ELECBOOK CLASSICS
OLIVER
TWIST
Charles Dickens
ELECBOOK CLASSICS
ebc0012. Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist
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OLIVER TWIST
Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist
Contents
Click on number to go to chapter
Chapter 1. Treats Of The Place Where Oliver Twist
Was Born; And Of The Circumstances Attending His
Birth..........................................................................................................9
Chapter 2. Treats Of Oliver Twist’s Growth,
Education, And Board..........................................................................13
Chapter 3. Relates How Oliver Twist Was Very Near
Getting A Place, Which Would Not Have Been A
Sinecure. ................................................................................................27
Chapter 4. Oliver, Being Offered Another Place,
Makes His First Entry Into Public Life.............................................38
Chapter 5. Oliver Mingles With New Associates—
Going To A Funeral For The First Time, He Forms An
Unfavourable Notion Of His Master’s Business...............................47
Chapter 6. Oliver, Being Goaded By The Taunts Of
Noah, Rouses Into Action, And Rather Astonishes Him. ...............61
Chapter 7. Oliver Continues Refractory. .........................................68
Chapter 8. Oliver Walks To London—He Encounters
On The Road A Strange Sort Of Young Gentleman........................77
Chapter 9. Containing Further Particulars Concerning
The Pleasant Old Gentleman, And His Hopeful Pupils..................88
Chapter 10. Oliver Becomes Better Acquainted With
The Characters Of His New Associates; And Purchases
Experience At A High Price—Being A Short But Very
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Important Chapter In This History....................................................96
Chapter 11. Treats Of Mr. Fang The Police Magistrate;
And Furnishes A Slight Specimen Of His Mode Of
Administering Justice. .......................................................................103
Chapter 12. In Which Oliver Is Taken Better Care Of
Than He Ever Was Before—And In Which The
Narrative Reverts To The Merry Old Gentleman And
His Youthful Friends..........................................................................113
Chapter 13. Some New Acquaintances Are Introduced
To The Intelligent Reader, Connected With Whom,
Various Pleasant Matters Are Related, Appertaining To
This History. ........................................................................................125
Chapter 14. Comprising Further Particulars Of
Oliver’s Stay At Mr. Brownlow’s, With The Remarkable
Prediction Which One Mr. Grimwig Uttered
Concerning Him, When He Went Out On An Errand...................136
Chapter 15. Showing How Very Fond Of Oliver Twist,
The Merry Old Jew And Miss Nancy Were. ...................................150
Chapter 16. Relates What Became Of Oliver Twist,
After He Had Been Claimed By Nancy...........................................159
Chapter 17. Oliver’s destiny continuing unpropitious,
brings a great man to London to injure his reputation.................172
Chapter 18. How Oliver Passed His Time In The
Improving Society Of His Reputable Friends................................184
Chapter 19. In Which A Notable Plan Is Discussed
And Determined On...........................................................................195
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Chapter 20. Wherein Oliver Is Delivered Over To Mr.
William Sikes.......................................................................................208
Chapter 21. The Expedition.............................................................219
Chapter 22. The Burglary. ...............................................................227
Chapter 23. Which Contains The Substance Of A
Pleasant Conversation Between Mr. Bumble And A
Lady; And Shows That Even A Beadle May Be
Susceptible On Some Points.............................................................236
Chapter 24. Treats Of A Very Poor Subject—But Is A
Short One, And May Be Found Of Importance In This
History. .................................................................................................246
Chapter 25. Wherein This History Reverts To Mr.
