Mr. Cruncher?’
‘Respectin’ a future spear o’ life, miss,’ returned Mr.
Cruncher, ‘I hope so. Respectin’ any present use o’ this
here blessed old head o’ mind, I think not. Would you do
me the favour, miss, to take notice o’ two promises and
wows wot it is my wishes fur to record in this here crisis?’
‘Oh, for gracious sake!’ cried Miss Pross, still wildly
crying, ‘record them at once, and get them out of the
way, like an excellent man.’
‘First,’ said Mr. Cruncher, who was all in a tremble,
and who spoke with an ashy and solemn visage, ‘them
poor things well out o’ this, never no more will I do it,
never no more!’
‘I am quite sure, Mr. Cruncher,’ returned Miss Pross,
‘that you never will do it again, whatever it is, and I beg
you not to think it necessary to mention more particularly
what it is.’
October 11, 2010
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens(18)
that no personal influence could possibly save him, that he
was virtually sentenced by the millions, and that units
could avail him nothing.
Nevertheless, it was not easy, with the face of his
beloved wife fresh before him, to compose his mind to
what it must bear. His hold on life was strong, and it was
very, very hard, to loosen; by gradual efforts and degrees
unclosed a little here, it clenched the tighter there; and
when he brought his strength to bear on that hand and it
yielded, this was closed again. There was a hurry, too, in
all his thoughts, a turbulent and heated working of his
heart, that contended against resignation. If, for a moment,
he did feel resigned, then his wife and child who had to
live after him, seemed to protest and to make it a selfish
thing.
But, all this was at first. Before long, the consideration
that there was no disgrace in the fate he must meet, and
that numbers went the same road wrongfully, and trod it
firmly every day, sprang up to stimulate him. Next
followed the thought that much of the future peace of
mind enjoyable by the dear ones, depended on his quiet
fortitude. So, by degrees he calmed into the better state,
when he could raise his thoughts much higher, and draw
comfort down.
was virtually sentenced by the millions, and that units
could avail him nothing.
Nevertheless, it was not easy, with the face of his
beloved wife fresh before him, to compose his mind to
what it must bear. His hold on life was strong, and it was
very, very hard, to loosen; by gradual efforts and degrees
unclosed a little here, it clenched the tighter there; and
when he brought his strength to bear on that hand and it
yielded, this was closed again. There was a hurry, too, in
all his thoughts, a turbulent and heated working of his
heart, that contended against resignation. If, for a moment,
he did feel resigned, then his wife and child who had to
live after him, seemed to protest and to make it a selfish
thing.
But, all this was at first. Before long, the consideration
that there was no disgrace in the fate he must meet, and
that numbers went the same road wrongfully, and trod it
firmly every day, sprang up to stimulate him. Next
followed the thought that much of the future peace of
mind enjoyable by the dear ones, depended on his quiet
fortitude. So, by degrees he calmed into the better state,
when he could raise his thoughts much higher, and draw
comfort down.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens(17)
‘This lasted twenty-six hours from the time when I first
saw her. I had come and gone twice, and was again sitting
by her, when she began to falter. I did what little could be
done to assist that opportunity, and by-and-bye she sank
into a lethargy, and lay like the dead.
‘It was as if the wind and rain had lulled at last, after a
long and fearful storm. I released her arms, and called the
woman to assist me to compose her figure and the dress
she had to. It was then that I knew her condition to be
that of one in whom the first expectations of being a
mother have arisen; and it was then that I lost the little
hope I had had of her.
‘‘Is she dead?’ asked the Marquis, whom I will still
describe as the elder brother, coming booted into the
room from his horse.
‘‘Not dead,’ said I; ‘but like to die.’
‘‘What strength there is in these common bodies!’ he
said, looking down at her with some curiosity.
‘‘There is prodigious strength,’ I answered him, ‘in
sorrow and despair.’
saw her. I had come and gone twice, and was again sitting
by her, when she began to falter. I did what little could be
done to assist that opportunity, and by-and-bye she sank
into a lethargy, and lay like the dead.
‘It was as if the wind and rain had lulled at last, after a
long and fearful storm. I released her arms, and called the
woman to assist me to compose her figure and the dress
she had to. It was then that I knew her condition to be
that of one in whom the first expectations of being a
mother have arisen; and it was then that I lost the little
hope I had had of her.
‘‘Is she dead?’ asked the Marquis, whom I will still
describe as the elder brother, coming booted into the
room from his horse.
‘‘Not dead,’ said I; ‘but like to die.’
‘‘What strength there is in these common bodies!’ he
said, looking down at her with some curiosity.
‘‘There is prodigious strength,’ I answered him, ‘in
sorrow and despair.’
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens(16)
A Tale of Two Cities
547 of 670
Mr. Cruncher knuckled his forehead, as Sydney Carton
and the spy returned from the dark room. ‘Adieu, Mr.
Barsad,’ said the former; ‘our arrangement thus made, you
have nothing to fear from me.’
He sat down in a chair on the hearth, over against Mr.
Lorry. When they were alone, Mr. Lorry asked him what
he had done?
‘Not much. If it should go ill with the prisoner, I have
ensured access to him, once.’
Mr. Lorry’s countenance fell.
‘It is all I could do,’ said Carton. ‘To propose too
much, would be to put this man’s head under the axe,
and, as he himself said, nothing worse could happen to
him if he were denounced. It was obviously the weakness
of the position. There is no help for it.’
‘But access to him,’ said Mr. Lorry, ‘if it should go ill
before the Tribunal, will not save him.’
‘I never said it would.’
Mr. Lorry’s eyes gradually sought the fire; his sympathy
with his darling, and the heavy disappointment of his
second arrest, gradually weakened them; he was an old
man now, overborne with anxiety of late, and his tears
fell.
547 of 670
Mr. Cruncher knuckled his forehead, as Sydney Carton
and the spy returned from the dark room. ‘Adieu, Mr.
Barsad,’ said the former; ‘our arrangement thus made, you
have nothing to fear from me.’
He sat down in a chair on the hearth, over against Mr.
Lorry. When they were alone, Mr. Lorry asked him what
he had done?
‘Not much. If it should go ill with the prisoner, I have
ensured access to him, once.’
Mr. Lorry’s countenance fell.
‘It is all I could do,’ said Carton. ‘To propose too
much, would be to put this man’s head under the axe,
and, as he himself said, nothing worse could happen to
him if he were denounced. It was obviously the weakness
of the position. There is no help for it.’
‘But access to him,’ said Mr. Lorry, ‘if it should go ill
before the Tribunal, will not save him.’
‘I never said it would.’
Mr. Lorry’s eyes gradually sought the fire; his sympathy
with his darling, and the heavy disappointment of his
second arrest, gradually weakened them; he was an old
man now, overborne with anxiety of late, and his tears
fell.
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