too
much
together
.
’Times
,
yes
!
’Twould
be
hard
,
indeed
,
if
’twas
not
to
be
at
all
,
’
she
said
,
with
a
cheerfulness
she
sought
to
communicate
to
him
.
‘’Tis
hard
,
anyways
,
Rachael.’
‘Try
to
think
not
;
and
’twill
seem
better.’
‘I’ve
tried
a
long
time
,
and
’ta’nt
got
better
.
But
thou’rt
right
;
’t
might
mak
fok
talk
,
even
of
thee
.
Thou
hast
been
that
to
me
,
Rachael
,
through
so
many
year
:
thou
hast
done
me
so
much
good
,
and
heartened
of
me
in
that
cheering
way
,
that
thy
word
is
a
law
to
me
.
Ah
,
lass
,
and
a
bright
good
law
!
Better
than
some
real
ones.’
‘Never
fret
about
them
,
Stephen
,
’
she
answered
quickly
,
and
not
without
an
anxious
glance
at
his
face
.
‘Let
the
laws
be.’
‘Yes
,
’
he
said
,
with
a
slow
nod
or
two
.
‘Let
’em
be
.
Let
everything
be
.
Let
all
sorts
alone
.
’Tis
a
muddle
,
and
that’s
aw.’
‘Always
a
muddle
?
’
said
Rachael
,
with
another
gentle
touch
upon
his
arm
,
as
if
to
recall
him
out
of
the
thoughtfulness
,
in
which
he
was
biting
the
long
ends
of
his
loose
neckerchief
as
he
walked
along
.
The
touch
had
its
instantaneous
effect
.
He
let
them
fall
,
turned
a
smiling
face
upon
her
,
and
said
,
as
he
broke
into
a
good-humoured
laugh
,
‘Ay
,
Rachael
,
lass
,
awlus
a
muddle
.
That’s
where
I
stick
.
I
come
to
the
muddle
many
times
and
agen
,
and
I
never
get
beyond
it.’
They
had
walked
some
distance
,
and
were
near
their
own
homes
.
The
woman’s
was
the
first
reached
.
It
was
in
one
of
the
many
small
streets
for
which
the
favourite
undertaker
(
who
turned
a
handsome
sum
out
of
the
one
poor
ghastly
pomp
of
the
neighbourhood
)
kept
a
black
ladder
,
in
order
that
those
who
had
done
their
daily
groping
up
and
down
the
narrow
stairs
might
slide
out
of
this
working
world
by
the
windows
.
She
stopped
at
the
corner
,
and
putting
her
hand
in
his
,
wished
him
good
night
.
‘Good
night
,
dear
lass
;
good
night
!
’
She
went
,
with
her
neat
figure
and
her
sober
womanly
step
,
down
the
dark
street
,
and
he
stood
looking
after
her
until
she
turned
into
one
of
the
small
houses
.
There
was
not
a
flutter
of
her
coarse
shawl
,
perhaps
,
but
had
its
interest
in
this
man’s
eyes
;
not
a
tone
of
her
voice
but
had
its
echo
in
his
innermost
heart
.
When
she
was
lost
to
his
view
,
he
pursued
his
homeward
way
,
glancing
up
sometimes
at
the
sky
,
where
the
clouds
were
sailing
fast
and
wildly
.
But
,
they
were
broken
now
,
and
the
rain
had
ceased
,
and
the
moon
shone
,
—
looking
down
the
high
chimneys
of
Coketown
on
the
deep
furnaces
below
,
and
casting
Titanic
shadows
of
the
steam-engines
at
rest
,
upon
the
walls
where
they
were
lodged
.
The
man
seemed
to
have
brightened
with
the
night
,
as
he
went
on
.
His
home
,
in
such
another
street
as
the
first
,
saving
that
it
was
narrower
,
was
over
a
little
shop
.
How
it
came
to
pass
that
any
people
found
it
worth
their
while
to
sell
or
buy
the
wretched
little
toys
,
mixed
up
in
its
window
with
cheap
newspapers
and
pork
(
there
was
a
leg
to
be
raffled
for
to-morrow-night
)
,
matters
not
here
.