Fagin And Company...........................................................................254
Chapter 26. In Which A Mysterious Character Appears
Upon The Scene; And Many Things, Inseparable From
This History, Are Done And Performed..........................................262
Chapter 27. Atones For The Unpoliteness Of A Former
Chapter, Which Deserted A Lady Most
Unceremoniously................................................................................278
Chapter 28. Looks After Oliver, And Proceeds With
His Adventures....................................................................................288
Chapter 29. Has An Introductory Account Of The
Inmates Of The House, To WhichOliver Resorted.......................301
Chapter 30. Relates What Oliver’s New Visitors
Thought Of Him..................................................................................306
Chapter 31. Involves A Critical Position........................................315
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Chapter 32. Of The Happy Life Oliver Began To Lead
With His Kind Friends.......................................................................329
Chapter 33. Wherein The Happiness Of Oliver And His
Friends, Experiences A Sudden Check...........................................341
Chapter 34. Contains Some Introductory Particulars
Relative To A Young Gentleman Who Now Arrives
Upon The Scene; And A New Adventure Which
Happened ToOliver...........................................................................352
Chapter 35. Containing The Unsatisfactory Result Of
Oliver’s Adventure; And A Conversation Of Some
Importance Between Harry Maylie And Rose. ..............................365
Chapter 36. Is a very short one, and may appear of no
great importance in its place; but it should be read
notwithstanding, as a sequel to the last, and a key to
one that will follow when its time arrives. ......................................375
Chapter 37. In Which The Reader May Perceive A
Contrast, Not Uncommon In Matrimonial Cases. .........................379
Chapter 38. Containing An Account Of What Passed
Between Mr. And Mrs. Bumble, And Mr. Monks, At
Their Nocturnal Interview. ...............................................................392
Chapter 39. Introduces Some Respectable Characters
With Whom The Reader Is Already Acquainted, And
Shows How Monks And The Jew Laid Their Worthy
Heads Together...................................................................................405
Chapter 40. A Strange Interview, Which Is A Sequel
To The Last Chapter. .........................................................................424
Chapter 41. Containing Fresh Discoveries, And
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Showing That Surprises, Like Misfortunes, Seldom
Come Alone..........................................................................................433
Chapter 42. An Old Acquaintance Of Oliver’s,
Exhibiting Decided Marks Of Genius, Becomes A
Public Character In The Metropolis................................................446
Chapter 43. Wherein Is Shown How The Artful
Dodger Got Into Trouble...................................................................460
Chapter 44. The Time Arrives For Nancy To Redeem
Her Pledge To Rose Maylie—She Fails...........................................474
Chapter 45. Noah Claypole Is Employed By Fagin On
A Secret Mission. ................................................................................483
Chapter 46. The Appointment Kept...............................................488
Chapter 47. Fatal Consequences.....................................................501
Chapter 48. The Flight Of Sikes......................................................510
Chapter 49. Monks And Mr. Brownlow At Length
Meet—Their Conversation, And The Intelligence That
Interrupts It.........................................................................................522
Chapter 50. The Pursuit And Escape.............................................535
Chapter 51. Affording an explanation of more
mysteries than one, and comprehending a proposal of
marriage with no word of settlement or pin-money......................550
Chapter 52. Fagin’s Last Night Alive .............................................567
Chapter 53. And Last........................................................................578
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Chapter 1
Treats Of The Place Where Oliver Twist Was Born;
And Of The Circumstances Attending His Birth.
Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for
many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from
mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name,
there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small; to
wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born, on a day and
date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can
be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the
business at all events, the item of mortality whose name is
prefixed to the head of this chapter.
For a long time after it was ushered into this world of sorrow
and trouble, by the parish surgeon, it remained a matter of
considerable doubt whether the child would survive to bear any
name at all; in which case it is somewhat more than probable that
these memoirs would never have appeared; or, if they had, that
being comprised within a couple of pages, they would have
possessed the inestimable merit of being the most concise and
faithful specimen of biography, extant in the literature of any age
or country.
