Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿 - Chapter 2

For the next eight or ten months, Oliver was the victim of a systematic ¹ course of treachery and deception ²., ,He was brought up by hand., ,The hungry and destitute ³ situation of the infant orphan ⁴ was duly reported by the workhouse authorities to the parish authorities., , ,The workhouse authorities replied with humility ⁷, that there was not. Upon this, the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely ⁹ resolved, that Oliver should be 'farmed,' or, in other words, that he should be dispatched to a branch-workhouse some three miles off, where twenty or thirty other juvenile ¹⁰ offenders ¹¹ against the poor-laws, rolled about the floor all day, without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing, under the parental ¹² superintendence of an elderly female, who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week., ,Sevenpence-halfpenny's worth per week is a good round diet for a child; a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny, quite enough to overload ¹³ its stomach, and make it uncomfortable. The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children; and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself., ,The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。,He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产 。