He
took
his
end
of
candle
from
a
shelf
,
lighted
it
at
another
end
of
candle
on
the
counter
,
without
disturbing
the
mistress
of
the
shop
who
was
asleep
in
her
little
room
,
and
went
upstairs
into
his
lodging
.
It
was
a
room
,
not
unacquainted
with
the
black
ladder
under
various
tenants
;
but
as
neat
,
at
present
,
as
such
a
room
could
be
.
A
few
books
and
writings
were
on
an
old
bureau
in
a
corner
,
the
furniture
was
decent
and
sufficient
,
and
,
though
the
atmosphere
was
tainted
,
the
room
was
clean
.
Going
to
the
hearth
to
set
the
candle
down
upon
a
round
three-legged
table
standing
there
,
he
stumbled
against
something
.
As
he
recoiled
,
looking
down
at
it
,
it
raised
itself
up
into
the
form
of
a
woman
in
a
sitting
attitude
.
‘Heaven’s
mercy
,
woman
!
’
he
cried
,
falling
farther
off
from
the
figure
.
‘Hast
thou
come
back
again
!
’
Such
a
woman
!
A
disabled
,
drunken
creature
,
barely
able
to
preserve
her
sitting
posture
by
steadying
herself
with
one
begrimed
hand
on
the
floor
,
while
the
other
was
so
purposeless
in
trying
to
push
away
her
tangled
hair
from
her
face
,
that
it
only
blinded
her
the
more
with
the
dirt
upon
it
.
A
creature
so
foul
to
look
at
,
in
her
tatters
,
stains
and
splashes
,
but
so
much
fouler
than
that
in
her
moral
infamy
,
that
it
was
a
shameful
thing
even
to
see
her
.
After
an
impatient
oath
or
two
,
and
some
stupid
clawing
of
herself
with
the
hand
not
necessary
to
her
support
,
she
got
her
hair
away
from
her
eyes
sufficiently
to
obtain
a
sight
of
him
.
Then
she
sat
swaying
her
body
to
and
fro
,
and
making
gestures
with
her
unnerved
arm
,
which
seemed
intended
as
the
accompaniment
to
a
fit
of
laughter
,
though
her
face
was
stolid
and
drowsy
.
‘Eigh
,
lad
?
What
,
yo’r
there
?
’
Some
hoarse
sounds
meant
for
this
,
came
mockingly
out
of
her
at
last
;
and
her
head
dropped
forward
on
her
breast
.
‘Back
agen
?
’
she
screeched
,
after
some
minutes
,
as
if
he
had
that
moment
said
it
.
‘Yes
!
And
back
agen
.
Back
agen
ever
and
ever
so
often
.
Back
?
Yes
,
back
.
Why
not
?
’
Roused
by
the
unmeaning
violence
with
which
she
cried
it
out
,
she
scrambled
up
,
and
stood
supporting
herself
with
her
shoulders
against
the
wall
;
dangling
in
one
hand
by
the
string
,
a
dunghill-fragment
of
a
bonnet
,
and
trying
to
look
scornfully
at
him
.
‘I’ll
sell
thee
off
again
,
and
I’ll
sell
thee
off
again
,
and
I’ll
sell
thee
off
a
score
of
times
!
’
she
cried
,
with
something
between
a
furious
menace
and
an
effort
at
a
defiant
dance
.
‘Come
awa’
from
th’
bed
!
’
He
was
sitting
on
the
side
of
it
,
with
his
face
hidden
in
his
hands
.
‘Come
awa
!
from
’t
.
’Tis
mine
,
and
I’ve
a
right
to
t’
!
’
As
she
staggered
to
it
,
he
avoided
her
with
a
shudder
,
and
passed
—
his
face
still
hidden
—
to
the
opposite
end
of
the
room
.
She
threw
herself
upon
the
bed
heavily
,
and
soon
was
snoring
hard
.
He
sunk
into
a
chair
,
and
moved
but
once
all
that
night
.
It
was
to
throw
a
covering
over
her
;
as
if
his
hands
were
not
enough
to
hide
her
,
even
in
the
darkness
.