Although I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a
workhouse, is in itself the most fortunate and enviable
circumstance that can possibly befall a human being, I do mean to
say that in this particular instance, it was the best thing for Oliver
Twist that could by possibility have occurred. The fact is, that
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver to take upon
himself the office of respiration—a troublesome practice, but one
which custom has rendered necessary to our easy existence; and
for some time he lay gasping on a little flock mattress, rather
unequally poised between this world and the next: the balance
being decidedly in favour of the latter. Now, if, during this brief
period, Oliver had been surrounded by careful grandmothers,
anxious aunts, experienced nurses, and doctors of profound
wisdom, he would most inevitably and indubitably have been
killed in no time. There being nobody by, however, but a pauper
old woman, who was rendered rather misty by an unwonted
allowance of beer; and a parish surgeon who did such matters by
contract; Oliver and Nature fought out the point between them.
The result was, that, after a few struggles, Oliver breathed,
sneezed, and proceeded to advertise to the inmates of the
workhouse the fact of a new burden having been imposed upon
the parish, by setting up as loud a cry as could reasonably have
been expected from a male infant who had not been possessed of
that very useful appendage, a voice, for a much longer space of
time than three minutes and a quarter.
As Oliver gave this first proof of the free and proper action of
his lungs, the patchwork coverlet which was carelessly flung over
the iron bedstead rustled; the pale face of a young woman was
raised feebly from the pillow; and a faint voice imperfectly
articulated the words, “Let me see the child, and die.”
The surgeon had been sitting with his face turned towards the
fire, giving the palms of his hands a warm and a rub alternately.
As the young woman spoke, he rose, and advancing to the bed’s
head, said, with more kindness than might have been expected of
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
him:
“Oh, you must not talk about dying yet.”
“Lor bless her dear heart, no!” interposed the nurse, hastily
depositing in her pocket a green glass bottle, the contents of which
she had been tasting in a corner with evident satisfaction. “Lor
bless her dear heart, when she has lived as long as I have, sir, and
had thirteen children of her own, and all on ’em dead except two,
and them in the wurkus with me, she’ll know better than to take
on in that way, bless her dear heart! Think what it is to be a
mother, there’s a dear young lamb, do.”
Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother’s prospects
failed in producing its due effect. The patient shook her head, and
stretched out her hand towards the child.
The surgeon deposited it in her arms. She imprinted her cold
white lips passionately on its forehead; passed her hands over her
face; gazed wildly round, shuddered; fell back—and died. They
chafed her breast, hands, and temples; but the blood had stopped
for ever. They talked of hope and comfort. They had been
strangers too long.
“It’s all over, Mrs. Thingummy!” said the surgeon at last.
“Ah, poor dear, so it is!” said the nurse, picking up the cork of
the green bottle, which had fallen out on the pillow, as she stooped
to take up the child. “Poor dear!”
“You needn’t mind sending up to me, if the child cries, nurse,”
said the surgeon, putting on his gloves with great deliberation.
“It’s very likely it will be troublesome. Give it a little gruel if it is.”
He put on his hat, and, pausing by the bedside on his way to the
door, added, “She was a good-looking girl, too; where did she
come from?”
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
“She was brought here last night,” replied the old woman, “by
the overseer’s order. She was found lying in the street. She had
walked some distance, for her shoes were worn to pieces; but
where she came from, or where she was going to, nobody knows.”
The surgeon leaned over the body, and raised the left hand.
“The old story,” he said, shaking his head: “no wedding ring, I see.
Ah! Good-night!”
The medical gentleman walked away to dinner; and the nurse,
having once more applied herself to the green bottle, sat down on
a low chair before the fire, and proceeded to dress the infant.
What an excellent example of the power of dress young Oliver
Twist was I Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his
only covering, he might have been the child of a nobleman or a
beggar; it would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to
have assigned him his proper station in society. But now that he
was enveloped in the old calico robes which had grown yellow in
the same service, he was badged and ticketed, and fell into his
place at once—a parish child—the orphan of a workhouse—the
humble, half-starved drudge—to be cuffed and buffeted through
the world—despised by all, and pitied by none.
Oliver cried lustily. If he could have known that he was an
orphan, left to the tender mercies of church-wardens and
overseers, perhaps he would have cried the louder.
Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics
Oliver Twist
Chapter 2
