"Orphans of the Fog" by Charles Dickens
In the previous section, we talked about the murder of Nancy, the murderer Sykes began to flee, and at the same time Monk was captured and forced to confide in the truth of the matter. However, in the middle of his speech, someone rushed in and said that he had seen Sykes's dog, at which point the interrogation of Monk was temporarily terminated, and everyone joined in the hunt for Sykes.
A desperate struggle between light and shadow
Before returning to London, Sykes was afraid that the big dog would be exposed, and at one point tried to drown it in a pond. He picked up a heavy stone and tied it to a handkerchief, then tried to tie it around the big dog's neck. But the dog instinctively sensed that the momentum was not good, and whined and ran away as fast as he could.
But this dog, like Nancy, has a silly spirit in his bones. He fled back to London, to a den of thieves near the river, in search of his master. Several of Fagin's men were hiding here, and they were all terrified when they saw the big dog appear. After all, they were just petty thefts, and Sykes dared to beat Nancy to death with a big stick.
But the more they worried about something, the more they came, and after nightfall, there was a sharp knock at the door downstairs. The big dog smelled his master, jumped up, and ran to the door with a wail. Then Sykes walked in slowly, his pale face, sunken cheeks, unkempt beard, emaciated countenance, and rapid breathing, like a ghost.
From these thieves, Sykes knew that Fagin had been arrested. When the old thief was dragged away by the police, he was covered in mud and his face was covered in blood. The onlookers bared their teeth and roared at him, shouting to dig out his heart. Sykes was silent, as if he had seen what had happened to him after his arrest.
Suddenly, a fire lit up outside, followed by a commotion. Then there was a ping-pong knock on the door downstairs, and someone shouted, "Ordered to arrest the murderer!" Then, there was a frequent, heavy thumping on the door and window panels downstairs, catering to the earth-shattering roar of the crowd outside.
Sykes hurriedly said, "It was a high tide when I came, give me a long rope and let me jump into the ditch behind the house to escape!" He hurried up to the top of the house, climbed over the roof, and looked down through the low buttresses. But what he didn't expect was that the tide had receded at this time, and he saw that the ditch was full of silt.
The crowd below cheered, "Now he can't escape!" and Mr. Brownlow stood on the high and shouted, "Whoever captures this murderer alive will be rewarded with fifty pounds!" Sarkes gritted his teeth and decided to climb down the ditch along the long rope, risking being stuck in the mud and taking advantage of the chaos to escape.
He mustered his spirits, wrapped one end of the rope around the chimney, and with his hands and teeth he made the other end into a very strong trap. He put the buckle on his head, intending to pull it under his armpit, and when he climbed to the bottom, he would cut the rope and jump into the ditch. Just when everything was ready, he glanced back at the rooftop, and suddenly let out a terrifying scream.
"Oh the hell, that ghost is coming again!" he screamed in a terrible voice, staggering like a lightning strike, and then lost his balance and fell off the buttress. The buckle was just around his neck, and the rope was stretched as tight as a bowstring by the weight of his body, and he fell down like an arrow from the string.
The accident happened in this moment. I saw Sykes's body jerk, and his limbs had a terrible spasm, and then he hung there. A knife fell from his stiff palm, and the big dog howled and jumped out of the low wall, somersaulted in the air, and slammed into a rock at the bottom of the ditch, his brain cracked, and he whimpered for his life.
The sky has eyes, and evil is rewarded
Two days later, Mr. Brownlow drove with Miss Rose, Oliver, and Monks to the town where Oliver was born. Here, Monk restores the content of the second half of the story. His mother was so angry when she saw the documents that she burned the will on the spot, took the other documents, and went to Agnes' father to humiliate them.
Edwin and Agnes became pregnant out of wedlock, which was a big scandal at the time. Agnes' father was ashamed and moved away quietly with the family. A few weeks later, Agnes could not stand her father's reproachful gaze and ran away from home. This made the old man heartbroken, and he died soon after, leaving only his infant daughter.
On her deathbed, Monks' mother told him these secrets, along with the hatred that had sparked his insulting will. She wants Monks to find the half-child and watch him become a criminal and be sent to the gallows. Only in this way can the damage caused by that will be compensated!
Next, Mr. Brownlow tells Monks that he knows that Monks had given Fagin, the leader of the thieves in London, a large sum of money to lure Oliver into bad faith. Fortunately, this child has a good nature, and every time he meets good people, he turns evil into good fortune. Hearing this, Monks crossed his arms tightly and muttered curses his bad luck with a grudge that has nowhere to vent.
Mr. Brownlow sent for Mr. and Mrs. Bombur. The two men denied it, admitting that they had taken Oliver's mother's belongings, a small gold box with a gold ring, after her death, and watched Monks destroy them. Brownlow immediately sent someone to inform the local diocese and dismissed the husband and wife from their errands.
At about the same time, in a court in London, Fagin was convicted and hanged a few days later. The night before his execution, Mr. Brownlow took Oliver by the hand and went to the depths of the prison to meet Fagin. By this time, he was already suffering from the fear of death, and he was about to go crazy.