CHAPTER
XI
NO
WAY
OUT
The
Fairy
palaces
burst
into
illumination
,
before
pale
morning
showed
the
monstrous
serpents
of
smoke
trailing
themselves
over
Coketown
.
A
clattering
of
clogs
upon
the
pavement
;
a
rapid
ringing
of
bells
;
and
all
the
melancholy
mad
elephants
,
polished
and
oiled
up
for
the
day’s
monotony
,
were
at
their
heavy
exercise
again
.
Stephen
bent
over
his
loom
,
quiet
,
watchful
,
and
steady
.
A
special
contrast
,
as
every
man
was
in
the
forest
of
looms
where
Stephen
worked
,
to
the
crashing
,
smashing
,
tearing
piece
of
mechanism
at
which
he
laboured
.
Never
fear
,
good
people
of
an
anxious
turn
of
mind
,
that
Art
will
consign
Nature
to
oblivion
.
Set
anywhere
,
side
by
side
,
the
work
of
God
and
the
work
of
man
;
and
the
former
,
even
though
it
be
a
troop
of
Hands
of
very
small
account
,
will
gain
in
dignity
from
the
comparison
.
So
many
hundred
Hands
in
this
Mill
;
so
many
hundred
horse
Steam
Power
.
It
is
known
,
to
the
force
of
a
single
pound
weight
,
what
the
engine
will
do
;
but
,
not
all
the
calculators
of
the
National
Debt
can
tell
me
the
capacity
for
good
or
evil
,
for
love
or
hatred
,
for
patriotism
or
discontent
,
for
the
decomposition
of
virtue
into
vice
,
or
the
reverse
,
at
any
single
moment
in
the
soul
of
one
of
these
its
quiet
servants
,
with
the
composed
faces
and
the
regulated
actions
.
There
is
no
mystery
in
it
;
there
is
an
unfathomable
mystery
in
the
meanest
of
them
,
for
ever
.
—
Supposing
we
were
to
reverse
our
arithmetic
for
material
objects
,
and
to
govern
these
awful
unknown
quantities
by
other
means
!
The
day
grew
strong
,
and
showed
itself
outside
,
even
against
the
flaming
lights
within
.
The
lights
were
turned
out
,
and
the
work
went
on
.
The
rain
fell
,
and
the
Smoke-serpents
,
submissive
to
the
curse
of
all
that
tribe
,
trailed
themselves
upon
the
earth
.
In
the
waste-yard
outside
,
the
steam
from
the
escape
pipe
,
the
litter
of
barrels
and
old
iron
,
the
shining
heaps
of
coals
,
the
ashes
everywhere
,
were
shrouded
in
a
veil
of
mist
and
rain
.
The
work
went
on
,
until
the
noon-bell
rang
.
More
clattering
upon
the
pavements
.
The
looms
,
and
wheels
,
and
Hands
all
out
of
gear
for
an
hour
.
Stephen
came
out
of
the
hot
mill
into
the
damp
wind
and
cold
wet
streets
,
haggard
and
worn
.
He
turned
from
his
own
class
and
his
own
quarter
,
taking
nothing
but
a
little
bread
as
he
walked
along
,
towards
the
hill
on
which
his
principal
employer
lived
,
in
a
red
house
with
black
outside
shutters
,
green
inside
blinds
,
a
black
street
door
,
up
two
white
steps
,
Bounderby
(
in
letters
very
like
himself
)
upon
a
brazen
plate
,
and
a
round
brazen
door-handle
underneath
it
,
like
a
brazen
full-stop
.
Mr.
Bounderby
was
at
his
lunch
.
So
Stephen
had
expected
.
Would
his
servant
say
that
one
of
the
Hands
begged
leave
to
speak
to
him
?
Message
in
return
,
requiring
name
of
such
Hand
.
Stephen
Blackpool
.
There
was
nothing
troublesome
against
Stephen
Blackpool
;
yes
,
he
might
come
in
.
Stephen
Blackpool
in
the
parlour
.
Mr.
Bounderby
(
whom
he
just
knew
by
sight
)
,
at
lunch
on
chop
and
sherry
.
Mrs.
Sparsit
netting
at
the
fireside
,
in
a
side-saddle
attitude
,
with
one
foot
in
a
cotton
stirrup
.
It
was
a
part
,
at
once
of
Mrs.
Sparsit’s
dignity
and
service
,
not
to
lunch
.
She
supervised
the
meal
officially
,
but
implied
that
in
her
own
stately
person
she
considered
lunch
a
weakness
.
‘Now
,
Stephen
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
‘what’s
the
matter
with
you
?
’
Stephen
made
a
bow
.
Not
a
servile
one
—
these
Hands
will
never
do
that
!
Lord
bless
you
,
sir
,
you’ll
never
catch
them
at
that
,
if
they
have
been
with
you
twenty
years
!
—
and
,
as
a
complimentary
toilet
for
Mrs.
Sparsit
,
tucked
his
neckerchief
ends
into
his
waistcoat
.
‘Now
,
you
know
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
taking
some
sherry
,
‘we
have
never
had
any
difficulty
with
you
,
and
you
have
never
been
one
of
the
unreasonable
ones
.
You
don’t
expect
to
be
set
up
in
a
coach
and
six
,
and
to
be
fed
on
turtle
soup
and
venison
,
with
a
gold
spoon
,
as
a
good
many
of
’em
do
!
’
Mr.
Bounderby
always
represented
this
to
be
the
sole
,
immediate
,
and
direct
object
of
any
Hand
who
was
not
entirely
satisfied
;
‘and
therefore
I
know
already
that
you
have
not
come
here
to
make
a
complaint
.
Now
,
you
know
,
I
am
certain
of
that
,
beforehand.’
‘No
,
sir
,
sure
I
ha’
not
coom
for
nowt
o’
th’
kind.’
Mr.
Bounderby
seemed
agreeably
surprised
,
notwithstanding
his
previous
strong
conviction
.
‘Very
well
,
’
he
returned
.
‘You’re
a
steady
Hand
,
and
I
was
not
mistaken
.
Now
,
let
me
hear
what
it’s
all
about
.
As
it’s
not
that
,
let
me
hear
what
it
is
.
What
have
you
got
to
say
?
Out
with
it
,
lad
!
’
Stephen
happened
to
glance
towards
Mrs.
Sparsit
.
‘I
can
go
,
Mr.
Bounderby
,
if
you
wish
it
,
’
said
that
self-sacrificing
lady
,
making
a
feint
of
taking
her
foot
out
of
the
stirrup
.
Mr.
Bounderby
stayed
her
,
by
holding
a
mouthful
of
chop
in
suspension
before
swallowing
it
,
and
putting
out
his
left
hand
.
Then
,
withdrawing
his
hand
and
swallowing
his
mouthful
of
chop
,
he
said
to
Stephen
:
‘Now
you
know
,
this
good
lady
is
a
born
lady
,
a
high
lady
.
You
are
not
to
suppose
because
she
keeps
my
house
for
me
,
that
she
hasn’t
been
very
high
up
the
tree
—
ah
,
up
at
the
top
of
the
tree
!
Now
,
if
you
have
got
anything
to
say
that
can’t
be
said
before
a
born
lady
,
this
lady
will
leave
the
room
.
If
what
you
have
got
to
say
can
be
said
before
a
born
lady
,
this
lady
will
stay
where
she
is.’
‘Sir
,
I
hope
I
never
had
nowt
to
say
,
not
fitten
for
a
born
lady
to
year
,
sin’
I
were
born
mysen’
,
’
was
the
reply
,
accompanied
with
a
slight
flush
.
‘Very
well
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
pushing
away
his
plate
,
and
leaning
back
.
‘Fire
away
!
’
‘I
ha’
coom
,
’
Stephen
began
,
raising
his
eyes
from
the
floor
,
after
a
moment’s
consideration
,
‘to
ask
yo
yor
advice
.
I
need
’t
overmuch
.
I
were
married
on
Eas’r
Monday
nineteen
year
sin
,
long
and
dree
.
She
were
a
young
lass
—
pretty
enow
—
wi’
good
accounts
of
herseln
.