Mr. Brownlow stepped forward and asked, "I know you have some documents in there, which a man named Monks gave you for safekeeping. Where did you hide them?"
Old Fagin did not answer directly, but beckoned Oliver to the nearest place and whispered, "I tell you, there is a hole in the chimney of the fireplace on the top floor, and the papers are placed there. ”
Then old Fagin licked his lips and begged, "Kid, take me out of here secretly." But don't forget, the clever ghost is still waiting for us at home!"
Hearing the name of the clever ghost, Oliver couldn't help but cry because he had already been hanged for petty theft. Oliver realizes that Fagin has gone completely insane. In the end, he was also in madness and hanged.
Luck from heaven is an echo of kindness
Although Monks' sins were no less than those of Fagin Sr., Mr. Brownlow fulfilled his promise and let him escape prison. Finally, under the auspices of the old gentleman, Oliver and Monk divided the property left by Edwin equally. In any case, Brownlow still hopes that the eldest son of his old friend will have the opportunity to change his ways.
Monk took his share of the inheritance and went to the New World. There, he quickly squandered the money and went back to the old ways, committing fraud, sentenced to a long prison sentence, and finally dying of illness. And Fagin's subordinates were later caught one after another, and none of them escaped the punishment of the law.
After being dismissed, the Bomburs gradually fell into extreme poverty and were finally institutionalized in the poor penitentiary where they had once been a powerful man.
As for Oliver, he lived a heavenly life. Mr. Brownlow not only adopted him as an adopted son, but also gave him a great gift. The old man pointed to Miss Rose and said to Monks, "Please tell Oliver who this young lady is?" Monks nodded obediently and told a shocking secret.
Back then, the baby left behind by Agnes' father was Miss Rose. In other words, Miss Rose is Oliver's aunt. After her father's death, she was adopted by a local farming family. Out of hatred, Monks' mother rushed over and said a lot of bad things about her.
So Miss Rose grew up lonely and white-eyed. Until one day, an old woman happened to pass by and saw that Miss Rose was too pitiful, so she adopted her as a daughter. The old woman came from a privileged family and had a large house on the outskirts of London, after which Rose lived happily ever after.
After hearing about her own background, Miss Rose was so excited and sentimental that she almost fainted. Oliver jumped up, hugged her tightly, and shouted, "Auntie, you are my aunt!
Okay, at this point, we have almost introduced the co-reading of the book "Orphans of the Fog".
The protagonist Oliver Twist represents the most ideal personality in Dickens's mind, although he has faced countless hardships and torments, he will always stick to the justice in his heart, although he sees the indifference and hypocrisy of human nature, he still upholds the goodness in his heart.
The ancients said that those who treat others with kindness will also be good. A person is willing to treat others with kindness, and others are often willing to reciprocate kindness. Things in the world are about cause and effect, and those good intentions will eventually come back to you. Therefore, the cause of goodness can summon the fruit of goodwill, and every kindness is a blessing saved for oneself.
Compared with Oliver, what happened to Nancy makes us sigh even more. If the other characters in Orphan of the Fog are black and white, then Nancy is the only outlier. She is a woman who wanders in a den of thieves, falls in love with a violent robber, and ends up paying with her precious life to save a weak and helpless kind child.
Many people don't understand why Nancy insists on going back when she has a chance to escape from the den of thieves, and she explains: "I'm already firmly tied to my old life. I'm so deep that I can't turn back...... Even if someone like me commits suicide by throwing himself into the river, no one cares, and no one cries for it. ”
In other words, she has a strong sense of right and wrong, and knows that as a bad woman who has been stealing, cheating, and abducting children since she was a child, she cannot stand on the moral high ground to accuse her accomplices, and it is difficult for her to have the opportunity to abandon evil and follow good. But at the end of her life, she radiated a dazzling light, illuminating the way out of the mire and into heaven for Oliver.
Byron once said that we all have to drift with our own destinies. Some people are born in Rome, and some people have trekked all their lives on the road to Rome. But even the latter, even in the lowliest, humblest hell, some of them are willing to look up to the moon and let the flame of goodness in their hearts sway strong and shine.
Nancy died, but her death was not as she thought in her lifetime: "no one cared, no one cried for it". Her death provoked tears from Miss Rose and Mr. Brownlow, and the wrath of the people of London. It can be said that the weakness and greatness of human nature are vividly reflected in Nancy's tears and blood.
If Oliver's story is just a beautiful fairy tale, then Nancy's life-and-death dilemma may be the realistic background given to the little people by the times. Life is short, whether we will drift in the river of lowly and humble fate, or bloom like a flash in the pan, the choice is in our own hands.
Well, at this point, the co-reading of the book "Orphans of the Fog" is over.
Shi Tiesheng said: "I think the world is really beautiful. Suffering is suffering, but as long as the affection is there, human beings have the strength to work on this planet!" I hope we can always maintain this deep affection, and always have the strength to cultivate kindness and reap goodwill, so that the world is heaven.