Well
!
She
went
bad
—
soon
.
Not
along
of
me
.
Gonnows
I
were
not
a
unkind
husband
to
her.’
‘I
have
heard
all
this
before
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘She
took
to
drinking
,
left
off
working
,
sold
the
furniture
,
pawned
the
clothes
,
and
played
old
Gooseberry.’
‘I
were
patient
wi’
her.’
(
‘The
more
fool
you
,
I
think
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
in
confidence
to
his
wine-glass
.
)
‘I
were
very
patient
wi’
her
.
I
tried
to
wean
her
fra
’t
ower
and
ower
agen
.
I
tried
this
,
I
tried
that
,
I
tried
t’other
.
I
ha’
gone
home
,
many’s
the
time
,
and
found
all
vanished
as
I
had
in
the
world
,
and
her
without
a
sense
left
to
bless
herseln
lying
on
bare
ground
.
I
ha’
dun
’t
not
once
,
not
twice
—
twenty
time
!
’
Every
line
in
his
face
deepened
as
he
said
it
,
and
put
in
its
affecting
evidence
of
the
suffering
he
had
undergone
.
‘From
bad
to
worse
,
from
worse
to
worsen
.
She
left
me
.
She
disgraced
herseln
everyways
,
bitter
and
bad
.
She
coom
back
,
she
coom
back
,
she
coom
back
.
What
could
I
do
t’
hinder
her
?
I
ha’
walked
the
streets
nights
long
,
ere
ever
I’d
go
home
.
I
ha’
gone
t’
th’
brigg
,
minded
to
fling
myseln
ower
,
and
ha’
no
more
on’t
.
I
ha’
bore
that
much
,
that
I
were
owd
when
I
were
young.’
Mrs.
Sparsit
,
easily
ambling
along
with
her
netting-needles
,
raised
the
Coriolanian
eyebrows
and
shook
her
head
,
as
much
as
to
say
,
‘The
great
know
trouble
as
well
as
the
small
.
Please
to
turn
your
humble
eye
in
My
direction.’
‘I
ha’
paid
her
to
keep
awa’
fra’
me
.
These
five
year
I
ha’
paid
her
.
I
ha’
gotten
decent
fewtrils
about
me
agen
.
I
ha’
lived
hard
and
sad
,
but
not
ashamed
and
fearfo’
a’
the
minnits
o’
my
life
.
Last
night
,
I
went
home
.
There
she
lay
upon
my
har-stone
!
There
she
is
!
’
In
the
strength
of
his
misfortune
,
and
the
energy
of
his
distress
,
he
fired
for
the
moment
like
a
proud
man
.
In
another
moment
,
he
stood
as
he
had
stood
all
the
time
—
his
usual
stoop
upon
him
;
his
pondering
face
addressed
to
Mr.
Bounderby
,
with
a
curious
expression
on
it
,
half
shrewd
,
half
perplexed
,
as
if
his
mind
were
set
upon
unravelling
something
very
difficult
;
his
hat
held
tight
in
his
left
hand
,
which
rested
on
his
hip
;
his
right
arm
,
with
a
rugged
propriety
and
force
of
action
,
very
earnestly
emphasizing
what
he
said
:
not
least
so
when
it
always
paused
,
a
little
bent
,
but
not
withdrawn
,
as
he
paused
.
‘I
was
acquainted
with
all
this
,
you
know
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
‘except
the
last
clause
,
long
ago
.
It’s
a
bad
job
;
that’s
what
it
is
.
You
had
better
have
been
satisfied
as
you
were
,
and
not
have
got
married
.
However
,
it’s
too
late
to
say
that.’
‘Was
it
an
unequal
marriage
,
sir
,
in
point
of
years
?
’
asked
Mrs.
Sparsit
.
‘You
hear
what
this
lady
asks
.
Was
it
an
unequal
marriage
in
point
of
years
,
this
unlucky
job
of
yours
?
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘Not
e’en
so
.
I
were
one-and-twenty
myseln
;
she
were
twenty
nighbut.’
‘Indeed
,
sir
?
’
said
Mrs.
Sparsit
to
her
Chief
,
with
great
placidity
.
‘I
inferred
,
from
its
being
so
miserable
a
marriage
,
that
it
was
probably
an
unequal
one
in
point
of
years.’
Mr.
Bounderby
looked
very
hard
at
the
good
lady
in
a
side-long
way
that
had
an
odd
sheepishness
about
it
.
He
fortified
himself
with
a
little
more
sherry
.
‘Well
?
Why
don’t
you
go
on
?
’
he
then
asked
,
turning
rather
irritably
on
Stephen
Blackpool
.
‘I
ha’
coom
to
ask
yo
,
sir
,
how
I
am
to
be
ridded
o’
this
woman.’
Stephen
infused
a
yet
deeper
gravity
into
the
mixed
expression
of
his
attentive
face
.
Mrs.
Sparsit
uttered
a
gentle
ejaculation
,
as
having
received
a
moral
shock
.
‘What
do
you
mean
?
’
said
Bounderby
,
getting
up
to
lean
his
back
against
the
chimney-piece
.
‘What
are
you
talking
about
?
You
took
her
for
better
for
worse.’
‘I
mun’
be
ridden
o’
her
.
I
cannot
bear
’t
nommore
.
I
ha’
lived
under
’t
so
long
,
for
that
I
ha’
had’n
the
pity
and
comforting
words
o’
th’
best
lass
living
or
dead
.
Haply
,
but
for
her
,
I
should
ha’
gone
battering
mad.’
‘He
wishes
to
be
free
,
to
marry
the
female
of
whom
he
speaks
,
I
fear
,
sir
,
’
observed
Mrs.
Sparsit
in
an
undertone
,
and
much
dejected
by
the
immorality
of
the
people
.
‘I
do
.
The
lady
says
what’s
right
.
I
do
.
I
were
a
coming
to
’t
.
I
ha’
read
i’
th’
papers
that
great
folk
(
fair
faw
’em
a’
!
I
wishes
’em
no
hurt
!
)
are
not
bonded
together
for
better
for
worst
so
fast
,
but
that
they
can
be
set
free
fro’
their
misfortnet
marriages
,
an’
marry
ower
agen
.
When
they
dunnot
agree
,
for
that
their
tempers
is
ill-sorted
,
they
has
rooms
o’
one
kind
an’
another
in
their
houses
,
above
a
bit
,
and
they
can
live
asunders
.
We
fok
ha’
only
one
room
,
and
we
can’t
.
When
that
won’t
do
,
they
ha’
gowd
an’
other
cash
,
an’
they
can
say
“
This
for
yo’
an’
that
for
me
,
”
an’
they
can
go
their
separate
ways
.
We
can’t
.
Spite
o’
all
that
,
they
can
be
set
free
for
smaller
wrongs
than
mine
.
So
,
I
mun
be
ridden
o’
this
woman
,
and
I
want
t’
know
how
?
’
‘No
how
,
’
returned
Mr.
Bounderby
.
‘If
I
do
her
any
hurt
,
sir
,
there’s
a
law
to
punish
me
?
’
‘Of
course
there
is.’
‘If
I
flee
from
her
,
there’s
a
law
to
punish
me
?
’
‘Of
course
there
is.’
‘If
I
marry
t’oother
dear
lass
,
there’s
a
law
to
punish
me
?
’
‘Of
course
there
is.’
‘If
I
was
to
live
wi’
her
an’
not
marry
her
—
saying
such
a
thing
could
be
,
which
it
never
could
or
would
,
an’
her
so
good
—
there’s
a
law
to
punish
me
,
in
every
innocent
child
belonging
to
me
?
’
‘Of
course
there
is.’
‘Now
,
a’
God’s
name
,
’
said
Stephen
Blackpool
,
‘show
me
the
law
to
help
me
!
’
‘Hem
!
There’s
a
sanctity
in
this
relation
of
life
,
’
said
Mr.
Bounderby
,
‘and
—
and
—
it
must
be
kept
up.’
‘No
no
,
dunnot
say
that
,
sir
.
’Tan’t
kep’
up
